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[kiryogi]

So if you haven't seen in the Ar nosurge OT, I'm going to be giving away a NA copy of Ar nosurge! Post on here/Ar nosurge OT or tweet @kiryogi with hashtag #exapicopassion alongside with a moment/song (and or) in EXA_PICO history (Meaning Ar Tonelico 1/2/3/Ciel nosurge/Ar nosurge) that moved you the most. Explain in a creative and detailed manner. And by creative it could be a photo/image or video. The most passionate and/or creative entry will win! Folks outside NA can enter top but they will have to cover shipping. I will also feature the winning entry in the OT! Show off that passion for EXA_PICO!

New Criteria for non-fans! So if you're not familiar with the above at all, then post or tweet to me in a CREATIVE! detailed manner way why you're excited to play Ar nosurge, and if possible also include/feature music from EXA_PICO. Entries that manage to include the music will have a more likely chance to win. Don't give me that hogwash about never playing the series or not knowing what it is. Research it! You'll be very pleasantly surprised that the music is REALLY good! Not to mention it wouldn't hurt for you to do a little leg work considering you could get a free physical copy of the game! I'll start you off with some tracks, you go from there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoicX3RPf5Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEkfQQMiu64
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP6jw6ToAIc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFx0QEl8-Ls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiOJGNT1j8s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hIYBWsurnU

OT: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=892235

For nonfans also worried they don't stand a chance against fans, again, there exactly hasn't been many entries, you can stand a strong chance if you're creative enough.


Also FYI, I am not affiliated with Gust or Koei Tecmo in anyway. Just a really passionate fan wanting to spread the love and awareness for the EXA_PICO series. The copy of Ar nosurge I'm giving away is out of my own pocket.

 

[Owwari]

You're awesome, thanks for the opportunity.

 

[Hero of Legend]

Hmm, seems only tailored to fans of the series (the contest), so I can't apply as I've never played a Gust game, but I'd love this. Even better if it was a code as I'm a digital guy shockingly enough on Vita.

 

[desmax]

You're a passionate one.

Anyway, not participating, already paid my pre-order

 

[kiryogi]

It's a bit tailored I admit however that's why I included songs as a option. I know there's tons of folks that never touched a Ar Tonelico game but they have heard and love the concert soundtracks.

 

[Omnipunctual Godot]

I've never played the series personally, but I think it's awesome that you're doing this, and it's also showed me a new series that looks very much worth checking out. Thanks!

 

[kiryogi]

I think depending how many entries I get over the weekend, I might loosen up requirements for entry.

 

[Omnipunctual Godot]

I hope it works out well. The soundtrack sounds great!

 

[kiryogi]

Due to lacking amount of entries, and Omnipunctual's post (Isn't the music great?) I have eased criteria and added much more friendly requirements. My goal is to introduce this series to a new crowd. So let's see something creative!

 

[DarkLegion]

Very generous of you. Never heard of this game before but I clicked the OT and the banner instantly sold me on this game. I just wish I had a PS3 to play it. Hopefully it will pop up on PSNow one day.

Good luck to those who enter.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

I can afford a copy so I don't mind not being taken in consideration, but I've been really interested in this series as of late, I have not played any game of the series even if I'm a big Gust fan because of the Atelier series.

I started to watch a LP of the first Ar tonelico game and also been reading the Ciel nosurge summary that you posted in the OT(great OT btw). From what I've seen, I feel like I've really been missing out, the music is insane and the world in which the games happen is quite interesting, I really wish the first two games were on PSN, I've been thinking of buying the first game and just emulate it on my PC as the game seems insanely good.

I admire your passion to the series and really like what you're doing, it's mostly because of your posts in different threads that I have started to care about this series and might play this game, thank you for making me realize that I've been missing out and for helping a niche JRPG series out.

Why am I excited to play it? After watching the awesome RurouniZel explanation of the battle system(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQZLCVfFZfg) and hearing several tracks of the OST, how could I not be excited?

 

[Chocolate & Vanilla]

More than happy to buy my copy. Good luck to entrants and good on the op.

 

[kiryogi]

I can afford a copy so I don't mind not being taken in consideration, but I've been really interested in this series as of late, I have not played any game of the series even if I'm a big Gust fan because of the Atelier series.

