Tag Archives: JRPG

Atelier Arland Trilogy, Videos

New Game Plus: Beat the Heat – Atelier Rorona DX #11

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It’s summer! At least it is in Arland.

You know what that means: alchemical solutions to beat the heat! Of course, the astute among you will have already noticed that… oh, let’s leave that as a surprise, shall we?

Today’s New Game Plus run continues with more alchemy, more one-hit kills, some boobs on proud display, and Tantris and Lionela really starting to come into their own as fighters, despite their inferior equipment. Hit the jump to see how things went!

Continue reading New Game Plus: Beat the Heat – Atelier Rorona DX #11 →

Cover Games, Death End Re;Quest

Death end re;Quest: Down the Rabbit Hole

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cropped-header-2500285This article is one chapter of a multi-part Cover Game feature!
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Death end re;Quest, in keeping with the rest of Compile Heart’s Galapagos RPG project, is an ambitious and rather unusual affair from a narrative perspective.

The setup for the game is pure isekai, but almost immediately after actually starting the game for the first time, you’ll come to realise that there’s much more going on here — a really interesting blend of genres and styles that makes good use of its medium to tell a story and raise some intriguing questions.

Let’s take a closer look.

Continue reading Death end re;Quest: Down the Rabbit Hole →

Atelier Arland Trilogy, Videos

New Game Plus: Vultures-B-Gone – Atelier Rorona DX #9

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Our “second playthrough” adventures in the world of Atelier Rorona DX continue, this time with an important pest control job!

It seems the Nearby Forest has been infested with vultures, and Rorona is clearly the right person to get rid of them. At least it’s a distraction from the myriad neuroses and mental scars Astrid and her absentee parents have almost certainly left on her by this point…

But surely, surely there must be an easier way of clearing out the vultures than just booping them all on the head with a(n admittedly massively overpowered) stick, right…?

Continue reading New Game Plus: Vultures-B-Gone – Atelier Rorona DX #9 →

Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Clea Glaive

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Everyone’s sure to have a favourite from among Death end re;Quest’s all-female cast. And I imagine a popular choice will be Clea.

A great example of how the game sets and subverts expectation with regard to character tropes, Clea might initially seem like your common-or-garden ohohoho-ing ojou-sama, but over time it becomes abundantly clear that there’s more than meets the eye here.

Let’s take a closer look!

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Clea Glaive →

Cover Games, Death End Re;Quest

Death end re;Quest: The Art of Fighting

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cropped-header-2500285This article is one chapter of a multi-part Cover Game feature!
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One of the things Compile Heart’s Galapagos RPG project has been keen to do ever since its inception is experiment with mechanics, particularly when it comes to combat.

Death end re;Quest is an excellent example of this, featuring several layers of mechanics that keep things consistently interesting as you play through the main story and the optional side content. It’s also one of Compile Heart’s better balanced games to date, featuring a smooth incline in challenge factor rather than sudden, unexpected spikes.

Let’s take a closer look at how it all works.

Continue reading Death end re;Quest: The Art of Fighting →

Atelier Arland Trilogy, New Game Plus, Videos

New Game Plus: Ghosts Don’t Have Feet – Atelier Rorona DX #8

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It’s time for our weekly visit to the kingdom of Arland, as our New Game Plus runthrough of Atelier Rorona DX on Nintendo Switch continues!

We’re well into the game’s second year now, and all sorts of interesting things are happening. Rorona is still devastatingly overpowered, however; can no-one provide her with a decent fight? She’s the Lu Bu of the Atelier world at this point.

Hit the jump to see how today’s crafting, gathering and Puni-splattering went.

Continue reading New Game Plus: Ghosts Don’t Have Feet – Atelier Rorona DX #8 →

Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Shina Ninomiya

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One of the more interesting things about Death end re;Quest, as we’ll discuss in more depth when we talk about its story in detail, is its dual-perspective narrative.

The “real world” unfolds from the perspective of main male protagonist Arata Mizunashi, while the “game” side of things is the domain of trapped director and lead heroine Shina Ninomiya, who initially has absolutely no recollection of how she found herself in a virtual reality game so realistic it’s difficult to distinguish from “reality”.

Shina is an excellent lead for the “in-game” side of things, for reasons that will become apparent shortly. Let’s take a closer look!

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Shina Ninomiya →

Cover Games, Death End Re;Quest

Death end re;Quest: Where Does the Game End and the World Begin?

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cropped-header-2500285This article is one chapter of a multi-part Cover Game feature!
<< First | < Previous | Next > | Latest >>

One of the most interesting things about Death end re;Quest is the fact that it gradually evolves over the course of its duration, with new mechanics and structural elements being continually introduced throughout the first distinct “part” of the game.

Today we’re going to take a look at part of the game’s overall mechanics and structure: specifically, the part of the experience that allows you to explore and advance the overall story. We won’t be discussing the narrative itself today — just how it’s presented and how the game hangs together.

It’s one of Compile Heart’s most interesting games, even before you’ve unlocked everything — so let’s take a closer look at one of its coolest aspects.

Continue reading Death end re;Quest: Where Does the Game End and the World Begin? →

Atelier Arland Trilogy, New Game Plus, Videos

New Game Plus: Medicine for a Verdant Land – Atelier Rorona DX #7

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Thus far our playthrough of Atelier Rorona DX’s New Game Plus mode has been going swimmingly, with one out of the three years down without breaking a sweat.

From here, things start to get more interesting and challenging… or, well, at least they might if you didn’t have all your nice upgrades from first time around. Instead, on a second playthrough and beyond the main challenge comes from getting all the playable characters up to standard, grinding friendship levels and triggering the events necessary for the endings you’d like to see.

Hit the jump to see how our first tentative steps into the second year of Rorona’s career went…

Continue reading New Game Plus: Medicine for a Verdant Land – Atelier Rorona DX #7 →

Atelier Arland Trilogy, Videos

New Game Plus: Cabbage Girl – Atelier Rorona DX #6

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“It’ll be a short episode,” he says, then proceeding to play for an hour and a half. I was having fun, though!

Yes, this week’s episode of New Game Plus runs a little longer than intended, but, well, there were important things to do. Very important things. Like the cabbage competition in the annual festival!

Hit the jump to see just why everyone is calling Rorona “Cabbage Girl”…

Continue reading New Game Plus: Cabbage Girl – Atelier Rorona DX #6 →