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[Terra_Ex]

This is getting a physical release in Europe, right? If so, I'll definitely be picking it up, I haven't read all the info yet but this seems to be closer to the first 2 AT games than the third entry and kiryogi's positive impressions across recent threads have convinced me. I've struggled to get into Gust's work post-PS2 (I loved everything they did on PS2 except Iris 2), as a developer they just seemed to lose their lustre for me last gen, their early PS3 works aesthetically didn't hold a candle to their spritework. AT3 was awful outside of a few select scenes and the PS3 Atelier entries never really grabbed me but this game is looking like a return to form for Ar tonelico so I'm willing to give it another chance and am looking forward to playing it.There's no Saki-esque characters in this one are there? I don't think I can suffer through that again.

To those that like the series
What is it that makes Ar tonelico 2 (which apparently is the game where the series peaked) so good? Plot? Characters? (And please elaborate why if possible...sell me on these games)

Honestly Qoga is so bad in every aspect I have a hard time imagining that this team is capable of crafting a fine game. The game has like no redeeming qualities at all except for the music and I found that one to be pretty eh.

While AT2 is technically the best one thus far, NISA absolutely botched the translation, I never finished it as the level of english on display on anything outside of the critical path was frankly insulting. The game is good but if you're playing with NISA's translation I'd temper your expectations before diving in. Localisation issues aside, the characters, music and story branches were all pretty memorable for me back when I played it, the cosmosphere mechanics were pretty unique (I think cosmosphere progression was tied into the main story a bit better in the second game too), both PS2 entries did a lot to separate themselves from the crowd and I consider both to be among the most unique and fulfilling rpgs I played on the platform. Which is probably why AT3's mediocrity was so crushing to fans. Personally I'd advise playing AT1 first because at least with that game you won't be doing double takes constantly due to the awful translation. If that game clicks with you, proceed on to AT2.

 

[kiryogi]

I was wanting to try to get through it before Ar nosurge comes out, but I've been really busy with work so I don't think it'll happen. I'll def have to give it a try at least at some point. You can turn off the stripping scenes in battle, can't you? I think I saw a video before where it kind of skipped over that part. That'd probably help some if so.

You could actually outright skip the sequence, but it doesn't forgive the godawful battle system that's some poor Tales imitation.

This is getting a physical release in Europe, right? If so, I'll definitely be picking it up, I haven't read all the info yet but this seems to be closer to the first 2 AT games than the third entry and kiryogi's positive impressions across recent threads have convinced me. I've struggled to get into Gust's work post-PS2 (I loved everything they did on PS2 except Iris 2), as a developer they just seemed to lose their lustre for me last gen, their early PS3 works aesthetically didn't hold a candle to their spritework. AT3 was awful outside of a few select scenes and the PS3 Atelier entries never really grabbed me but this game is looking like a return to form for Ar tonelico so I'm willing to give it another chance and am looking forward to playing it.There's no Saki-esque characters in this one are there? I don't think I can suffer through that again.


While AT2 is technically the best one thus far, NISA absolutely botched the translation, I never finished it as the level of english on display on anything outside of the critical path was frankly insulting. The game is good but if you're playing with NISA's translation I'd temper your expectations before diving in. Localisation issues aside, the characters, music and story branches were all pretty memorable for me back when I played it, the cosmosphere mechanics were pretty unique (I think cosmosphere progression was tied into the main story a bit better in the second game too), both PS2 entries did a lot to separate themselves from the crowd and I consider both to be among the most unique and fulfilling rpgs I played on the platform. Which is probably why AT3's mediocrity was so crushing to fans. Personally I'd advise playing AT1 first because at least with that game you won't be doing double takes constantly due to the awful translation. If that game clicks with you, proceed on to AT2.

I don't recall too much of AT3 TBH. . . At least I don't think anyone's really Saki-esque? Ion's a gearhead and Casty is a tsundere. Then there's Nay who's just all kinds of awesome.

