After playing the game for about a week, here's my first impression on it so far.
Ar tonelico: Melody Of Elemia
System: PlayStation 2
Rating: T
Story
This story - like many RPG's - has a rather complicated backstory. But I'll try my best to explain;
In this world (a semi-futuristic one with starships and such) there are creatures known as Reyvateil. They are generally just human females, but with the ability to cast magical effects by singing. While some treat them like they were just human, some - such as a group called Tenba - use them like tools or pets. The story, however, begins for us as we see a young man in a royal family.
Lyner Barsett. He is a young knight in his home of Platina, which is set in the Upper World, on top of a gigantic tower that pierces the sky. While living peacefully, Platina is attacked by a strange force known as Viruses. They infected the tower and try to take down Platina. Lyner is then sent by his father and the administer of the tower to go to the Lower World in a starship and search for the Hymn Crystal, which is a key to getting rid of the Viruses.
Upon his arrival in the Lower World, Lyner finds himself shipwrecked and unable to return to Platina. While he's in the Lower World he eventually meets various people who will lead him to finding the Hymn Crystal, while also meeting a few Reyvateil along the way. While the story sounds pretty complicated, it manages to explain it to the best of its ability as it unfolds, so it's not too much of a load at the beginning (though I did find myself not knowing what the heck was going on at first.)
Additionally, on of the more interesting aspects is the characters. There's a lot of backstory to each of them which make them seem like total mysteries after a while. Two which interest me the most are the Reyvateils you meet, Misha and Aurica. While they seem very emotionally distant and doubtful of their abilities, you eventually learn about a system known as "Diving" (explained in the Gameplay portion of the review) which allows you to see what makes them who they are. In simpler terms, this game is well thought out so far.
Gameplay
Gameplay is pretty enjoyable for me. Sure, it's like most RPG's out there, but it has some aspects I would have chosen if I could make a real RPG.
The overworld (being the maps where you explore and encounter enemy battles) has a spacious but easy to navigate setup. If you meet a dead end, you can easily turn back and find your way, no problem. There's also some save points here and there, sometimes they're just for saving, but other times they also have the ability to restore your health. Along with this, the battle system is less annoying, though kind of restricted. On a map that has battles in it, there will be a meter on the bottom right corner which is usually blue - as you walk, it slowly goes green, then yellow, then orange, then red. When it hits red, that's when a battle usually comes up. Sometimes it happens in yellow, but it's almost always only during the red. Additionally with each battle you finish, the meter slowly drains. When it's empty, the area has no more battles until you exit the map and return. Pretty handy when you're the kind of person who doesn't want to be distracted by battles and forget where you were going.
During your time in towns or cities, there's little to no walking - Instead, you get an image of the entire area, and a list of areas to go to. Things like shops, Inns, and other areas of importance. On rare occasions, there's also a world map which is a 3D render of the entire sector of accessible areas (forests, cities, etc.)
Also, there's the battle system. It's turn-based, but I can't quite figure out how it all plays out. Sometimes you can pick all your characters attacks at once, sometimes it lets you pick one then has the enemy attack. But it's still fairly simple. When you have a Reyvateil with you, she uses a magic bar along with a health bar. You can use attacks such as a charged ball of energy (taking a couple of turns to get it full size), healing, and other elementally themed spells as you level up. However, Reyvateils level up a different way…
There is a special ability called "Diving" in the game which you can do with Reyvateils. If you can find what is called a "Dive Shop" in a town/city, you can "Dive" into what is called a Reyvateils Cosmosphere. It's basically just diving right into the mind of a Reyvateil. This is a very interesting little feature, because what you do is go into a personified version of their psyche, which represents all their emotions. I won't explain how certain places look, but it's like a small world owned by that Reyvateil, whether they act like they own it or not. And each time you do one of these Dives, you unlock a few new magical attacks and upgraded attacks. Very useful.
In addition to Diving, there's something you must do in order to Dive - You have to gain that Reyvateils trust. When you go to a save point that has a rest option (or if you rest in an Inn), depending on if you've unlocked a conversation topic in overworld or if you've gotten to a certain point in the plot, you can talk to a Reyvateil in your party. With each conversation, you gain a few points, which kind of represent how close you are to them, or how much they trust you. If you've gotten enough, you unlock access to the next level of their Cosmosphere, which means more access to new abilities. Of course, when you enter their Cosmosphere, you need DP - You gain these points with battling, depending on how you use your Reyvateil. Be sure you have at least 2000 points for the first few levels.
Oh yes, there's also a sort of item creation system. Like conversations, you access it during a save point or at an Inn. It's not a major focus in the game, though, so I shouldn't go into detail. There's so much else to say, but this is all I'll have regarding gameplay.
Graphics/Animation
It's kind of difficult to define whether the graphics could be considered good or bad. The overworld and battle graphics are simply just sprites, large (but chibi-ish) ones at least, since it's a console game. There's also the classic thing RPG's have which is a still image of the character who's talking, which is used in most cutscenes. Both these and the sprites work together well to make the game look simple, yet entertaining.
On rare occasions (only happened once so far), there will be a cutscene using 2D anime-styled animation. It looks like a normal anime scene, but most vehicles and backgrounds are made up of 3D rendering. Speaking of 3D, there's a bit of that used to illustrate settings such as structures and vehicles, but not too often. Not the best 3D animation, but it gets the job done, and it's not around enough to complain about.
Music
The game has some interesting music, though I don't pay attention to it often. Some things like the opening (and a scene later on) feature original Japanese lyrics, which shows the dedication to keeping the game true to its original content. Some other songs - most likely used to represent Reyvateils - include a sort of untranslatable chanting, which really sounds very enchanting… Nice stuff. The battle music's not too bad either.
Voice Actors
While the game features quite a bit of voices, it usually saves them for important scenes. Like most RPG's, I don't have much to complain about with the voices chosen here. They match the characters appearances, and their acting is spot-on to what's happening. A personal favorite is of course Lyner, and Radolf, and a few of the older characters. Jack's not too bad either.
Sequel?
Well, to my understanding (and I just found this out while making the review), there actually IS a sequel out called Ar tonelico II. But it's only in Japan right now with no known US release. If it ever comes to the US, I would love to buy it.
Overall
So far, so good. Of any complaints, I would guess the most noticeable issue is that the people behind the game focused a lot more on the story than gameplay, but that doesn't mean it's a bad game. Try it, you might like it!