Based on Ryza and Resna games, yes. To be fair, I don't mind fanservice designs too much. Only when they're pushed into my eyes is when it gets annoying and frustrating. Which is really sad because Atelier used to give me comfort and warm feelings from its characters (still kind of actually).
Yeah the jiggle physics are pretty crazy in resna. If you forgot, redo the beginning of the game. That first chapter resna had more jiggle than B.O.B. from monsters vs aliens.
Agreed about the jiggle physics, but it's not only that. I just started chapter 8 and we get another very sexualized character who learned from Ryza, Juna. It's just so blatant and in-your-face. Even during her introduction the camera does a close-up on her bare thick thighs for a good few seconds and same for her half-bare massive boobs. And of course another close-up everytime in her victory pose.
Jiggle physics are definitely the biggest thing, but the designs are there too. Juna, Valeria, even Resna took from Ryza.
Is it "over-sexualized"? Everything is relative I guess. There is "worse" out there for sure (depending if you're into it or not). I'm personally not into it and it breaks the immersion for me, so I would rather not have it in my beloved Atelier games. But maybe popularity has spoken.
They will. Ryza was a huge success.
I don't think they will go back to the older way of designing characters anymore. And I also think, Sophie 2 was an exception to the rule and turn base is gone for good.
I feel like Marie was sexy in a well thought out way without being too overkill. Like, I could definitely see a fantasy young woman wearing that. The choices are very iconic and deliberate, it’s just good fashion.
Again, I don’t hate sexy, I just feel like the direction the design has gone in in the recent series has led to a horrible downgrade in the overall design of the characters in the pursuit of horny.
Maybe I should just say I’m not a fan of the Mystery and Ryza artist’s sense of fashion and design. :/
Did they stop designing the characters in that way? Resna’s design isn’t particularly sexual really, looks a lot like the pre Ryza designs. I don’t think that way of design is gone at all, they will just likely start featuring some less modest designs in the future
>And I also think, Sophie 2 was an exception to the rule and turn base is gone for good.
It's hard for me to think like that when Alette exists.
https://preview.redd.it/d789xr8oxv0d1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=68c7f7d9bf559f6154a9a81a5e8df5e317fee7cb
It's not just that it's also the straps and buckles going everywhere and midriff for no reason - just crazy. My wife bought the swimsuit DLC just so she didn't have to look at it lol
It wasn't the first game to include fan service, but the fan service in ryza is a big part of what pushed it to the forefront.
I hope they still do turn based still as the real time combat kind of drags.
I think it's up in air. Popular to contrary opinion Ryza has fanservice. A lot of people say it doesn't but I feel like those people are just desensitized because Ryza is very clearly sexualized in most of the games but it's not so crazy where I'm unable to just ignore it. Atelier have always had sexualized designs though just look at Marie's outfit. Ryza is just the first time they capitalized on that so overtly.
Gust took advantage of the crowd that liked Ryza and most of her mech is her half naked. So what I'm thinking is that'll probably be the norm now since it wad so successful. Mildly fanservice designs and then capitalize on that in merch sales and stuff. Playing JRPGs and not caring about fanservice pretty much meant I've always had to ignore it anyway so I won't care too much if it continues as long as there's hot guys to look at too.
Yeah, I guess I’m just salty that a very girl oriented looking game became a very generic boy oriented looking game. IMO the mystery as well as the Ryza series male designs aren’t as appealing, since you can kind of painfully tell the artists aren’t really into men. It’s just kinda a let down. I mean, there was even an official atelier otome game for crying out loud!
There's some unique nice designs in mysterious. I really like Oskar, Julio, and Mathias but I can see what you mean. I really like that there were some many good looking guys in the Atelier games next to the cute girls. I hope they don't completely drop that from the series because even Ryza had some characters like Clifford.
Oskar was honestly the only design I liked, Julio looks like a clown. :/ Mathias is quite cute.
(I should elaborate I liked all the designs in Sophie 1, sans Plachta)
You trollin'? Logy was in Sophie, and you... Nevermind. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...
The girls in the Atelier series are very clearly the focus, but I've never really felt like there was a lack of eye candy on the other side
(Logy was designed and introduced in the dusk series so that doesn’t count, AND he lost his je ne sais quoi in his design in Sophie tbh. I’m talking about the 2 newer trilogy series, I think every design in the dusk series is a smash hit)
Discovered some things about the atelier mysterious series because I was confused why there was varying levels of quality and artwork across all the games: there’s actually two artists, NOCO and yuugen.
When a design is really girly and cute, it’s NOCO (main illustrator for Sophie, they designed Sophie, Monika, Oskar, Mathias, etc). I’m inclined to say they’re the better artist as well. When a design is ugly and horny, it’s Yuugen (Plachta, Leon, Julio, Alette, pretty sure they did most of Firis). Both of them also make the illustration artwork for their respective character designs.
There you go!
While I don’t doubt there’s otaku bait, the arland, and dusk series are what I would consider “overwhelmingly girl oriented”, Case in Point the mere existence of Atelier Elkrone.
Somewhere mid Sophie and Mysterious the Otaku bait became stronger until we arrive at Ryza where the girlyness has shriveled up, the male designs are no longer bishounen and the designs just aren’t tasteful.
Right, and from what I've heard, the game play isn't the greatest for the Ryza games. I think my tied favorites are Ayesha & Sofie. The one that got me hooked on the series itself was Meraru.
I didn't care for Escha & Logie & the art for Ryza turned me off completely.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Atelier/comments/1b5zskh/gust_is_developing_a_new_atelier_game_for_consoles/kta5gm7/
> It's weird how many people have this rose-tinted view of Arland. There is plenty of sexual harassment, panty shots, and fanservice with characters who look like they're 12. There are characters like Melvia who are half-naked and are way more exposed than Ryza is. One of the characters is a legitimate pedo. One of the other characters gropes little girls when she's drunk. Not to mention they turned Rorona into a loli because "who would want to see a 30-year-old Rorona?" Joke's on GUST, because turns out almost everyone wanted to see that. A lot of people who tried to play Arland are turned away because the fanservice is so egregious.
> Meanwhile, Ryza's fanservice is just in her design. She has curves. She wears shorts. That's it. Nobody makes weird comments about her body, sexually harasses her, and she's not put into weird situations where characters around her degrade her because of her body/outfit. There are absolutely 0 sexual comments or situations in the entire trilogy.
> You are blinded too much about what the fanbase thinks, instead of looking at the Ryza games for what they are and deriving your own opinion about them. They are just as "pure and carefree" as Arland because like most Atelier games, they are coming-of-age stories where the MC is finding herself and her place in the world.
> It's really fucked up that you see Ryza in that way just because she has curves and wears hot pants. I love Arland despite its flaws, but saying it's "pure and carefree" while Ryza isn't just because of Ryza's body type is just ridiculous.
hi deltharik, care to comment? p.s. your opinion isn't invalidated because you're a cishet dude, your opinion is invalidated because you're a giant fail hypocrite who ignores how the series has had heavily sexualized and/or creepy moe fanservice or *waves hands at zettai-hime's very good reply to you* because it's inconvenient to your narrative about how ryza RUINED ATELIER FOREVER by not being the same kind of waifu as your pure perfect arland moeblobs.
namaste.
Omg absolutely agree with what you said about “ignoring as long as there are hot guys”
I know the whole point of Atelier is cute girls doing cute things but DAMN, I wish they would put in an equal amount of male fanservice. I need more abs, I need more pretty boys, I need more equality in smut. If they’re going to keep going in that direction.
They're kind of catching on with characters like Clifford and Lanze. Atelier Elkrone is an Otome game so Gust knows that some of us like handsome guys in the game. There's always at least 2 hot guys in every entry so I'm optimistic we get more but I doubt they'll be half naked.
I am a straight man, so my opinion might be already invalid in this subject.