It's funny on all the localization hate for AT2 and don't get me wrong, it's terrible, but never on the level that could actually affect my enjoyment of it. I do recommend doing 1 first too, as after playing 2, most folks couldn't go back to 1 as that's somewhat a step back. I actually did play 2 first and didn't touch 1 until years laters after playing 3. It was surprisingly playable and not as bad most folks make it out to be. That's IMO of course.

 

[Shin-Ra]

Glorious 4xMSAA.

I'm curious to see how Gust's simple but polished rendering style crosses to PS4.

 

[RurouniZel]

AT2 has a really, really neat battle system, and that was the primary draw for me. Really enjoyed actually playing the game.

Thankfully Ar nosurge's battle system, while not quite as good as AT2's, is much better than Qoga by a wide margin.

For the curious, I made a 20 minute video explaining/demonstrating it.

Also a protip. This game offers "Normal", "Hard" and "Veteran" difficulties. Do not play on Normal, it's piss-easy. Hard is just about right.

 

[Arcblast]

Thankfully Ar nosurge's battle system, while not quite as good as AT2's, is much better than Qoga by a wide margin.

For the curious, I made a 20 minute video explaining/demonstrating it.

Also a protip. This game offers "Normal", "Hard" and "Veteran" difficulties. Do not play on Normal, it's piss-easy. Hard is just about right.

Thank you for your video. Definitely looks like an interesting game. I am still debating whether to get the JP vita version or not as I already asked my colleague to grab me the new 3DS XL from Japan when he goes there next month.

 

[Imouto]

Thankfully Ar nosurge's battle system, while not quite as good as AT2's, is much better than Qoga by a wide margin.

For the curious, I made a 20 minute video explaining/demonstrating it.

Also a protip. This game offers "Normal", "Hard" and "Veteran" difficulties. Do not play on Normal, it's piss-easy. Hard is just about right.

Hard is just stupid in Qoga, though. Like I just breezed through the mobs in Hard, and then suddenly I met the first boss, and got 2 hits KO? I really hope the difficulty will be balanced out in this game.

 

[Durante]

I'm more hyped for this than I expected. I missed the Ar Tonelico series a lot.

To those that like the series

What is it that makes Ar tonelico 2 (which apparently is the game where the series peaked) so good? Plot? Characters? (And please elaborate why if possible...sell me on these games)

This is what I wrote in the NeoGAF essential RPGs 2013 thread:

Ar Tonelico 2
The best entry in the Ar Tonelico series, which features one of the most interesting settings in JRPGs. Also has a very unique battle system, and integrates some gameplay elements from Visual Novels. Fantastic, distinctive music that's different from anything else out there. The characters and story are also much better than you'd expect, even despite the bad translation.

So basically, for me, the stand-out features of the series are the interesting setting, the combination of JRPG and VN gameplay and the amazing music.
In AT2, those are joined by one of my favourite JRPG battle systems of all time.

Thankfully Ar nosurge's battle system, while not quite as good as AT2's, is much better than Qoga by a wide margin.

For the curious, I made a 20 minute video explaining/demonstrating it.

Also a protip. This game offers "Normal", "Hard" and "Veteran" difficulties. Do not play on Normal, it's piss-easy. Hard is just about right.

Thanks for the tip, IIRC I played very AT game where the option existed on hard.

 

[Stuart444]

Livestream has started

 

[OceanBlue]

Livestream has started

Link is here for anyone who isn't following TK-E's Twitter account.
http://www.twitch.tv/koeitecmoeurope

The music is great.

 

[Stuart444]

Link is here for anyone who isn't following TK-E's Twitter account.
http://www.twitch.tv/koeitecmoeurope

The music is great.

It was in the op which is why I didn't post it lol.

Also Delta is JYB.

 

[Coxy]

Really great intro, really felt like a lot of what I loved about PS1 era JRPGs.

