Part 6: Bonus Update 1

Bonus Update 1

This is the first in a series of bonus updates I'll be doing for the thread, that'll be done every five updates. Why this system? Just because, really. I thought doing all the extra stuff in one bonus update would make the actual updates look cleaner. I'll try to have the next update up by Sunday, but no promises.

Anyhow, the extras for this game are the typical stuff for the PS3 Ateliers. All CGs encountered (they don't really look like CGs, but it's a close enough term to use to get the meaning across), concept art for the characters and various locations in-game, and movies, like the Altugle Herb Garden and Riesengang intro stuff.

Other than that, the in-game encyclopedia of monsters, materials, and everything related to alchemy, as well as the Music Room, featuring commentary for every song on the soundtrack from the composers of each. Like with Meruru, Daisuke Achiwa is in bold, Kazuki Yanagawa in italics, and Yu Shimoda is underlined. Just as a side note, the website I'm using to look up songs for linking uses a different translation than the "official" one in-game, but I'll just default to that website's translation, also because I feel like it. The OST is in a different order than the in-game OST, and for that I'll defer to the in-game soundtrack listing. Let's get started.

Artwork:
Ayesha artwork
Ernie artwork
Keithgriff artwork
Regina artwork
Wilbell artwork
Linca artwork
Juris artwork
Promotional artwork

Opening
Amusing Ayesha



Music:
Recollection Hill
Hello everyone, I hope you all enjoyed Atelier Ayesha! First off, as always, is the theme of the workshop. Like the opening events, it kinda has a sorrowful feeling to it. The condor flies, and Marco goes out to search.

North Wind Musette
An upbeat melody with a waltz-like rhythm that's a little heartrending. This is like a standard song for the Atelier series. Also, the acoustic guitar and bass are performed by the multi-talented Dani.

Sleeping Earth
There was a request from the director to change the image from the past Atelier series, so still leaving the Atelier-ness, we changed up the intstrumentation and chord progression for the field song.

Rain in the Dried Up Valley
Because I left the company last year, I worked on this project as a freelancer. Although it may not hold the same "shape" as before, I'm very glad I can still take part in the Atelier series.

Flower Scented Forest
Forest: Part 1. A light image of flowers in bloom and birds chirping. An orthodox Atelier forest BGM.

A Single Beam of Light
I was given the task to craft "an image of a dark tunnel and the unknown". Totally cliche. But I personally like the second half, where it's only strings.

Dance of Dripping Water
Arranged version of "Laughter in the Frontier". I never thought I'd be arranging a town song for a dungeon... Since it was for a well, I included lots of moisture sounds. So simple!

At My Pace
Feels like a Sunday morning television show. The only recorder song this time.

If You Walk Down Main Street
I was told, "It's a flourishing town, so it can be like the usual!". So, I made it feel like the usual. Making bright songs makes me feel relaxed.

Frontier Laughter
Melodica matches really well with simple music. Anyway, just listening over this makes me realize that I have a lot of songs with weird beats...

Invitation Flower -Spring-
This was the first song I worked on, that I was in charge of, for this title. In any game, the World Map really shows the grandness of the game's world. I had Dani play an acoustic guitar, right before the due date.

Invitation Flower -Summer-
A rare type of song for the World Map. Actually, the 4 World Map songs illustrate more of Ayesha's mental state than the landscape. The heart dances with the expanding world and knowledge with this song.

Even Today is Still Today
Everyone! Have you been watching the 8:30 PM Sunday anime where teenage girls are very violent? I'm very excited for it every week. Every year, it's hard to choose who to support, but this year is totally the green girl!

Charmed by a Cow
(cont. from the teenage violence anime) I really want to watch their movie where everyone appears, but I only have boys dammit! If I can dress up my young second son and... Sorry son! It's all because your father is a coward!

(I'm fairly sure he's referring the PreCure magical girl series with these two "commentaries". PreCure has a different series every year, and I think 2012's PreCure series had a girl with bright green hair. And there was a PreCure movie where all the series' main characters showed up together, but I'm just going by hearsay here. Just so you know.)

Cheeks Stained by the Color of the Setting Sun
I had the image of the extending shadows of sunset, so to capture that image more vividly, I decided to go to a plaza at sunset! So there I was was, a lonely man looking at his shadow, as the children played around him.

(Aw, such a sad commentary to a great song. Too bad it doesn't play that often.)

Tangomushi
I think whoever first used the tango in a comedy scene is amazing. It was actually fun to play the guitar sound on the keyboard.