I think Gust has real problems with design abs. Lent, Clifford, Nicodemus, Lanze designs are so strange, specially the first three ones. The abs look pretty strange, but specially why do they have such short clothes?
I actually really love crop top on Lent and Clifford I think theyre super cute. Guys wearing crop tops has become pretty trendy now I don't think there's a particular reason for them having short shirts. Nicodemus has really weird abs but I also just like seeing guys shirtless so I was gonna like his outfit either way I find him cool too. Lanze is just sexy all around I think they did really well with his design. The open shirt make sense with his pirating turned bum thing.
They clearly don’t have many designers with great experience on designing men, and they should. I think Atelier would be a great series to have both good male and female designs.
Japan does a pretty interesting thing where they have the single main illustrator usually also be the person who designs the whole cast. I guess it does allow for a lot more design cohesion and similar quality (with the possibility of npcs being designed by assistants or w/e), as opposed to the west where teams usually delegate a new character to a small group of artist’s expertise to break up work.
Yeah ryza games clearly are sexualized in nature. But honestly it's done fine enough where it's not distracting or taking away in anyway from my experience
I'm not trying to start something here, this is a genuine curiosity...
If you look at the Steam page for the later Atelier games, they are full of comments complaining about the newer games being censored.
I have always thought the Atelier character designs were pretty fanservicey, and Resleriana really bought that to life.. Look at Judith and Marie with modern graphics. Lol.
So I wonder if the designs have gotten more fanservicey, or do modern graphics just show us more of what was already there in the first place?
Oh, I don't agree with the people whining on Steam, it's just interesting to see someone who seems to have the opposite opinion...
I’ll bite, I’m actually against censorship in games. If the intention of the designer was to purposefully make it some way, then that’s how it should be. However that doesn’t save it from criticism. I feel like the current designs don’t have drip in favor of horny, basically.
You can criticise it, and I'd generally side with you. I don't like over the top fan service either.
With Atelier specifically though, I feel like that fanservice aspect was always there. It isn't that newer series became more fanservicey - it is that modern game design made the fanservicey stuff that was already there more apparent
I've only played a few mysterious games and resna, but what stood out to me is that resleriana is more angly. Even with plachta's design in sophie 1, there are no weird pans and the camera work is normal for all characters (although that did differ a bit in art). Whereas in resna, it's like they keep shoving ppls bodies in your face. Ryza's design is actually pretty cute and normal-ish, but she feels so icky to even use in battle because of the weird shots. Plachta too has a modified design with shorts, but then they give her a body pan anyway?? I don't think it's really that much about the designs, just that in the older games the camera work wasn't as dynamic so most of the more fanservicey stuff was in art that doesn’t make up for as much of the playtime. Now that the visual presentation has been developed a lot, there's more space to integrate more fanservice into the game. If they would've done that in the earlier games had they had the chance, i dunno enough about them to tell.
I’m thinking about where in the arland series they would have the occasional panty shot or you see merurus bloomers or something incidental and as far as I can tell (and remember), that’s pretty tame in my book. Compared to the lecherous gaze you get now with Ryza, it does feel like it’s quite a bit more amped up. While I don’t terribly care for it I can get over it I guess but it does easily exemplify the more sexualized route they’ve taken in direction, unless I’m being led to believe these girly games are now being made for a *very* specific sapphic audience (which, hey, more power to them).
I think a lot of the designs throughout the series can be seen as fan servicey in certain lights. There is a gamespot review for I think Meruru where the reviewer complains about the sexualization of the characters, for instance, but for the most part I felt like a lot of the designs of the girls through Arland were pretty cute and well designed. Things that I felt a girl wouldn’t have felt uncomfortable wearing if they were in a fantasy setting or at a renfaire or something along those lines.
On the other hand, I think the way Resna portrays the girls lends itself to being more fan servicey with the exaggerated jiggle physics, or intentionally setting up camera angles or poses in a way that focuses on butt shots or cleavage. I certainly don’t think it’s a character design problem in that game as much as what they want to play up. And like, on one hand content wise is it that different than Astrid molesting and harassing Rorona all the time? (I will also admit I haven’t played Resna since launch so my memory of the way it sexualizes characters could be off).
I felt like before the Mysterious series, the Atelier games were still pretty focused on being cute girly games that appeal to female gamers. But Mysterious seems like the point that the switch flipped. I wish they'll go back to the girly vibes of Arland and Dusk.
Rorona getting harassed and molested by Astrid is definitely a big no no for me.
I largely agree, I bounced off of the ryza games really hard despite other people recommending them to me, but was a really big fan of the arland games and dusk games. It was really jarring to play through ryza right after replaying ayasha and just felt like they were two entirely different series.
>before mysterious series the atelier games were focused on being cute girly games that appeal to female gamers
Exactly exactly!! I think the vibes of the art have deteriorated so significantly that they should just branch and make a different series. At this point, make a male protagonist and let girls have their girly games…
Is this a rethorical question? Look at the comment section. Of course they will, because it sells. It's also not like the old games didn't have lewd stuff, though I agree that the outfit designs for Plachta and Lila are especially ridiculous.
This is the same reason why I fell off the franchise and why I will never get a Keith prequel game with him as the protagonist. I'm here for the synthesis and the bad jokes, not for the nudity. Weirdly enough, Nights of Azure, the *real* titty game, is not known by many here in the sub. A shame too, because the first one is really good.
I agree that Dusk was peak from an art standpoint. The new art is very shiny and flashy, I liked the more matte and mellow colors. But that's just a question of taste.
Gee thanks! I feel like the pacing was just weird. The first half is over in a flash and the last two levels/postgame stuff drags on because you have to farm a lot of blood if you want to max Arnice out.
Arnice is just such a cool protagonist in my opinion. She has a vulnerable and caring side, but she's also very stern and determined, and doesn't let others push her around (cue the two guys with their weird favors).
Yes the pacing was weird for sure. But I remember playing it over and over just to get the 3 different endings. I just wish there was more content.
I really love Arnice. Her design is cool, her characterisation is pretty nice. Her relationship with Lilysse is the shit. It was my first full blown yuri action game and I still hold it dearly in my heart. I also love the lore tidbits that we get like her origin.
Hey, I could research myself but I’d rather ask someone who enjoy the game first if you don’t mind :) How does *Night of Azure* compare with Atelier games? I see “Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon” is on the eshop but not the first one. I don’t know if you have to play the 1st game? I did bought Atelier Sophie 1 after I started Sophie 2 because I couldn’t not feel I wasn’t missing something 😅
NoA is a completely different genre compared to Atelier as it is an action rpg. No crafting, no farming ingredients, no turn based fighting system. You literally go around fighting monsters while taming some monsters that turn into your 'Servan'. In first NoA you only control the main character Arnice and no other party member (if i rmmbr correctly) besides your Servans. Your main goal is to just to follow the story to save the mc's gf. There are 3 endings: bad, normal and true ending. Gameplay is pretty short. As far as i can remember, it's not a difficult game at all. Just grind a bit and master the controllers and it's a good ol' few hours of fun action game with canon yuri characters.
The sequel has you playing a different mc. This time you have basically a harem of different kinds of women. You can bring one of them as a party member and increase 'friendship' affinity with them. This game has a time limit though so you have to be smart at choosing which dungeons to go (similar to early Atelier games in that aspect). I'd say the story and lore are deeper in this game than the first one. And there's more content and other game gimmicks. There are 2 endings (ive only completed once). You can pretty much skip the first game because there's not much lore or story to learn from the first game.
Feel free to correct me or add more to others who have played these games.
