Gust Co: Through The Ages - A Brief Historical Overview (Atelier, Ar Tonelico etc) - Tarks Gauntlet

[@TarksGauntlet]

Special thanks to Boltrend for sponsoring this video! You can get their newest release, Atelier Online Here Today! (Affiliate Link) atelier.onelink.me/ugFe/3fead560 Use the code "kolzcje6bux" for in-game rewards. Special thanks as well to the extra sets of eyes who looked at various chunks of this video prior to release, and to those in my discord (Link in the description) who helped me locate a couple resources I was really struggling with. I was never too cognizant of gust throughout the ages and have long been curious to learn more, and boy, is there a lot to learn! This historical overview is decidedly "Brief" as there's still so much more we could have covered. There's also so many older games I really wish I got to play growing up and still looking forward to playing a translation of someday. From their older catalogue I think I'm most intrigued by "Welcome house 1 and 2," "Robin Lloyds adventure" and "Taishou Mononoke Ibunroku." How about you guys?

[@zoozbuh]

Bruh!! NICE sponsor. Totally checking this out.

[@CuteAndFunnyFan]

Never knew Gust had such a complex history.

[@PaladinSaris]

Gust games populate nearly 1/3 of my top 30 games of all time list. Their penchant for wholesome and heartwarming storytelling is unmatched. They're like classic Disney films with a little extra fanservice and fun. I recommend Atelier Ryza 1 first for anyone who wasn't played any of their games yet. Just take a look at any screenshot from that game and marvel at the color palette. Then spend the rest of your life listening to Hometown Island from the OST over and over again.

[@sethlee2606]

This man needs more subscribers. Well written and put together all the way through. Looking forward to the next video!

[@walktroughman1952]

Atelier, to be honest, is the only game series that has felt like "a Trails away from Trails" to me, it definitely fills this "massive, extensive world" vibe Trails has.

[@michaelanderson3958]

As a Gust fan, their consistency has allowed me to enjoy their entire catalogue.

[@DuoBeard]

There’s so much here when you look at it, a history lesson, yes. But the story told here can adhere to some firm beliefs and absolute respect for not only these companies but yourself as well. Nothing I can say here that would bring much joy then actually watching the video. Also, nice slug at there :D

[@HybridAngelZero]

Gust's games have been an inspiration to me since I discovered them, and their story is an inspiring one as well. A company full of people making what they want is an awesome thing to see. Also, love the slug buddy

[@MidniteZer0]

What an incredible video, excellent work, was a real pleasure to watch. I know this is one I'll inevitably revisit in the future!

[@hemangchauhan2864]

Finally finished this mammoth video. I really appreciate your history overview videos.

[@duoname3]

For me, Gust hit was Mana Khemia 2, Arc tolenico 1+2, Artelier Totori, Arc no surge, and Azure night 1+2 being the best. For the current era Ilike the idea of Blue reflection which I am a fan of the anime, but hesistate to get in with game mainly because of the subpar battle system. I might really need to try Aterlier Ryza though.

[@TheGamingShelf]

Great research and video! Was fun to hear about Gust’s earlier days.

[@jchan430]

Well done! This was very educational. I hope you consider making more history videos like this.

[@scottymavricky]

I love how you're using the Eternal Mana OSTs. Its my all time fave game.

[@mariokarthero1997]

Great video, Tark! Was recommended this video by Gilluria in a stream of his. Didn't know there was much more to Gust than Atelier

[@TarksGauntlet]

Gill is a champ. Love that guy. And yeah, gust goes way back. Would love to properly play their weirder games like Welcome House or Robin Lloyds Adventure.

[@ainbo9022]

I love this channel

[@gscollect]

Just saying this video deserves more views. Informative, enjoyable and just like the persona series you can tell a lot of effort was put into it.

[@angrytacos5497]

Miss the ps3 era gust, they were at their best back then

[@helenFX]

brilliant :) nice slug.

[@jclosed2516]

Personally I think Gust has made a good choice by releasing the games to the PC platform. They got a lot of attention because the Steam platform is of course very well known and used world wide. They made improved (DX) versions of their older Atelier titles (starting with Atelier Rorona) that is upgraded (especially graphical) to more modern standards. This probably has lead to an increase of sales for the whole Atelier title range (Arland, Dusk, Mysterious and Secret series). It would be nice to see the Ar Tonelica series ported to PC (that include Ar nosurge: Ode to a Unborn Star and Ar Tonelico Quoga Knell of Ar Ciel). Personally I liked Blue Reflection, and look forward to Blue Reflection: Second Light. I think an Ryza 3 will be made later on, but that's probably the last in that series (If Gust keep the trilogy style in place). For now the future looks not bad at all...

