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Ciel No Surge, Gust’s PlayStation Vita Game, Has You "Dive" Into Ionasol

By Spencer . January 30, 2012 . 12:48am

Ciel no Surge: Song of the Lost Star’s Offering is not part of the Ar tonelico series, but the way you interact with Ionasol (shortened to "Ion" in the game) is a lot like diving into her mind.

Ion is a mysterious girl with amnesia. It’s your job to awaken her memories by connecting Ion to terminals and entering her mind. Inside you’ll see a broken world and repair points which you can mend together by using the power of Ciel. Fix these and you can restore Ion’s memories. Does any of this sound familiar? It might be because the director of the Surge Concerto games is also the director of the Ar Tonelico series.

Ciel no Surge plays like a communication game when Ion isn’t hooked up to a machine. You can interact with Ion while she lives her everyday life.

Ciel no Surge is the first work in the Surge Concerto series. Gust plans on expanding this franchise into a variety of media beyond video games. Future games will be based around the same world setting.

The story of Surge Concerto begins with a solar system with a swelling sun. La Ciel’s residents have two plans to deal with this impending crisis. A group (loosely translated as) the Astronomers are developing a plan to teleport residents to another planet. Meanwhile, a Terrestrial group wants to save the solar system by harnessing the power of song magic. Public opinion is split between the two groups and the fate of the world falls on the president-elect… Ionasol.

Ciel no Surge comes out in Japan on April 26.

http://twitter.com/Veruses Verus
Instant Import!
Fayharn
More and more reason to get Vita. Definitely going to get this.
z_merquise
So Ion was elected as a president!? Dood, she’ll have my support!!
Anyway, by the looks of it, this game looked like a simulation / visual novel kind of game. Really like the art style and the setting’s design.
. . . especially Ion.
DanteJones
I’m really digging the artwork for this game, it looks awesome! I also can’t wait to hear what song magic they’re going to have. If it’s anything like the hymmnos from Ar Tonelico, then I’m already sold.
http://myfigurecollection.net/collection/DrakosAmatras DrakosAmatras
Okay, this game is now officially “Ar Tonelico Mark 2“.
Kitestwinblades
Super cute design! And Very nice background design to boot!
AND ITS ON VITA!!?
Pardon me while I make a few happy laps around the earths orbit.
======== (>o.o)> *WOOSH*
http://strictlyapathy.comoj.com/ SoulArbiter
The artwork is gorgeous!
godmars
“Dive” into her uh?
No, I wouldn’t take that literally… XD
Göran Isacson
Huh. So you could say it’s like Ar Tonelico, just set BEFORE the great apocalypse and with a much more intimate (LOLOLOL SEEEX JOOOOKE yeah I’m sorry) focus. You just have this one girl, and you have to focus on her in order to help her… I dunno, reach her full potential? Do whatever it is she has to do to save the world? Whatever helps.
Essentially, what it all boils down to is how interesting they can really make Ionasol as a character. How invested can you get in her and her struggles between choosing one side or the other? Having played Ar Tonelico 2, I quite liked the story in that game, more so than Ar Tonelico one… but I have heard poor things about Ar Tonelico 3. I guess that I’m cautiously optimistic to this one…

OverlordZetta
AT3 was fantastic, of you ask me. You should try it yourself before you judge.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Anesia-Hunter/100001399897271 Anesia Hunter
They said this game takes place on a planet called La Ciel and the crisis they are dealing with a swelling sun. So, this is most likely a different galaxy than where Ar Ciel resides. Also, don’t put down Ar Tonelico 3. It’s true some gave it a bad reviews, but it truly is an awesome game. It’s the final portion of the Ar Tonelico plot line and reveals the decision of the planet’s will and the fate of it’s few remaining inhabitants. If you’re worried, but don’t feel like checking it out some would act as spoiler for you, then i suggest watching some videos on youtube of the game.

http://twitter.com/Belphegor86 Belphegor
Come on NISA, do us proud, you know you want to localize this one! And if you do I’ll finally have enough justification to splurge on a Vita :D
brian yep
Song magic.
Diving.
Ciel.
I’m guessing this is a spinoff of AT or that director guy really likes these plot devices.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000147755574 Marcos Karal
So this series is pretty much a spiritual sucessor to Ar tonelico, yeah?
Not that I have any problems with that
http://www.facebook.com/people/Eduardo-Herculano/100002609376138 Eduardo Herculano
i have a question.
it is from the same director of ar-tonelico, but Ciel no Surge it’s going to be a jrpg or a dating simulator?