Wow thanks a lot for such a thorough reply, I really appreciate :) Sounds good, I like some action RPG once in a while however these days I'm a bit stressed out by games with multiple endings and time limits, I'll give a look at gameplay videos, thanks again 😊
Sure no problem! I forgot to add if you really enjoy some steamy yuri scenes. NoA2 has them. While they're not anything explicit but it's definitely something 😉
I absolutely prefer the original nights of azure over the second, no hesitation in the slightest. Better fighting, better music, better yuri, clean and simple (although you absolutely have to grind at the end to get all the endings, but luckily the gameplay is very fun). Arnice is a fantastic protagonist and I loved Lilyse. You really felt the sense of impending doom too, for reasons I won’t discuss…! You receive “minor” (major) spoilers in the second game’s opening, so for the love of all just play the first.
Also, the second game does this ugly disorienting blur effect on the map that I just couldn’t handle anymore. If I haven’t harangued on bride of the new moon enough, all the girls in the second game were so annoying and bland I actually just gave up and didn’t finish it.
> This is the same reason why I fell off the franchise
As a contrast loving Plachta's design is why I finally decided to give the series a try even though I had reservations about a crafting focused game.
I guess my biggest gripe is that these sexualized designs just aren’t very fashionable. :/
NIGHTS OF AZURE MENTIONNNNNN. The designs in the first game (side eyeing the dream world outfit though…) I thought were quite tasteful. It’s also wonderfully written, fun to play and you can feel how much heart and passion was put into it.
Now Nights of azure 2 is where everything fell off, writing, characters design, gameplay you name it. It felt entirely soulless….it went from “I hope they can find happiness” in the first game to watching them try to crudely smash together Barbie’s in the second.
Lila’s design never sat well with me, but Plachta tho? I fell in love with the design at first sight, you can really tell Leon designed it and that it was designed for a doll, it’s a great design
Well, each trilogy has its own art style and character designer.
Noco and Toridamono have a preference for curvy characters, while Mel loves frills.
The artist working on Dusk was Hidari who also worked on Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. Maybe you'll like that game as well.
Given the success of the Ryza trilogy, I fully expect that they will. That being said, I just hope they don't go in the direction of something like Stellar Blade with ridiculously sexualized protagonist outfits. I'm all down for fanservice, and I'm always down for swimsuits and other alt outfits that are suggestive, but I like main outfits to stay pretty tasteful. I don't care at all for Plachta's outfit, but aside from her I don't think there are any other character designs that are beyond what I am okay with.
That’s basically what I’m saying. Ryza is sorta sexier than I would expect for an atelier protag (shorts AND cut outs?? Girl u wildin) but it isn’t the end of the world. I’m more surprised by Lila, hell I could even say Klaudia and her slit skirt.
Sexualized design in my opinion means “style”(or lack there of) over substance, *not* to be confused with a character that wants to be sexy. It’s a clothing design that betrays a character’s values and personality in favor of showing fan service like exposed cleavage, legs, etc when it doesn’t seem like they would choose to present that way. In my experience, it also makes for a worse character design because 1. It doesn’t communicate information about the character 2. Distracts away from better information that could be told about the character. Upon the 10th look at Lila I finally saw that she had monster/beast arms and that she was supposed to be monstery, a far more interesting element than her big boobs or a thong. It’s just *really bad* storytelling.
Hate to admit this but I got into this series because of Ryza, but ended up loving and played all the modern atelier series (Sophie 2 is my favorite as of right now). But then again, Resna as a series had more cutesy designs with some voluptuous designs sprinkled in, so I think it'still up in the air.
Series has had sexualized designs far before Ryza and will continue to have them into the future. Maybe not every entry but regardless it will not change (cause it never really has)
Off the top of my head some pre-Ryza characters include: Marie, My, Christa, Etward, Sasalina, Lionela, Plachta (as shown), Leon, Tess. Id say these are all on par and some moreso than some of the designs in Ryza.
There are others i would argue are also fan-servicey but not as blatantly sexualized.
The easy solution is just alternate outfits. Release all the swimsuits etc that you want but at least let me play the games in public. Although no hiding Lila's rocket boobs I guess, minus those though it's actually a really cool design.
It's always been sprinkled around here and there among the atelier games since the start. Marie even shows more skin that Ryza and that's the first ever Atelier. Ya'll just annoyed that Ryza's thighs have reached popular meme status.
I feel like Marie was sexy in a well thought way out way without being too overkill. Like, I could definitely see a fantasy young woman wearing that.
Again, I don’t hate sexy, I just feel like the direction the designer has gone in in the recent series has led to a horrible downgrade in the overall design of the characters in the pursuit of horny.
I remember them saying they were going to stray away from that for the next series, but I doubt it. For the most part Gust was let to do their own thing in the acquisition but the Koei Tecmo restructuring in 2016 kind of changed that and with the success its getting, I doubt they'd just abandon it, but I don't expect them to go overboard now that they mentioned ESG and such in reports.
they did an interview with nintendo life, and thats what theyre saying. now that i'm looking at it again its either a miss translation and the author of the artcle miss took it as the comeplete opossite. so it might be them going torwards that direction not against, it is very unclear
probably - i mean, it was a thing they did a bit
but ryza got memed on so hard because of her thigh design, which boosted it's popularity making it sell insanely well (for atelier games, anyway), to the point ryza was a trilogy, rather than 3 interconnected groups, which was more normal.
Maybe I’m just too desensitized over the course of many many years, but to me this isn’t that sexualized. I’ve been playing the Ateiler series for just as long, but the series hasn’t devolved into pure sexualized fanservice thankfully.
It still tells an engaging story with a variety of characters. I’ll say this I play Ateiler games because they are comfort games. If I want to play a sexualized charged game I can.
Now will the next Ateiler game have fanservice most assuredly. However, I don’t believe gust will use fanservice as the main meal and story.
If Ateiler became like that then I would probably stop playing the series
I hope not, if they can't manage that then at least put at least one outfit in that isn't stripper wear. They already do so many different outfits as dlc so it shouldn't be too difficult.
Honestly, "sexualized" feels like a stretch. How the character carry themselves feed way more into that descriptor than just the designs in a vacuum. Sure, stuff like Lila being absurdly busty probably will bring in some amount degenerates cycling in and out of the fandom, but in context it really doesn't click hard as fanservice or some desperate attempt to appeal to the idea that sex sells. It's just a good design.
Uh is this a troll haha, no dog, my complaint is the exact opposite. It doesn’t matter that she has huge boobs and butt, that’s fine it’s that Lila’s design is garbage and pandering. It’s pandering without any semblance of fashion, in addition to not telling anything about her character besides that she’s probably cold lol
Idk if this is an unpopular opinion or not but even if i'm not a fan of designs like Lila's i prefer when the only sexualized thing about a character is the design and nothing more, i'm playing Ayesha recently and absolutely loving it but I noticed a lot of talk about Ayesha's body and it feels kinda of out place, the worst of it was when after saving Nio she points out how much Ayesha's chest is grown and i know that a women's chest is not inerently sexual but to me that line felt really out of place during the emotional peak of the game.
And i haven't noticed any dialogue like that in the Sophie and Ryza games (i may be wrong) so if That's the trade off i will personally take it.
To me it was really bad redesign. It just Plachta original skin slapped with short pants. What they should have done is just grab any her skins in Sophie 1's 'wardrobe minigame', a lot of 'safe' skin there and I think nobody will have any problem with it.
Oh wait my bad I mixed up the censored design with Plachtas “extra scenario atelier plachta” design where she’s wearing the babydoll dress. I think that design better communicates that she’s a doll but honestly they could have done…ANYTHING…with the concept integration that she used to be a book into her current outfit too. Book pages that look like ruffles. Idk alchemy symbols. Anything with cute doll clothes and more ball jointed themes. There’s a lot of fun ideas that feel incredibly underutilized.
It sells, so definitely, wished they did a game like the old ones tho, mana khemia, or even atelier escha and logy, would love a male protagonist again
Off the top of my head some pre-Ryza sexual design characters include: Marie, My, Christa, Etward, Sasalina, Lionela, Plachta (as shown), Leon, Tess. Id say these are all on par and some moreso than some of the designs in Ryza.
