September. 8, 2006
The Ship Date Of AR TONELICO Has Been
Postponed
The distinctive simulation role-playing game,
Ar Tonelico, will be released in 2007
NIS America, Inc. announced today that Ar
Tonelico: Melody of Elemia for the PlayStation® 2 computer entertainment system
has been rescheduled for a February 6, 2007 release.
Due to the extremely high volume of scripts and
music, approximately three times more than that of Disgaea® 2: Cursed Memories,
Haru Akenaga President of NIS America had decided to take a longer period of
time for localizing Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia. “Because Ar Tonelico was such
a huge hit in Japan, and it is an extremely distinctive title, I would like to
provide the localization team more time to work on this game in order to bring
the highest quality product of this very new and exciting simulation
role-playing game to our local customers.
Moreover, Ar Tonelico is well known for the “Moé”
(pronounced “mo-éh”) style RPG in Japan. I want the localization team to be able
to express this popular Japanese feeling of Moe to the American gamers through
the gameplay,” Haru Akenaga President of NIS America says.
Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia will be released in
February 2007.
About Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia
Ages ago, the world was like any other. But, two
apocalyptic wars changed everything. The sky has been sealed off by a deadly
electromagnetic field and the ground is now an ocean of death. Humanity lives
life peacefully suspended above the sea on continents powered by the magical
tower of Ar Tonelico and protected by the knights of Elemia. However, evil is
lurking upon humanity threatening the peace and balance of Ar Tonelico.
Key Features
-Moé
-Interactions among characters reveal more depth
of each character
-A new and unique “Song” battle system
-Virtual interaction with mood shifting
characters
-Customizable weapons and items
-Over 300 creatable items
-Stunning animation
What is Moé?
Moé has become one of the most popular words
among Japanese “Otaku”. Various definitions of Moé have been presented. However,
it seems like each individual give different definitions to the word.
Here is what NIS America sees in the word, Moé:
Moé is used when a person expresses his/ her
feelings of adoration, admiration, and love toward fictional characters, which
are unreachable or unobtainable. Moé is a combined feeling of innocence, purity,
and naïve. This feeling is often non-sexual. A good example is if you could
remember the feelings of your first love when you were young, those pure and
indescribable fluttery feelings. The Japanese Otaku tend to have that innocent
love and adoration toward videogame characters, and Ar Tonelico: Melody of
Elemia contains many characters that embody those feelings. Interestingly, each
individual may describe Moé differently from others; some might say it is
sexual, some might not. NIS America would like to represent Ar Tonelico: Melody
of Elemia as a game that recreates those innocent feelings once again.
