ARM Backup/Ar Portal translation/Firefly Alley Citizen's BBS/Issue 1

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皆さんこんにちは！「アルトネリコ」のディレクターをやっとります、土屋です. こちらのページでは書きたいことをガンガン書いていこうと思います. ゲームの こと、世界のこと、音楽のこと、絵のこと…企画立ち上げのこと、などなどなど など、本当に皆さんにお伝えしたいことが山ほどあるんです.

Hello, everyone! I am Tsuchiya, the Director of [Ar tonelico]. I thought that it would be a good idea to write in this page all the things that have been going through my head about the game, about its world, music and pictures. .. about how this project started, and etc. There are many things that I have been earnestly wishing to convey to you all.

第一回目ですので、「アルトネリコ」というゲームに託した想い…コンセプトに ついてのお話をしましょう. このゲームが伝えたいメッセージは「本当に人を愛 するとはどういうことか」です. ここの「愛」は恋愛の愛よりもずっと大きな意 味です. そんなテーマでゲームを作ろうと考え、そして出来たのがアルトネリコ です. この「愛」というものを描くために、企画立案当初から決めていた２つの 「絶対に変えないコンセプト」のお話をしましょう.

In this first issue, I will tell you all about the feelings... and the concepts I put into the [Ar tonelico] game. The message I want to convey through this game is [In which ways it's possible to truly love someone?]. The [love] I'm talking about here is the love that goes beyond simple passions, and it always carries a very important meaning. I always thought that I wanted to make a game with these themes, and I finally could do so with Ar tonelico. For sketching this [love], it was decided since the initial talks for the project that there would be 2 [concepts that would absolutely remain unaltered].

１つめは「ゲームであれ」という事です. 本作はゲームです. 映画でも本でもア ニメでもありません. １つの作品として愛をテーマに描くとき、「ゲームという メディアで描くのだから、ゲームならではの表現で描こう」という事を決めてい ました. これはどういう事なのか…. 「愛」をテーマにしたＲＰＧなどは、今回 が初めてではありませんよね. それこそ普遍的なもので、各メーカー、各ＲＰＧ が今までに何度もテーマとして扱っています. しかし、そういったゲームの殆ど が「愛をテーマとした物語」を持つＲＰＧです. それは物語…シナリオであって 「ゲーム」ではない. せっかくゲームという媒体を使っていて、更に「愛」とい うメッセージを配信するのに、ストーリー部分にしかそれが反映されていないの なら、ゲームで配信する意味がありませんよね. 同じモノをもっと高度なレベル で表現できるメディアは、他に沢山ありますから. 本作はゲームです. ゲームな らではの、いや、ゲームでしかできない「ホンモノの愛を紡ぐ」モノを創りたかっ た. ゲームにしかできない優位性、それは双方向性であり、体感できることであ り…そして「遊べること」です. そう！物語だけでなくゲーム全体で愛を語るこ とによって、ゲーム独自の表現手法が行えるのです！ 本作では、物語はもちろん、それと連携して、戦闘、合成など、様々なシステム が全てその「愛」を描くシステムとして搭載されています.

The first one is that [this is a game]. The main work itself is a game, not a movie, not a book, not an anime. When we began sketching the themes of loves of this game, we decided that [since we are sketching all of these themes into the kind of media we call a Game, we have to sketch them for presenting them in a Game]. What we do mean with that...? Well, this isn't the first love-themed RPG, right? This is because the theme of love it's an ubiquitous thing, and each maker, and each RPG released so far has dealt countless times with it. However, these kind of games are RPGs carrying [a story that uses the love as a theme]. That isn't an story... and scenario for a [game]. If after so much problem you use the games as your kind of media, and furthermore, you intend to convey a message of [love] with it, if that message doesn't influence the story part at all, conveying it in the game it's simply pointless. This is because there are other kinds of media that can present these same concepts in better ways. This work is a game, and since it's game, no, since it can't be made only in a game, I tried to make it as something that [can craft the true love]. The game isn't the only predominant thing here, and that's the ambivalence here, since it's something you can feel... and [play] at the same time. Yes! I made an original presentation by talking about love not only in the game, but also in the game itself! In the game, of course that in the story, and also, in combination with the battles, synthesis, and all of the various systems we made into the game were designed to sketch [love].

http://www.salburg.com/img/directors_photo/at_pct_10.jpg

そしてそのモデルケースとして、プレイヤーである「主人公」と、一番身近な存 在「ヒロイン」との関係に焦点を当て、徹底的に描きました. それが「ムスメ調 合」なのです. ムスメ調合というシステムは、主人公とヒロインの関係に集約し た、本当の愛情を表現する為のシステムなのです. その愛情とは恋愛よりも大き な愛、包み込むような愛です. 主人公（＝プレイヤー）がヒロインにしてあげた 行動のちくいちを、ヒロインが反応して返す、それによってヒロインが頑張る、 そして強くなる…. こういった一連の流れを、物語のみならず、双方向性のある システムによって構築しているモノなのです.