I started to watch a LP of the first Ar tonelico game and also been reading the Ciel nosurge summary that you posted in the OT(great OT btw). From what I've seen, I feel like I've really been missing out, the music is insane and the world in which the games happen is quite interesting, I really wish the first two games were on PSN, I've been thinking of buying the first game and just emulate it on my PC as the game seems insanely good.

I admire your passion to the series and really like what you're doing, it's mostly because of your posts in different threads that I have started to care about this series and might play this game, thank you for making me realize that I've been missing out and for helping a niche JRPG series out.

Why am I excited to play it? After watching the awesome RurouniZel explanation of the battle system(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQZLCVfFZfg) and hearing several tracks of the OST, how could I not be excited?

Posts like this is what drives me to do all of this. Thanks!

 

[firehawk12]

So, I don't know anything about the Ar games, and I certainly had no idea what to expect with the music, but hearing this track makes me really curious to see what the entire soundtrack is like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-mRgL3G_7U

It's an odd mixture of synthetic production, electronic music, and orchestral score that I don't think I've really heard before. A bit like the more "out there" FF13 trilogy tracks when they were trying to illustrate a strange science fiction world, but with much more intent. If nothing else, I'm curious about what the game is and how the music lines up with the rest of the game.

 

[Theonik]

I was moved to tears by the life extending agent scene in Ar Tonelico, by the end of the sequence I felt like I had experienced something truly special.
I suppose the series has good music as well. Kinda reminds me of Panzer Dragoon.
As to why I'd like to play it, well, I'd been curious about giving the games a go for a while, kinda watched from a distance all this time.

 

[Stage On]

I was moved to tears by the life extending agent scene in Ar Tonelico, by the end of the sequence I felt like I had experienced something truly special.

you're the second person in the giveway to say that. I feel like I'm missing out on something here because I remember laughing my ass off at that scene due to how pervy the dialog was

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=973FmJ_kMmw

Honestly I wish they wouldn't market the games as sexual innuendo the rpg so much since it'd probably driving people off from playing the games that might be willing to try them otherwise

I mean sure it's undeniable that innuendo is a part of the series, but it's fairly tame for the most part and hardly the only aspect about them that rocks considering how awesome the sound track has been in all of them, thought I suppose that's to be expected for a setting where you literally need to use music to save the world.

 

[kiryogi]

you're the second person in the giveaway to say that. I feel like I'm missing out on something here because I remember laughing my ass off at that scene due to how pervy the dialog was

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=973FmJ_kMmw

Honestly I wish they wouldn't market the games as sexual innuendo the rpg so much since it'd probably driving people off from playing the games that might be willing to try them otherwise

I mean sure it's undeniable that innuendo is a part of the series, but it's fairly tame for the most part and hardly the only aspect about them that rocks considering how awesome the sound track has been in all of them, thought I suppose that's to be expected for a setting where you literally need to use music to save the world.

To quote from AT2 Relocalization:

Furthermore, in order to move more copies of the game based on sex appeal, NISA marketed the game via a crude and clunky ad campaign. They boasted to media sources that the dialogue was even racier than in the original – when, in fact, AT2 was intended to be a more serious and thoughtful game, with less emphasis on cheap hooks and a greater focus on the plot, than AT1.

So, yeah, NISA really made life hard for a modern AT fan like me. . . As I've come to notice the lack of interest or lack of awareness even of what this series is, in the face of mainstream news like Final Fantasy XV or Tales of Zestiria for example. Even though I'm offering to give away a FREE copy of the game. You have no idea to what degree of outreach I've been doing these last few days. Thankfully, KT isn't marketing it anything nearly as trashy as that, but at the same time, not really marketing at all. So it's my mission to spread this awareness and show folks how wonderful the EXA_PICO games were. And lets be realistic, yeah the fan service is there and sometimes outright creepy, but reality is that a lot of it ties into what lies deep within. Folks are outright lying if you don't have demons or fetishes that you hide from the everyday world. Which Ar Tonelico and alike explores to a deep psychological degree that really, rarely any other game out there does.

 

[Usobuko]

Good luck to the participants.

I know the feeling of being passionate of a series and wanting it to gain more exposure. This is a gesture of goodwill from the OP.

 

[Compbros]

I feel like a GMV wouldn't work in this instance.




