first impressions

Back in 2012, Gust who is known for their work on the Atelier franchise decided to make another series that is set in the same world as the Ar tonelico series. Since the Playstation Vita came out in February of 2012, they decided to experiment with this new handheld by creating a communication dating sim called Ciel nosurge (シェルノサージュ〜失われた星捧ぐ詩〜 lit. Ciel nosurge ~Song offered to the Lost Star~ ), which is played in real-time over the internet. This game can be described as Animal Crossing meets Love Plus with social elements thrown into it. They recently released an Offline version that removed the online requirements with all the DLC content included, thus making it possible for the player to play at his/her own pace.

While two versions of the game got released after the original (Re:Incarnation and Offline), they also created a sequel titled Ar nosurge, which came out this year in Japan and later got localized to English. I find it odd that they would release that game first considering that the sequel requires the player to finish most of Ciel nosurge in order to fully understand the story. Considering that this game is a niche title, not a role-playing game and is very text heavy, I can understand why Gust and Koei Tecmo aren’t willing to localize it. Even so, it seems that people are interested in this game. With that, I will share my initial impressions of the gameplay from the Offline version.
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