Atelier-Rorona
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Atelier dev Gust merges with Koei Tecmo on Oct. 1
Come October 1, Atelier Rorona: Alchemist of Arland developer Gust Co. will officially merge with parent company Koei Tecmo. Though far from a household name in the West, Gust has developed a loyal niche following by offering classically-styled roleplaying games that blatantly pander to time-honored anime tropes. What Gust's games lack in Shakespearian dialogue, they more than make up for in moon-eyed magical girls and solid roleplaying game fundamentals. According to Koei Tecmo (via Gematsu translation), Gust will continue to operate as normal, developing new entries in the Atelier and Ar Tonelico series' as well as new properties, only it will do so under a new name: Gust Nagano Development Group. Koei Tecmo believes this new arrangement will allow Gust to operate more efficiently than it has been under the studio's previous publishing agreement. [Image: Koei Tecmo]
Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland transmutes NA and EU in May
Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland, part three of Gust's Atelier trilogy, is currently being localized for western audiences and prepped for launch by NIS in North America and Europe this May. NIS also published the first and second entries in the series, Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland and Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland. As the artful trailer above explains, Atelier Meruru concerns the adventures of Princess Meruru and her quest to become an alchemist while simultaneously growing her kingdom of Arls to its full potential. "Development" is a primary aspect of the gameplay, with story progression changing based on how the player decides to expand and improve the kingdom. Personally, we had no idea that becoming a master alchemist involved so much sweeping.%Gallery-144698%
Atelier Rorona screenshots from NIS's alchemy shop
The many new Atelier Rorona screenshots in our gallery seem to encapsulate the whole of the experience: battling in the field, creating new items and materials in your alchemy shop, and being somewhat embarrassed repeatedly in conversations.%Gallery-98323%
Atelier Rorona gets alchemical on PS3 this September
After next week's crossover RPG Trinity Universe, you'll have to wait until September for your next serving of anime-style, cute role-playing from NIS America.
TGS 2009: NIS America announces Badman 2, Atelier Rorona
During a lunch event conveniently located both near TGS proper and extremely near our hotel (so near, in fact, that it was in it), NIS America announced two new games for PlayStation systems. Atelier Rorona, the latest in Gust's Atelier RPG series (and recently confirmed for Europe), will be released in North America in summer of 2010, and the sequel to the improbably-titled Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do to Deserve This? will be released for PSP in North America in early 2010. We guess the title didn't hurt sales too much!NIS didn't have assets at the moment, but we were able to find screenshots through the magic of remembering that the game came out in Japan last year.
NIS localizing Atelier Rorona for English audiences
It's not surprising, but it certainly is welcome news. NIS America is planning on bringing Atelier Rorona to English-speaking audiences. NIS' Allison Walter confirmed to the EU PlayStation.Blog that the company is "working on Atelier Rorona right now" and that "it should be coming out in English and French next year."For those unfamiliar with the game, Atelier Rorona is a very standard JRPG that's exclusive to the PS3. With this and Final Fantasy XIII, Star Ocean and possibly Tales of Vesperia all coming to Sony's black box next year, JRPG fans will finally be able to say the drought is over.[Thanks, Marcus N.!]
Japanese gamers want Persona 4, Phoenix Wright anime series (and so do we)
Japanese gaming pub Dengenki recently polled its readers on what series they'd like to see translated into anime form. The Top 10 list looks nearly exactly the same as our own wishlist: 1. Persona 4 2. Phoenix Wright 3. Okami 4. Kingdom Hearts 5. Idol Master 6. Metal Gear Solid 7. Yakuza 8. BlazBlue 9. Persona 3 10. Atelier Rorona Atlus' PS2 RPG Persona 4 tops the list, managing to beat out some big names like Kingdom Hearts and Metal Gear Solid. Perhaps the success of Persona: Trinity Soul reminded readers that the franchise works in serialized TV format? While we'd certainly like to see another Persona anime, an adaptation of Phoenix Wright seems like a no-brainer. Capcom, are you reading this? [Via Andriasang]
Life not chibi enough? Watch this Atelier Rorona trailer
JRPGs are few and far between on the PS3. Thankfully, fans can look forward to the upcoming PS3-exclusive Atelier Rorona. It looks as though the game will feature all the typical dressings of a JRPG: cel-shaded anime style, chibi characters and anime cutscenes. It's filled with saccharin cuteness -- but will it be able to compete against the no-longer-360-exclusive Tales of Vesperia?[Thanks, Zack!]
Exclusive PS3 RPG Atelier Rorona revealed
Turn-based aficionados will be pleased to hear that the PS3 is getting an exclusive RPG: Atelier Rorona. An entry in the Atelier series from Nippon Ichi, Rorona will continue the series' emphasis on crafting and synthesizing, according to the first details in Japanese mag Dengeki.The magazine article says more info will be known come March 27, when Dengeki will run another feature on the title. [image]