Hype got, bailing out now because I dont want to spoil it

 

[OceanBlue]

It was in the op which is why I didn't post it lol.

Also Delta is JYB.

Oh yeah, I was only looking at the text. x__x

 

[Stuart444]

Oh yeah, I was only looking at the text. x__x

Haha, well at least yours was clickable

Anyway that was all they could show, very short but good stuff. They will show more in the coming weeks with the possibility of winning Genometrics (is that it?) CDs they imported from Japan

 

[kiryogi]

Really great intro, really felt like a lot of what I loved about PS1 era JRPGs.

Hype got, bailing out now because I dont want to spoil it

I think this is the embodiment of what EXA_PICO games are today. Really one of the only RPG series left to capture that feeling.

Here's the youtube capture from KT of the livestream of anyone missed it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxcm7xBdH9g

And yes, having "em-pyei-n vari-fen jang;" play during the opening scene made such a huge impact. ORIGA was a fantastic choice to include with the utahime trio.

Also that reminds me regarding Ar Tonelico 3/Qoga, one of its other missteps OST wise was that they signed on a ton of different artists/singers, which really made for a mismash of things. KOKIA was great though.

ALSO! Been reading the closeup summary of Ciel, this statement makes me sad we weren't able to be there for an actual journal with Ion. . . It's sort of amazing how Tsuchiya really planned this out, and how Ciel nosurge worked to keep you attached to something artificial for over 2 whole years. The guy really is one of those visionaries.

The story in Ciel nosurge is only part of the picture. These are memories that Ion has lost, that you are helping her recover. The true game, and the part that you will miss, is the daily interaction with Ion. Before playing Ar nosurge, remember that you, as the player, will have spent over two real years talking to, growing with, and becoming closer to this girl who was at first extremely lost and lonely, and who grows closer to you as you help her through her daily life, not just recovering memories.

NEXT LIVE STREAM THURSDAY! SEPT 18TH!

 

[Aeana]

Also Delta is JYB.

Please don't remind me.

 

[kiryogi]

Please don't remind me.

He wasn't half bad! Although it's been a long time since I've had to deal with him. Seems like a solid dub all around though.

Think Ion is Cristina Vee. . . Funny to see her coming back honestly. Considering she was Finnel in Qoga, then again whole different series supposedly. XD

 

[Freezasaurus]

Thankfully Ar nosurge's battle system, while not quite as good as AT2's, is much better than Qoga by a wide margin.

For the curious, I made a 20 minute video explaining/demonstrating it.

Also a protip. This game offers "Normal", "Hard" and "Veteran" difficulties. Do not play on Normal, it's piss-easy. Hard is just about right.

Great video. It's a different battle format than I'm used to, but I'm willing to give it a shot. It looks fun.

 

[kiryogi]

Great video. It's a different battle format than I'm used to, but I'm willing to give it a shot. It looks fun.

Yknow there's a really amusing video Zel made regarding another aspect of Ar nosurge that I won't go into until release date. . . Not hard to find, but it's pretty hilarious.

 

[Freezasaurus]

Yknow there's a really amusing video Zel made regarding another aspect of Ar nosurge that I won't go into until release date. . . Not hard to find, but it's pretty hilarious.

is it spoilery?

 

[kiryogi]

is it spoilery?

Nah it's a game mechanic. Let's say, don't play the game with the volume speaker so loud during battle.

 

[Kresnik258]

The soundtrack to this game is literally fantastic. I loved every bit of it during that live stream (but particularly the bit during the narrator describing the history which started at around 4:32 - does anyone know what that song was?)

This is going to be my first game in the Ar Tonelico/NoSurge series. I'm really looking forward to it. I've completed 3 Atelier games and I really loved them - Gust are rapidly becoming one of my favourite developers out there. I'm a little scared they're going to get so absorbed by Tecmo-Koei that they stop making offbeat JRPG's so might as well enjoy them while they're here.

