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[RurouniZel]

Platinum get! In almost literally a week... Guess that says a lot about me.

Seems the game considers Keith's end the true end, interesting.

Congrats! I got a ways to go before I get that far. ;_;

 

[Suikoguy]

Just a heads up; Malduke has posted an already fairly comprehensive character event list:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/665780-atelier-ayesha-the-alchemist-of-dusk/faqs/66657#section69

 

[Stuart444]

Platinum get! In almost literally a week... Guess that says a lot about me.

Seems the game considers Keith's end the true end, interesting.

Since you got the Plat, is there any scenes worth watching out for in my NG+ platinum run? (Ie ones I can easily miss and need such as

Spoiler

Nio's events after you save her

edit: Okay, ignore that, I didn't notice we were onto a new page.

Just a heads up; Malduke has posted an already fairly comprehensive character event list:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/665780-atelier-ayesha-the-alchemist-of-dusk/faqs/66657#section69

Thank you. I'll see if I can incorporate this into my current NG+ run. (Still in Year 1 so plenty of time to do that )

 

[Canis lupus]

I'm interested in the game which is weird as I never paid much attention to the Atelier series. How long is the game and do you need to play the other games for the story?

 

[Khrno]

I'm interested in the game which is weird as I never paid much attention to the Atelier series. How long is the game and do you need to play the other games for the story?

You don't need to play any other Atelier games to play Ayesha, this is a completely new world and story. Game can be finished in 20-25 hours, of course you won't get everything the first time.

 

[Stuart444]

I'm interested in the game which is weird as I never paid much attention to the Atelier series. How long is the game and do you need to play the other games for the story?

As said above, this is not related to the other games and is a good first pick for an Atelier game. My first playthrough was around 27 - 28 hours.

So yeah, it's a great first pick if you want to try it

 

[Khrno]

What an underwhelming outcome.. I just killed

Spoiler

Compact Dragon so fast that didn't have time to use Time Flow to turn into Grand Dragon. So now I'm fighting it again, but going easy on him just so he can use TF. I need to beat GD.

 

[Khrno]

So these are my conclusions after fighting GD for over half an hour and just taking him down to 50%:

- Chin of Death is a bitch, and I don't know how to counter, stop or prevent it.
- Blaze Whirl damage increases with each use, after 30+ minutes fighting the total damage BW was over 250, while at the beginning it was only just about 50.
- Damage reduction and Fire resistance is a must on the armor, the two things I'm lacking.
- Ayesha is useless.

 

[Stuart444]

So these are my conclusions after fighting GD for over half an hour and just taking him down to 50%:

- Chin of Death is a bitch, and I don't know how to counter, stop or prevent it.
- Blaze Whirl damage increases with each use, after 30+ minutes fighting the total damage BW was over 250, while at the beginning it was only just about 50.
- Damage reduction and Fire resistance is a must on the armor, the two things I'm lacking.
- Ayesha is useless.

Damage Reduction, is that PH RES? if so, I always concentrate on that when I made dyes for my armour on my first playthrough which has helped me in my NG+ however interesting to know that Fire Res is a must for this battle.

Is GD needed for Plat/all endings or anything?

 

[Khrno]

Is GD needed for Plat/all endings or anything?

No idea, I'm not really bothered about getting all trophies, I just want to beat the hardest boss in the game, and so far I can't do it.

 

[LayLa]

Just finished this, got the

Spoiler

Bell

ending, which was good cos she was my favorite character!
Enjoyed the game overall, although i don't feel it was as good as Totori or Meruru.
Hopefully though they'll use this game as a springboard for the next couple of games & make big improvements, like Totori was a massive improvement over Rorona.

 

[Stuart444]

So I'm at the second contest in my NG+.

Here is the Salt Flower from Tanya that I'm using:

And this is the result:

Maybe I overdid it... hah!

 

[Limanima]

Such an awsome artwork.

