ARM Backup/Ar Portal translation/Telemo Plaza/Issue 4

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みなさん、こんにちは。
今年も残すところあと３日ほどとなりました。今年は皆さんにとってどんな年でしたか？１０月からの２ヶ月間は、アルトネリコ２でお楽しみ頂けましたでしょうか？皆さんに少しでも楽しい時間が生まれたのなら、私としてもとても嬉しいです。今年もアルトネリコシリーズをご支援下さいましてありがとうございました！
さて、前回も多数の御意見ありがとうございました。こちらの方も、また公開できる時が来ましたら、まとめてお伝えしたいと思います。今年最後のテレモとなります今回は、お風呂システムについてお話ししましょう。
お風呂システムを最初に見たときに、どのような印象を受けましたか？「アルトネリコらしい」と思いましたか？それとも「予想の斜め上を行った」と思いましたか？お風呂システムは、アルトネリコ２の全体構想の中でも、かなり後の方になって生まれたシステムでした。今作が「ヒロイン同士の絆、友情」という部分に焦点を当てている事は前々回でお伝えしたとおりですが、それを表現するためのこの「お風呂システム」が出来るまでには、実に多くの紆余曲折があったのです。お風呂システムの正式名称は「デュアルストール」です。デュアルストールは、この作品の構想段階から存在したシステムです。企画立ち上げ当初、デュアルストールは単純に「ヒロイン同士でインストールし合う」ものでした。確かに世界観的にもシステム的にも無難なラインですが、前作をプレイしている方は、それ程違いが分からないシステムになってしまいそうな懸念がありました。また、前作の反省点として、インストールシステムはそのまま２には持っていかない事を決めていました。これは、インストールが作業感が強かった為、２ではもっと楽しめるもの、すなわちパワーアップのためでなくともそのシステムをプレイしたい為にやってもらえるシステム、というものを目指していた為です。その為、システムサイクルが完成しても、この「デュアルストール」だけがどうしても納得いかず、何度も企画担当者と話し合いをしました。「パワーアップ手段である」「イベントなどが見れて楽しめる」「積極的にプレイしてもらえるもの」という条件で、何度も面白さを追求しました。
途中色々な案が飛び交いました。例えば「二人でグラスノ結晶を二つに割ってインストールし合う」とか「二人のインストールポイント同士を繋いで意識を共有し合う」とか、果てには「１つのグラスノを二人で同時にインストールする」ような案にまで至りましたが、わかりにくさと表現のしにくさで、イマイチパッとしない為に煮え切りませんでした。そんな中で「もう、一緒にお風呂入るとか、それくらいの変化が無ければアルトネ１と印象かわらないよね」という話を持ち出したのが、お風呂システムの最初だったのです。この時私の中では、お風呂というのはよく「裸の付き合い」と言うように、人間が一番気を許す瞬間であり、そこで普段は出来ない話も出来るだろう、そして絆が深まっていく様を表現できるのではないか、という事を考えていました。しかしさすがに「お風呂」というのは吹っ飛びすぎかなぁ…と思い、躊躇していたのです。しかしそこは「やるなら中途半端はダメ！トコトン行き切れ！」を開発ポリシーとして掲げていたアルトネリコ２でしたから、数日間悩みに悩んだ末に、思い切ってお風呂を採用することに決定したのです。お風呂システムはそのコンセプト通り、どのシステム（例えばヒロイン会話、トークマターなど）よりも「ぶっちゃけ話」が飛び交い、最も人間くさい、そして最もリアリティのある「風呂会話」を沢山します。そういった半ば無礼講とも言える事を自然に出来るのがお風呂であり、普段の過酷な冒険から解放される瞬間もまたお風呂なんだろうと思います。こういったところでは、普段とは違う気の許し方で相手と接することが出来、それが結果として少しずつ互いに気を許せる仲になっていくのではないか、と考えています。そんな構想の下お風呂システムは構築され、そして現在のような形になったのです。
見た目のインパクトはもちろん、プレイするときも「女の子同士だけの秘密の会話」を楽しめること、そしてそれによって互いに心を許しあう、というアルトネリコのコンセプトとしての面。そういった様々な可能性に期待して、お風呂システムは具体化されていきました。そして今、皆さんの元にお届けしている形となっているのです。お風呂システムについて、皆さんの御意見ご感想をお聞かせいただければ幸いです。
それでは今回はこの辺で、おいとまさせていただきます。
それでは皆様、どうぞよいお年を！	Hi, everyone. It's Tsuchiya.
