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| Andrew Barker |
Jump inside for more new information than you could ever need (or want) in a day.
06.18.14 - 7:03 PM
Over the last few weeks, Gust have announced and elaborated on a number of new features and characters for the finalé of the Atelier Dusk Trilogy, Atelier Shallie: Alchemist of the Dusk Sea.
First up, it has been revealed that Keithgrif (from Atelier Ayesha) and Linca (from both previous titles) will be returning as party members. We heard little about Keithgrif and Ayesha in Escha & Logy, except that they were wanted criminals and on the run, so it will be interesting to see how at least Keithgrif will return to the story. It seems Gust will be using the same character model for him, judging by the new art below. Linca, however, seems to have a new outfit, along with some glasses.
A couple of other important new characters have been announced too. We have Albert Perriend (left), the son of the town's chairman, and Raoul Pireit (right).
Plus Escha, Katla, Willbel, and Homura, who had already been revealed.
Aside from characters, we also have new information on the battle system. To start, take a look at it in action in the video below:
Did you see that "Burst" mode? In order to activate it, you must perform enough cooperative attacks against foes. Once it's active, chain attacks won't break, which means the first two party members in the chain will do increased damage. The third character then performs a powerful "Variable Strike" attack.
Next on the list are new gameplay features known respectively as the Growth and Motivation systems.
Once any character reaches level 40, they will begin to acquire growth points. These can then be assigned to stats or abilities in order to make them more powerful. Effectively, they bring a more traditional RPG stat-building approach to the series.
Motivation can be increased by taking on Life Tasks: checklists of objectives to complete. With a high motivation meter, you can gain bonuses such as faster movement, increased items from harvesting points, and keeping your Burst gauge after battle stable.
Speaking of harvesting points, if you'd like to see field environments in motion, check out another video below:
And, finally, you can watch Atelier Shallie: Alchemist of the Dusk Sea's opening in the following video:
If you'd like to see some more new visuals, click the link to our updated gallery at the bottom of this story. We have dozens of new screens from all sorts of different areas of the game.
We hope that was enough new details for you for one day!
Atelier Shallie: Alchemist of the Dusk Sea will be released on July 17th on PlayStation 3 in Japan. A western release has not been announced, but will surely happen.