Brandonmkii
I don’t see any mention if combat yet, so I doubt it’s an RPG of any kind.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000147755574 Marcos Karal
“Ciel no Surge plays like a communication game when Ion isn’t hooked up to a machine.”
So… How does it play when you’re in a dive machine?
http://www.facebook.com/people/Fitzpatrick-Phillips/1786364591 Fitzpatrick Phillips
Glad to see the dialogue isn’t too hard. I saw the screenshots yesterday but I dunno if this one is worth a buy. It seems to be the first segway into the series but if it doesn’t have much gameplay it feels kinda ehhh, Love Plus-ish.
Monkey_T
Not excited for this game at all, but I’ll be willing to buy it if the game has beautiful hymns like in Ar Tonelico.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Anesia-Hunter/100001399897271 Anesia Hunter
song magic has been mentioned, it also takes place in the same universe as ar tonelico (the universe created by exa pico’s waves (its will)). so i’m hoping the game has some good music too. speaking of which i think i need to do a refresher course on wave theory.

ivanchu77
Only one girl? I would prefer if there were more girls/routes

http://www.facebook.com/people/Eddie-Dominguez/1078890439 Eddie Dominguez
can you just be content with just one waifu? lol

Crimson_Cloud
Nah, he is saying that he wants multiple choices. If there is only one girl and you don’t like her personality then you’re pretty much stuck discovering her past with not much hype.

Kai2591
heh. One is enough for me~
http://amc9988.deviantart.com/ amc99
One girl is already enough~ XD and she’s such a cutie!

Luna Kazemaru
More I see this the more I want it.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Eddie-Dominguez/1078890439 Eddie Dominguez
do want! for the life of me, i dont know why namco-banpresto killed the ar tonelico series since they had a “cult” like following among otaku both here and in japan.but to be honest here, i liked the ar tonelico 2 even with its bugs more than the ar tonelico 3…. waifus for the win! XD

Spirit Macardi
Because they’re Namco. Killing amazingly good franchises is what they do best.
At least Ar Tonelico was given a concrete conclusion though, which is more than I can say for many other games.

Kai2591
The usual question I have in mind when I see art that I like is: Who is the artist?
So, anybody knows who is the character designer for this game? Its certainly not Nagi Ryou…
Wish they stick with Nagi Ryou’s art but this one’s actually pretty nice too~
I’m a little disappointed this wasn’t the usual JRPG like Ar Tonelico, with battles and all..But I love Gust games so I might end up liking this one too. Seems to me this is more of an ‘evolution of the diving system from Ar Tonelico’ than it being a spiritual successor of Ar Tonelico as a whole.
Also, Ion’s the president?? That’s a surprise….why’d they put her in that room though? Like she was some sort of test subject or something…and now she’s suddenly president. Not that I’m complaining :) Oh and that 1st pic is MOE.
I’m just a bit bothered by WHO is it we’re actually playing as in this game…I hope there’s an actual character we control….with an actual given NAME (unlike Tokitowa).
…are those her ears?
Jirin
I always feel bad for the women in Gust games. They always look so uncomfortable, and they’re heading into combat like that?
And aren’t their chests going to get cold? Come on girls, this is combat, not a date, or a stripper-gram.

アキラ
Why do you act like Gust is the only one who has girls dressed up like that in their games?

puchinri
They’re far from the only one ;just about the entire gaming (and anime+comic/manga) industry has that problem. But they are one of the most obvious and unabashed offenders. Shame too, because some of the character and outfit designs are terribly cute, but the over the top fanservice and pandering just takes away quite a bit of the charm to me.