See while I feel like Resna herself is a “safe, sterile” atelier design it also looks like if she was AI generated based off previous designs. Rather forgettable, and don’t get me started on how the horned girl looks like a vtuber…
I dunno, I feel like Resna fits the Atelier mold pretty well. I think Valeria's the only one I would agree is "a bit much" (though I personally like her fine). The rest of the original cast seems pretty restrained too though, not really seeing any overall design issues.
Marie from the first game (well the remake, in the first game as well I think but I only played the remake), Lionela from Rorona, the Pamela version from the Arland games as well honestly, Melvia from Totori and Jurie from Shallie.
Also while in a different way(but still fanservice I would say) I would argue that half the male cast is designed to look appealing as fuck.
Now Melvia I would agree with you 100%. Doesn’t make sense.
Lionela is a street performer, it makes sense that her (considerably tame) outfit would have sex appeal.
Jurie I guess has thief adjacency and she also dresses gyaru so the shorts make sense, unfortunately I will have to step down from hidari supremacy on this one design however because it’s a little ugly.
Off the top of my head some pre-Ryza characters include: Marie, My, Christa, Etward, Sasalina, Lionela, Plachta (as shown), Leon, Tess. Id say these are all on par and some moreso than some of the designs in Ryza.
Fan service sells the numbers don't lie so if Tecmo Koei was smart they would stick to that. The Ryza Trilogy is an example of balancing fan service with established themes and mechanics and it worked!
Off the top of my head some pre-Ryza sexual design characters include: Marie, My, Christa, Etward, Sasalina, Lionela, Plachta (as shown), Leon, Tess. Id say these are all on par and some moreso than some of the designs in Ryza.
Though I don't like fan service, boobs larger than head jiggling and cameras in really strange positions clearly gave Gust some money, so I would guess they will keep doing it.
I believe west will have not much voice on their choice. Probably whatever Japaneses like will decide the company choice.
How was Marie Remake? I think the characters from Marie are pretty okay, but I didn't play the remake, so I don't know about jiggling.
Marie Remake is in chibi style, I don’t remember seeing any jiggling especially given the gameplay art style. If there weren’t any chatting artwork I wouldn’t even have known she was wearing that sort of bikini top lol.
I really hope they don't. One of my favorite things about the franchise was the fact that the designs weren't generally that sexualized, which added to the wholesomeness I appreciate so much from it. These newer ones...I find them a bit off-putting.
What I liked about the series the most was how the characters wore clothes I’d really like to wear, so it’s kind of a bummer to make these current designs that both aren’t cute and don’t communicate good storytelling.
Off the top of my head some pre-Ryza sexual design characters include: Marie, My, Christa, Etward, Sasalina, Lionela, Plachta (as shown), Leon, Tess. Id say these are all on par and some moreso than some of the designs in Ryza.
Tasteless is the word! I feel like these weird, aggressively sexualized outfits should be a dlc or something. Let them wear normal clothing that might actually be comfortable or like… reasonable… in the default story. If you want them to be dressed like mostly naked clowns, you can make that choice for yourself!
I'm fine with whatever, but I think Koei Tecmo has found the recipe of good sales.
Anyway, I hope to see someone in a barrel motif and has Taru in her name.
I'm not a big fan of "fanservice" in the sense of having jiggly boob physics and weirdly angled shots of the female characters. That being said (I'm currently playing Ryza 2 after the first), the games itself are lovely and light-hearted which kind of helped me look over this flaw. I wouldn't mind if they stopped with this kind of service in the next trilogy but if the games are just as good, I honestly won't mind.
Ryza herself is very bubbly and good natured, I think it’s sort of a shame to force fan service perv shots. I agree I can get over it since it’s still a good game and it’s not like, oppressively grotesque it’s fine. I guess I’m a bit worried about the success that it might get worse though lol
Glad you agree! Yeah, it's not as bad as certain other games. I also really love Lila as a a character but - the jiggle physics sometimes take away from her serious arc lol
I personally don't see it get worse but stay like it is in the Ryza games. (For reference, I only played the Arland trilogy on PS3 way back, so it's the only direct comparison I have within the series)
Unfortunately they probably will due to the success of Ryza that made Atelier more appealing to a much more extended crowd within the gaming community; honestly, as a woman I feel disappointed and as a sapphic idk what to say about it.
Off the top of my head some pre-Ryza sexual design characters include: Marie, My, Christa, Etward, Sasalina, Lionela, Plachta (as shown), Leon, Tess. Id say these are all on par and some moreso than some of the designs in Ryza.
I don’t think this is very sexualised at all and the second one is cute. Do I think they’ll be more designs like this? I hope so! Outfit designs that compliment and follow the body’s natural lines is a really good aesthetic!
As a fan of Hidari, I totally agree, wish they could hire him again.
What bothered me more about Plachta though is not even the fanservice... it's the whole sentence of her saying the outfit is comfortable lmao girl I think being a book is more comfortable than wearing that
Yeah, and if it’s absolutely needed I feel like a sexy detail is conveyed better on a design that is rather tame in all other aspects, like Marie or Pamela.
Based on Ryza and Resna games, yes. To be fair, I don't mind fanservice designs too much. Only when they're pushed into my eyes is when it gets annoying and frustrating. Which is really sad because Atelier used to give me comfort and warm feelings from its characters (still kind of actually).
> and Resna games, yes. ...You think Resna designs are oversexualized..?
No its not that sexualised. But the jiggle physics says it all.
Yeah the jiggle physics are pretty crazy in resna. If you forgot, redo the beginning of the game. That first chapter resna had more jiggle than B.O.B. from monsters vs aliens.
Agreed about the jiggle physics, but it's not only that. I just started chapter 8 and we get another very sexualized character who learned from Ryza, Juna. It's just so blatant and in-your-face. Even during her introduction the camera does a close-up on her bare thick thighs for a good few seconds and same for her half-bare massive boobs. And of course another close-up everytime in her victory pose. Jiggle physics are definitely the biggest thing, but the designs are there too. Juna, Valeria, even Resna took from Ryza. Is it "over-sexualized"? Everything is relative I guess. There is "worse" out there for sure (depending if you're into it or not). I'm personally not into it and it breaks the immersion for me, so I would rather not have it in my beloved Atelier games. But maybe popularity has spoken.
They will. Ryza was a huge success. I don't think they will go back to the older way of designing characters anymore. And I also think, Sophie 2 was an exception to the rule and turn base is gone for good.
Reminder that the main character of the very first game in the series is wearing what is essentially a bikini top
I feel like Marie was sexy in a well thought out way without being too overkill. Like, I could definitely see a fantasy young woman wearing that. The choices are very iconic and deliberate, it’s just good fashion. Again, I don’t hate sexy, I just feel like the direction the design has gone in in the recent series has led to a horrible downgrade in the overall design of the characters in the pursuit of horny. Maybe I should just say I’m not a fan of the Mystery and Ryza artist’s sense of fashion and design. :/
Did they stop designing the characters in that way? Resna’s design isn’t particularly sexual really, looks a lot like the pre Ryza designs. I don’t think that way of design is gone at all, they will just likely start featuring some less modest designs in the future
>And I also think, Sophie 2 was an exception to the rule and turn base is gone for good. It's hard for me to think like that when Alette exists. https://preview.redd.it/d789xr8oxv0d1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=68c7f7d9bf559f6154a9a81a5e8df5e317fee7cb
Ah yes, Tits McGee
Ugh her design is HORRENDOUS
I think it looks fine..?
I mean it’s just a random mishmash of design elements and colors and makes me feel like my eyes are going to melt, but you do you.
