Last week, Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland Plus (メルルのアトリエ Plus ～アーランドの錬金術士3～) was featured on the cover of Dengeki PlayStation, but unfortunately the magazine provided very little new information regarding the upcoming PlayStation Vita title from Gust. More interesting, therefore, was the interview with series illustrator Kishida Meru, whose comments provide some insight into the possibility of future entries in the “Plus Project."
VGChartz's Adam Cartwright: "the handheld was unable to attract certain types of software – western AAA development quickly evaporated, as did Sony’s own support, because there weren’t enough consoles out there for such titles to be profitable. But that doesn’t mean that every publisher failed to find success. Indeed, there are a number of franchises out there that have been able to appeal to the Vita’s niche and which have seen positive sales numbers and critical reception, leading to them becoming mainstays on the handheld.
It’s these series that I intend to examine in more depth this article – what they are, what entries we’ve seen, what success they’ve had, and what it’s meant for the console’s future. I’ll be using known sales figures where possible to back things up, hopefully demonstrating that the Vita has been a solid home for a number of great series despite its otherwise weak commercial performance on the market."
Michibiku's Jenni Lada writes, "JRPGs become more predictable as they age. The mechanics are still sound, the stories still good, and the general concept still appreciated in a world where open-world everything is becoming the norm. Think of it as perpetual familiarity. We now what’s going to happen. Gust’s Atelier chronicles can fall within the bounds of predictable, but the series’ focus on individuals sets it apart."
Digitally Downloaded writes: "The PlayStation Vita has had a difficult life to date, though it has been moderately successful in Japan, and that means one thing; it has had a lot of JRPGs developed for it. A disproportionate number of them, in fact."
Just release Atelier Totori plus in the west allready! lol
You'll have to take that one up with NISA, I believe.