chrominance
Member
It actually took me forever to realize that was happening. I think I read it somewhere on GAF and then a light went off in my head and I was suddenly really sad because it was way too convenient to be unintentional.
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Atelier Community Thread: Successfully synthesized a Barrel!
- Thread starter RurouniZel
- Start date
It actually took me forever to realize that was happening. I think I read it somewhere on GAF and then a light went off in my head and I was suddenly really sad because it was way too convenient to be unintentional.
That was a localization thing. :/ Her last name in the Japanese versions is Erhard.
. . . They're either one of the stupidest localization teams ever, or really wanted to get a bad joke in. Though I guess the latter usually involves the former anyway.
Yeah, a few innocent jokes is relatively harmless (but may still be annoying) and the right material and proper localization can be genius. But that sounds like if you localized something with the tone of South Park, not this.
Quick opinions for those that played the PS3 games:
I loved Rorona and Totori, but didn't really like Ayesha. Had some performance issues and it was hard to tell if you were progressing in the story (for me at least). I did love the art and characters though.
Is Escha & Logy better than Ayesha? Currently has the highest metacritic rating of any game in the series for whatever that's worth.
I loved Rorona and Totori, but didn't really like Ayesha. Had some performance issues and it was hard to tell if you were progressing in the story (for me at least). I did love the art and characters though.
Is Escha & Logy better than Ayesha? Currently has the highest metacritic rating of any game in the series for whatever that's worth.
chrominance
Member
I'll probably write something up once I'm actually finished a playthrough, but I found Escha & Logy's pacing really odd. It's a little hard to get into why without spoilers, but suffice it to say that the early part of the game feels oddly limited in what it asks you to do and what optional tasks are available, which means you can spend whole chunks of time wondering what the hell it is you're supposed to be doing next. That's something I don't recall ever feeling before in an Atelier game, including Ayesha.
To give a non-spoilery example: certain dungeons unlock in the game at specific times, as opposed to previous games where you just had to have triggered certain events. So if you happen to be moving very fast in the game, you could unlock a lot of the world map quickly and feel like you were always making progress, whereas in Escha & Logy your progress feels artificially limited a lot more. And when you take into account the usual Atelier practice of keeping the better ingredients (and especially the better traits) in later dungeons, that artificial gate can have an effect on your alchemy as well.
That sounds really bad, like really really bad. In time managing games, the only way to do a lot in one playthrough is to play efficiently and get to better things and places faster, if I understand you correctly, that's not an option anymore, nothing depends on how you play.
chrominance
Member
Okay, then I may have overstated the case. It's not that bad; part of it is probably just that I've played so many Atelier games now that completing all the tasks in a given assignment is actually quite quick. And it's not that the game doesn't provide you with ample time to do everything if you're smart about it (though I'll probably have to give up on the Girls' Association trophy this time around for getting all the female party members' ending flags in an Escha run). If you spend more time doing random bits of alchemy or fighting battles because it's fun, you may not ever have any downtime. I definitely had one or two assignments that I only managed to 100% on the last day (and one assignment where I didn't even get that). I actually do like the game a lot.
But yeah, it was weird having one or two assignments where I was standing at the cauldron thinking, "I don't have any new recipes to make, my bombs and healing items are already about as good as I can make them with the materials I have access to, I've already searched all the dungeons and can beat all the enemies easily, I'm not really low on any important ingredients, and no one seems to have any events to trigger. Should I just sleep for a few weeks?"
There was actually an answer to this question, by the way.
It turns out I wasn't triggering enough party member events by keeping them in my frontline party for battles.
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
Well... that's an... interesting spelling. XD
Eudaemonium
Member
I'm only about halfway through, but I kind of feel the same way. Honestly, I personally preferred the more 'undirected' approach of Ayesha.
I had the same answer as you, though. Sadly I found out too late =P
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
For Ayesha Plus.
.... maybe you're allowed to turn off certain parts of the HUD? oh snap bask in that gorgeous Dusk World's beauty.
Well anyway I hope time management is back (like, really back and not this lenient crap) and I hope it's punishing as hell. Gone are the days when I've written out my schedule on scrap paper.
It's for Ayesha Plus
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
Ah, my bad then. Will alter.