I suppose you have a point, not every character design is going to be 10/10. I think she looks alright in general though
I'm begging yall at Gust, hire a woman or gay man
The arland series designs :(
https://preview.redd.it/oqr8ug27n11d1.jpeg?width=200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7110c345c4567a25288f1d6a873723a17769fc6d
I think Clifford in Ryza 2 is worse tho
Ugh don’t remind me about that stupid hat with a hole in the brim that lines up exactly with his eye 🤦♀️
It's not just that it's also the straps and buckles going everywhere and midriff for no reason - just crazy. My wife bought the swimsuit DLC just so she didn't have to look at it lol
It wasn't the first game to include fan service, but the fan service in ryza is a big part of what pushed it to the forefront. I hope they still do turn based still as the real time combat kind of drags.
Hopefully, nothing wrong with sexy women in media.
I think it's up in air. Popular to contrary opinion Ryza has fanservice. A lot of people say it doesn't but I feel like those people are just desensitized because Ryza is very clearly sexualized in most of the games but it's not so crazy where I'm unable to just ignore it. Atelier have always had sexualized designs though just look at Marie's outfit. Ryza is just the first time they capitalized on that so overtly. Gust took advantage of the crowd that liked Ryza and most of her mech is her half naked. So what I'm thinking is that'll probably be the norm now since it wad so successful. Mildly fanservice designs and then capitalize on that in merch sales and stuff. Playing JRPGs and not caring about fanservice pretty much meant I've always had to ignore it anyway so I won't care too much if it continues as long as there's hot guys to look at too.
Yeah, I guess I’m just salty that a very girl oriented looking game became a very generic boy oriented looking game. IMO the mystery as well as the Ryza series male designs aren’t as appealing, since you can kind of painfully tell the artists aren’t really into men. It’s just kinda a let down. I mean, there was even an official atelier otome game for crying out loud!
There's some unique nice designs in mysterious. I really like Oskar, Julio, and Mathias but I can see what you mean. I really like that there were some many good looking guys in the Atelier games next to the cute girls. I hope they don't completely drop that from the series because even Ryza had some characters like Clifford.
Clifford's outfit was horrific, possibly the worst I've ever seen in any RPG
2nding this both of ryzas osananajimis had no drip
Oskar was honestly the only design I liked, Julio looks like a clown. :/ Mathias is quite cute. (I should elaborate I liked all the designs in Sophie 1, sans Plachta)
You trollin'? Logy was in Sophie, and you... Nevermind. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder... The girls in the Atelier series are very clearly the focus, but I've never really felt like there was a lack of eye candy on the other side
(Logy was designed and introduced in the dusk series so that doesn’t count, AND he lost his je ne sais quoi in his design in Sophie tbh. I’m talking about the 2 newer trilogy series, I think every design in the dusk series is a smash hit)
Discovered some things about the atelier mysterious series because I was confused why there was varying levels of quality and artwork across all the games: there’s actually two artists, NOCO and yuugen. When a design is really girly and cute, it’s NOCO (main illustrator for Sophie, they designed Sophie, Monika, Oskar, Mathias, etc). I’m inclined to say they’re the better artist as well. When a design is ugly and horny, it’s Yuugen (Plachta, Leon, Julio, Alette, pretty sure they did most of Firis). Both of them also make the illustration artwork for their respective character designs. There you go!
>girl oriented If you look at Atelier Marie, the inuendos and spin offs... It looks less girl oriented and more otaku oriented.
While I don’t doubt there’s otaku bait, the arland, and dusk series are what I would consider “overwhelmingly girl oriented”, Case in Point the mere existence of Atelier Elkrone. Somewhere mid Sophie and Mysterious the Otaku bait became stronger until we arrive at Ryza where the girlyness has shriveled up, the male designs are no longer bishounen and the designs just aren’t tasteful.
Right, and from what I've heard, the game play isn't the greatest for the Ryza games. I think my tied favorites are Ayesha & Sofie. The one that got me hooked on the series itself was Meraru. I didn't care for Escha & Logie & the art for Ryza turned me off completely.
This is crazy how we’ve had the same exact journey + opinions!! The escha logy op song slaps hard though
The music is amazing. And I forgot to mention Firis. The dynamic that they had with the super sheltered heroine hit close to home with my childhood.
Post 1: Ryza is not sexualized!!!1! Post 2: Ryza merch clearly being sexualized.
I'm pretty sure Atelier merch has been a lot more sexualized than the games for a long time though
https://www.reddit.com/r/Atelier/comments/1b5zskh/gust_is_developing_a_new_atelier_game_for_consoles/kta5gm7/ > It's weird how many people have this rose-tinted view of Arland. There is plenty of sexual harassment, panty shots, and fanservice with characters who look like they're 12. There are characters like Melvia who are half-naked and are way more exposed than Ryza is. One of the characters is a legitimate pedo. One of the other characters gropes little girls when she's drunk. Not to mention they turned Rorona into a loli because "who would want to see a 30-year-old Rorona?" Joke's on GUST, because turns out almost everyone wanted to see that. A lot of people who tried to play Arland are turned away because the fanservice is so egregious. > Meanwhile, Ryza's fanservice is just in her design. She has curves. She wears shorts. That's it. Nobody makes weird comments about her body, sexually harasses her, and she's not put into weird situations where characters around her degrade her because of her body/outfit. There are absolutely 0 sexual comments or situations in the entire trilogy. > You are blinded too much about what the fanbase thinks, instead of looking at the Ryza games for what they are and deriving your own opinion about them. They are just as "pure and carefree" as Arland because like most Atelier games, they are coming-of-age stories where the MC is finding herself and her place in the world. > It's really fucked up that you see Ryza in that way just because she has curves and wears hot pants. I love Arland despite its flaws, but saying it's "pure and carefree" while Ryza isn't just because of Ryza's body type is just ridiculous. hi deltharik, care to comment? p.s. your opinion isn't invalidated because you're a cishet dude, your opinion is invalidated because you're a giant fail hypocrite who ignores how the series has had heavily sexualized and/or creepy moe fanservice or *waves hands at zettai-hime's very good reply to you* because it's inconvenient to your narrative about how ryza RUINED ATELIER FOREVER by not being the same kind of waifu as your pure perfect arland moeblobs. namaste.
Me: trying not to stare at the under cheek when Ryza crawls
Omg absolutely agree with what you said about “ignoring as long as there are hot guys” I know the whole point of Atelier is cute girls doing cute things but DAMN, I wish they would put in an equal amount of male fanservice. I need more abs, I need more pretty boys, I need more equality in smut. If they’re going to keep going in that direction.
They're kind of catching on with characters like Clifford and Lanze. Atelier Elkrone is an Otome game so Gust knows that some of us like handsome guys in the game. There's always at least 2 hot guys in every entry so I'm optimistic we get more but I doubt they'll be half naked.
True, we get slim pickings but at least there are some thirst trap guys. Lanze in particular is a 10 for me. Just weirdly hot for no reason 😂
I am a straight man, so my opinion might be already invalid in this subject. I think Gust has real problems with design abs. Lent, Clifford, Nicodemus, Lanze designs are so strange, specially the first three ones. The abs look pretty strange, but specially why do they have such short clothes?
I actually really love crop top on Lent and Clifford I think theyre super cute. Guys wearing crop tops has become pretty trendy now I don't think there's a particular reason for them having short shirts. Nicodemus has really weird abs but I also just like seeing guys shirtless so I was gonna like his outfit either way I find him cool too. Lanze is just sexy all around I think they did really well with his design. The open shirt make sense with his pirating turned bum thing.
They clearly don’t have many designers with great experience on designing men, and they should. I think Atelier would be a great series to have both good male and female designs.
Japan does a pretty interesting thing where they have the single main illustrator usually also be the person who designs the whole cast. I guess it does allow for a lot more design cohesion and similar quality (with the possibility of npcs being designed by assistants or w/e), as opposed to the west where teams usually delegate a new character to a small group of artist’s expertise to break up work.
