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前作以前からプレイされている方はお馴染みだと思いますが、アルトネリコシリー ズにはヒロインのコスチュームが変わる「コスチュームチェンジ」という要素が ありました。定番のコスチュームからかなり破天荒なものまで、毎回１キャラに つき１０種程度、合計で３０近いコスチュームがずらりと勢揃いしていたわけで す。このシステムはファンの皆様に毎回期待されている部分であり、色々なコス チュームを集めて着替えて楽しむ、アルトネリコシリーズの重要なお楽しみ要素 として、私の方でも認識しています。
アルトネリコ３の開発が始まり、まだ早い時期に、今回のコスチュームチェンジ はどうしようか…？という話が上がりました。コスチュームチェンジはそれ自体 がお楽しみ要素ですので、それなりのものを作れば、きっとファンの皆さんは楽 しめるのではないかと思っています。ですが、過去２作でそれこそ、その時の全 力で萌えとネタを詰め込んでいる上での３作目、さすがにコスチュームチェンジ も「またか」という感じになるのではないか、という懸念がありました。アルト ネリコ１の頃は斬新で、そして２でも安定して楽しみをお贈りできるシステムで あったとはいえ、３作目ともなればそれは麻痺し、ファンの皆さんの中でも「ふーん、 今回もあるんだね」という普通な感覚で終わってしまうのではないか、と…。ア ルトネリコの看板システムの１つを、そのような「サプライズ」の欠片も無い要 素にはしたくない！という想いから、初期段階よりかなり試行錯誤した結果、今 回のシステムが組み上がりました。すなわち、服だけではなくボディ自体も変わっ てしまう、という「ボディチェンジ」を採用してみたのです。これによって、今 までのコスチュームチェンジとは全く違う楽しさを提供し、しかもより奥深いも のを作ることが出来るのではないか、と考えたわけです。
実際、今作またコスチュームチェンジだった場合、シリーズファンの方は恐らく 次の様な事をすぐに想像できるのではないでしょうか。「今作もコスチュームが 沢山ある＞きっとコスモスフィア１レベルで１コス使い、そのコスをゲット＞戦 闘でコスが変わる」と。そこには何も目新しさはありません。ですが、今回ボディ チェンジになった事で、コスモスフィア、そして戦闘時などで、どのような事が 起こるのか、どんな流れになるのかは、あまり想像できなくなったのではないか と思います。そしてそこから、今までと違った驚きや楽しみ方が出来てくる、ア ルトネリコ１でも２でもない、「３」が「３」である理由が生まれるのだと、そ う確信しています。実際にどのような流れになるかはここでは明かせませんし、 実際にプレイした後の、皆様の感想も賛否両論あるでしょう。でも、それでもた だひたすら走り続けたい。同じ賛否両論あるのなら、マンネリによる「否」より も、新しいことをやった後の「否」の方が、遙かに価値のあるものだと、私は考 えます。是非プレイしていただいて、その感想を頂ければと思います。
今作のボディチェンジの目的も、前作までと同じ「ヒロインを魅力的に見せるた めの手法」と位置づけています。ボディが変わってしまうと、ヒロインという存 在が薄まってしまうのではないか…？と思われる方もいらっしゃるかもしれませ ん。その点については私の方でも初期より懸念しており、それ故に徹底して配慮 しながらの制作をしております。実際にこのボディチェンジにどのような物語が あるのか、そしてアルトネリコ３の多重人格とは何なのか。それは是非プレイし て、自分の目で確かめてみてください。
そして、何かを感じ取ったら、良いことでも悪いことでも、どうか教えてくださ い。それがまた、その後の作品へと繋がっていくのですから。
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I think everyone who played the previous games should be familiar with this, but the Ar tonelico series has a feature called [Costume Change] that allows the heroines to change the costumes they wear. These went from their standard costumes to unprecedented ones, and since there were around ten costumes for each character, that added up to a total of about 30 different costumes per game. This system is one of the elements that are awaited the most by the fans, and I acknowledge myself that looking forward to collecting all sorts of different costumes and having the heroines change from one to another is one of the most fun elements found in the Ar tonelico series.
So when we were starting the development on Ar tonelico 3 and up to its earlier phases, a conversation came up about what we were going to do for the Costume Changes this time around... The Costume Changes are one of the most fun elements in the series, so I thought fans would enjoy them regardless if we implemented them the same way we had done it previously. However, since we had already done this for two games in a row and we had crammed as much moe and jokes as we could into the costumes we had made for them, I started worrying that fans would think "Again with this?" about the Costume Changes if we did that. It was fresh and novel in Ar tonelico 1, and they became a stable and fun system when we made the ones for Ar tonelico 2, so if we didn't do anything special for the third game, I thought it was quite normal for fans to end up going "Hmph, and they put in these things again"... I felt that "It's one of Ar tonelico's star systems! I don't want to just leave it like that, in a way where we can't tell "Surprise!" to our fans!", so we started experimenting from the early stages of the project, and after several trial-and-error runs, we finally framed up and constructed the system you see now. In other words, we tried making a [Body Change] system where you won't be just changing the heroines' clothes, but changing their entire bodies along with them. This way, we'll be providing you all with a kind of fun that feels completely different from the Costume Changes you've seen so far, which was all because I wondered if I couldn't make it in a deeper and more significant way.
Actually, if we had Costume Changes again for this game, most likely fans would have started thinking they would have to proceed the following way: [This game has many costumes again>One costume is going to be used per Cosmosphere level, and we'll get them after completing their corresponding levels>Use the costume in battle]. That would mean the novelty of the whole system is gone already. However, I don't think players will be able to imagine what things will happen in the Cosmospheres and battles, or how things will turn out to be in the game now we have set the Body Change system in place. And that way, I believe we'll be able to produce some kinds of fun and surprises that weren't seen in either Ar tonelico 1 or 2, which were made for [3] solely because it's [3]. I won't be revealing anything that will happen on the game here either, so I'll be surely hearing from your feelings on the matter as well as your mixed opinions after you have actually played through it. But even so, I want to keep running forward no matter what. While they're both mixed opinions, I personally think that hearing a [No!] from attempting something new has far more worth than getting a [No!] from repeating the same thing over and over. So please play through it and tell me your impressions afterwards.
As for what goal the Body Change system has, it is the same as in the previous games: it serves as a [method to show you the charm each heroine has]. I'm sure some people must be wondering out there, "But changing their bodies won't only serve to dilute the existence of each heroine more than usual...?" I've personally had these same worries from the time we started drafting this system up, which is why I made it while keeping on mind to be as thorough as possible with each of them. What kind of impact will the Body Changes have on the story, and what is the true nature of the multiple personae in Ar tonelico 3? That is something I'll leave to you all to discover, so please make sure to play through the game, okay?
And once you do, please tell me how you felt about them, no matter if your feelings on the matter are positive or negative. That will also help me to decide how I'll approach my next projects.
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