Has anyone here played the Ar Tonelico games?
How do they stack up to something like Final Fantasy?
The second one has a game killing bug that makes it virtually impossible to get 100% (short version: they removed an ability unique to a boss from the game. They didn’t tell the boss’ AI script. When it tries to do the move, the game dies. You fight the boss multiple times, but the story mode fights are winnable before her script is set to do it. The extra content ones, are not.)
This bug was only introduced in the translated versions.
I played the first one. It was a) different and innovative in the battle system and the design, but b) unfortunately not very good. The story is just awful, and the translation seriously undermined the game’s story. The mental-diving sequences were the most interesting part of the game, and you have to unlock those. Actual plotwise, the game is just terrible. Your main character is especially bad. He’s supposed to be a member of an elite squad of badasses, but he has no clue what his own job entails. (This is how the game gives itself excuses to explain to you how all the game mechanics work.)
Also the in-game encyclopedia? Real nice to have. If only it had been properly translated, and certain entries weren’t cut off. The world they created is actually fairly interesting. Just not the story they told in it. (I did bail before beating the game, but I could already see where it was going.)
EDIT:
If I had played this game before FFXII or Persona 3, I’d probably have been a lot more impressed. Both of those games nailed perfectly the little details in the localization process that turn a good story into a great one. In the past, those little touches have been the ones most commonly mishandled. Ar Tonelico does a bad job of localization, such that scenes that are probably supposed to be hilarious get at most a “ha ha” funny moment. That used to be par for the course, but in recent years, translations have improved.
Just to be clear: The first one could have been good, but it wasn’t. The second one (so I read in the reviews) could have been even better, but got handled even worse.
Oh, and I forgot to mention: In addition to the game-killing bug, NIS America decided to cut out half the dialog in the Japanese track. Anytime the original Japanese version had voice, but the English track didn’t get a line, in the Japanese-language option in the US version, they cut the Japanese line. People were not amused.
When NIS America reported the 90+ percent drop in profits and blamed product quality for the huge plummet, this is the kind of thing they were talking about.
Just FYI the game killing bug in AT2 was fixed (as far as I know) in the EU release (although at least is was released in large quantities unlike the EU release of AT1 which was handles by 505 games who only cares about releasing kiddy games).
Nandemonai pretty much sums up Ar Tonelico pretty well, so I’ll just mention a few things about it before expounding on AR2.
The first games combat system is kinda meh, to be honest. Its so easy to just overpower enemies at the end of it with just physical attacks that I basically only had Shurelia cast support spells the last third of the game. In all honesty, the support spells themselves are too good… not only do they defend against elemental dmg, they also grant elemental damage bonuses to your entire squad, and they also HEAL YOUR PARTY every round. It’s almost impossible to lose a fight in the later stages of Ar tonelico. The game itself has 6 or 7 endings, although at least 3 of those endings have to be gotten by playing through the 3rd chapter. Which really isn’t that hard to unlock. The game’s main draw is the romance between Lyner and whichever of the 3 Revytails you fancy, and unlike AR2, you can max out each Revytails Cosmosphere and get all their respective spells. Not that you really need to, but the cosmosphere is basically the most interesting aspect of the game.
AR2, does in fact have a game breaking bug like Nandemonai has mentioned. I’ve beaten Raki in the Story Mode without issues, and to be quite honest, I just don’t care enough about extra CGs to be that upset over the bonus battle bugs. There are actually 2 workarounds for beating the bug in the US version, so if you feel so inclined, you can in fact complete the bonus battles.
The fact of the matter is, even with the bug, it’s still one of the best JRPGs I’ve played. And I’ve played A LOT of JRPGs. The battles in AR2 focus HEAVILY on Revytail damage, especially the not-so-random IPD battles. When you’re fighting a Category 9 IPD and blow a series of defensive timing, your vanguards are most likely eating dirt, and you’re praying for the enemy turn to be over. Unlike Ar Tonelico, you can only go past the 5th level of the Cosmosphere with 1 Revytail (ie, Crois’s honey) which makes the game a bit harder on some levels, since you don’t have access to all the magic in the game.
The battle mechanics in AR2 are changed up a lot from the first game as well. During a fight, you have 2 vanguards and 2 revytails, and the vanguards gain more powerful attacks over the course of the battle by fighting the way their revytail wants them to. Making your Revytails happy makes their song magic better, which in turn makes the battle easier. All frontline fighters basically have Limit Breaks they can use when they’ve fought the fight the revytails wanted, and the revytails have access to combo magic, and a few unique spells themselves after being made happy. (Cloche’s Replaika ftw) Defense wise, this isn’t a game where you can eat a sandwich or grab a pop from the fridge while its the enemies attack phase… if you try that, you’ll be reloading with a quickness. You have to actively block attacks that are incoming, and the timing is pretty precise. A perfectly blocked attack deals no damage, while a horrible whiff deals extra damage and will get you yelled at.
AR2 has a pretty well done story, with one big choice about 20% into the game. That choice dictates one of the endings available, so I’d suggest a save there just in case you don’t want to play the first 13-17 hours again. Saving brings another thing to mind. AR2 does not play well with other games on the same virtual memory card on a PS3. My own save was corrupted and I had to play the first chapter over again in its entirety…but the game is good enough that I happily went through it all over again. I don’t want to spoil the game to much, but its got 5 Chapters, a lot of replay value, some easter eggs from Ar Tonelico, and some serious ecchi thrown into the mix.
In other words… buy the 2nd one cause it’s awesome even with the bug. Play the first one to shed some light on just why the 2nd one is just so much better.
I have to disagree with the above posters: I liked Ar Tonelico 1. The battles are so-so, but I really liked the dialogue, and the story was engaging, if not the epic plotline you see in other more popular games.
I will agree that Ar Tonelico 2 was better in almost every way, though the focus is more on the girls this time and less on the relationship between them and the main character. AT2 was given IGN’s best PS2 game of 2009 award, despite the Raki bug: http://bestof.ign.com/2009/ps3/best-pla … -game.html
As described, the localization in the second game particularly leaves something to be desired. Game-breaking bugs aren’t cool.
As far as gameplay goes, both games are rather easy. You can easily get through both games without a single gameover. AT2 is a little harder than AT1, particularly with the optional content. Also not mentioned is GUST’s trademark item creation system, which is a lot of fun.
Neither game works well with PS3s. They won’t even work on software-emulated PS3s, and have save glitches on hardware-emulated PS3s. Play the games on a PS2 for the best experience.
To be honest, I don’t see how a bishoujo gaming fan that likes RPGs could NOT be interested in the Ar Tonelico series. The games simply scream “otaku”. Hell, they’re some of the top-ranking RPGs on Erogamescape…