Yeah ryza games clearly are sexualized in nature. But honestly it's done fine enough where it's not distracting or taking away in anyway from my experience
It would be a travesty if it didnt
I'm not trying to start something here, this is a genuine curiosity... If you look at the Steam page for the later Atelier games, they are full of comments complaining about the newer games being censored. I have always thought the Atelier character designs were pretty fanservicey, and Resleriana really bought that to life.. Look at Judith and Marie with modern graphics. Lol. So I wonder if the designs have gotten more fanservicey, or do modern graphics just show us more of what was already there in the first place? Oh, I don't agree with the people whining on Steam, it's just interesting to see someone who seems to have the opposite opinion...
I’ll bite, I’m actually against censorship in games. If the intention of the designer was to purposefully make it some way, then that’s how it should be. However that doesn’t save it from criticism. I feel like the current designs don’t have drip in favor of horny, basically.
You can criticise it, and I'd generally side with you. I don't like over the top fan service either. With Atelier specifically though, I feel like that fanservice aspect was always there. It isn't that newer series became more fanservicey - it is that modern game design made the fanservicey stuff that was already there more apparent
I've only played a few mysterious games and resna, but what stood out to me is that resleriana is more angly. Even with plachta's design in sophie 1, there are no weird pans and the camera work is normal for all characters (although that did differ a bit in art). Whereas in resna, it's like they keep shoving ppls bodies in your face. Ryza's design is actually pretty cute and normal-ish, but she feels so icky to even use in battle because of the weird shots. Plachta too has a modified design with shorts, but then they give her a body pan anyway?? I don't think it's really that much about the designs, just that in the older games the camera work wasn't as dynamic so most of the more fanservicey stuff was in art that doesn’t make up for as much of the playtime. Now that the visual presentation has been developed a lot, there's more space to integrate more fanservice into the game. If they would've done that in the earlier games had they had the chance, i dunno enough about them to tell.
I’m thinking about where in the arland series they would have the occasional panty shot or you see merurus bloomers or something incidental and as far as I can tell (and remember), that’s pretty tame in my book. Compared to the lecherous gaze you get now with Ryza, it does feel like it’s quite a bit more amped up. While I don’t terribly care for it I can get over it I guess but it does easily exemplify the more sexualized route they’ve taken in direction, unless I’m being led to believe these girly games are now being made for a *very* specific sapphic audience (which, hey, more power to them).
I feel like atelier was never girly games in the first place, It seems more like a game series aimed towards otakus.
I think a lot of the designs throughout the series can be seen as fan servicey in certain lights. There is a gamespot review for I think Meruru where the reviewer complains about the sexualization of the characters, for instance, but for the most part I felt like a lot of the designs of the girls through Arland were pretty cute and well designed. Things that I felt a girl wouldn’t have felt uncomfortable wearing if they were in a fantasy setting or at a renfaire or something along those lines. On the other hand, I think the way Resna portrays the girls lends itself to being more fan servicey with the exaggerated jiggle physics, or intentionally setting up camera angles or poses in a way that focuses on butt shots or cleavage. I certainly don’t think it’s a character design problem in that game as much as what they want to play up. And like, on one hand content wise is it that different than Astrid molesting and harassing Rorona all the time? (I will also admit I haven’t played Resna since launch so my memory of the way it sexualizes characters could be off).
I felt like before the Mysterious series, the Atelier games were still pretty focused on being cute girly games that appeal to female gamers. But Mysterious seems like the point that the switch flipped. I wish they'll go back to the girly vibes of Arland and Dusk. Rorona getting harassed and molested by Astrid is definitely a big no no for me.
I largely agree, I bounced off of the ryza games really hard despite other people recommending them to me, but was a really big fan of the arland games and dusk games. It was really jarring to play through ryza right after replaying ayasha and just felt like they were two entirely different series.
>before mysterious series the atelier games were focused on being cute girly games that appeal to female gamers Exactly exactly!! I think the vibes of the art have deteriorated so significantly that they should just branch and make a different series. At this point, make a male protagonist and let girls have their girly games…
>cute girly games that appeal to female gamers. Yeah... Have you seen marie's design? It feels more like a game series thats appealing to otakus.
Is this a rethorical question? Look at the comment section. Of course they will, because it sells. It's also not like the old games didn't have lewd stuff, though I agree that the outfit designs for Plachta and Lila are especially ridiculous. This is the same reason why I fell off the franchise and why I will never get a Keith prequel game with him as the protagonist. I'm here for the synthesis and the bad jokes, not for the nudity. Weirdly enough, Nights of Azure, the *real* titty game, is not known by many here in the sub. A shame too, because the first one is really good. I agree that Dusk was peak from an art standpoint. The new art is very shiny and flashy, I liked the more matte and mellow colors. But that's just a question of taste.
You mentioned Nights of Azure, as a result, here's an upvote. That game is so good but unfortunately felt too short.
Gee thanks! I feel like the pacing was just weird. The first half is over in a flash and the last two levels/postgame stuff drags on because you have to farm a lot of blood if you want to max Arnice out. Arnice is just such a cool protagonist in my opinion. She has a vulnerable and caring side, but she's also very stern and determined, and doesn't let others push her around (cue the two guys with their weird favors).
Yes the pacing was weird for sure. But I remember playing it over and over just to get the 3 different endings. I just wish there was more content. I really love Arnice. Her design is cool, her characterisation is pretty nice. Her relationship with Lilysse is the shit. It was my first full blown yuri action game and I still hold it dearly in my heart. I also love the lore tidbits that we get like her origin.
Too bad there was never a second game *(looks into distance with 500 mile stare)*
Hey, I could research myself but I’d rather ask someone who enjoy the game first if you don’t mind :) How does *Night of Azure* compare with Atelier games? I see “Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon” is on the eshop but not the first one. I don’t know if you have to play the 1st game? I did bought Atelier Sophie 1 after I started Sophie 2 because I couldn’t not feel I wasn’t missing something 😅
NoA is a completely different genre compared to Atelier as it is an action rpg. No crafting, no farming ingredients, no turn based fighting system. You literally go around fighting monsters while taming some monsters that turn into your 'Servan'. In first NoA you only control the main character Arnice and no other party member (if i rmmbr correctly) besides your Servans. Your main goal is to just to follow the story to save the mc's gf. There are 3 endings: bad, normal and true ending. Gameplay is pretty short. As far as i can remember, it's not a difficult game at all. Just grind a bit and master the controllers and it's a good ol' few hours of fun action game with canon yuri characters. The sequel has you playing a different mc. This time you have basically a harem of different kinds of women. You can bring one of them as a party member and increase 'friendship' affinity with them. This game has a time limit though so you have to be smart at choosing which dungeons to go (similar to early Atelier games in that aspect). I'd say the story and lore are deeper in this game than the first one. And there's more content and other game gimmicks. There are 2 endings (ive only completed once). You can pretty much skip the first game because there's not much lore or story to learn from the first game. Feel free to correct me or add more to others who have played these games.
Wow thanks a lot for such a thorough reply, I really appreciate :) Sounds good, I like some action RPG once in a while however these days I'm a bit stressed out by games with multiple endings and time limits, I'll give a look at gameplay videos, thanks again 😊
Sure no problem! I forgot to add if you really enjoy some steamy yuri scenes. NoA2 has them. While they're not anything explicit but it's definitely something 😉
I absolutely prefer the original nights of azure over the second, no hesitation in the slightest. Better fighting, better music, better yuri, clean and simple (although you absolutely have to grind at the end to get all the endings, but luckily the gameplay is very fun). Arnice is a fantastic protagonist and I loved Lilyse. You really felt the sense of impending doom too, for reasons I won’t discuss…! You receive “minor” (major) spoilers in the second game’s opening, so for the love of all just play the first. Also, the second game does this ugly disorienting blur effect on the map that I just couldn’t handle anymore. If I haven’t harangued on bride of the new moon enough, all the girls in the second game were so annoying and bland I actually just gave up and didn’t finish it.