[@zoozbuh]

Really fantastic work, Tarks. I genuinely felt like I was watching a legit documentary on the history of Gust. As always, thanks for drawing attention to this developer and doing all the research so we don't have to! I have to say my favourite part was the reaaally obscure deep cuts that I didn't even know about, lol. 👏👏👏

[@TarksGauntlet]

I really, really wish I could read Japanese for times like this. Robin Lloyds Adventure and Taishou Mononoke Ibunroku seemed like games I'd love to dig into.

[@zoozbuh]

@@TarksGauntlet Same. I think they’d be flawed as hell but I’d probably love them. Working on my Japanese so maybe I’ll be at that point some day.

[@SnappleRyRy89]

found this on my recommendations and wow, this retrospective was very well written and researched. Definitely earned a sub and looking forward to more content!

[@SleepyRulu]

As a old fan of the atelier series I can respect them more than ideafactory they given what the fans want.

[@otgrey3927]

My first Gust game was Atelier Iris #3, which I'd bought on a whim. I never beat it, but when I read about the upcoming release of Mana Khemia, that propelled me to get it. I loved the gameplay, and then my PS3 broke (it could've played PS2 games), sad times but the memories were glorious.

[@jordym6953]

Bravo Such a great job!! My cousin introduced me to these games so gust holds a special place in my heart.

[@xtiandg0914]

I just came from your Ar Tonelico trilogy review which is still one of your most viewed video last year. Interesting to see this is the company that made that wonderful franchise and it makes sense. I think with the rise of Atelier popularity it also kinda help Ar Tonelico get more attention into becoming a cult classic

[@TheWordPlay]

This was really well made! I was curious about the Atelier games, and had no idea Gust had such an interesting history

[@Artemisthemp]

I had totally forgotten Azur of Night and Blue Reflection (own physhical copies) CE of AoN) was Gust titles as I mainly remember them as Atelier company

[@Chelaxim]

As someone who has a modded PlayStation Vita I downloaded Atelier Firis Plus which was Japan only to see if it was THAT bad...OMG it's one of the worst handheld conversions. It runs worse than Sonic 1 on GBA. If a game make the PS4 sound like a jet it shouldn't have a Vita version

[@OmegaVitaminC]

My first take-away is that Gust actually wanted to keep time-limits, but casual fans whined, fussed and coerced them into removing it. I'm rather mad at those fans. Atelier hasn't been the same since time limits got removed. I don't even find the new ones anymore, and I just go back to replay the Arland and early Dusk games. Bring back time limits.

[@sierrakobold6896]

Its funny when it came to the re-rating of Meruru they had to replace all copies with new inserts reflecting the rating change, yet 5 years earlier when it came to TES IV: Oblivion there was the infamous rating change from T to M, which reflected much more than just the naked female form in PC copies, which just simply had many copies already shipped and in retail stores just receive and M sticker on the cellophane packaging which was the copy I bought and still have in whch the case and disc have T rating on it. Though this was in Japan so maybe retailers and the rating board wouldn't allow that adjustment

[@Evilriku13]

Ok so what are ur favorite Atelier titles? I have trouble with the most titles, since RPG for me means having alot of combat and an engaging story instead of.. housing. Also whats ur opinion on Mana Khemia 1? If you played that title urself.

[@seanmurrell1926]

Damn I still can't even think of which game I should get. Should I get atelier ryza 2/ atelier ryza 1 or night of azure bride moon( I can't even spell it right I suck at remembering games sometimes. Maybe the new blue reflection? I don't know which I should get ahhhh what the hell am I supposed to do I feel like smashing my head against a wall because so many games I want but I have to choose certain games for now.

[@ChrisGildart]

This was an incredible video man. Great work! 👏

[@nateralus]

I've been trying to understand this developer, thanks for all the great information

[@nbdante]

A pretty interesting and inspiring story! Kinda like how Falcom started but the owner company's bad decisions prevented the studio from becoming one of the big players in the industry! More if these history videos please!