 

[Volcynika]

I'm kinda waiting on

Spoiler

Willbell to tell me how to make some Modder/Madder/something

, not sure when it's supposed to happen. Tried to beat the Grassland enemies (level 11/12) and that did not work out! I think I'm in September Year 1.

 

[Pachterballs]

is this game any good? I just noticed this on PSN.

 

[RurouniZel]

is this game any good? I just noticed this on PSN.

It's great! But it does play very differently from the standard JRPG. The Atelier series utilizes a time mechanic where you have three years (in game time, not real world) to complete your objective. There is a calendar in the upper right that keeps track of the date and year you're on. Everything you do from traveling to making items takes a certain number of days, so time management is highly important.

The game is about 20-25 hours but is designed to be replayed with a New Game+ feature that carries over your money and equipped items. There are multiple endings depending on the flags you trigger in the game.

Graphically the game is aesthetically pleasing but be aware the geometry of most areas is PS2 level, but with nice textures and nice AA. The character models are gorgeous, as is the game's music.

 

[Suikoguy]

I'm kinda waiting on

Spoiler

Willbell to tell me how to make some Modder/Madder/something

, not sure when it's supposed to happen. Tried to beat the Grassland enemies (level 11/12) and that did not work out! I think I'm in September Year 1.

I'm fairly certain that requires a certain alchemy level before that triggers.

Just finished this, got the

Spoiler

Bell

ending, which was good cos she was my favorite character!
Enjoyed the game overall, although i don't feel it was as good as Totori or Meruru.
Hopefully though they'll use this game as a springboard for the next couple of games & make big improvements, like Totori was a massive improvement over Rorona.

Based on history this should have one sequel in the same universe, then another trilogy in a new universe.

 

[Rarutos]

Since you got the Plat, is there any scenes worth watching out for in my NG+ platinum run? (Ie ones I can easily miss and need such as

Spoiler

Nio's events after you save her

edit: Okay, ignore that, I didn't notice we were onto a new page.

Sorry, I've gotten sick and have been bed-ridden all day, otherwise I would have answered earlier. Anywho, in my NG+ I saved Nio at close to the beginning of Year 2, and literally had nothing to do for half the game since I knew exactly what to do. So I don't think you have to worry about missing anything if you know where events are and when they happen.

 

[Embryon]

If anyone's still undecided and is looking for yet another opinion, my review of the game is up on RPGFan.

http://www.rpgfan.com/reviews/Atelier_Ayesha_The_Alchemist_of_Dusk/index.html

 

[afreaknamedpete]

Anybody got any tips to make some not-underwhelming bombs in this game? I messed around with synthesis and managed to make an Ex-Bomb with Explosion Damage XL, and the damage it did to the first mandatory boss was pathetic, less than 10% of its max health.

 

[Stuart444]

Sorry, I've gotten sick and have been bed-ridden all day, otherwise I would have answered earlier. Anywho, in my NG+ I saved Nio at close to the beginning of Year 2, and literally had nothing to do for half the game since I knew exactly what to do. So I don't think you have to worry about missing anything if you know where events are and when they happen.

no worries, I'm at month 9, year 2 and about to save Nio (just got to make the item for it). I've wasted time both leveling and doing events (just keep checking back every so often so some times I waste days away lol)

I'm on track for all ends at this rate going to be up pretty late since I've not been able to put it down today.