Basically I ran across Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel in my search for a new JRPG. I'm a huge fan of JRPGs and the battle system looked pretty good. Once I started playing it I started really loving the game and I couldn't even explain why. The battle system just kind of clicked with me and I was enjoying the characters. I liked the game so much I dusted off my old PS2 and was able to get both games for 60~ from a local old games shop. Again, I really enjoyed the games. I've since traded them all in, newer games demand my attention and money lol.


Then, last year, I heard about Ar nosurge and the possibility that it wouldn't be localized and I was saddened by that since I don't know any Japanese and wanted to know the story. Even so I seriously considered importing it because I just loved the way the battle system looked and there's not enough great looking JRPGs left. Since it was announced for U.S. I've been waiting but, again, other games are taking my attention away so I was gonna pick this up later this year but I really would like to have it. Not the biggest fan or best reason but there you go lol.


As for a song? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGzmTczbvxQ


I just love the buildup, then the drums followed by such a soft, sweeping melody. I honestly don't know why lol, this song always just always stuck out to me.

 

[kiryogi]

Europe/UK folks! Geekshow is also giving away 3 digital codes for Ar nosurge!

http://thegeekshow.co.uk/2014/09/23/competition-ar-nosurge-ode-to-an-unborn-star-2/

In order to win one of the three PSN codes for this game all you need to do is send an email containing your name to studio@thegeekshow.co.uk. – it’s as simple as that. Please don’t forget to title your message “Ar nosurge Competition”, and if you want to include a comment with your entry then we’ll read out the funniest on the next show.

 

[Valkerionseven]

I like AT but have no money for this one, but I love talking about it!

My favorite moment.... mmmm. Gotta say I love the opening of Qoga on PS3.

"What happened?"
"well... first we got attacked, then you stripped and turned everyone into cake..."

Haha I knew the game would be fun soon as they addressed it so straight forward much more so in the opening 15 mins or so of the game.

Definitely my favorite thing about the franchise is how subtle or not so in later cases they are about insinuating sexuality. They make it fun, sometimes raunchy, but always entertaining without crossing into offensive in my opinion. Something few games can pull off much less attempt.

Also really liked the first game. Its very basic but I love the concept of a floating world. It was really interesting soon as I read previews for it in Playstation Magazine back in the day. Same with the character designs, especially Misha. The art is great all around.

Girlfriend in Highschool got me a large wallscroll of Misha when she went to Taiwan. Biggest regret from that relationship was I threw it away when we broke up lol... I really liked it in retrospect.

Favorite song has gotta be Indra from Ar Tonelico 2 though!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CRGs-imT3g

It has classic game/RPG tunes along with the usual Indian influence used. Also very reminiscent of Breath of Fire 4 if anyone played that. Finally I really respect them for doing vocals in many tracks. Most games and rpgs shy away from that but I personally think its the best thing ever if they are done right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z4BH-YhL3A
Voice of Life from the first game still gets me. I heard the ost before I even had the game and this song is what finally made me jump into the series.

Really hope we get more of these games in the future. They are unique enough in concept and mechanics that they are a perfect break from the usual Final Fantasy and Tales of titles we RPG fans have every year. I love the witty super self aware writing without berating the player/buyer at the same time if that makes sense. I dunno really fun unique series that's for sure.

 

[flatearthpandas]

Cheers, OP. I think it's awesome that you're doing this. I may not be within the rules but I'm cool with not really entering.

Have only played Qoga but it's interesting that what started as a purchase inspired by conflicting accounts of how weird/terrible/embarrassing the battle system was, ended up being one of the few platinums I have and the only one I reached without absolutely hating the game by the time the last trophy popped.

I enjoyed my time with the game very much. I can't say that it moved me, but it did pleasantly surprise me several times. From how serious and fearless the diving could be to how silly something like the free Harvestasha personality DLCs were.

Definitely excited for this one.

 

[Shingro]

I'd like to get my entry in but it'll take another several hours due to class requirements. please be patient~

 

[Zonic]

Is it wrong to say that the infamous double entree scene from the first game is what got me to know that the series existed?

But aside from that, as a RPG fan, I always felt like I should try to get into the series, but as more games were released, it was hard to keep track of them and which game would be the best to start with. It didn't help I had a bunch of other RPGs at the time, so it always took a backseat to those I was more familiar with due to my limited funds. I even saw it a few times at my Family Video (rental store) but I knew that I wouldn't be able to take my time and enjoy it since I'd feel like I'd have to rush through it before I had to return it.

