''Ciel Nosurge'', full name , with the title translating to "World of the Girl -Requiem to a Lost Star-" is a

life simulation Life simulation games form a subgenre of simulation video games in which the player lives or controls one or more virtual characters (human or otherwise). Such a game can revolve around "individuals and relationships, or it could be a simulation ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

for the

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, then in other international territories on February 22, 2012, and was produced ...

developed by Gust. The player's objective is to help Ion, a girl with

amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or brain diseases,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be temporarily caused by t ...

, regain her memories by entering her mind, which is shown as a broken world which the player can repair. Although not a continuation of the ''

Ar tonelico is a Media mix, multimedia project series made in collaboration by Gust Corporation and Banpresto (currently subsidiaries of Tecmo Koei and Namco Bandai Games respectively) consisting of video games, manga, and an OVA. The name of the series is al ...

'' series, it takes place in the same universe with many of the same elements and expands on the series mythos. ''Ciel Nosurge'' was the first game to be developed by Gust after their merger with

Koei Tecmo is a Japanese video game, amusement and anime holding company created in 2009 by the merger of Koei and Tecmo. Koei Tecmo Holdings owns several companies, the biggest one of those being its flagship video game developer and publisher Koei Tecmo ...

. The game's first version was released on April 26, 2012. The original cart contained just the first episode of the game, with additional episodes gradually being released as

downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...

(DLC) via the

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...

. ''Ciel nosurge Re:Incarnation'', a re-release containing all of the original game's patches and DLC, including episodes one through four and a voucher to download episode five, was released on February 21, 2013. A total of twelve episodes were released in total, which are divided in three arcs: the Trials Arc, the Downfall Arc and the Empress Arc. An offline-only version of the game titled ''Ciel noSurge Offline'' was released on October 2, 2014. In September 2015, Koei Tecmo announced that all versions of the game would remain exclusive available to Japan, with the company having no intentions on translating or releasing it in any other regions or languages. A continuation of the series for the Vita and

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

, titled '' Ar Nosurge'', was released on March 6, 2014. Despite ''Ciel Nosurge'' staying in Japan, the sequel, a

JRPG While the early history and distinctive traits of role-playing video games (RPGs) in East Asia have come from Japan, many video games have also arisen in China, developed in South Korea, and Taiwan. Japanese role-playing games Japanese c ...

, was later released in English regions. A remastered version, ''Ciel Nosurge DX'', was released on March 4, 2021, in Japan for

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

Gameplay

The player is introduced to (shortened to "Ion") (Japanese VA: Ai Kakuma), a girl with amnesia who lives in another dimension; the player's objective is to help Ion recover her lost memories. Ion is a candidate for the next

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

in her world but lives on her own; the player can build a

romantic relationship Romance or romantic love is a feeling of love for, or a strong attraction towards another person, and the courtship behaviors undertaken by an individual to express those overall feelings and resultant emotions. The ''Wiley Blackwell En ...

with Ion (shown by a separate "love meter") by interacting with her. Ion may make adjustments to her lifestyle timing, which will eventually match the player's the longer the game has been played. Another gameplay element of ''Ciel Nosurge'' is the ability to create fairies known as from scanning

barcodes A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, Machine-readable data, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly ref ...

. Different barcodes create a different type of Sharl, which are needed to repair Ion's mind. The game also has a system where players can type short messages for other players. The game has been referred to as a social game due to its heavy focus on socializing with other players and the requirement to be connected to

to play. At the time of its release, many of the game's online servers were not working properly, but that problem has since been fixed by Gust through a series of patches. The game was released as a series of episodes, episode one being the original cart. As of February 2014, ten episodes have been released. Episodes two through ten were released as DLC for a few hundred

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. T ...

each on PlayStation Network. Each episode is estimated to take around seven hours to complete. Other than episodes and patches, other minor add-ons have been released on PSN, such as costumes, extra scenarios and dialogue packs for the interactions with Ion. Midway through 2013, Gust released additional contents: bundles containing the entirety of the chapters for both the Trials and Downfall Arcs, bundles containing all costumes, additional Sharl types and even a paid patch that repaired at once all of the Repair Points in Ion's Dream World, allowing the player to see the events without waiting for the Sharls to do the repairs. All of this can be bought as a single bundle, as well.

Setting

The world of ''Ciel Nosurge'' was designed with an intent to give Japanese players a sense of nostalgia; for example with buildings from the

Shōwa era The was a historical period of History of Japan, Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) from December 25, 1926, until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death on January 7, 1989. It was preceded by the T ...

. Ion herself lives in a world called Ra Ciela. Ra Ciela is nearing destruction due to the expansion of its sun, Bezel; and due to this, most of its population built floating cities called Colons to protect themselves; while the poor still live on the ground.

Reception and sales

Japan's ''

Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...

'' magazine scored ''Ciel Nosurge'' 31 out of 40. Merchandise for the game include a

mousepad A mousepad or mousemat is a surface for placing and moving a computer mouse. A mousepad enhances the usability of the mouse compared to using a mouse directly on a table by providing a surface to allow it to measure movement accurately and with ...

. In the week from April 23 to April 29, ''Ciel nosurge'' ranked number one in

games sales (33,324 per week) and fourth overall, behind '' Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City'' (

version), '' Mario Party 9'', and ''

Fire Emblem Awakening ''Fire Emblem Awakening'' is a 2012 tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It is an installment of the ''Fire Emblem'' series, and the first to be developed for the Nintendo 3 ...

'', respectively.

''Surge Concerto DX''

''Surge Concerto DX'' is a Nosurge collection consisting of '' Ar Nosurge DX'' and ''Ciel Nosurge DX'' announced in Japan on June 25, 2020. This collection is a re-release of ''Ciel nosurge'' and ''Ar nosurge''. It was originally scheduled to release on January 28, 2021 in Japan for

and

, but was later delayed to March 4, 2021.

References

External links