 

[Stuart444]

Not sure if this is worth it's own thread (or if it's already been posted) but I saw this on the Tales FB group and went to the XSEED forums to find the source of it but here is why sometimes games don't have dual audio. (from this XSEEDs translator point of view):

You have to understand that most of the time (pretty much 99% of the time at this point, really), when the original Japanese voice-acting is removed from a game during localization, it's done out of necessity, NOT by choice. NO publisher is going to remove the original voice track if there exists an option to keep it -- there'd be no reason to, after all! But I speak from personal experience when I tell you that there are many, many times where publishers aren't given any choice in the matter whatsoever. Technical limitations and storage space aren't the only factors, either -- there's also that dreaded specter known as LICENSING. Sadly, everyone who's ever spoken a line of dialogue or sung a phrase of music in a video game signed a contract of some sort... and some of those contracts, ESPECIALLY in Japan, can be pretty draconian when you get down to the fine print. It's not at all uncommon for a Japanese voice-actor to record his/her voice for a game under the stipulation that it ONLY be used within the country of Japan, making it ILLEGAL to use those lines anywhere else in the world.

I'm not able to comment as to whether or not this is the reason we've removed Japanese voice tracks from some of our past titles, but I can give a relatively well-known example from the world of anime: Kodocha. When that show was brought to the U.S. by The Right Stuf, there were major licensing problems associated with the first opening theme, "19 O'Clock News" by the band Tokio. Not only was that song originally used as the opening theme for episodes 1-51 of the show, but Tokio's lead singer Mamo made a cameo appearance in episode 1 as himself, exchanging a few lines of dialogue with the series' main character Sana. And when the show was brought over to North America, absolutely NONE of that could be used due to licensing issues. Not only did Right Stuf have to substitute the second opening theme (originally used in episodes 52-102 of the anime) in place of the first, but they had to bleep out all of Mamo's lines from the Japanese language track on the DVD, and I think they even had to bleep out Mamo's NAME when Sana spoke it!

Now, that's a pretty extreme example, but it just goes to show you that Japanese contract law can be a HUGE problem, oftentimes leaving publishers with only three choices: release the game with dubbed voices, release the game with NO voices (bearing in mind that most games featuring English voice-acting also have an option to TURN OFF the voice-acting, so there's no reason dubbed voices are any worse than no voices)... or don't release the game at all.

And while I do understand your passion for playing things in their original language, I would urge you not to avoid supporting games simply because their language tracks have been dubbed. Remember, when you pay for a game, you're compensating the publisher for all the work they did to translate it, edit it, test it, master it, produce it, etc. We do a tremendous amount of work to make sure these games are playable and enjoyable in our own language, and it's extremely disheartening to hear that anyone would choose NOT to support us, even if it's a game they really want to play, simply because we were forced to dub the voice track into English. Especially since, quite honestly, I think most publishers would prefer to leave EVERY game in its original Japanese -- dubbing a game's voices is a time-consuming and costly process, and electing not to dub something invariably makes it take less time to release AND cost less money. And what publisher WOULDN'T want that?!

So yeah... bottom line, if you're going to "vote with your wallet," as it were, please make sure you know what you're voting FOR. By not supporting games that publishers had no choice but to dub, you're not sending the message that you want fewer dubs... you're sending the message that you want fewer games of that type released in English, period. And I'm pretty sure that's NOT the message you're trying to send.

-Tom

source: XSeed Forums

Considering the dual audio stuff over this game, I thought it was worth posting here.

So basically, what I've been saying for a while is pretty much true, licensing (and legal crap) ruins everything

 

[Lucentto]

That kind of information is most defiantly worth a new thread, many people are still ignorant about this kind of thing.

 

[Stuart444]

Alright, I'll make a new thread then

 

[LayLa]

all of that doesn't really apply in the case of Ayesha though, unless Tecmo/Gust are spectacularly bad at writing contracts covering their audio recording.
for example i know someone who wrote some music for a video game and in exchange for a one-off payment signed away all future rights to the composition in all territories including (if i remember the wording correctly) "the Solar System, the Milky Way and anywhere in the Universe yet to be discovered"! that's American lawyers for ya.

 

[Eusis]

Well, I said in that thread that sometimes they seemingly just fail to remember it might be something people care about, and I suspect that's what happened with Tecmo Koei. They knew enough people cared about the series here that relative to the cost it was worth bringing over, but they may not have fully analyzed all the reasons people care, so they may've felt just getting NISA to localize and calling it day would do it. Given their own track record with keeping dual language in however it's VERY odd, it may even be that one voice actor had a stupid clause in their contract and ruined the whole thing.

