App Promising Chats With Ryza Cuts Off Free Users After 2 Messages, Caps Subscribers at 15 Per 10 Days — 5ch: “They’re Taking Us for Fools”

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An app advertised as letting fans “chat with Ryza” from the Atelier series has caused a stir after users discovered that the free tier cuts you off after just two messages — and even paying for the subscription only gets you 15 chats per 10 days. The 3-day free trial also silently converts into a full annual plan unless canceled within 2 days. On the thread, commenters piled on complaints about the pricing, comparing it to VTuber donation costs and standard AI token rates.

1Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 14:57:29.88ID:ID:Z0/QgVHp0
Sounds like you can't even talk to her without paying for the subscription
3Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:03:06.98ID:3XXC957P0
Everyone knew this was made to squeeze cash out of guys still living in their childhood bedroom ("kodomobeya ojisan" — a slang term for adult men who never left home)
5Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:07:32.44ID:pQBwjtxQ0
This is gonna die fast
59Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:59:53.95ID:kqiE8aZl0
>>5
Nah, stuff like this actually sticks around for a while — they just mark up the server costs and pocket the difference. No voice recording expenses either.
Cloud coding AI is locked in a brutal price war with local PCs, but for character-chat services the cloud side dominates and there's barely any competition.
Steam's still ruled by the RTX 4060, so unless they pull off something like linking two PS5s together, local AI probably won't catch on for gaming anytime soon
13Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:13:44.54ID:t4UW3oSR0
Might as well just hire Ryza's voice actress directly at this point
14Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:14:03.48ID:an59jfP50
Looks like one of those sketchy "cutting-edge Reiwa-era" payment UIs
15Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:14:27.45ID:vvDuUPns0
15 chats per 10 days, lol
Wonder how much the top-ups cost on top of that
16Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:15:18.55ID:lEkRAmYx0
Honestly, this level of tech could probably be replicated on a local PC
17Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:15:40.40ID:nseT+ZRl0
Wasn't there already talk that Atelier Resleriana was basically "open your wallet"?
20Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:17:38.01ID:TEJtiqqj0
This game's like some rip-off sex-industry scam
23Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:20:11.76ID:Re6hiWA20
Honestly this was completely predictable lol
24Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:20:15.76ID:XkimIOj00
This is basically just a VTuber at this point
25Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:23:08.94ID:TEJtiqqj0
>>24
Not gonna lie, this is pricier than a VTuber's members-only content
54Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:53:13.41ID:3hr47lxp0
>>25
VTubers charge anywhere from a few hundred yen to tens of thousands per comment, so VTubers are still more expensive overall
26Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:23:28.72ID:mZn1wmxD0
There's no way you're getting close to her on only 15 chats every 10 days
Even a married couple in a rut talks more than that
28Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:25:54.35ID:vvDuUPns0
Pay extra to break through the message-limit wall!
29Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:26:26.11ID:HtnTkXqO0
Calling this thing an "RPG" is way too sketchy
You can just feel the intent to reel in suckers no matter what
35Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:31:42.06ID:2tnzcba80
I thought this was some shady ad ripping off Ryza's likeness without permission
Wait, this is official?
36Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:33:36.96ID:kqiE8aZl0
>>1
If chat AI could shrink down to around 10GB and voice synthesis got just as lightweight, couldn't you link two PS5s or two Switch 2s together and run it locally?
Without Thunderbolt, just USB, you can't parallelize like you would with graphics cards, but it should work fine running separate AI processes
37Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:35:01.40ID:9VzmdOWY0
6,000 yen a year sounds cheap to me, but is that considered outrageous in the mobile app world?
48Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:45:45.14ID:2MhtG1KXH
>>37
That'd be fine if it were unlimited, but it caps out at 45 times a month
39Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:38:12.47ID:UYRtlGLD0
"Might as well feed this into some other AI service instead," lol
40Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:39:53.85ID:Pq6oYcetH
Wouldn't it be better to just run this locally, uncensored, and have it roleplay as Ryza?
44Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:43:23.38ID:35wM0euO0
There are already paid services like online salons where real humans chat with you
But if AI does the talking, you don't even need to hire a human
This is the winning move!
50Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:46:37.44ID:mpdKN6wo0
??? (Wait, wouldn't this make way more money if they did it with Tifa instead?)
51Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:48:49.52ID:iRRV76AU0
Honestly you'd be better off just having ChatGPT roleplay as Ryza
15 chats per 10 days is just insulting
56Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 15:58:34.80ID:GCrWbgkQ0
Between this and the "Wallet Atelier" jokes, this company's whole approach to monetization is unhinged

No wonder they can't compete with Chinese developers
69Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 16:16:40.44ID:1478Es6Ia
Honestly, we don't need generative AI for this
If they've got time to make garbage like this, they should be rushing out the next mainline Atelier game instead
80Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 16:35:26.97ID:/pY8dz5o0
>>69
For 3D RPGs, Chinese studios are just too strong now — it's basically over
But for chat AI, regulations are forcing HoYoverse and Tencent to shut down more and more of their services, so Japanese games will probably see more entries in this space too. Actually, even the console version of Dragon Quest X is already doing this
86Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 16:45:30.02ID:q8C2w6Jy0
Everyone already knew this though
Tokens are expensive
104Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 17:11:13.50ID:Wi4UALt10
>>86
Yeah, anyone who actually understands AI could've told you that
88Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 16:49:46.12ID:xl2s8rcV0
>>1
Honestly you'd be better off watching "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" instead
Isn't this pricier than V-Kaguya and V-Yachiyo (VTubers)?
106Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 17:11:56.26ID:82s4c7mW0
>>88
Unlike Ryza, it's not even cute
If I'm paying money, I'd rather it be for a cute girl like Ryza
94Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 17:01:27.79ID:AlfQWWTda
Can't believe they thought they could get away with pricing this aggressively
103Anonymous2026/08/25(火) 17:10:23.73ID:/pY8dz5o0
>>94
If they made it free or unlimited, the servers would get overwhelmed, so they have to keep it expensive
You'd think everyone would get bored quickly and traffic would stabilize, but then a global version might launch, so it's hard to say if prices will actually drop
China has regulations on this stuff, so just like game consoles during COVID, this might actually go up in price too

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, “Geha”) thread “[Sad News] The App That Lets You Chat With Ryza Turned Out to Be a Pay-to-Talk Game.”

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