Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk (PS3/PSN) - Out now!

[SpaceDrake]

Still a chasm between character and environment design quality, I see.

The main problem is that Gust stridently insists on rendering all of their (PS3) games at full 1920x1080 resolution... which puts a serious strain on the PS3's limited frame-buffer. The PS3 is capable of outputting that resolution, but it has to sacrifice a lot of effects to do so without the game slowing to a crawl. There are reasons games like God of War or Dark Souls run at resolutions lower than 1080p, even if your television supports them.

I do wish they'd relent on the 1080p thing, because they really could improve the environments, especially the lighting, if they did. They've already improved the environments in Meruru and Ayesha compared to earlier efforts, but I think Ayesha's about as far as they can hope to go without a resolution decrease.

[vampko]

Still a chasm between character and environment design quality, I see.

The main problem is that Gust stridently insists on rendering all of their (PS3) games at full 1920x1080 resolution... which puts a serious strain on the PS3's limited frame-buffer. The PS3 is capable of outputting that resolution, but it has to sacrifice a lot of effects to do so without the game slowing to a crawl. There are reasons games like God of War or Dark Souls run at resolutions lower than 1080p, even if your television supports them.

I do wish they'd relent on the 1080p thing, because they really could improve the environments, especially the lighting, if they did. They've already improved the environments in Meruru and Ayesha compared to earlier efforts, but I think Ayesha's about as far as they can hope to go without a resolution decrease.

Final Fantasy XIII ran in 1080p, and the visuals were insane both characters and environments.

So, while that seems like a reasonable explanation, I'm going with they're not rich.

EDIT
Thank you for ignoring the OT discussion that was going on

[SpaceDrake]

Final Fantasy XIII ran in 1080p, and the visuals were insane both characters and environments.

So, while that seems like a reasonable explanation, I'm going with they're not rich.

"They're a 15-man-team" probably plays a part as well :V but the PS3's framebuffer and rendering capacity really is shockingly limited at 1080p. And you're sure it ran at 1080 on the PS3? I thought it ran at 720.

Point is, there's only so far they can go, especially as a smaller team, without dropping the resolution, which they just refuse to do. It's a bit frustrating, but what can you do, really.

[Darcnova]

IIRC, you had to tamper with your PS3's settings to get 1080p for FFXIII

Anyways, I'm amazed with how these games turn out with only a 15 man team, since some companies can't make a game enjoyable with 30+ people on their team

[vampko]

Final Fantasy XIII ran in 1080p, and the visuals were insane both characters and environments.

So, while that seems like a reasonable explanation, I'm going with they're not rich.

"They're a 15-man-team" probably plays a part as well :V but the PS3's framebuffer and rendering capacity really is shockingly limited at 1080p. And you're sure it ran at 1080 on the PS3? I thought it ran at 720.

Point is, there's only so far they can go, especially as a smaller team, without dropping the resolution, which they just refuse to do. It's a bit frustrating, but what can you do, really.

The JP version yeah.

Well, I'm fine with the environments being like that. Honestly, the characters are more important to me.

[zatrox]

Final Fantasy XIII ran in 1080p, and the visuals were insane both characters and environments.

So, while that seems like a reasonable explanation, I'm going with they're not rich.

EDIT
Thank you for ignoring the OT discussion that was going on

Actually, didn't FFXIII only run at 1080p for the cutscenes? The gameplay was 720p.

As for the off-topic discussion; I'm sorry, I got kinda carried away.

"They're a 15-man-team" probably plays a part as well :V but the PS3's framebuffer and rendering capacity really is shockingly limited at 1080p. And you're sure it ran at 1080 on the PS3? I thought it ran at 720.

Point is, there's only so far they can go, especially as a smaller team, without dropping the resolution, which they just refuse to do. It's a bit frustrating, but what can you do, really.

What about framerate? Gust's games tend to run incredibly smoothly, particle effects aside. Maybe the fact that they won't lower framerate like other developers do also a cause for the backgrounds. But yeah, I'd say it's mostly 'cause they ain't big and lack cash, anyways.

[SaturnineTenshi]

Don't get me wrong: I'm grateful for the insistence on quality character design. Gust know my weak spot, and they've been attack—nevermind. The point is that I think the poppets are exceptionally well-devised. But it's hard to play any of the 3D games without noticing the gap between character and surroundings. It's glaring.