 

[LayLa]

it may even be that one voice actor had a stupid clause in their contract and ruined the whole thing.

that would definitely come under the heading "Tecmo/Gust are spectacularly bad at writing contracts covering their audio recording"!

 

[Stuart444]

Well, I said in that thread that sometimes they seemingly just fail to remember it might be something people care about, and I suspect that's what happened with Tecmo Koei. They knew enough people cared about the series here that relative to the cost it was worth bringing over, but they may not have fully analyzed all the reasons people care, so they may've felt just getting NISA to localize and calling it day would do it. Given their own track record with keeping dual language in however it's VERY odd, it may even be that one voice actor had a stupid clause in their contract and ruined the whole thing.

Yup, it could be anything that caused it including just simple cost cutting with KT funding it but only KT/Gust/NISA knows and companies in general aren't transparent because they know the shit they would get (regardless of who's fault it is)

Still, I enjoyed the dub of Ayesha so I'm not complaining but I would have liked the option of the JP Audio for my NG+ run of Ayesha like when I did my NG+ run of Meruru.

On a side note: I wish some companies would leave in Japanese text as well like SE did for Star Ocean: The Last Hope International and The Last Remnant PC version. Some great material for Japanese learners but ah well, that's just me (I only found out about SO:TLHIs JP text option yesterday. I knew about the Audio but not about the text til then)

edit:

that would definitely come under the heading "Tecmo/Gust are spectacularly bad at writing contracts covering their audio recording"!

Maybe so but if Japanese games like this use the JP version of Union VAs then the Union would have a lot of power over stuff like this and KT might have thought the cost (dictated by the Union) wouldn't be worth it.

Again, just speculation. Only they know for sure but I'm sure KT will work on getting the JP VAs next time since they know by now how hard it hit them sales wise.

 

[Khrno]

Adding to what Stuart444 said, Yoshito Okamura, Gust Game Director on Atelier Ayesha:

"We thought that Japanese audio was a feature enjoyed primarily by just the Japanese fans, so it honestly took us by surprise seeing and hearing the huge reaction and passionate requests from the overseas fans."

"While we can’t go into any detail about upcoming titles at the moment, we have heard the voices of our fans and will seriously consider re-introducing this feature in the future. We will take a careful look into what our fans expect to see from our games and come up with ways to shrink the gap between us and them, especially now that we have the overseas TECMO KOEI offices to help us get connected."

So basically before TK took over, in Gust they had no idea what NISA did with their game or what the western fans thought about them. Right.

Anyway, whatever the reason for Ayesha, hopefully the next games won't lack the Japanese track.

 

[raven777]

Adding to what Stuart444 said, Yoshito Okamura, Gust Game Director on Atelier Ayesha:



So basically before TK took over, in Gust they had no idea what NISA did with their game or what the western fans thought about them. Right.

Anyway, whatever the reason for Ayesha, hopefully the next games won't lack the Japanese track.

well, hopefully they got the message and I hope they include JP voices from next atelier series.

I wonder if Vita versions of totori and meruru will also cut of JP voice

 

[RurouniZel]

Fuck, I'm so mad at myself! I thought I was doing so well, but apparently if you fight the final boss and save Nio BEFORE going to the floating city area you can't get Keith's ending! Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-

 

[RurouniZel]

LOL, my Ayesha is starting this new playthrough with 102 HP. XD Crazy how high that stat is at level 1! ^^;

 

[Stuart444]

LOL, my Ayesha is starting this new playthrough with 102 HP. XD Crazy how high that stat is at level 1! ^^;

Haha, I know right.

