Atelier Shallie deserves a thread

This soon to be released game in the Atelier series doesn't have a single thread on Giantbomb. I realize it is a niché title but when inferious JRPG's like Hyperdimension Neptunia and Agarest can get attention just because they are on steam now people need to open their eyes to the Atelier series.

It is a JRPG where it is never about saving the world and such standard storys. It is about a small scale story important to a village or in some games just the main character. Like Totari's quest for her mom or Ayesha's quest to search for her lost sister to Meruru's mission to take over the kingdom and develop a small village to a thriving city state.

The games focus on crafting, everything from bombs, potions to weapons and armor are crafted by gathering ingredients and through alchemy create items. This is the main part of the game which sets it apart from most generic JRPG's. It also focuses heavily on exploration and the characters. The more time you spend with a certain character in your party the more friendship you build and the more scenes you get to see that develops that character.

Atelier Shallie is probably the best place for newcomers to try out this series because it lacks the time limit mechanic that previous games have (although the limit have been very generous the last couple of games) so people can play without worrying about that. It also has an easy setting for newcomers which could be good because this game is not about grinding your way to power like a regular JRPG but rather you need strategy and crafting skills. The crafting is very deep compared to most games. Each item comes in different qualities and with different attributes.

I hope more people check out this game. It is out on March 10 in the US and 13th in EU. I started with Meruru Plus and messed up with the time limit but then I played the newer Ayesha and Escha games with a more lenient time limit and I loved it. For me it is the best JRPG series I discovered since I discovered Persona with Persona 3. The series are a bit similar since they both have time management and focus on building social relationships and while in Persona you fuse personas in Atelier you craft items but the way they go about that is quite different. And while Persona is more serious the Atelier games are more lighthearted. In terms of graphics it is very anime-like with beautiful places to visit and it reminded me a bit of Eternal Sonata in that way. Very soothing.

The Arland trilogy (Rorona, Totari, Meruru) was known for being filled with fanservice (although not nearly as much as games like Hyperdimension Neptunia) which lowered their review scores on a lot of sites but the more recent Dusk trilogy (Ayesha, Escha & Lodgy, Shallie) doesn't have that.

The games are noted for having only female main characters, however in Escha & Lodgy you can choose to play as a male character. In Shallie you can also choose but between two female characters of which one is the traditional girly main character that is common in the series and one is a more tomboy-ish character.

Alchemists of the Dusk Sky was a really good game - far better than what it should have been. My continual issue with the Atelier games is that the story is boring as shit. I never have a reason to go back to games, and rarely ever have commitment to characters.

They're rather pretty games, and this one looks like the nicest one visually in the series. Like Alchemists of the Dusk Sky, I'll think about picking it up when it goes to the Vita. However, all of the Dusk sub-series haven't been good enough to deserve me pulling out a PS3 for.

I do agree that a lot more JPRGs deserve attention over something like Hyperdimension Neptunia, but then again, Giantbomb is your premiere forum for "naked cartoon pussy" so don't be surprised about what sells here.

I agree that the story is not amazing but it is nice to not have the standard ultimate evil guy taking over the world and you have to save the world and such. I enjoy the experience while I play a lot more than most games but I don't think about the story much after I'm done. I like them but they are shallow there is no denying that. In that regard it is the opposite of Persona that deals with some heavy issues. I like to think of it as a nice walk in the park on a nice summers day. It is nice while it last and for what it is but it is not leaving a deep emotional impact. It's just an enjoyable experience.

Are the fully 3D ones any similar to the ones on the PS2 (the Iris games)? I know I have the first Iris laying around somewhere unplayed.

I played Atelier Annie back on the DS. It was cute if not a bit too simple.

I remember seeing these games on ps2, but never touching them (for whatever reason) but looking up videos for this I'm totally willing to support any console Jrpg that is still turn based. Thanks for putting this on my radar duder!

It's been a while since I played one of these, I remember them being charming but way too easy. Since I like challenge in my games, I don't know if this one is for me.

I picked up Rorona in the Vita sale that was on a week or so and have been really enjoying the first few hours of it. It's a very pleasant surprise. I mean, all the characters in it are kind of annoying for one reason or another, but there's little enough story it's not a bother. It manages to be charming enough anyway.

My concern is that time management games make me a little neurotic. I skew a little completionist, and time management games inevitably leave me feeling like I missed something. Not to mention the paranoia that I'll mess something up and have to start all over, or at least lose hours going back to an old save.

How much do I have to worry about that with this series? Particularly the recent-ish ones on the Vita, as those are the ones I'm looking at. I'm not far enough in Rorona to know how challenging the later stuff is and I'd like to know if I stick with this game or move onto other games what kind of time crunches I can expect. The early hours of Rorona so far are just right. Way more than enough time to get the key mission done, but just barely enough of a ticking clock to make you think about what you're doing. But if it gets seriously stressful, I'm afraid that could be a turnoff for me. That's part of the reason I've never played Persona 4, despite all the raves about it. I think the time management stuff there would give me grey hairs.

Fair warning for anyone who got this or is going to - DO NOT open the Growth System which unlocks at level 40. As of now there's a game breaking bug that 100% of the time on all copies and all environments and all characters and all everything else will freeze the game and PS3. I had to experience it myself after about two hours of not having saved, so I lost that time on top of losing out on a cool sounding new game system.

KT is aware of it, but that doesn't mean it'll be fixed. The game is playable without it, just know not to try and use the system and/or if you don't own it and are one of the types who doesn't want to support a broken and clearly barely quality tested game you now know what to expect. Though this isn't some "don't buy it" post, I just saw no mention of it in here. Just really if you have it or are gonna get it anyway don't open the menu, or at least save directly before you try it.

http://www.koeitecmoamerica.com/shallie/#notice

The game is pretty awesome aside this, so hopefully they do fix this as it's not just totally unacceptable but also literally blocks out one of the best sounding new features to an already great new title in the franchise.

Also, I don't see how anyone could claim the original Arland releases had fanservice that was in any amount or on any level worth mentioning even in a review, there was barely any whatsoever even in the extra/missable content - all of that stuff only being added in for the awful Vita remakes that should have been pure ports.

@metalexile: Time management was removed in Shallie, so you don't have to worry about that this time around. You have no time limit and days aren't even tracked. As for how hard the other games are, the Dusk games are incredibly easy compared to Rorona (which is by far the most demanding and harsh of all the modern releases, and was actually made way easier on the vita remake - but even compared to the vita version the Dusk games are very lenient with time). I'd recommend playing the Dusk trilogy if you worry about that stuff so much and see how it feels for you - but do it in order as this trilogy has an actual storyline rather than being completely slice of life.

Update: The growth system has finally been fixed.