Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia (PS2) Review

Posted by Sean Garmer on 03.12.2007

What do RPG, anime, dating simulation, psychology, and song magic all have in common? They are all elements in this game.




RPG’s have long been the way to bring illustrious movie type stories to the gaming world. RPG’s also usually run in a formula where one battles throughout the story in some simplified or complex form, to get to the end. Most of the stories tie in “saving someone or the world” which is why a lot of average RPG’s exist. The franchises that stand out are those that are either able to meld both battling and story well, or pick one and run with it, or maybe be so original that it is great on it’s own merit. So where does the new RPG by NIS America, Gust, and Banpresto stand on this scale? Well it depends on personal preference, as many games of this type tend to be. Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia mixes in old school graphics and storytelling, with song magic, anime, and psychology of all things. Does this combination produce something worthwhile? Maybe you’ll figure it out after this review. I will warn you that because there are many different things in this game, this review will be longer than normal.



Story: This civilization has apparently been destroyed twice and the only thing that’s left is a tower. Ar tonelico is actually the name of the tower that everything and everyone depends on for livelihood. The entire world that surrounds them is called Sol Ciel and it is divided into two parts. The villagers live on the lower world, and the royalty live in the upper world. You play as Lyner Barsett a young, Knight of Elemia. As a Knight it is your duty to protect the whole world from viruses. Once it is discovered that the Knights don’t have the ability to stop this new virus that has attacked the tower, Lyner is sent down to the lower world to find a crystal. From there your long journey begins.



Graphics:



Ar tonelico uses old style graphics with 2D models at all times during the game, except for the two anime cutscenes. They also superimpose the 2D models on the screen during some in game scenes. The only thing 3D is the world map. Some people may be turned off by the old look of the game but if you’ve played the Atelier Iris games you’d know it’s a common thing for NIS to use this style. The different area’s and villages are static in the background as you move Lyner from one side of the screen to the other (with a black loading screen in between) until you reach the next destination or you are stopped by a scene. Trouncing through the villages is done by a menu that gives the player choices of where they want to go in the town. For example, let’s say you want to go the Inn. Instead of walking through the whole town to find the Inn, you just click on the button that says “Inn” and you are there. Even though it limits exploration a bit, it does fit the old style of the game. Besides, it is not like you don’t get to move around places once you are inside the actual area. As you move around the forests and dungeons there will be a small graphic on the bottom right side of the screen that changes colors. If the graphic gets orange or red, you will be thrust into a random encounter battle. More on the battles in a second, after the battle is over the graphic will change to blue and lose a hash mark. I like the little meter being there because you can kinda tell when you are going to get into battle, so you can always be prepared, and, eventually all the hash marks go away. So, if you stay in one world long enough, you will be able to go through the area without having to worry about getting into any battles, which is good, because it prevents the battles from getting too annoying. The one bad thing is that some of the challenge in the game is taken away because if you pay attention to the meter you won’t really be caught off guard as to when a battle will occur. If you fight every monster you run into, you are bound to level up a lot , which causes your characters to get full health anyway. With the magic, there are some spells that can be used an infinite number of times, while others have a set number. Those with a certain number will slowly regenerate if you keep battling, so there is no need to fret about not getting to use a favorite spell for a bit, because you will get it back. This is why RPG’s have more variance in reviews than most games, because there are many things, that one person may enjoy, but others may hate.

In the battles themselves, the camera switches to a side view that zooms in on your characters while you choose actions for them. All the battle animations are pretty fluid and some of the magic if powered up enough, turns into an anime cut-scene which looks really cool. There is a little bit of lag in between the power-ups and when the animation for the magic starts, but it’s never enough to hurt the gameplay. My, only real complaint with the graphics is that they could have used a few more anime cut-scenes to move the story better. Especially when the game is marketed in such a fashion. If almost all the trailers for the game use mostly anime scenes, then there better be more than two in the whole game. It would also help give it more flow and not bog the player down with so much text.



Gameplay:



Ar tonelico uses a simple battle system along with the power of song magic. You are allowed three characters and one Reyvateil in your party at one time. There is a meter at the top of the screen with pictures of the characters, that tell you who’s going to attack next, which allows you to know just when the enemies will attack as well. Almost every RPG uses some form of that now, it’s not anything new. The characters use regular attacks and items for healing. While your Reyvateil’s (female characters) are the magic users that sit in the back and charge up magic attacks. Many reviewers seem to be ragging on the battle system because you can just sit back and let the Reyvateil’s charge up magic and the other characters don’t have to do anything. Yes, the Reyvateil’s are overly powerful but they need the rest of the team because of the Harmonics system in place. I’ll explain the harmonics system in a bit, but the Reyvateil’s are very weak and most of the time it doesn’t take more than one hit to kill them. They must rely on the other party members, to physically, protect them from harm.