Only about three days remain before this year ends. What kind of year was it for you all? Did you have a chance to enjoy Ar tonelico 2 now two months have gone after October? If it brought you all even the slightest bit of enjoyment, that would make happier than you can imagine. And thanks for giving Ar tonelico your support for another year!
Well then, we received once again a lot of opinions after the previous issue closed off. As for us, there are several things we ourselves want to say whenever the time we can do so comes. As for this Telemo issue, which is also the last one that will be published this year, the topic for today will be the Bath System.
So, what kind of impressions did you get the first time you saw the Bath System? Did you think it was [Ar tonelico-like]? Or did you think that [we did something that fell outside your expectations]? Among all the elements that were integrated into the overall plan for Ar tonelico 2, the Bath System was one of the latest to enter the picture. In the issue prior to the last I explained that for this game we wanted to put the spotlight on the [bonds between the heroines, and between friends], and we actually went through several twists and turns before finally establishing the [Bath System] in order to present these bonds. The official name for the Bath System is [Dualstall]. Dualstall as a system already existed during the time this game had reached its planning stage. But when we initially drafted the project, Dualstall was no more than a simple process of the [heroines Installing into each other]. While it's true that it was the easy and safe way out when it came to the world setting and setting, I had the worry that players that went through the previous game would think it wasn't any different from what we already had made. And after I reflected on the things we had done in the previous game, I decided that we wouldn't just port the Install System as it was to 2. This is because Installs had too strong a feeling of doing things for work, and for 2 I aimed to make it more of a fun activity, or in other words, to make it a system that was actually fun to play with and not to be used merely to power up the characters. For that reason, even if we fully replaced all the game systems, I wouldn't budge at all on the idea that [Dualstall] had to stay in the game, and I had many discussions with the project managers over it. I sought many times to make it something fun as long as it complied with these conditions: [it must be a method to power up the characters], [it must allow for something fun such as watching events] and [it must be something that encourages a proactive playstyle].
And in the midst of it all, many ideas were flying all around us. For example, there were ideas such as [the heroines splitting a Grathnode Crystal in half and then Installing each half on each other], [the heroines connecting their Install Ports through direct contact to then share their consciousnesses], and while in the end we got to the idea of [both heroines Installing a single Grathnode Crystal at the same time], because it was hard to understand and even more difficult to present, we didn't implement it because we found it be a half-hearted attempt at doing anything. And while we were still discussing the idea, someone went and said [Agh, how about making them go into the bathtub together!? If we don't change it that much, it won't cause the kinda impressions AT1 did!], and that was how the Bath System was born. At that point, hearing the word bathtub turned my thoughts to [socializing in the nude], and as that's the instant in which we humans drop our guard the most, conversations that people wouldn't hold normally could be made possible, and then I wondered if we couldn't use this as a method to deepen bonds. But as you might expect... I hesitated when I thought about the [bathtub] after it was pretty much screamed. However, Ar tonelico 2's development policy was [If we're going to do it, we're going to do it in full! Let's go full speed ahead!], so after several days worrying and at my wits' end, I finally gave in and decided we would use the bathtub in full. And just like the Bathtub System's concept stated, it contains [frank conversations] that fly in the face of all other systems (such as the Heroine Topics and the Talk Topics), is the most human element in the game and it also contains many [bathroom conversations] that are the most realistic in the game. And partially putting that aside, I think these conversations are of the type that would spring naturally in a bathroom, as they're in the bathtub during one of the few instants they are free from the harsh adventures they have everyday. Given this, I thought that the characters might be more lenient with each other and be more direct when they are talking, with the result they will let their guards down around each other and build a closer relationship. It was under these ideas that the Bath System was constructed and that it took its current shape.
While it surely is impacting to just seeing it, I hope you will enjoy the [girls having girls' only secret conversations] when you play through it and upon seeing how that allows them to open their hearts to each other, you will see it as another facet of Ar tonelico's overall concept. These are the several possibilities you can expect to see and that were materialized by the Bath System. And now, its finalized form has reached your hands. It would make me really happy to hear your opinions on the Bath System.
Well then, that's it for this issue, so I'll be going home for today.
Well then everyone, may you have a happy new year!