 

[kiryogi]

The soundtrack to this game is literally fantastic. I loved every bit of it during that live stream (but particularly the bit during the narrator describing the history which started at around 4:32 - does anyone know what that song was?)

This is going to be my first game in the Ar Tonelico/NoSurge series. I'm really looking forward to it. I've completed 3 Atelier games and I really loved them - Gust are rapidly becoming one of my favourite developers out there. I'm a little scared they're going to get so absorbed by Tecmo-Koei that they stop making offbeat JRPG's so might as well enjoy them while they're here.

em-pyei-n vari-fen jang; by ORIGA It's the perfect accommodation to the intro scene It's on the Arno Genom Concert Side BLUE CD if you ever want to import it.

 

[Kresnik258]

em-pyei-n vari-fen jang; by ORIGA It's the perfection accomodation to the intro scene It's on the Arno Genom Concert Side BLUE CD if you ever want to import it.

Excellent. Thank you very much!

 

[kiryogi]

Excellent. Thank you very much!

If you can after Ar nosurge, you really should try and hunt down Ar Tonelico 1 and 2.

 

[Kresnik258]

If you can after Ar nosurge, you really should try and hunt down Ar Tonelico 1 and 2.

Oh yeah. I fully intend to go back to and play all of Gust's PS2 games at some point.

It's a shame they're pretty hard to find and damn expensive when you do find them.

 

[galvenize]

I really like the graphics. Improvement upon Ar 3 for sure.

 

[Auskeek]

Christina Vee's voice in this game isn't working for me. I liked what she did in Blazblue as clumsy lovable Noel, but she doesn't sound great in these trailers!

Not sure about this game at all, I enjoyed Atelier Totori and Escha. The trailers so far haven't grabbed me, and the ...humour (?fanservice?) in this game is completely lost on me. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV_4gcGV6ts)

 

[kiryogi]

Christina Vee's voice in this game isn't working for me. I liked what she did in Blazblue as clumsy lovable Noel, but she doesn't sound great in these trailers!

Not sure about this game at all, I enjoyed Atelier Totori and Escha. The trailers so far haven't grabbed me, and the ...humour (?fanservice?) in this game is completely lost on me. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV_4gcGV6ts)

It's not so much fanservice as it's just japanese hijinks.

 

[Dragon1893]

Loved AT1 to the point where I played it multiple times to get all endings. Played a few hours of AT2 and never touched it again, didn't click with me, especially the characters.
Might check this one out, looks nice.

 

[Basileus777]

I was pretty excited for this, but seeing all the talk of how essential Ciel nosurge is has been pretty deflating.

 

[itzknickknac]

How bad is Quoga? I have it sealed still..

I have AT1 and 2. Unfortunately, I've only played not too much of 1 (I think up to around

Spoiler

where I have two girls in my party

. I lost my memory card and so I didn't want to redo all that progress. I loved the game soo much though from what I've played. I wish they brought these games to PS2 Classics, along with the Mana Khemia games.

And as much as I want to watch the next live stream, I'd rather dive into the game knowing as little as possible =p

 

[Imouto]

How bad is Quoga? I have it sealed still..

I have AT1 and 2. Unfortunately, I've only played not too much of 1 (I think up to around

Spoiler

where I have two girls in my party

. I lost my memory card and so I didn't want to redo all that progress. I loved the game soo much though from what I've played. I wish they brought these games to PS2 Classics, along with the Mana Khemia games.

And as much as I want to watch the next live stream, I'd rather dive into the game knowing as little as possible =p

Let's say I'd drop the game after 1 hour of playing if not because it's Ar tonelico. I tried my best to avoid combat as much as possible, since after playing Tales of Vesperia, it feels like a really cheap copy cat that's much more worse. The framerate is also horrible. The translation is kinda hit or miss for some parts, and they mixed up some terminology usages.

Being Ar tonelico saved it. Otherwise I would threw it away already.