Eventually, I'll hopefully try out one of these games (who knows, maybe I'll win & this'll be how I get introduced) and can join in with the dedicated fanbase who helps keep the series getting localized. Now that I'm able to afford more games, I'm more willing to step outside the regular RPGs that I play and try out something that I'm not as familiar with. I originally wanted to play it as a high schooler because of that scene I linked before, but now that I'm older, I'm sure that I'll be able to appreciate the story, gameplay, and characters.

& props to the OP for doing this and possibly getting more people into the series.

 

[Xianghua]

I love Gust so much that they rival my favorite developers Nintendo, Capcom, and Namco Bandai. MK and Atelier series are some of the best and most charming games ever, so I always eager to spread the words out on how fantastic they are. Until I tried out Ar Tonelico.

Ar Tonelico just seemed.......too wacky. The girls' singing power increased with less clothes on? I play games with an open mind but graphics, music, and gameplay system really have nothing to write home about, and everything just seems like a generation behind the Atelier series. I had to double check that the game was made by Gust and not Idea Factory. Ar Tonelico just seemed so.......Hyperdimension-like. XD

Granted I rented the game and have to return it in a day, so I rushed through it and played only 5 hours. So if I can give the game more time and chances I *might* like it more. However I'm probably done with the series and will not try out Ar no Surge at all. But after browsing Kiryogi's OT thread I am cautiously interested in Ar no Surge, though still not enough to buy it. So I want to test my chances here to see if I should give the series another chance.

For the music that moved me the most were:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoicX3RPf5Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEkfQQMiu64
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP6jw6ToAIc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFx0QEl8-Ls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiOJGNT1j8s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hIYBWsurnU

haha yeah I know they are all the ones you posted(they indeed moved me a little ), but thanks for your effort to increase attention and attract new fans to the series. I'm probably not going to win anything but just want to say thank you. Just wished you are that big an Atelier fan too.

Maybe Ar no Surge is a better game than Ar Tonelico? Who knows.

 

[Volcynika]

I love Gust so much that they rival my favorite developers Nintendo, Capcom, and Namco Bandai. MK and Atelier series are some of the best and most charming games ever, so I always eager to spread the words out on how fantastic they are. Until I tried out Ar Tonelico.

Ar Tonelico just seemed.......too wacky. The girls' singing power increased with less clothes on? I play games with an open mind but graphics, music, and gameplay system really have nothing to write home about, and everything just seems like a generation behind the Atelier series. I had to double check that the game was made by Gust and not Idea Factory. Ar Tonelico just seemed so.......Hyperdimension-like. XD

Granted I rented the game and have to return it in a day, so I rushed through it and played only 5 hours. So if I can give the game more time and chances I *might* like it more. However I'm probably done with the series and will not try out Ar no Surge at all. But after browsing Kiryogi's OT thread I am cautiously interested in Ar no Surge, though still not enough to buy it. So I want to test my chances here to see if I should give the series another chance.

For the music that moved me the most were:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoicX3RPf5Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEkfQQMiu64
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP6jw6ToAIc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFx0QEl8-Ls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiOJGNT1j8s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hIYBWsurnU

haha yeah I know they are all the ones you posted(they indeed moved me a little ), but thanks for your effort to increase attention and attract new fans to the series. I'm probably not going to win anything but just want to say thank you. Just wished you are that big an Atelier fan too.

Maybe Ar no Surge is a better game than Ar Tonelico? Who knows.

Did you only play Ar tonelico Qoga?

 

[kiryogi]

Yup, we got another traumatized Qoga first timer. XD I love Atelier as well . . . But Ar Tonelico just has so much more in comparison. The worlds, the music. THE MUSIC! If you could read about how much thought is put into it all, plus how detailed the worlds were.

 

[Xianghua]

Yes that was Ar Tonelico Qoga for ps3 and never tried the first 2 PS2 games. Lost faith in the whole series because of that and maybe a little in Gust.

Are you saying Ar no Surge is a completely different game in a whole different level? XD

 

[kiryogi]

Yes that was Ar Tonelico Qoga for ps3 and never tried the first 2 PS2 games. Lost faith in the whole series because of that and maybe a little in Gust.

Are you saying Ar no Surge is a completely different game in a whole different level? XD

Its equivalent to Ar Tonelico 2, which is the peak of the series and highly regarded by many folks around here. (IMO the best RPG of the PS2 era, thats right, come at me P4 bros.)

