Screw announcements, let's just release the game (Atelier Totori Plus)

[Eusis]

Just popped up on the PSN for Vita.

What in the fuck?

[Kevadu]

Wait, WTF?

I can confirm that it is actually on the Vita store.  I have half a mind to just buy it right now because of the sheer weirdness of this release, but on the other hand I've already played Totori and don't really need to add to my backlog...

[Cyril]

I've been sitting here trying to think up how I should react to this, even going as far as the five stages of grief.

I think I'll settle with: What the fuck are you thinking, TemcoKoei?  Are you trying to lose the entire fanbase that took NISA 6 years to build up?

[Eusis]

Actually I believe the games have been coming for about 8 years now.

[Zendervai]

These choices are baffling. Tecmo should make at least some effort to advertise by like, you know, telling people about it? Why don't they just let NISA do it for that matter? This way is guaranteed to lose them sales through ignorance.

[Taelus]

Why support a product when you can just not support a product?

[Annubis]

How can someone be so inapt at his job?
Or is it that they don't even have a department for these things?

[Dice]

Bet they saved marketing money because of the buzz this is causing.

I wish this kind of thing happened for games I'm DYING to play.
HO LOOK!!  VENUS & BRAVES IS ON PSN!!!!   OOOH MY GOD! SNEAKY BASTERDS, XSEED PUT LEGEND OF HEROES SECOND CHAPTER UP!!

OOOOHHH MY GOOOOOODDDDDDD

...nope.  Not this time. D:

[MeshGearFox]

I remember when Atelier Iris came out and I bought Riviera.

Was that any good? Should I bother hunting it down? I remember being p. haps with my decision to get Riviera at the.... the hell, that came out the summer before I was a senior in highschool?

[Cyril]

I really like the first Atelier Iris. It mixes traditional Atelier with a standard RPG better than the other Iris games.  Obviously, being more traditional, it doesn't have the best battle system, but the world and Alchemy are interesting.  The shopkeepers have more development than your party members, though, which is always amusing.

[Zendervai]

The first Atelier Iris is somewhat clunky, but it is very charming. I prefer the second one, but I find the trilogy a lot of fun. The third is the weakest when it comes to story, but the battle system is really good.

[AuraChannelerChris]

Haha. This is rich. I wish we get Super Smash Bros. 4 out of nowhere like this.

Kidding, of course. I wonder why they just...shoved the game into our hands so casually.

[Zendervai]

It appears to be because Tecmo Koei's Western efforts are entirely focused on Europe. While that's not bad, it's kind of odd. They have an American branch, but apparently no advertising staff. At all.

[Klyde Chroma]

The first Atelier Iris is somewhat clunky, but it is very charming. I prefer the second one, but I find the trilogy a lot of fun. The third is the weakest when it comes to story, but the battle system is really good.

I have read that grand phantasm stands alone as its own title... and I have also read that it is the conclusion to the iris trilogy (as in part 3, do not play before playing part 1 and 2.... which I loved by the way)  which is it?

[Zendervai]

The story is unconnected, but the gameplay is very much improved and very fast. It's somewhat difficult to go back to the previous games. The only connection Grand Phantasm has is that one of the characters is named Iris. This is also the only game in the Atelier Iris trilogy where you control a character actually named Iris.