And using this as a model case, since the [Heroines] are the closest characters to the [Protagonist] controlled by the player, we wanted to focus in the relationships between them, and I think we sketched them very thoroughly. This is what we call [Girl Synthesis/Support]. Girl Synthesis is the collection of systems we made for the relationships between the Protagonist and the Heroines, and all of them were created for expressing true love. The kind of love that's bigger and deeper than simple passions, that feels as if it was enshrouding the ones that feel it. Depending on the actions the Protagonist (the Player) takes, the Heroines will respond, and because of these actions, they will try to do their best, and become stronger... This how these systems flow, structuring all of these things, and they work through the ambivalence I said above, given they don't function only in the story.

http://www.salburg.com/img/directors_photo/at_pct_11.jpg

２つめは、絶対にやらないと決めていたことについて. 本作では「ムスメ調合に よって性格を変える」「自分の好きな人格を形成させる」といった事だけは絶対 にしない、という事を、企画立案と一緒に決めていました. それは、ムスメ調合 が上のようなコンセプトの元に成り立っているためです. 人間関係や愛情、思い やる気持ちというのは、実際に心と心が通じ合う事で生まれるものです. それを 裏操作や薬などといったものによって変化させるなどということは、例え１回で あっても行ってしまったら、何の感動も、説得力も無くなってしまいますから.

本作のムスメ調合で変わっていくのは、レーヴァテイルという種族の持つ特殊能 力の部分です. レーヴァテイル特有の能力である「強力な詩」の力. 心の奥から 紡ぐその「詩」という力は、そのヒロイン自身の「想い」に大きく左右されます. 主人公がヒロインとの絆を大切にする、思いやることで、その能力をヒロイン自 身が主人公を助けるために伸ばそう、そして主人公と助け合っていこう！と思い 始める…. これが本作の求めているビジョンです. ムスメ調合を通じて、今の世界やゲームが忘れかけている「暖かいもの」を少し でも皆さんに体感して欲しい、そんな想いを込めて、１つ１つ、構築してきまし た. 発売まであと３ヶ月程度となった今でも、この２つの決めごと、そして想い は当初と変わっていません. そして、何か１つでも、プレイしてくれた皆さんの 心の中に暖かいものが残ってくれれば、私にとってはこの上ない喜びなのです.

The second concept are the things we decided we wouldn't do under any circumstances. In the game, you won't be able to make at all things such as [changing the personality of the girl through Girl Synthesis], or [Make your Ideal Personality for them], and this was we decided at the same time we established the drafts for the project. That is because the Girl Synthesis is consists on superior concepts, which are the human relationships, affection, thoughts, feelings, which are the things that produce the communication and understanding in the reality. And also, because that would be like getting changed through shady work or drugs, which once made once, they produce such an impression that no amount of persuasive power would make the addicts leave them. The girls that you will get to know better and support through the Girl Synthesis belong to a race called Reyvateil, which possesses special abilities. These special traits are harnessing the power of the [Great Songs]. They have the power of crafting these [Songs] from the depths of their hearts, and you can how the [Feelings] of the Heroines themselves are capable of doing many kinds of great things. The Protagonist has to treasure the bonds he makes with the Heroines, and both have to help each other! or at least that it's how I think it should begin.... That is the kind of vision I was seeking to make in this game. Through Girl Synthesis, I want everyone to experience, even if it's just a little, the [warmth] that both the current world and games seem to start forgetting, and I constructed this game by putting into it these kind of feelings, one by one. Even if there are around three more months before the game gets released, the two concepts we decided, and the feelings we had since we started this project won't change. And one more thing: if there is still something warm in the hearts of all of you after you finish playing, nothing else will make me happier.

さて、今回のお話はこれでおしまいです. 次回は…何にしようかなぁ. その場のノリで決めると思いますが、「世界設定」 についてのエピソードか、「歌い手さん」についてのエピソードにしようかと思っ ています.

Well, with this, this conversation comes to its end. The next time... what should I write about? I still have to thing and decide about it, since I could talk about the [World Setting] or about the [Singers].