Some fun reading for you.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=129363776&postcount=41

Ah, but here's where the "but" comes into play. Ar Tonelico II is also, unequivocally, one of the best PlayStation 2 RPGs on the system. In fact, it's one of the best RPGs I've ever played. Mull that over for a second: a game, featuring scenes and situations that I was loathe to expose anyone who knew me to, is also something that I'll recommend to anyone who was a fan of the old 16- and 32-bit RPGs of yore. This is a labor of love, a downright gushing tribute to the kind of RPGs that were previous generations' bread and butter, but it's not entirely resistant to adding in a few new things here and there.

By far, though, the standout part of Ar Tonelico II's presentation is its music, which may well be the most impressive collection of tunes I've heard in a game since Chrono Cross. Ranging from a languid harmonica-driven town theme to a smattering of techno-industrial aural backdrops, to multiple choir-driven hymns that serve as the foil for almost all of the game's most dramatic moments, the music is wonderful. It's also plentiful, with multiple battle themes present to avoid getting tired of the same tunes. The soundtrack is, across the board, fantastic stuff, and if you pick up a copy of the game now, you'll get an art book and a soundtrack CD included.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=129397193&postcount=51

While AT2 is technically the best one thus far, NISA absolutely botched the translation, I never finished it as the level of english on display on anything outside of the critical path was frankly insulting. The game is good but if you're playing with NISA's translation I'd temper your expectations before diving in. Localisation issues aside, the characters, music and story branches were all pretty memorable for me back when I played it, the cosmosphere mechanics were pretty unique (I think cosmosphere progression was tied into the main story a bit better in the second game too), both PS2 entries did a lot to separate themselves from the crowd and I consider both to be among the most unique and fulfilling rpgs I played on the platform. Which is probably why AT3's mediocrity was so crushing to fans. Personally I'd advise playing AT1 first because at least with that game you won't be doing double takes constantly due to the awful translation. If that game clicks with you, proceed on to AT2.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=129453314&postcount=57

This is what I wrote in the NeoGAF essential RPGs 2013 thread:

Ar Tonelico 2
The best entry in the Ar Tonelico series, which features one of the most interesting settings in JRPGs. Also has a very unique battle system, and integrates some gameplay elements from Visual Novels. Fantastic, distinctive music that's different from anything else out there. The characters and story are also much better than you'd expect, even despite the bad translation.

So basically, for me, the stand-out features of the series are the interesting setting, the combination of JRPG and VN gameplay and the amazing music.
In AT2, those are joined by one of my favourite JRPG battle systems of all time.

Although AT3 did end the series and had some payoff to it, the game was largely very bad, even I don't deny this.

 

[Xianghua]

That's good to know. Kinda strange that Gust dropped the ball on AT3 and return to greatness so fast in Ar no Surge.

Did they outsource AT3 to Idea Factory or something? LOL.

 

[kiryogi]

They've been building up to Ar nosurge through Ciel nosurge actually, both are part of the Surge Concerto series, which was originally a reset of the Ar Tonelico series.

While, I wish I really knew what happened with AT3. It's clear as day there was way too many cooks in the kitchen when you look at the list of artists they had for songs. But when you look at how sudden everything also died off for AT, it seemed as if Gust was cutting it off completely and whatnot, rushing it out of the gate even.

 

[Shingro]

Alright, storytime I guess. There's a lot of context to my moment

I'll be brief about the history, suffice to say a friend had turned me on to Ar Tonelico a few months after its release. It was the sort of time where I believed we weren't really going to see stuff like that again, and certainly not in the states. Still, Ar tonelico 2 was announced and the day kept getting closer. I was out of school and paying off student loans, just working and living by myself. No family, friend or loved one to work towards their benefit. Just a solo person. Days blended together in a very strange way. It wasn't terribly hard, but it wasn't particularly exciting either. Fewer peaks and fewer valleys. For two years I'd done this, in this context I got Ar Tonelico 2 and had the time and interest to play all the way through. A large theme of Ar Tonelico is a building of a relationship and intimacy between individuals, so I was willing to invest emotionally in a way I wasn't for other games. It's definitely not the same as a relationship, but a limited balm is better then bare skin.

