IGN writes: "The Ar Tonelico series is well known for its rampant innuendos, scantily clad heroines, and overarching love stories that span epic narratives. The third title in the series, Ar Tonelico Qoga: The Knell of Ar Ciel, is the first title to arrive on the PlayStation 3. Full of quirky oddities that can mainly be chalked up to a difference in culture, this game continues the trends of its predecessors but changes enough elements of the formula to set itself apart, for better and for worse. The biggest problem the game faces is that the jump into this generation of console actually hinders certain game mechanics to the point of frustration. Additionally, the handling of intricate relationships often takes a lowbrow route that misses the mark".
Gary Green said: You’ll be forgiven if you haven’t heard of the Ar Tonelico trilogy. The previous two games arrived so late in the PS2’s life-cycle that they simply went unnoticed. While most were tinkering with their shiny new PS3s, Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia and Ar Tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica were being ‘returned to sender’ by your local Game stores. Luckily, you won’t need to have played them to understand and appreciate this third and final chapter, Qoga (pronounced k-yoga) tells the story of a racial war between humans and Reyvateils, a breed of biologically produced female cyborgs capable of reproduction, while still having a digital mind.
Oh my god. I kinda wish this would get a remaster on PS5, it would be awesome. One of my favorite games on PS3.
That and 3D Dot Game Heroes. It's a shame that some stuff is stuck on PS3.
Ar Tonelico 3 is good I still prefer the first AT game. The music is solid in all the games and Akiko Shikata is a very talented singer bringing life to the game. Only annoying part is well I find is Saki I always choose Finnel or Tyria. KOEI so needs to HD remaster the franchise along with Ar Nosurge and Ciel Nosurge since it never came to North America. I would day one the Ar Toneliceo games and Ar Nosurge if they were remastered.
I still have the limited edition of Qoga unopened. Unfortunately it never went up in value like I had hoped all these years.
Used to own all these quirky JRPG on ps3 good times. Wish I would have kept them all
Digitally Downloaded writes: There was one of the semi-frequent Internet blow-ups late last week/ early this week, when a games journalist decided to write a review in which he states that fans of a certain game are perverts and perverse. Naturally that didn't go down so well with aforementioned fans of that game, or games like it, because contrary to popular belief within some circles, liking a game that has bikini girls or even (GASP!) nudity doesn't turn someone into a 'pervert' any more than Call of Duty, or any of the three billion games out there that depict gun death, turn people into mass murderers.
Despite the startling hypocrisy, it does remain a fact that games, particularly those that hail from Japan, are considered to be self-evidently perverse by many journalists, as long as they contain 1) women (or girls) and 2) clothing that doesn't rival the hijab or nun's habit for sheer conservatism. Rarely is context considered, so anything subversive, satirical, or empowering (because in Japanese stories, sexuality is often considered empowering) is still dismissed as exploitative and demeaning.
So, anyway, this week I'm listing ten games that got slammed unfairly for their depiction of sexuality, and I love them all. If you think that makes me a pervert, then take your gun games and GTAs and stay the hell away from me, you mass murdering lunatic.
Dungeon Travelers 2 is hella pervy, but it's also one of my favourite RPGs ever thanks to its intricate labyrinthine dungeons, excellent battle and levelling systems and thrilling white-knuckle boss battles. The sexy characters and enemies are a bonus. XD
Nothing wrong with pervy game as long as the girls are 18+ and dont look and act as a 3 year old.
most japanese stuff have very underage looking chars even doe they ''18''. some where on that list like hyperdimension, at first glance u think is a kid friendly family game but then u play it and perv scenes show up with very childlike characters in suggestive scenes like wtf. dat supposed to be ok? cmon
They were never misunderstood it's just that the PC culture happened and deemed them to be the devils spawn but thankfully level headed gamers enjoy and play them for what they are just games.
If music and video games aren’t a match made in heaven, then at least they deserve to be happy. Without doubt the scores and songs to our favorite games help greatly to make them the incredible experiences they are. Let’s look at a few favorites from a huge span of years.
what do you expect?
"One of my favorite aspects of moving through an epic RPG is when the music takes a similar emotional journey to the high points of the drama. But even late in the game you'll still hear simple tracks that popped up just a few hours into the game against much lesser evils."
And another who didn't understand the R.A.H system
While AT 3 sound track is IMO the weakest of the 3 , it's still milles above many other games ... there is a simple reason why the world , game , battle system is built around it .. ( music )
EDIT : no challenge on hard ? i do remember the MUTE ( first fight ) , MYU , and other bosses being very hard ..
it's not like regular ennemies can almost one-shot your reivyatels in phases 1,2,3.
Well, I feel the reviewer sumed the game's flaws pretty well, even when he perhaps focused a little too much on them-
However, he's right in something. "...all of these things will either make you smile with their sexual-quirkiness or shirk in horror from what you're seeing.", quoting him, it pretty much holds true.
Though, even with most, if not all of its flaws, AT:Q managed to be a weirdly entertaining and charming game. You know, of those that for some reason are fun? Like that, at least in my personal experience.