Ar Nosurge Plus: Ode to an Unborn Star has quite a complex storyline. When their planet was on the verge of destruction, the Divine Empress tried to save it. Sadly, disaster struck. Now they’re left floating in space on a giant ship called Orei. No one is sure where it is headed, or if it is even moving anymore. The ship has been invaded by human-like creatures called the Sharl. The people about have divided themselves into two factions: one group worships the Sharl and one defend against the Sharl. Naturally, the Sharl protect those who worship them and attack the others. Earthes is the god from another world that comes to this one. He just wants to get back to Earth.
You play with two sets of characters: Delta and Cass or Earthes and Ion. You start the game with Delta and Cass. 6 months ago, Delta and Cass were partners working for Plasma. Plasma are the guard for the Divine Empress (AKA Nay to the few who know her real identity) who protect the city from Sharl. Delta ended that when he did something very bad that got him kicked out of Plasma (and almost jailed for life). Delta doesn’t know why he did it as he has no memory of that incident or anything before it happened. He remembers nothing of childhood or anything. Naturally, when the Divine Empress hires him back as a mercenary, both Delta and Cass are shocked (and are partners again). There is definitely something not going on yet between them, but they both want it to happen. There are a lot of romantic (and sexually suggestive) themes in Ar Nosurge Plus. Anyway, Delta and Cass are trying to figure out what to do about the Genomirai Church that worships the Sharl so they can save their own town, Felion, from them. You’ll hit a point where you can’t go any further with them and you’ll switch over to Earthes and Ion. The partnership still works the same way, so your gameplay doesn’t really change. You will roam areas where monsters are present, fighting as you come across them.
These battles are turn-based. Be prepared for many, many waves of enemies in a single battle. There are also town areas you will need to explore. These don’t have enemies in them. You will find shops, inns, and many other normal things that you would expect. There are two places pretty unique to Ar Nosurge Plus. One is the purification sites. At once of these sites, your hero can take a bath with his partner to equip crystals that will make them stronger. Yes, they have to bathe together to enhance their battles. Your hero can also bathe with others, like Sarly and Nay, who just want someone to chat with in the bath. To get the crystals to equip on the hero and heroines, you will need to visit the bios shop. There, you can "dive" into the minds of people that you know well (or sometimes not so well). These dives are almost like another game. You don’t really battle in them. It’s mostly a lot of conversations where you can use points you have earned from battle to make hard decisions. The hard decisions will earn you crystals. It’s a bit confusing, but you’ll get the hang of it. If you run out of points to use, you can exit the shop and grind more killing enemies. It will save however far you have gotten in their mind. Yes, I realize this is a very strange concept. I definitely wouldn’t want someone running around in my mind, but it is necessary to get places that you need to go and to learn more about your partners.