AT2 spoilers

Spoiler

Ar Tonelico 2 there's a point where they're going to format the space where the IPD's "minds" so to speak are stored, Infel Phira. This will permit everyone else's minds to inhabit the space where they'll live as digital entities without the messes and difficulties of the barriers between humans. This will happen though at the expense of the IPDs, who will lose themselves. Having an IPD in the party, her memories start vanishing bit by bit. The song that activates this effect is this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8iP0lkRldE

Spoiler

It plays on the overworld and it plays in combat. You're running through a large dungeon trying to save someone who has become quite important to everyone. It is a space where the world is ending, not by lasers, death or conflict, but by a slow soft process of going to sleep. of people so tired that they just lay down their burdens. The humans aren't resisting being drawn away, and the IPDs can't resist their memories being dissolved to make space. There are cut scenes as you progress. Most of them are the people of the town slowing, or stopping as their minds are beginning to be moved into the digital space. Mumbling soft words of comfort to children who don't understand what is happening. Other scenes are of your own party member (an IPD) trying hard to hold onto her memories of people very important to her, and slowly failing to do so. It is an inexorable spinning of the natural laws of the world changing shape. The moon falling slowly behind the horizon moment by moment. How do you stop it? If you stopped it can you even imagine reversing it? And in this case knowing that once it's gone no one will ever see it again. The music, the song magic creating this effect isn't something that sounds evil, or even aggressive. It sounds like a sad lullaby, sometimes it even sounds like the singer is crying. It accents a tragedy of good people wanting good results doing it by cruel means.

It really struck me there, in the space my life was just moving from day to day without significant purpose. I've never been a good consumer, I was just stocking money away "For something, someday." No serious pains, but no serious desires. Not unhappy, but not joyful. It held up a strange mirror that I couldn't really process properly at the time. I did know though that I valued the experience, for something to penetrate the strange "smoothness" of my life at that time.

It did so not by me feeling something else, but by a far more acute feeling of the same thing in a different space. It was a moment that had me feeling very detached, almost floating in an interesting way. Feeling deep detachment all the way to the heart. I've never felt anything prior like that nor have I felt anything like it since, except when I load up the song I can still see the shadow of those emotions. I'm listening to it now as I write, so who knows what I'll think once I come back to earth and reread this entry.

In the movies or a book I'd say that it changed everything and I moved forwards with eagerness towards a new horizon. It didn't. I'd spend two more years in that "smooth life" before I found serious motivation for building a future with will. It actually turns out a friend of mine would interrupt me mid-dungeon with a knock on the door and I'd spend twenty minutes arguing with him that I seriously didn't want to go get food right now. I eventually caved, we endured the most awkward social interaction of our friendship and I still haven't strictly forgiven him his obtuseness, but that's a story and a moment for another time and another place.

In that time and moment Ar Tonelico became my favorite game series of all the decades of my gaming, and a serious highlight of what some investment and the right combination of theme, atmosphere and music can do for the player. Games are an art form, and even something you may believe looks ridiculous and campy on the outside can have hidden depths if you are the right person in the right place.

Give wierd things a chance. Seek the unusual experiences. You might not like some things, heck you might not like most things, but the experience when it clicks, when a game really connects as the full package of an expression of something is amazing.


So yes, I'll be there for any game they make, hell, I'll be there for any game GUST makes. But I'll especially be there for these creators.

(On review:

Spoiler

YEP THIS ISN'T MORTIFYING AT ALL =P

 

[kiryogi]

Just a little update! Deadline for the giveaway will be Oct 3rd! Tried to give time for folks to enter due to lack of entries. Winner will be decided next week on said date. Good luck!

 

[Stage On]

Fingers crossed, I'm having a meltdown of epic proportions between stuff at work and Canada post majorly screwing up on me and could really use some good news right about now.

 

[kiryogi]

Sorry about the delay, looks like there's one more last minute entry. As soon as I get this entry and look it over, I will announce a winner. Hang tight!

 

[kiryogi]

And the winner of this #exapicopassion giveaway is...

@Pekolachi ! on Twitter!

Their entry:
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sceb4p



Extremely passionate and creative! Not to mention at the 11th hour! There was a lot of very passionate fans out there, but this stood out the most.

One of the more amusing runner ups, for you JYB fans out there!
@kevin6049

Thanks for all those entered, stay tuned in the future for my giveaway of Ar Tonelico 2 North American version and Ar Tonelico Fanbook for the release of the Ar Tonelico 2 Retranslation. Follow @kiryogi on twitter or watch for it here on NeoGAF