[@Nitsua2107]

Great video. Really appreciated the detail u put in this. Now Youve pushed me to Buy Ryza even sooner now😂

[@zoozbuh]

You haven't bought Ryza yet?! Bruh, you've got a lot to look forward to.

[@Mojoanimeo]

This was fascinating! Thanks for creating it. Also funnily enough I have played many Gust games, but was afraid to break into the Atelier series due to its sheer size. However I made up my mind to start at Ryza and go from there, but I haven't bought it yet. Then today is my anniversary, my husband, who knows nothing about jrpgs, let alone rpgs handed me the first Ryza game right after I started playing this video as a present. It was meant to be! PS: Super excited for Blue Reflection 2, that game was a breath of fresh air.

[@lenisvegalamberty1808]

KoeiTechmo is sitting on a gold mine on just nostalgia alone. If they remaster and rerelease the Ar Tonelico trilogy I guarantee the money would rain

[@hxntaiguy3318]

😁👏👏👏👏 that was a good video that explain how and where the atelier game started and showed each main character for each series, for a new comer to the atelier series, who come into the series with ryza it was very informative, thanks again.

[@Loinscurvey]

Yeah we Aussies had to fight so fucking hard to get a R18+ rating it lasted for decades then we did get it but our classification board is still garbo this makes sense why i never heard of or got into gust stuff when i was a kid or teen it was just hard to get here

[@Gilluria]

Incredible video, my dude!

[@kageakiminato8536]

firis is kino

[@one8576]

My local library is filled with these and I always figured they were just loli shovelware.

[@docheckfire3979]

Fantastic work, Tark! This was an awesome watch - full of great information presented concisely with color and heart. It's thanks to your channel and ones like yours that I discovered so many Japanese titles I wouldn't have in the past few years.

[@kahseng111]

Mana Khemia is my 1st ps2 game and the game most i like, hope will remake on PC 0...0

[@ladyyoruichichan9006]

You used the tutorial theme from.Atelier Iris for the Ad, I see what you did there.

[@mpo48]

So gust literally made mount and blade before mount and blade, what a blessed company

[@jobojoe1]

This is fascinating! Thank you for the video :)

[@KirbyIsCute]

That was quite interesting. I always loved the atelier series and I'm so glad it's getting more recognition. I hope they continue to find success with it. I just wish they release the earlier atelier games too. I really want to play them all.

[@734ch3r]

Great video, dude! Though I've only played 2 of the Atelier games, I love them to death and intend to play more in the future.

[@mahiru20ten]

I wonder if Hresvelgr was remade with present day tech...

[@rizkaarifiandi5670]

a very good video, you got yourself a new subscriber

[@13thdarkness3]

when you put the video in to watch later for too long the ad is from a dead moblia game lol

[@StraitanNarrow]

I might sound crazy but Nights of Azure 2 is a game I always go back to after a burnout.. Love that game one of my favorite action rpgs on ps4. Wish they'd come out with a 3rd. Gust makes solid games I'll give them that.

[@TarksGauntlet]

I think you and I might be part of a minority. I always felt I enjoyed it much more than the average person haha.

[@StraitanNarrow]

@@TarksGauntlet True lmao 🤣 enjoyed the mini doc ty Tark ✌

[@maroXUprising]

@@StraitanNarrow recently decided to replay NoA2. The games are definitely one of those enjoyable Action RPG’s to mindlessly wail on your enemies with little strategy and to replay every now & then. The gameplay, the Gothic setting, the Character Designs, and of course the OST were all solid aspects of the games, Definitely wished Gust would consider making NoA3...at least to end it as a trilogy if nothing else. Anyways, it’s great that Blue reflections has a sequel ready to launch. The OST for the first game is peak JRPG composed OST perfection.... imo, and the simplistic RPG gameplay was fine enough imo.

[@anton8964]

I'm need another new male main character......

[@cirmothe9]

Great video. I would have liked a mention for rorona plus.

[@ChrisCohen]

Great stuff Tark. I know this must have taken a lot of effort, but would love to see more content like this.

[@randallgoeswhere]

Would be cool if we got some of these older games in Eng.

[@dukenukem7043]

it just goes to show that thick thighs, save companies

[@KramerJones]

Cool vid man

[@unironic1184]

I LOVE AR TONELIICCOOO SMSMMMMMM, FANS RISE UPP

[@theflyingninja1]

I named my daughter Ellie after one of the Atelier games.