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
Linca will steal the show yet again
That's... a bit much. Not a fan. :/
itzknickknac
Member
I have Atelier Rorona, Totori+, Meruru, and Ayesha. Want to play Totori bad but I'm not far in Rorona at all.. hard to get into
But I love Mana Khemia: Student Alliance, despite the loading time. Great battle system
But I love Mana Khemia: Student Alliance, despite the loading time. Great battle system
I have to say (currently playing Escha) that I never had this happen so far. I always finish all tasks ~45 days before the end, but that usually gives me just enough time to create a HQ version of every new recipe I have. And maybe 1 visit to some dungeon. But maybe it will be different once I get all the time saving items.
afreaknamedpete
Member
I seriously struggled to find stuff to do in the last few time blocks. Also, there's some serious diminishing returns in this game w/ regards to time spent. There's nothing worse than spending like an hour reworking your perfect bomb, only for the next period to make it obsolete in the first 5 minutes.
Agreed, it's the only Linca costume I've seen in Ayesha Plus that I don't like.
chrominance
Member
Atelier has some fan service-y costumes but that one in particular is basically "great now I'm basically a pervert by association, THANKS GUST AND TECMO KOEI."
Lee Chaolan
Member
Waiting to see if US version will have Japanese language.
Me too, broski. I like to argue that Atelier games can be genuinely good JRPGs, but the fanservice does a lot of damage to a claim like that. The plus version are especially bad, searching for Atelier Totori Plus (not Totori+) on google image search, gives a really bad first impression of the series.
The fad of "sex sells"? Don't hold your breath.
chrominance
Member
Ayesha and Escha & Logy are actually lighter on fan service than the Arland trilogy. For example, as far as I can tell, Escha & Logy has no hot springs scene. And if they hadn't put the stupid costumes into Ayesha Plus, that game would basically just have one relatively chaste hot spring scene and the usual dumb breast size discussion and that's it. Dialing down the moe is one of the big reasons why I like the Dusk trilogy so much.
Even with that Ayesha example it's probably arguably lighter, the character people keep pointing at IS a 20 year old, not a teenager.
Also most anything looks really tame after Kill la Kill...
I'm not entirely sure what would give a bad impression there. The swimsuits?
Well, the first image that appears when I search it, is Totori in a swimsuit, looking like she doesn't want to be there. The second is her undressing on a couch or sumthin? How does a 13 year old girl being sexualised give a good impression for a JRPG?
A swimsuit at the beach doesn't seem out of place to me. In presentation terms, that has nothing on DOA. Didn't see a couch one myself. Then again, I grew up swimming competitively, so the suits mean nothing to me. Although 1 pieces are more functional.... /shrug
Oh please. Swimming and swim suits are normal in real life, but you know as well as I do that they would only add them to games for fanservice. And fanservice being the first thing you see is not usually not a selling point for the average person. I don't really give a shit either way, I look past the fanservice, but it's still difficult to sell the game to people when that's the first thing they see.
Looks like you are trying hard to be offended here, so go right on ahead. That isn't the first thing I saw, nor was the swimsuit one(s). Going beyond any of that, getting offended over an overused trope in any genre seems a little silly. Not saying it is the best thing ever because of it? Sure.
Why do you have to sell anything to anyone anyhow?
I literally just told you that I don't care either way. Can we not discuss something without getting defensive for no reason? Which big JRPGs have beach scenes? I don't think Final Fantasy has any. Kingdom Hearts had that time they tried going to the beach, but failed, never really getting to the fanservice part. Does Dragon Quest or Pokemon have them? Haven't really played either.
Tales and Persona have them, but they're not as frequently brought up/posted by their respective fanbases. Probably because unlike Atelier, they don't have these super detailed pictures and such of it, but I disgress.
Why would I not want my friends to play games I enjoy?
I think they got PS2 updates? So they might be more historical curiosities now if they didn't screw anything up royally.
It's a loooot more expensive though. And I hear that it's not too different regardless? I don't know for sure though.
That's pretty much they price you'll be paying
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
I think it's similar to how Sakura Taisen went when it moved from Saturn to Dreamcast. It looks slightly better but that's about it. ^^;
Lee Chaolan
Member
Gamefly sometimes has them around the 25 range. I found a brand new Totori CE here at a local buy-sell shop for 30, got super lucky,
chrominance
Member
Semi-aside: I don't think this has been posted yet, but there's a (Japanese) trailer out for the Atelier Escha & Logy anime. Starts airing in April, no word on an English release.
It'll get licensed, hopefully by someone good like NIS or NIS and not someone bad like anyone else
Not only I haven't played the game yet, most of the promotion materials are focused on the girls so I don't hold my breath for this.