Gordon-TurnerNo JRPGs for the Vita? Think again. Tecmo Koei has you covered.
Vita fans of Gust's Atelier games can rejoice, Tecmo Koei managed to sneak out a release of the turn-based JRPG Atelier Totori Plus: The Adventurer of Arland in North America and Europe. Readers may remember that this extended version of the Playstation 3 original was released in Japan in 2012, but there was no indication of a Western release.
That's because Tecmo Koei is handling the publishing duties of the Atelier games now, and unlike NIS America who handled the games previously, they appear to believe in stealth publishing. So stealthy that you could be excused for missing the release. However, the press release from Tecmo Koei popped up at Gamsutra . The game is a download only title and was made available on March 20th. If you grab it before April 20th, you get free bonus DLC in the form of swiming costumes for Totori to wear in-game.
This enhanced port of the PS3 title retains all the graphical charm of the original. Of course, since this is the Plus version, there is additional content included. You'll find all of the DLC that was available for the PS3 game included, along with some Vita specific items. Price is $39.99 for the bundle in NA, EU readers will pay the same number of Euros.
Tecmo Koei doesn't list the game on their North American home page. Even the PS Store Update posted at the PlayStation Blog does not list the vita version as a new release, it's included in the list of game bundles instead. We can hope that Tecmo Koei sees a decent return on this game and brings more JRPG love to the Vita. However, stealth releasing game is not the best method of promoting sales, hopefully they realize this before the next installment.
Related Game(s): Atelier Totori Plus: The Adventurer of Arland
Nice lets hope they keep releasing Atelier titles on the vita 🙂
Yeah seen this on the store two weeks ago. I asked on the forums if anyone knew if it was worth getting, I think I must of posted it stealthily too because I'm still waiting to hear back lol
It was however mentioned in the EU Playstation Blog at the time of release.
Last edited by frostface on 4/4/2013 4:34:18 PM
The answer is YES, I have the PS3 version and it's a great game. Though it's a niche interest title so you shouldn't expect some grand quest, in any case the turn based battles are lots of fun.
I didn't see that post on the forum sadly, or I might have known about this earlier.
the way that Tecmo handled this is really odd though, the last news I read about Atelier Totori on Vita was that it was JPN only. The press release was available via Gamesutra, but it seems to not have generated a ripple much beyond that.
There was no mention at all of a release outside JPN. Yet we have one, which I'm definitely happy about. But I can't help noticing the lack of promotion given to it. When NIS America handled these games, they mailed their previous buyers, made special editions, preserved the original audio where possible and generally promoted the heck out of it to their niche of gamers.
Tecmo Koei on the other hand doesn't do special editions, they don't include the original audio, they don't appear to promote them much either. With niche games like this, engaging the niche market is important. I don't see Tecmo doing that so far. I think that lack of attention to the market could hurt the performance of these games, further diminishing the JRPG genre outside JPN.
Thanks for the info on this game lads. I checked a few vid's out on YouTube and it looks like something I'll be picking up.
I can't say the game was promoted heavily, even on the EU Store, so it's understandable that you missed it when I asked about it. It was in amongst other Vita news I was posting up that day and kinda got buried. Hopefully more people will see this article and give the game some love.
(It also didn't help that I was mixing the title up with the Tales of Grace series. I spent the last couple of weeks wondering why no-one had heard this awesome news I was talking about. lol)
Last edited by frostface on 4/4/2013 5:18:13 PM
I hope so frosty, the Atelier games are really nice games, a total gear shift from the majority of games these days, and turn based. I'd love to see more of these making it to Vita in future.
But they did stealth release the next one! I saw some other Atelier after Memeru on PSStore, I think. I didn't look at it because I still haven't played Memeru yet.
Anyways, I kind of dislike the whole jrpg's being timed and limited thing, but that's my only complaint. I actually really enjoyed Totori. Enough to platinum it.
Atelier Ayesha released recently on PS3, I think you are probably referring to that, it was not so much a sequel to Meruru, but an entirely new story arc and characters. Tecmo handled that one as well, no special editions for collectors, or original audio included….
Yeah, that's the one. I was really surprised to see it on the store because I had never heard of it at all!
Yeah, unfortunately it had a really quiet launch as well. Honestly Tecmo really don't know how to handle these titles. NIS America put out press releases and mail-bombs in the months before a release, and always had premium collectors editions and other promotions with the games, it really works well for the more niche markets these games sell most heavily in. Tecmo seems content to simply drop the games without a word and hope that someone passes on the news that they are there. The surely don't cater to the audience the way that NIS America does, I hope they figure it out soon because these games sell well to particular groups and if you mess them up, you will not sell many copies.
* Fourth paragraph, first line: "grahical"
Other than that, great first article, Highlander!!!!
Thanks, I'll fix it
My spell checker hates me! Seriously, it was spell checked.
Atlus and NIS…the two greatest publishers catering to the JRPG fanbase. Thank god for them.
Sweet first article, highlander! Dang you guys are good.
/me feels the pressure
Bought this.One word to sum it up? Its a "cute" game.Nothing special, JRPG'er. Still it's an amusing time killer. Really nice art.So far, the story keeps fresh enough to just keep you going.Lots of dialouge. Very simple. Nice break from other games.One more purchase,soul sacrifice, and Im done buying for VITA till next year.