Here is how the Harmonics system works. At the bottom of the screen, a large meter will show a blue or pink line. If the regular characters successfully attack, a blue line will start to fill in, if the Reyvateil continues to power up magic or uses her magic, a pink line fills in. The whole point is to get both lines to meet in the middle. When that happens the lines will combine and the speed of the magic power up, goes a little faster. There is also a smaller red bar just below the big colored one, that when the Harmonics combine, a crystal shows up at the bottom. There are three crystals in total. While you are doing all this, every time an enemy attacks you, the blue part of the meter is lessened. Therefore, it’s a constant battle not only on the screen, but in harmonics as well. Getting the 1st crystal allows the regular characters to use their special abilities. Unlike most RPG’s that use up MP, Ar tonelico uses a percentage of the character’s HP to use the abilities. The first ability only uses 10% of the HP and most of the time you will kill the wild enemies before they start taking any kind of toll. The sad thing is that even though you level up a lot, you only gain four abilities for each regular character in the whole game. Each ability, can be used once a crystal is activated, and this is where the battle system comes off it’s hinges a bit. The 2nd and 3rd crystal barely ever come into play except in boss battles because it’s probably the only time you will be in battle long enough to know what happens when you get them. In addition, because you can always protect the Reyvateil from damage, you never have to worry about her getting hurt. You are also rewarded for protecting them with a counterattack. This causes the system to be unbalanced because even though both parts of the battling party are needed, you still end up relying mostly on the Reyvateil because you need to build up magic to get Dive points, which are used to get new magic (I will explain more on this later). Also in order for you to get good items, you must spend time in battle, powering up magic till it gets to a high number to activate the other crystals, basically, the more magic you use in battle, the better items you are rewarded with at the end of battle. Did you get all that? This sounds a lot more complicated in writing then it really is.

The main problem with the game is that it’s easy, and if the story does not keep the player interested, it may turn them off from the game. In fact, probably the only way you are going to see a Game Over screen (I never did, but did come close a few times) is maybe towards the end of the game, when the battles actually gain some difficulty. Another possible way might be if you don’t pay attention and let your Reyvateil die during a boss fight, since they will be your main healers, if you lose them, it might be curtains for your team. I can probably guarantee though, if you understand how to play the game, you will assuredly go through the whole game without dieing. Let’s get to some interesting things about the gameplay shall we.


First, there is a cool item making system called Grathmelding. The game encourages you to search every part of an area by placing many items around. At times, the game forces you to search for a certain item to advance the story but more often than not, you’ll be making things because it’s fun. You use items that you find and combine them to make other items. Some vary from healing items to different weapons or armor. There are shops in every town where you can buy items, aside from getting items after battle or walking around. The best thing is that once an item is made, you will be able to find it in a shop in some town. This helps, when you need to make an item, but don’t have the necessary pieces to make it. I found the system to be fun and something that made me want to find various items, because I wanted to see what I could make next. To make items though, (some are given to you), but for others you must find recipe cards in chests and other areas. Then you can go into the menu and find what things you need to make that item. Then presto, you have a new item. NIS has used a system like this in their other games and I’m glad they added one for Ar tonelico as well.

Remember in the introduction when I said that Ar tonelico uses Psychology? Well here’s how that comes into play. In battle through using the Reyvateil’s magic you gain “Dive Points.” The more magic you build up and use in battle, the more Dive Points you will gain. Reyvateil’s aren’t just pawns to be used in battle, Lyner has to talk to them and create a relationship with the two Reyvateil’s (there’s also an extra one you get later.) There are talking bubbles that you find in different locales that are conversation starters when you rest in an inn. You also gain new talking subjects by completing things in the game. After the conversation ends, a level board appears to tell you where you are in their Cosmosphere. The Cosmosphere is the Reyvateil’s world inside their head. There are several small areas inside each one of the nine Cosmosphere levels. You must use the dive points to navigate around the whole sphere. Don’t worry you probably won’t have to worry about running out of Dive Points either. The areas you have to go are marked with stars. Then you follow the story (in which you do nothing) until the level is completed. Most of the stuff with the Cosmosphere is optional, but it is the only way to get new song magic, it’s up to you. If you complete the whole Cosmosphere, you gain access to a magic shop for that Reyvateil. This allows you to buy more PP, so you are able to use that spell more than the default number given.