I'm so close now to platinum, just got Linca's final events, the final contest and the endings (and Keiths final trophy) now. I'll save a third playthrough sometime in the future (not right away after doing 2 consecutive playthroughs) to take care of all the 'super' bosses since I think I need to make some proper ultimate equipment to beat some such as this boss:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU4VSMQSy-8

Killed in one hit. I died so easy to him with my current equipment so next time, I'll plan it so I keep certain 'awesome' materials that already have good stats for synthesis onto whetstones/dyes in order to make some beastly equipment.

also:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5WNGJDBiGo

New Atelier game set in the land of dusk... this makes me very happy

 

[RurouniZel]

also:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5WNGJDBiGo

New Atelier game set in the land of dusk... this makes me very happy

YAY PV!!

 

[Khrno]

well, hopefully they got the message and I hope they include JP voices from next atelier series.

I wonder if Vita versions of totori and meruru will also cut of JP voice

Totori+ has JP voices, and although Meruru+ hasn't arrived to these shores yet, I'm assuming it has them too, since everything has already been licensed for the PS3 versions.

 

[Eusis]

Totori+ has JP voices, and although Meruru+ hasn't arrived to these shores yet, I'm assuming it has them too, since everything has already been licensed for the PS3 versions.

On the other hand, cart limits. Unless Koei has a habit of trashing dual language with anyone they work with Ninja Gaiden Sigma+ lacked them, despite the originals having dual audio as I recall.

 

[Stuart444]

Platinum Get

I'll post some more thoughts on Atelier Ayesha later after I have dinner but needless to say I did everything and killed everything except

Spoiler

the two super bosses (tank and Compact/Grand Dragon) and the eclipse petal. I got the darkness one on my first playthrough so that still counts XD

 

[raven777]

Totori+ has JP voices, and although Meruru+ hasn't arrived to these shores yet, I'm assuming it has them too, since everything has already been licensed for the PS3 versions.

totori+ western version is confirmed to have JP voice option??? Thats amazing!

 

[Stuart444]

So here are my thoughts:

I found Atelier Ayesha to be fantastic. The OST is easily the best of the PS3 titles (only ones I've played) and the models look great. A big upgrade on previous titles.

It has the strongest story since Totori and I also think it's the strongest overall. I really got into the story, the characters were great and the world that Gust created has been pretty intriguing. I am looking forward to seeing more of this world in the next Atelier game.

I will say the biggest improvement for me in this title is the ability to choose your ending if you have multiple/all flags for them. No overriding other endings or anything like that.

Also with fan service being a lot less than previous PS3 titles, I would say this one would be perfect for people new to the Atelier series and were put off by 'excessive' amounts of fan service before.

My main complaint with the game however is no 2D Portraits and too many skin recolouring of enemies. The 2D portraits is just because I always liked seeing them and compared to how it's done in this game, I'd prefer portraits during conversation than flapping lips that never stop until you hit X.

I don't understand why they didn't at least recolour some enemies like Punis or something from previous entries and put them into this game. There was just waay too many enemies you would see and then not long after you would see the same enemy with a different colour. Sometimes in the same dungeon.

Those are my only real complaints though. Overall, I would put this game as my favourite Atelier title yet just barely outmatching Totori/Meruru (which are about even in my mind).

 

[Suikoguy]

So apparently 3 trophies are missable; all 3 of them character event trophies.

Building Block, Sending Sheep, and At Paradise.

No idea how people got a platinum so easy...
I had read that only Building Block was missable, but the other 2 won't trigger, with all Characters having 100 Friendship and everything else triggered. My Task list is 100% complete too, all optional bosses complete, everything. I have no urge at all to play it through again.

Oh, and this step by step guide for New Game + was posted on gamefaqs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ybIp_ks1y-MpH9AB3XRCIhiS02aaNn-wI4BlokGoDlA/edit

 

[Stuart444]

So apparently 3 trophies are missable; all 3 of them character event trophies.

Building Block, Sending Sheep, and At Paradise.