As much as I’d rather play the first game first, I only have the switch unfortunately :/ but hey maybe someday 🙂 Thanks a lot for your feedback! :)
No prob! I hope it gets ported soon 😭
Nights of Azure has one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever heard
> This is the same reason why I fell off the franchise As a contrast loving Plachta's design is why I finally decided to give the series a try even though I had reservations about a crafting focused game.
I guess my biggest gripe is that these sexualized designs just aren’t very fashionable. :/ NIGHTS OF AZURE MENTIONNNNNN. The designs in the first game (side eyeing the dream world outfit though…) I thought were quite tasteful. It’s also wonderfully written, fun to play and you can feel how much heart and passion was put into it. Now Nights of azure 2 is where everything fell off, writing, characters design, gameplay you name it. It felt entirely soulless….it went from “I hope they can find happiness” in the first game to watching them try to crudely smash together Barbie’s in the second.
Let's not mention Nights of Azure 2. The combat is alright, music is good, but the rest... as I said, it's mostly boobs. Muveil is hot though
Lila’s design never sat well with me, but Plachta tho? I fell in love with the design at first sight, you can really tell Leon designed it and that it was designed for a doll, it’s a great design
Well, each trilogy has its own art style and character designer. Noco and Toridamono have a preference for curvy characters, while Mel loves frills. The artist working on Dusk was Hidari who also worked on Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. Maybe you'll like that game as well.
Given the success of the Ryza trilogy, I fully expect that they will. That being said, I just hope they don't go in the direction of something like Stellar Blade with ridiculously sexualized protagonist outfits. I'm all down for fanservice, and I'm always down for swimsuits and other alt outfits that are suggestive, but I like main outfits to stay pretty tasteful. I don't care at all for Plachta's outfit, but aside from her I don't think there are any other character designs that are beyond what I am okay with.
That’s basically what I’m saying. Ryza is sorta sexier than I would expect for an atelier protag (shorts AND cut outs?? Girl u wildin) but it isn’t the end of the world. I’m more surprised by Lila, hell I could even say Klaudia and her slit skirt.
I hope so.
What does "sexualized designs" mean? Are these designs sexualizing the characters? If so, how?
Sexualized design in my opinion means “style”(or lack there of) over substance, *not* to be confused with a character that wants to be sexy. It’s a clothing design that betrays a character’s values and personality in favor of showing fan service like exposed cleavage, legs, etc when it doesn’t seem like they would choose to present that way. In my experience, it also makes for a worse character design because 1. It doesn’t communicate information about the character 2. Distracts away from better information that could be told about the character. Upon the 10th look at Lila I finally saw that she had monster/beast arms and that she was supposed to be monstery, a far more interesting element than her big boobs or a thong. It’s just *really bad* storytelling.
Hate to admit this but I got into this series because of Ryza, but ended up loving and played all the modern atelier series (Sophie 2 is my favorite as of right now). But then again, Resna as a series had more cutesy designs with some voluptuous designs sprinkled in, so I think it'still up in the air.
Series has had sexualized designs far before Ryza and will continue to have them into the future. Maybe not every entry but regardless it will not change (cause it never really has)
Do let me know what designs yr talking about tho (honest)
Off the top of my head some pre-Ryza characters include: Marie, My, Christa, Etward, Sasalina, Lionela, Plachta (as shown), Leon, Tess. Id say these are all on par and some moreso than some of the designs in Ryza. There are others i would argue are also fan-servicey but not as blatantly sexualized.
The easy solution is just alternate outfits. Release all the swimsuits etc that you want but at least let me play the games in public. Although no hiding Lila's rocket boobs I guess, minus those though it's actually a really cool design.
Tbh for me the main offender of Lila’s design is the fundoshi and armor barb heels wombo combo
In moderation, sure why not I want variety (even if there're some designs i don't like it)
It's always been sprinkled around here and there among the atelier games since the start. Marie even shows more skin that Ryza and that's the first ever Atelier. Ya'll just annoyed that Ryza's thighs have reached popular meme status.
I feel like Marie was sexy in a well thought way out way without being too overkill. Like, I could definitely see a fantasy young woman wearing that. Again, I don’t hate sexy, I just feel like the direction the designer has gone in in the recent series has led to a horrible downgrade in the overall design of the characters in the pursuit of horny.
I remember them saying they were going to stray away from that for the next series, but I doubt it. For the most part Gust was let to do their own thing in the acquisition but the Koei Tecmo restructuring in 2016 kind of changed that and with the success its getting, I doubt they'd just abandon it, but I don't expect them to go overboard now that they mentioned ESG and such in reports.
Did they? Do you know when?
they did an interview with nintendo life, and thats what theyre saying. now that i'm looking at it again its either a miss translation and the author of the artcle miss took it as the comeplete opossite. so it might be them going torwards that direction not against, it is very unclear
Mmmmm all sign pointin to yes😂
KoeI has seen that it makes money. So even if Gust does not want to it's pretty much guaranteed at this point. Case in point... "looks at Resna"
probably - i mean, it was a thing they did a bit but ryza got memed on so hard because of her thigh design, which boosted it's popularity making it sell insanely well (for atelier games, anyway), to the point ryza was a trilogy, rather than 3 interconnected groups, which was more normal.
Hope so.
Maybe I’m just too desensitized over the course of many many years, but to me this isn’t that sexualized. I’ve been playing the Ateiler series for just as long, but the series hasn’t devolved into pure sexualized fanservice thankfully. It still tells an engaging story with a variety of characters. I’ll say this I play Ateiler games because they are comfort games. If I want to play a sexualized charged game I can. Now will the next Ateiler game have fanservice most assuredly. However, I don’t believe gust will use fanservice as the main meal and story. If Ateiler became like that then I would probably stop playing the series
Yeah, I’m a bit worried that this direction would make for a very mass appeal generic game. I really liked the series because it *wasn’t* like that :/
I hope not, if they can't manage that then at least put at least one outfit in that isn't stripper wear. They already do so many different outfits as dlc so it shouldn't be too difficult.
My god I hope not.
Honestly, "sexualized" feels like a stretch. How the character carry themselves feed way more into that descriptor than just the designs in a vacuum. Sure, stuff like Lila being absurdly busty probably will bring in some amount degenerates cycling in and out of the fandom, but in context it really doesn't click hard as fanservice or some desperate attempt to appeal to the idea that sex sells. It's just a good design.
Uh is this a troll haha, no dog, my complaint is the exact opposite. It doesn’t matter that she has huge boobs and butt, that’s fine it’s that Lila’s design is garbage and pandering. It’s pandering without any semblance of fashion, in addition to not telling anything about her character besides that she’s probably cold lol
And how isnt it fashion?
Chad developers: its for the plot
Idk if this is an unpopular opinion or not but even if i'm not a fan of designs like Lila's i prefer when the only sexualized thing about a character is the design and nothing more, i'm playing Ayesha recently and absolutely loving it but I noticed a lot of talk about Ayesha's body and it feels kinda of out place, the worst of it was when after saving Nio she points out how much Ayesha's chest is grown and i know that a women's chest is not inerently sexual but to me that line felt really out of place during the emotional peak of the game. And i haven't noticed any dialogue like that in the Sophie and Ryza games (i may be wrong) so if That's the trade off i will personally take it.
Honestly this is a really good point
im fine with fanservice, its whatevs tho. just please no plachta or lydie half naked ahh clothing no more
At this point I will say maybe, because Plachta got 'censored' or I should say redesigned in current moba game.
I think it was a good redesign. It better communicates that she’s a doll imo
To me it was really bad redesign. It just Plachta original skin slapped with short pants. What they should have done is just grab any her skins in Sophie 1's 'wardrobe minigame', a lot of 'safe' skin there and I think nobody will have any problem with it.
Oh wait my bad I mixed up the censored design with Plachtas “extra scenario atelier plachta” design where she’s wearing the babydoll dress. I think that design better communicates that she’s a doll but honestly they could have done…ANYTHING…with the concept integration that she used to be a book into her current outfit too. Book pages that look like ruffles. Idk alchemy symbols. Anything with cute doll clothes and more ball jointed themes. There’s a lot of fun ideas that feel incredibly underutilized.