While in the Cosmosphere each level has their own story. In which you are dealing with one of the girl’s problems. Between the two girls the stories are mostly the same, aside from different inherent characters, there may be only a couple differences in total, between the nine stories, for each girl. The bad thing is that, you don’t do anything. You read the text or listen to the story, and when the story segment is over you move to the next small area and do the same thing again, until the level is over. Again, I enjoyed the story, but I can see most seeing this as something boring that they have to go through. It would have been better if they gave you options to choose from to branch out the story, or place some battles in the levels as well. The way it’s given, it is almost as if you are reading a short story that continues in episodes, without your input whatsoever. At the end, you are rewarded with new magic and a new outfit for the Reyvateil. This leads to the last thing I’m going to talk about.

Even though this is a Teen rated game there is tons of sexual innuendo throughout the game. The Reyvateils gain outfits every time you pass through a level of the Cosmosphere. These outfits range from priest outfits to school girls and even robes and bath towels. The game also encourages you to wear the skimpier outfits because they give the most MP to the girl. There are also times where the girls try to seduce Lyner. Sex is also innuendo through the “diving” or “installing” process. The girls will repeatedly say that they enjoy Lyner being “in there” or saying, “it hurts when you stick it in.” The tagline of the game is “you’ll never forget your first.” It doesn’t bother me, in fact, I found most of that stuff funny because it’s written in a rather childish way. You know what they are talking about, but they avoid saying the exact words you are thinking, because they didn’t want this to get a mature rating. Some of this is sort of like a dating simulation in ways, which might be okay for the younger folk, but unless parents want their kids knowing some things about sex and seeing half naked girls, I probably would say be careful who you buy this for.


Sound:

The sound effects and the sound from the anime scenes converging with the actual game are very well done. I didn’t ever see a problem in this aspect. Ar tonelico is driven by text and there is a lot of it too. There are voices in the game, but it is varied. There are many times where you would think they’d have voice but instead it is a bunch of reading. That’s also vice versa, at times where the voices don’t seem to be needed, they exist. Unlike Kingdom Hearts, Grandia III, or other games that mix voice with text, this one throws you off, because there is no set pattern to when there will be voice or, when there will be text. It hurts the story because some of the most important parts of the game are text based. I’ll forgive the stuff in the Cosmosphere not having too much voice-over work because it is mostly option. However, adding full voice to that section, may haven taken out some of the bordem that occurs, because that stuff is all reading. The soundtrack is actually the crown jewel of the whole sound department. It seems to fit well in all situations and there are some catchy classical tunes in there too. The voices themselves seem to be taken out of the Digimon vault. (Sorry that still remains my favorite anime/cartoon series, so I remember most of the voices off hand.) All the voices are done well and in my opinion, they fit the characters.

The translation does suffer because there are many misspellings in the text and at times some words are cutoff on the voiceovers. The stuff with the voiceovers doesn’t happen often, but the misspellings do. I know NIS isn’t really keen on doing translations, but it is a little too frequent.


Lasting Appeal:



There are things in here to make you want to play this after the main game is through. Aside from the talking stuff and the Cosmosphere, there are seven different endings to find. There is also one branching path, that depending which Reyvateil you choose, will decide how you end the game. There’s also the ability to max out Lady Shurelia’s Cosmosphere (the extra Reyvateil I talked about before). In reality, unless you are one of those people that must complete everything in a game, there isn’t much to make you want to play this again.


Fun Factor:

The battle system has its moments and the ability to have many different kinds of song magic at your disposal can make the game tons of fun. If you get involved in the story it may keep you playing through when battles start to get a bit tedious. Getting to unlock all the Cosmospheres and different outfits might keep some going. If you enjoy item making then you will have a blast with the Grathmelding system too.


The 411: This is not an RPG that breaks any kinds of boundaries or that will probably start another great series. On it’s own, Ar tonelico has a nice story with some cool elements that make it enjoyable. The song magic and anime style make the battles fun, the Grathmelding system is a great idea to keep collecting items, and the dating sim elements might bring a different crowd to this game. If you are a hardcore RPG fan looking for a different take on the genre or like dating simulations this might be something to check out. If RPG’s aren’t something that floats your boat, this will not be a game that will sway your judgment. I liked the game, probably more than most, and I hope NIS, Gust and Banpresto team up again in the near future.

Graphics	8.0	The game uses 2D for everything, except for a 3D world map, and has some anime scenes thrown in there too.
Gameplay	8.0	Neat item making system, cool idea on the use of magic, and nice story. The only problem is that it can be a tad on the easy side.
Sound	7.0	The voiceovers and sounds are good, the problem is the translation and story are bogged down by lots of text. If you don't like to read I would recommed looking somewhere else.
Lasting Appeal	7.0	It has the Cosmospheres and branching points to do on the side. As well as seven different endings, but that probably won't want to make you play it more than once.
Fun Factor	7.5	The game is fun and with everything mixed in has a good thing going for it, but because it's too easy it loses some of the fun.
Overall	7.5   [ Good ]