neko's thinkbox

Even Jakuri goes キラッ！！

Image by [ハニュー ] (Hanyuu)

OMG, I almost screamed out of excitement when I saw a photo of the Famitsu mag announcement on /jp/^[1]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

It will be titled アルトネリコＩＩＩ -　世界終焉の引き金は少女の詩が弾く
Ar Tonelico III – Sekai Shuuen no Hikigane wa Shoujo no Uta ga Hajiku (The Girl’s Song that Pulls the Trigger of the End of the World)^[2]

The game is said to be about 80% complete and due for Japan release on January 28, 2010. I have not had the time to look at the article in detail (in the images below), but it seems that it will feature yet another different battle system called R.A.H. System.

AT3 announcement in Famitsu Magazine

AT3 announcement in Famitsu Magazine

AWESOME! And I thought we would only find out about a possible sequel on the Akihabara ENTAMatsuri on October 25th, but it seems Gust didn’t want to wait that long, either!
It will be sold at about JPY 7,329 (approx. EUR 55, USD 82), and preorders will feature a 44-page hardcover artbook.

Guess what? I am so getting it! Because odds are that NISA (if they ever decide to localize AT3) would take about 2 years only to do a poor job at it. So I’ll get the JP version right away. I really am ecstatic right now, I can’t wait!!!
And now, it is decided, I will get a PS3 by the end of the year. I think I only waited for AT3 to take this decision – not even FF XIII would have made me do it. How about you?

Source: [VGChartz]

Edit: Gathered some specifics on the gameplay from a rough translation of the pages above.

• Seems to be the last game in the series (最響 = last echo).
• The silhouette in the title… Who?
• Protagonist is named Aoto – written in kanji.
• 2 heroines: Saki (white hairs) and Finnel/Finnelle (purple hairs). Saki is gentle and shy, while Finnel talks like a shopkeeper.
• 3D graphics like Rorona with 2D arts. Same town navigation system like AT1 and AT2.
• World: Sol Cluster, 3rd Tower.
• Diving is still there, Mind Guardian seems to be somewhat different?
• Battle uses the R.A.H. System where the music changes depending on player’s action and the Reyvateil’s song is also altered depending on that.

I wonder where Cocona is in all of this…? Will she appear later in the game, like Jakuri in AT2? Oh my, I’m so excited, I won’t be able to sleep at all tonight!

Source: [Mây Lãng Du @ A Reyvateil's Melody]

1. For once that I am glad that I started going back to that board. [↩]
2. My tl skills haven’t improved at all… [↩]