 

[Shingro]

Ar tonelico is my favorite game series of all time. no contest. I will pick this up and enjoy it all the way through.

Gust is tremendous at making games that are completely uninterested in being the safe same ol' for general consumption. They're an imagination at it's highest, most enthusiastic output.

You can't put a price on that sort of thing when so much of the industry follows the leader.

 

[Solemn_In_Berlin]

Ar tonelico is my favorite game series of all time. no contest. I will pick this up and enjoy it all the way through.

Gust is tremendous at making games that are completely uninterested in being the safe same ol' for general consumption. They're an imagination at it's highest, most enthusiastic output.

You can't put a price on that sort of thing when so much of the industry follows the leader.

This so much.

 

[itzknickknac]

Let's say I'd drop the game after 1 hour of playing if not because it's Ar tonelico. I tried my best to avoid combat as much as possible, since after playing Tales of Vesperia, it feels like a really cheap copy cat that's much more worse. The framerate is also horrible. The translation is kinda hit or miss for some parts, and they mixed up some terminology usages.

Being Ar tonelico saved it. Otherwise I would threw it away already.

I'll definitely give it a try. I'm hoping it's bearable enough to play. I'm pretty okay at warming up to a game despite it being a terrible sequel/reboot (ie: DmC - I actually enjoyed what it offered). I was able to platinum Hyperdimension vanilla, lol.

Ar tonelico is my favorite game series of all time. no contest. I will pick this up and enjoy it all the way through.

Gust is tremendous at making games that are completely uninterested in being the safe same ol' for general consumption. They're an imagination at it's highest, most enthusiastic output.

You can't put a price on that sort of thing when so much of the industry follows the leader.

I agree, I really like the games Gust releases. They aren't afraid to do something different. Although I've only played Mana Khemia (psp) and very little of MK2, I love the series. Same with AT1.
So, I'm really excited to try Ar nosurge. Unfortunately, I missed my chance of getting the LE.

 

[Freezasaurus]

Unfortunately, I missed my chance of getting the LE.

Well, I didn't even know this game was a thing until Wednesday of this week, so I guess I did as well. I don't really buy very many CEs anymore, though. Some of the pricing is just hilariously bad, like with Call of Duty and the like. When you're paying half the cost of a new console for a limited edition of a game, maybe it's time to reevaluate?

 

[Shingro]

They kept rejecting my perfectly fine credit cards, and by the time it was resolved, they'd all sold out. I was furious =/

buuuut really the joy of this game will be in the game. Worse comes to worse I'll just pick up the extras on ebay

 

[kiryogi]

Let's say I'd drop the game after 1 hour of playing if not because it's Ar tonelico. I tried my best to avoid combat as much as possible, since after playing Tales of Vesperia, it feels like a really cheap copy cat that's much more worse. The framerate is also horrible. The translation is kinda hit or miss for some parts, and they mixed up some terminology usages.

Being Ar tonelico saved it. Otherwise I would threw it away already.

I'd match this sentiment, were it not in the Ar Tonelico world, I would have dropped it ASAP. but as I mentioned earlier, for AT vets, theres a little payoff in the end knowing you finished the trilogy at least.

 

[Arcticfox]

Ar Tonelico is one of my favorite game series so I was thrilled when they announced a localization. Now I need to decide whether to buy a replacement PS3 as the temperature sensor is broken on my current one (I don't want the music to be ruined by the jet engine sound from the fan), or wait and hope they announce the Vita version.

 

[kiryogi]

As we get closer, let the countdown finally begin! 9 days left!

I was pretty excited for this, but seeing all the talk of how essential Ciel nosurge is has been pretty deflating.

Fret not:

http://www.unit03.net/view/Ciel_nosurge/Summary

I'm up to chapter 5 now. I really need to import Ciel! This is extremely good and everything from Ar is absolutely connecting now.

 

[kiryogi]

8 days left! ! !