I'm at the Bazaar
I made this while I was dancing around, excited, at midnight. I made it until the song would naturally make me dance. I listened to each phase on my headphones and danced like crazy.

It's an Older Sister's Incident
I thought the workshop might not have demand for this kind of song, but it totally clicked for one of the opening events, so I was relieved. The start of the song is totally for a shift in scenery. It's my favorite part.

Confrontation
Both sides, battle ready and in an explosive situation, is the feel I was going for. It is also used for when you're in a critical moment in battle.

Guidance
Has the arrangement of an important musical piece that will appear later. Try and remember the melody really well.

Illusion
This game has a lot of mysterious scenes, so I thought maybe this kind of song might be useful...so I went ahead and prepared one. It's simple, but I like making ones like this.

Journey to the New World
I made this song so you could see and feel Ayesha's cute and bright image, some sorrow and expectations for her journey, and also her fears.

Swinging Hair Ornaments
Ayesha's Theme: Part 2. The theme that Mr. Shimoda made had perfectly illustrated Ayesha, so when I had to make another one afterwards, I totally didn't know what to do. But I eventually ended up with "the scenery Ayesha sees".

Baby Bird
Wilbell's Theme. I tried my best to push the small, energetic, and cute image of her. Her witchiness is in there somewhere.

Excavation Polka
I used the sound of pickaxes for the rhythm to bring out the prospector feel. At first, it was more comical, but since Regina was more serious than I thought, I remade it so it would show her kindness and warmth.

The Man in the High Mountain
Rustic, earthy smell, a beefy mountain man, and the great nature that you see from the top of a mountain...was the image for this song. The sound of flutes is so relaxing and it makes you feel the nature.

Very Ordinary
A song used generically during events. I pushed the male character images (like Ernie and Ranun) a bit forward.

Suddenly Refreshing
Another song used generically during events, but this one has stronger feminine images (like Nanaca and Marion).

Merchant March
The image of merchants (like Harry and Fred). I'm happy I got to make a marching song. Full of courage, a straight pitch game! Don't like bugs!

Sylpheed
The Battle BGM that I made. The guitar and bass were performed by Dani. I've had songs that use both acoustic and electric guitars. I really like using both.

Undine
The titles of the battle songs, since it is an alchemy game, were taken from the spirits of Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire. I also did something similar before... It's already been 10 years since then...

Sagittarius
This song will play when you're in a Boss battle and you're like, "Yes! I won!". If this was an anime, right when they win again, my dad would change the channel. I would tell him to stop, but he would say that it's always the same!

Yesterday's Opponents are Today's Ingredients
The bass and guitar were performed by Dani! The other two will be making orthodox and cool battle themes, so I went a little different.

Flower Offering
There is an event where Nio goes and sees her grave, but when I was writing this song (before the script was done), I had imagined something similar, so I was a bit surprised

(That spoiler is a fairly big one for an event rather late in the game, so highlight at your own peril.)

Memorizing!
I'm sure it's true of all jobs, but you can learn about composition, one after the next. I'm always struggling with updated sequencers. Well, it's also fun too.

A Flower Blooming Nearby -on orgel-
Recently, I met someone who has heard what an orgel sounds like, but hasn't physically held one. That's very surprising. But using the windup key is what makes them great.

Recipe
Recipes that we find around us are mostly for cooking. I can see this song also being on a food channel.

Milkyway
The SFX sound of the guitar in the beginning came from something Dani played in a song that I made before. I went to get permission from Dani to use it again. If you know which song it's from, you're amazing!


The next couple songs are from a different album (but still on the game song listing), called Twilight Hour -Atelier Ayesha Vocal Album-, which, as the name implies, has all of the game's vocal songs on it.

Flower Marks
Vocals by Mutsumi Nomiyama, guitar by Dani, and percussions by Yoshihiro Tsuchiya. I received a sample from the director, but it was really simple. Although I had my doubts, it turned out to have a pleasant aftertaste.

Commentary for game edit: This is going to be self-praise. I don't usually hum the songs that I make, but somehow I find myself humming this song. I'm satisfied with this melody.

Mystic Pendulum
Rare (?) for the Atelier series, this is the second song where the entire musical composition was done outside of Gust. But I never thought Ms. Rurutia would agree to do it.

Commentary for game edit: (cont. from above) I knew that Ms. Rurutia's songs were illusional, so it would match our fantasy theme. The greatness of the scale of the completed song was astounding. I hope everyone enjoys this new Gust sound.

All the game says is that this commentary is by some guy named Okamura. For the record, Rurutia (who is the one singing in the song) is also the composer.

Edit from the future: Okamura is the game director. D'oh.