[@hellblazerjj]

Love this series thanks to you!

[@the8thark]

Great video. Very well done. However you insistence on equating meteoritic scores to the amount of critical acclaim a game has had, is very flawed. You could say it's is a bad practice to do. A large number of the critic review scores posted to metecritic do not at all reflect the full reviews, that the scores are attached to. In terms of the critical response at the time, for each game, did you actually do your research? Did you look for information from the time, or did you just look at the meteoritic scores to say if a game was critically acclaimed or not. I hope it was not the latter, but your video makes it feel like the latter. The other issue with game scores is they can not be equated across the decades. Well not easily. Back decades ago, like in the 90's and even for many in the 2000's, giving a game a 7 out of 10 was a huge score. A 7 meant a very good game. Not top tier amazing but still damn good and well worth playing. fast forward to today and anything less than 8 or 8.5 out of 10 is trash tier that no one should play. I do not follow this, but the industry as a whole seems to feel this and only hyping 8 or better games. The industry goes as far as development studios paying, as in paid reviews and only giving bonuses to their executives when certain meteoritic average scores are reached. There is a push to a better overall metecritic score as opposed to making an actually good game. I am not saying that gust has any part of this, but this is how the industry has changed. So saying an earlier Atelier game with the same average metacritic score as a modern Atelier game means both games were critically received the same . . . is totally wrong. Despite the metecritic flaw, potentially invalidating all the critical acclaim information in this video, the rest of the video was very well done. The historical information about how gust was formed and bought out was very insightful. I learned a thing or two here. Also as usual how you craft your videos is top notch. Well done.

[@TarksGauntlet]

TBH I didn't look at metacritic much at all. I looked at really old reviews more than anything as it was my only way to understand half of the games here, especially where most were never translated. From there I also looked at whatever sales data was available and what gust employees/owners etc had to say about a games success.

[@shadowsquid1351]

Great video, phenomenal work! I never knew Gust was this old & varied. I only played Escha & Logy which I liked, probably gonna get Ryza 2 to see how the series changed since then.

[@faidou9954]

It's likely that the Surge Concerto games will probably never release in the West, same with a possible As Tonelico collection. Guess I'll have to play the games on an emulator.

[@mibuchiha]

My pace de ikou from AT2 playing while talking about how Gust takes things slow and steady, while listening to the fans, is an extremely nice touch.

[@Pupppeteer]

I thought this was a CS Go video reading the title. What's wrong with me lol I'll get my eyes checked.

[@Inari_the_Fox]

It's content like this, the square Enix, and imageepoch videos that makes Talks stand out among his peers. I don't know anybody that makes videos like this.

[@Elephra]

Beautiful.

[@Tel1717]

Nights of Azure 2 was the first Gust game I ever played, I enjoyed it, bought Ryza because of it.

[@man3k]

Woah, i never knew GUST before they're bought by Koei Tecmo. Guess i'll start with their highest rated game Escha & Logy someday.

[@MaunBeats]

Excellent 🤜🤛😉

[@coretaku]

Digging up history takes a bit of willpower, and maybe a bit of passion sometimes. Thanks for sharing Mr. Tark. Hope that you're getting your fair share of team effort in some way, or another these days.

[@luisz0339]

Honestly I'm surprise to how many games and hardship this company had before reaching the point we are today. I honestly didn't even knew more than half of the games existed. Great video!

[@jmporkbob]

It'd be one hell of a project, but I think a Falcom version of this type of format would be awesome.

[@TarksGauntlet]

There's a channel I believe called "A Bowl of Lentils" that done a pretty good falcom history video. It's nearly an hour long. Not really the same format but lots of good info.

[@jmporkbob]

@@TarksGauntlet I recall seeing that channel around and probably watched some vids there, but haven't seen that one. I'll take a look, thanks!

[@seanbcusack]

i love your historical take on this, i had never thought of a historical perspective on gust before. do compile heart next! i'd really be curious what interesting arcs might have happened in their history as well.

[@postapocalypse0763]

22:00 It's insane to think those remasters are happening. A chance in hell to play Ciel Nosurge is wild to me

[@gilgamesh.....]

That was a cool history. I like a lot of Gust's games and had no idea how their company got started.

