Gust has let loose some new screenshots and story details on its upcoming addition to the Atelier series, Atelier Meruru: Alchemist of Arland 3. Due out on the 23rd of this month in Japan, these shots show a few new characters. The young man with the oversized sword is Geno, the short-haired girl is Philly, and the guy who looks like a king is… the king.
It’s also been explained why the heck Rorona, though older than both Totori and Meruru, is younger than her successors in this game. As hypothesized after seeing the first images, it was indeed an alchemy mix gone wrong. Meruru supposedly tries out a random alchemy combination she found laying around, and the result turns Rorona into a teenager. Whoops.
Atelier, like many others, is a series whose localization decisions are made almost wholly based on the sales of the previous entry, so if you’re thinking Meruru looks or sounds like your thing, show your support for Atelier Totori: The Alchemist of Arland 2, which is set to come to North America this fall. If it sells well, you can probably look for an announcement of Meruru’s translation in 2012, based on NIS America’s established publishing patterns with the series.
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