アキラ
True, but there’s games out there that are worse. (Code of the Princess, for example.)
http://twitter.com/aquagon_drag aquagon
And as if these games didn’t have any redeeming qualities to them: girls having important roles in the affairs of the world, and some of them even having strong personalities, a deep and well-crafted world, and some of the most thoughtful and well done music ever composed.

puchinri
Lol, seriously.

http://amc9988.deviantart.com/ amc99
……K-k-Ka–KAWAII!!!! Ion is just so CUTE~!! HNGH!!
…Okay, now I just sound weird XD
http://www.facebook.com/people/Altin-Bujupaj/1157167838 Altin Bujupaj
Looks great so far. I wait for some Videos though, before I finally decide whether to buy it or not
Darkrise
I like what I’m seeing so far but… I get the feeling that there’s not going to be any combat or jrpg elements, that sort of destroys the chances of NISA being able to localize this.

Stolichnaya
it sort of destroys my will to buy it too.not really a fan of visual novels.

Raiu
Angels wearing nothing but ribbons with exposed skin?? Good enough for me to get it..
Time for a new bet.. Chances of this game being localized is good with NISA as the publisher.. As more PSVita games sold poorly from NISA, the less chances this game will have…
Edit: As expected from Ar tonelico’s director… (fixes glasses..) Just as I predicted it…
http://www.youtube.com/user/keyblademaster333#p/a/f/1/oAlztMvvNkk Keyblademaster333
Ion from Abyss: -_-
darkbartz
Well, what a bad time for the president-elect to have gotten amnesia just as she is needed to make a super important decision. Or did they elect her after the amnesia?
Moving on, this game has a such an Ar Tonelico feel to it, with the naming system, song magic and diving. Keeping my eye on this, but the gameplay so far doesn’t look really appealing to me, not really a Love Plus kind of guy…
theworldofnoboundries
Ore no Osananajimi wa Daitoryou da???
OverlordZetta
Pity if this is all Ar Tonelico ends up spawning. It sounds fine and all, but those were some fantastic JRPGs.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Anesia-Hunter/100001399897271 Anesia Hunter
“Ciel no Surge is the first work in the Surge Concerto series. Gust plans on expanding this franchise into a variety of media beyond video games. Future games will be based around the same world setting.”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Daniel-Morandi/100000837836996 Daniel Morandi
I can interpret that as if we dislike this first videogame, we can hope that others based in this world will be the game we seek.

http://twitter.com/CPUNoire Noire
me likey, but i prefer a ps3 game >.<
Elemiel
This has to be in the same universe as Ar Ciel, all these words.
AzureNova
This sounds very nice. I could play Ar Tonelico and Ar Tonelico like games forever. I just hope that Ciel gets localized and that the series gets a PS3 game in the series as well.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Steven-Pierre-Louis/667684607 Steven Pierre-Louis
it kind of sounds like a visual novel rather than an RPG.
CrazyKnives
I kinda wish they didnt give her those…. ‘ears’
But aside from that it looks interesting.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Daniel-Morandi/100000837836996 Daniel Morandi
I like those ears, they seem pretty to me.

CrazyKnives
The colors is nice, I’ll give em that. I’m not into the odd ear designs.

PoweredByHentai
Damn it, it’s not listed on AmiAmi nor CDJapan yet. Even Play-Asia hasn’t listed it. >_<

Testsubject909
I’m hoping it gets localized…
Though on another note. All I could see of this article was Diving into her and the pictures…

puchinri
It looks very, very pretty. And some of the character designs look fair enough. But the story is just too far reaching for me to even pretend it’s there (so much potential, too). If I’m ever interested in the Vita, I’ll have to keep track of/look into this game some more. Lets hope it’s more detailed and fleshed out than it sounds.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Daniel-Morandi/100000837836996 Daniel Morandi
Now this sound more interesting. Want to know more.
ShadowWolf
so its just lie Ar Tonelico without combat?
……..not sure if want.

Xerain
Considering only one Ar tonelico game had combat worth playing it might be for the best.
http://twitter.com/drachenmeister Chloe
Ar tonelico’s strong point was never the RPG part. Never.

ShadowWolf
i don’t want to play a RPG without combat.
or the RPG.

http://twitter.com/VXLbeast VXLbeast
So let me get this straight: they put the fate of the universe in an amnesiac’s hands?
http://otoboku.se manga
Sounds interesting. Will wait for gameplay videos to make my call on this title, but color me interested at this moment.

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Ciel No Surge, Gust’s PlayStation Vita Game, Has You "Dive" Into Ionasol

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