GBAtemp game of the week- #28

[FAST6191]

GBAtemp book game club's new edition is upon us and as always a quick summary of what this is about follows. Each go around a game is suggested by us and should people so desire they get to play it or recall a previous playthrough and discuss it among their peers. We take care to note this is not a top ? games list as they get kind of dull fairly quickly so as well as featuring top rated games should it have another compelling factor such as being the last game from a company or a deviation from their usual fare, an attempt at a genre not attempted on a platform (RTS on a console for instance), a twist on a classic series or something along those lines it can feature here. Games can draw from the libraries of commercial releases, rom hacks, homebrew and other sources each of the consoles we cover (and pull these suggestions from) and on occasion we add in an additional criteria (budget, not released in certain regions, small run, release timeframe....) or special features (compare and contrast, first ? levels/minutes....).

#28- Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island (NDS)

The Atelier series has been developed by Gust since the late 1990's but only broke out of Japan late in the PS2 era. Unlike some of the other titles in the Atelier franchise this is not a member of any sub series although it does share more in common with the early games than some of the later ones. The game itself is a role playing game although it leans more towards the likes of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles- my life as king or Rune Factory than your Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest RPG games with the resource management and item creation being a big focus and there being a time limit on the overall quest (although plenty of sideshows along the way). The story shares a lot in common with some of the rags to riches fantasy anime genre which might put some off but the emphasis on story compared to some games can make for an interesting experience.

Trailer (a nice playthrough series is also available)

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GBAtemp release thread[/p]

More evidence the DS is/was the last refuge of those not willing to step up the current generation of games or a quirky game from a developer that knows what they are doing?. Discuss it in the thread below.

ongoing discussion

gbagotw should get you other links in this series

 

[Aeter]

This one is still on my MSD, like many others that I still haven't gotten the time to play for yet.

 

[klim28]

I love playing this. The story is kinda funny.

 

[Vampire Lied]

I don't know if it's the characters or just the atmosphere of the game in general that doesn't reel me in.
I just couldn't seem to get into this series.
Maybe it's just me, but if an rot doesn't suck me in very early on, I can't find a reason to keep playing.
I admit i've played through some rpgs with bad fighting mechanics or other problems just because the story was so good.
I just couldn't find a reason to keep playing this one.

 

[pilladoll]

I have this game and like it

 

[regnad]

I found the characters so enormously irritating that I could barely make it 15 minutes into the game before giving up.

But that's me. I live in Japan and am surrounded by this stuff, and it just gets very old very fast. It may be your thing.

 

[Mugiwara no Kot]

looks very fun, i'll try it. Hey, does anybody know when is One Piece Gigant Battle 2 Shin Sekai coming out? I thought it was for 17/11, but..... where's it?!
Thanks for posting =D

 

[OtakuGamerZ]

I liked it, played it like a mad man, beat it. Never got the best ending though.

Does any one know any other games with a time limit for the whole story.
I only know of this, Recettear for PC, and in a lesser form Majora's Mask.

 

[DarkStriker]

Recettear doesnt exactly have a time limit. You simply restart from day 1 while keeping all ur gold/items/whatever u got

Atelier series on the PS3. Arland. I like Totori more though, the sequuel of the first.

 

[Bladexdsl]

good game if you like READING 90% of the fucking game is text!!

doesn't hold a candle to Atelier Iris

 

[reimu]

I didn't expect to like this one. Got sucked in quick though and couldn't put it down for a long time.

 

[TankedThomas]

I haven't finished it (heck, I haven't played much of it - I was waiting to buy a copy but they're quite hard to get for a decent price. I finally managed to source one which I should have in another month or two though) but I really liked what I played. It's a really charming little game and I was surprised to hear some great voice-acting too, even if it's only in Japanese (not that that's a bad thing - I'm fairly indifferent about dubs and subs unless one or the other is REALLY bad. Most people overreact about dubs).