[@BulletNinjaHaggleman]

Gust... Building bridges one Jeff at a time...

[@bawanafox251]

Thank you for information about The History about Gust Co

[@BlackMageLozi]

you miss all the mobile games

[@TarksGauntlet]

Tbh I'm not sure gust produced many of the mobile games themselves. I made mention of the newest one at the start and end of the vid and a small mention of atelier questboard as I know that one was theirs.

[@jesusemanuelbaezrivas6551]

13:48 Hresvelgr

[@Hijikata-T7]

was interested to go into their works but fairy tail just kill it for me

[@benhamadouchewalid]

I really liked the work you did, I would like to see more videos like this

[@SimonPiano42]

Great mini-documentary! Makes me want to explore the Atelier series even more. Blue Reflection too. 20:21 I really wonder why Atelier Totori Plus got an R18+ rating in Australia for "references to sexual violence". Surely they're exaggerating. I wouldn't expect there even to be a hint to that in these games. Maybe they were just prude and evaluated a "i'll slap you on the butt" as such. steam link for the improved DX version: store.steampowered.com/app/936180/Atelier_Totori_The_Adventurer_of_Arland_DX____DX/ (no suggestions of such things there)

[@TarksGauntlet]

Australia just has a notoriously harsh ratings board.

[@midgetsparkle]

I LOVED this!! Please feel free to make many more like this, I love seeing the history of these companies who's games have made my life in gaming so awesome. All those companies you mentioned at the beginning could be great next choices... Love me that level 5

[@TarksGauntlet]

Level-5 would probably make a great case study. It's been well documented that they've been heavily struggling for the past year but while I was putting this together it also hit the news that they're openly hiring people right now to work on a new, possibly large-scale rpg. Here's hoping it'll work out for them!

[@user-ng1yu7io4r]

Lydie & suelle did not launch in 2021.

[@TarksGauntlet]

Yeah... It absolutely did not. It launched on December 21st 2017. I definitely misread my script here and never caught that in editing. Damn.

[@user-ng1yu7io4r]

@@TarksGauntlet lol i thought as much, but it is a great vid. Loved it, keep up the great content🥰

[@AlexVer221]

Thanks

[@TarksGauntlet]

My pleasure! Thanks for the support and comment. Really hoping to produce more content like this in the future. I enjoy the researching and learning portion of the process a lot!

[@rydernia]

Ryza's Thighs for the win!!!

[@saitoXamaterasu]

Gust was the developer who make me buy legal videogames , i mean before know gust i play some games but with Atelier series on steam i start to buy any one of them and for now is my bigest collection of videogames, yup is digital but is my collection and legal, i love many games from them, except night of azure, and common i even buy Ar tonelico 3 for ps3 and i didnt had one ( i borrowed one from a friend for playing AT3) i dont regret nothing is a mess of game and i love it

[@PinstripeParagon]

Twas very interesting to see where Gust came from and where they have gone with the company. I Still would love to see something from the Ar Tonelico series again.

[@HirohitoSyndrom]

Cool Slug tbh

[@siekensou77]

no robin lloyd? edit: 13:35

[@TarksGauntlet]

Robin Lloyds Adventure was mentioned briefly. Sadly, as an English only speaker I couldn't play too far into it, though it is one I have the most interest in discovering more from their back catalogue.

[@siekensou77]

@@TarksGauntlet puzzle game with action game elements

[@Pichuscute]

Very happy to see Gust finally getting attention. They are doing some fantastic things and have been for a surprisingly long time. Blue Reflection in particular is one of my favorite games.

[@TheCraftyDawg]

Mana Kamhia was the best Atlier game. Prove me wrong! The comedy, the pacing and especially the equipment, abilities system and the Alchemy were the best of the series and you are taking to someone who owns some of the later titles in the series. So I have something to compare it too.

[@OtakuDYT]

Square could really learn a lot here, innovation and evolution is great on a small scale but when you play a new game and wonder why it feels like something from an entirely different genre I think you've lost the point of the franchise.

[@wolffster25]

Mana Khemia is still one of my favorite titles in the Atelier series it still has one of my favorite OSTs. If I have to recommend one trrack listen to Nefertiti it also has a character named Roxas.

[@wichesaputra894]

Love atelier iris 3, mana khemia, and ar tonelico 2