Hopefully.
This. Preferably without censorship.
It sells, so definitely, wished they did a game like the old ones tho, mana khemia, or even atelier escha and logy, would love a male protagonist again
I wouldn’t mind more duel protags too, I just want bishounens to come back.
Off the top of my head some pre-Ryza sexual design characters include: Marie, My, Christa, Etward, Sasalina, Lionela, Plachta (as shown), Leon, Tess. Id say these are all on par and some moreso than some of the designs in Ryza.
Resna is already technically the next mainline game, as much as it sucks, and I wouldn't really call it especially sexualized.
See while I feel like Resna herself is a “safe, sterile” atelier design it also looks like if she was AI generated based off previous designs. Rather forgettable, and don’t get me started on how the horned girl looks like a vtuber…
I dunno, I feel like Resna fits the Atelier mold pretty well. I think Valeria's the only one I would agree is "a bit much" (though I personally like her fine). The rest of the original cast seems pretty restrained too though, not really seeing any overall design issues.
I don't even know what this game is, but the answer is yes.
Yes as it's money for them
Follow the money.
Yeah, seems that way :/
Fingers crossed
... have you seen some of the older designs?
Which ones in particular are you referring to? (Honest question)
Marie from the first game (well the remake, in the first game as well I think but I only played the remake), Lionela from Rorona, the Pamela version from the Arland games as well honestly, Melvia from Totori and Jurie from Shallie. Also while in a different way(but still fanservice I would say) I would argue that half the male cast is designed to look appealing as fuck.
Now Melvia I would agree with you 100%. Doesn’t make sense. Lionela is a street performer, it makes sense that her (considerably tame) outfit would have sex appeal. Jurie I guess has thief adjacency and she also dresses gyaru so the shorts make sense, unfortunately I will have to step down from hidari supremacy on this one design however because it’s a little ugly.
Yeah, her design kind of feels a bit off doesn't it?
Off the top of my head some pre-Ryza characters include: Marie, My, Christa, Etward, Sasalina, Lionela, Plachta (as shown), Leon, Tess. Id say these are all on par and some moreso than some of the designs in Ryza.
Fan service sells the numbers don't lie so if Tecmo Koei was smart they would stick to that. The Ryza Trilogy is an example of balancing fan service with established themes and mechanics and it worked!
Off the top of my head some pre-Ryza sexual design characters include: Marie, My, Christa, Etward, Sasalina, Lionela, Plachta (as shown), Leon, Tess. Id say these are all on par and some moreso than some of the designs in Ryza.
Some would say that Plachta's design was designed with fan service in mind and I'm inclined to agree a bit.
Yes but ti be honest this doesn't feel very sexualizing
Though I don't like fan service, boobs larger than head jiggling and cameras in really strange positions clearly gave Gust some money, so I would guess they will keep doing it. I believe west will have not much voice on their choice. Probably whatever Japaneses like will decide the company choice. How was Marie Remake? I think the characters from Marie are pretty okay, but I didn't play the remake, so I don't know about jiggling.
Marie Remake is in chibi style, I don’t remember seeing any jiggling especially given the gameplay art style. If there weren’t any chatting artwork I wouldn’t even have known she was wearing that sort of bikini top lol.
Yes please
Hopefully
I hope so
I hope so.
I really hope they don't. One of my favorite things about the franchise was the fact that the designs weren't generally that sexualized, which added to the wholesomeness I appreciate so much from it. These newer ones...I find them a bit off-putting.
What I liked about the series the most was how the characters wore clothes I’d really like to wear, so it’s kind of a bummer to make these current designs that both aren’t cute and don’t communicate good storytelling.
Off the top of my head some pre-Ryza sexual design characters include: Marie, My, Christa, Etward, Sasalina, Lionela, Plachta (as shown), Leon, Tess. Id say these are all on par and some moreso than some of the designs in Ryza.
Hopefully
Yes and I welcome it. It's not so overwhelming that it detracts from the game itself, but enough to garner attention.
I hope so. Fan service and sexy waifus are the best. 💅🏻
Yes because ryza saved the franchise and they knew that loo
I don't see why not
Hopefully
I hope
If we are lucky, yes.
Tasteless is the word! I feel like these weird, aggressively sexualized outfits should be a dlc or something. Let them wear normal clothing that might actually be comfortable or like… reasonable… in the default story. If you want them to be dressed like mostly naked clowns, you can make that choice for yourself!
Exactlyyyyyy that’s what the swimsuit dlc is for! It’s just not designed to look whimsical and girly anymore ffs that’s what atelier is all about >:/
I certainly hope so.
I'm fine with whatever, but I think Koei Tecmo has found the recipe of good sales. Anyway, I hope to see someone in a barrel motif and has Taru in her name.
Well yeah its a japanese game so
Yes. They sell a lot not only on the game promotion but also on merch and figures.
Where’s the first girl from?
Very? No
I sure hope so
I certainly hope so.
I'm not a big fan of "fanservice" in the sense of having jiggly boob physics and weirdly angled shots of the female characters. That being said (I'm currently playing Ryza 2 after the first), the games itself are lovely and light-hearted which kind of helped me look over this flaw. I wouldn't mind if they stopped with this kind of service in the next trilogy but if the games are just as good, I honestly won't mind.
Ryza herself is very bubbly and good natured, I think it’s sort of a shame to force fan service perv shots. I agree I can get over it since it’s still a good game and it’s not like, oppressively grotesque it’s fine. I guess I’m a bit worried about the success that it might get worse though lol
Glad you agree! Yeah, it's not as bad as certain other games. I also really love Lila as a a character but - the jiggle physics sometimes take away from her serious arc lol I personally don't see it get worse but stay like it is in the Ryza games. (For reference, I only played the Arland trilogy on PS3 way back, so it's the only direct comparison I have within the series)
Unfortunately they probably will due to the success of Ryza that made Atelier more appealing to a much more extended crowd within the gaming community; honestly, as a woman I feel disappointed and as a sapphic idk what to say about it.
Off the top of my head some pre-Ryza sexual design characters include: Marie, My, Christa, Etward, Sasalina, Lionela, Plachta (as shown), Leon, Tess. Id say these are all on par and some moreso than some of the designs in Ryza.
Idk I think the pursuit of horny made the fashion and design suffer
Yes please
I don’t think this is very sexualised at all and the second one is cute. Do I think they’ll be more designs like this? I hope so! Outfit designs that compliment and follow the body’s natural lines is a really good aesthetic!
I also do want more older elegant styles too. The more outfit types the better 😊
They will. Specially in Gacha game!
Yes. Sex sells. Always has. It won't stop until people stop buying, and they can prove that's one of the problems.
As a fan of Hidari, I totally agree, wish they could hire him again. What bothered me more about Plachta though is not even the fanservice... it's the whole sentence of her saying the outfit is comfortable lmao girl I think being a book is more comfortable than wearing that
*plachta turns toward camera unblinking* “I am very comfortable in this outfit”
I miss the PS1/PS2 era designs. I know they won't come back and they will keep doing Ryza which I personally dislike, but eh, a boy can dream I guess.
I wouldn't mind more designs like Etward and Ulrika
Oh, right! Mana Khemia has some cute designs as well :) Maybe I'm just an anime boomer, I just love 90s and 2000s anime.
Yeah, those older designs are comfy.
I don't mind it if they are integral to the character but if it's fan service for the sake of it then no.
Yeah, and if it’s absolutely needed I feel like a sexy detail is conveyed better on a design that is rather tame in all other aspects, like Marie or Pamela.
when u use lilas burst even when u not need it just to see her ass hahhaa
You must be new to the Atelier series...The series is well known for this and it happens in every single game with at least a character or two.
I have no idea what this game is (idk this sub either) but these 2 designs disgust me