At any rate, you're probably right, Drake.

[aquagon]

So, the anime isn't just an adaptation of the games? Huh, I always assumed they were.

As for the fan translation, it would definitely be incredible to see you work on one. In fact, I'm kinda surprised they didn't get one already- I suppose the series isn't really all that popular. And ATII's retranslation really has taken a significant amount of time, but hey, you're almost there!

Nope, the anime is an entirely new story that takes place between the first two games in the series: Popolocrois Monogatari and Poporogue. And I agree with that: it's pretty sad that no one has been interested in doing a full-scale fan translation for it, given the charm of the game.

And thanks for the support! We're really close to ending, and while I don't want to give any temptative release dates or anything, I'm pretty confident that we'll have it finished by October at the least, as the script retranslation and checking is almost complete.

There's only one localized, quite rare Popolocrois PSP game, from Agetec, right? Is that one worth the money spent on getting a used copy?

Yep, that's the one. I'd say that while lacking a large part of one of the two games that form it, it still serves as a good introduction to the series.


...Sorry for getting OT, I got carried away too...


Back in topic, Gust has greatly been improving ever since they released Atelier Rorona, and Ayesha is pretty much shaping to be the culmination of all the learning they did from their first work in the PS3 until now. I think that SpaceDrake has a point, but most likely we won't know what will be their next way of making things until after Ayesha is released and they announce other game. I just hope they take care while programming it, since as far as I've seen and read, Ciel Nosurge, for everything it got right, it was also a buggy mess similar to Atelier Lise, most likely from their lack of experience in programming for the Vita, and the fact that they insisted in forcing the game to be permanently connected to the internet to be played.

[raspberrylicious]

Eh, don't get Popolocrois PSP.
Just my opinion.

[Akira7x]

Atelier Ayesha's environments look great imo.
I am satisfied with the backgrounds, especially in this screen.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VRRKAhChV94/T ... esha01.jpg

[SaturnineTenshi]

It's more the juxtaposition of PS3- and PS2-quality graphics. I don't find the environments ugly; I find the environments ugly in contrast to the characters.

[Yokura]

What's the difference between

http://www.play-asia.com/Atelier_Ayesha ... -4my7.html

and

http://www.play-asia.com/Ayesha_no_Atel ... -4q8j.html


;______; ?! I noticed there's also premium boxes of the different titles. Are they... all the same...?

[ShadowJetX]

What's the difference between

http://www.play-asia.com/Atelier_Ayesha ... -4my7.html

and

http://www.play-asia.com/Ayesha_no_Atel ... -4q8j.html


;______; ?! I noticed there's also premium boxes of the different titles. Are they... all the same...?

I think its because Gust hasn't released official box art yet for both the regular and premium edition of the games.

[Darcnova]

I'm amazed that an official boxart hasn't been revealed yet, seeing as it's already May

[Spirit Icana]

What's the difference between

http://www.play-asia.com/Atelier_Ayesha ... -4my7.html

and

http://www.play-asia.com/Ayesha_no_Atel ... -4q8j.html


;______; ?! I noticed there's also premium boxes of the different titles. Are they... all the same...?

Well the difference would be that the second link is listed as "Asia" and from those who bought the cheaper "Asia" versions of JP/US games from PlayAsia have commented on the instruction manuals being in Chinese or the packaging being in Chinese, but other than that, it's the same JP/US game, but cheaper (waaay cheaper in some cases).

So basically there's not much, if any, difference between those two versions. Same thing goes for the premium editions.

I chose to pre-order the game at CDjapan so I can build up some more shopper points. I'm a big soundtrack importer so I shop from CDjapan a lot. Just got an email saying that my Beyond the Labyrinth and Gundam Unicorn OST's have just shipped. Motoi Sakuraba and Hiroyuki Sawano awesomness! I'm excited.

I'm amazed that an official boxart hasn't been revealed yet, seeing as it's already May

Yeah, it happens. Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 have got official box arts already and they come out five days before Ayesha (June 23 vs June 28). Maybe the artist is still drawing a picture for the box art or something? No idea what the reason is, but I hope it looks pretty. : )