I forget about Sending Sheep but At Paradise is triggered after all other Keith events at the Zweitieturm (or however you spell it) on Year 3, month 1 or later.

edit: Just checked a vid to remind me what Sending Sheep is (google "Sending Sheep Atelier Ayesha", first vid I think is MasterLLs one). Year 3, Month 1, day 21 in Hormheim/Crow's Bar

Spoilers for what happens in it:

Spoiler

She gets drunk and Ernie takes her home safely - it happens then because it's her birthday/after her birthday

 

[Khrno]

Platinum Get

I'll post some more thoughts on Atelier Ayesha later after I have dinner but needless to say I did everything and killed everything except

Spoiler

the two super bosses (tank and Compact/Grand Dragon) and the eclipse petal. I got the darkness one on my first playthrough so that still counts XD

Grats Stuart!

My trophies are only on 65%, but finally got the "trophy" I was after:

Spoiler

Grand Dragon

My GD strategy for those still having problems with it:

• Lv40 weapons and armor with the following properties: Skill Enhance LV2, Skill Enhance LV3, Red Power, Moon Power, Spirit Power.
• Accesories: Soul Trap Chain and Resonance Bell, for Ayesha STC and a Dragon Scale Icon instead of the RB. When making these accessories add a mix of the above properties with HP+25 and Stats+6.
• My party consisted of Ayesha, Nio and Linca. These are Linca's stats: HP 166, ATK 92, Critical 84, Power 76, AP Value 100, Skill Cost 100, Damage+F 100, Damage+I 100, Damage+L 40.
• As for Ayesha, her HP should be above 230, 250 would be great. Make Exa-Bombs with the Spirit's Anger property (adds Fire and Ice damage), Magic Squares and Mirage Mirror.
• God's Miracle Drug with Time Power, other good properties Recovery +30%, Save Predicament and Mythic Potency.

 

[Stuart444]

Grats Stuart!

My trophies are only on 65%, but finally got the "trophy" I was after:

Spoiler

Grand Dragon

Damn... if I ever go back to Ayesha, my next goal is to beat him. (And I thought

Spoiler

Tank

was tough considering I lost to him 3 different times, this one sounds like another beast)

 

[Volcynika]

I apparently missed the first contest in Year 1. Whoops! D:

 

[web01]

There is a lot of spin in that statement about the voice acting and how they say 99% of the time if its removed it because of necessity. At the end of the day if they pony up the cash they can get it in.

 

[Ravage]

I will say the biggest improvement for me in this title is the ability to choose your ending if you have multiple/all flags for them. No overriding other endings or anything like that.

Agreed, this is definitely the most significant change (for me at least).

 

[Khrno]

Damn... if I ever go back to Ayesha, my next goal is to beat him. (And I thought

Spoiler

Tank

was tough considering I lost to him 3 different times, this one sounds like another beast)

If we ever get DLC (that is not music), that would be a good time to beat it. Although, don't you have previous saves? I always keep at least 3 saves and now I'm keeping one at this point, so I can do DLC bosses, from the JP version, they are supposed to be stronger than GD.

Aldo for Tank, you don't need any uber-build like for GD, just stacking HP, ATK and Stats+6 is good enough, they key for that battle is God's Miracle Drug, that's the most overpowered healing item in the game, and it's not affected by the ailment Item Reduction.

 

[RurouniZel]

I apparently missed the first contest in Year 1. Whoops! D:

I did this too. Gotta do a 3rd run to fix this.

 

[Volcynika]

I'm not streaming it now but I have been when I do play (http://www.twitch.tv/volcynika) So you can see me mess up and be terrible when I have time to play.

 

[Suikoguy]

There is a lot of spin in that statement about the voice acting and how they say 99% of the time if its removed it because of necessity. At the end of the day if they pony up the cash they can get it in.

Of course, but it may become unreasonably expensive.

Also, thanks Stuart444. I'll check those out.