[PS2] Ar Tonelico - The closest thing rpg nerds will ever get to a girlfriend

Sounds like the Legend of Dragoon system but in reverse. Thats some good info, I'm really looking forward to a state-side release. The battles in AT1 WERE too easy but the awesome plot made up for it very well.

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Originally Posted by SCHNEE-1

Ar Tonelico 2 hit japanese shelves as of 10/25, has anyone else given it a shot?

I can't say much for the plot as I can only understand bits and pieces of voiced dialogue, but it's got the innuendo humor that the first game had for sure; the first Dive Shop scene was hilarious. The music is far superior to the first game's, I have yet to run into any rap battle themes.

Hmm... I really can't imagine it getting much better then the original, but I admit I'm glad they got rid of the rapping, that was rather annoying. How are the vocals? tons of them this time around as well? More importantly, just as good?

Originally Posted by SCHNEE-1

Edit: In battles when you have two Reyvateils, two characters defend them, and have two different defend buttons so you have to watch both of the defend gauges at once. This is much more challenging.

I guess there had to be a catch. If the Reyvateils are as overpowered as AT1 then having 2 would make it too damn easy. I guess this is to make it semi challenging. Also like the whole Valkyrie Profile approach you mentioned. Are you only able to attack once though? in VP you could attack up to 3 times which made it a lot more fun. Or is it like AT1 where basically, your normal attacks power up as the harmonics bar gets higher?

FELIPE NO

The vocal works are indeed more plentiful, and from what I've heard all sound great.

As far as battle mechanics go, in the bottom right corner of the screen you have a time gauge. Melee hits increase the gauge ever so slightly (not nearly enough to offset the decreasing time), but in that amount of time you can attack as many times as you want. Any song you have charging slowly increases in power on its own as your team's "Attack Phase" passes, increasing even more for each hit you land.

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If I may ask for a slight spoiler as the curiosity is killing me, but does the plot revolve around the tower, I mean..do you get to go in it and stuff. That tower was cool to traverse lol.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I'm not nearly far enough to know that, I haven't gotten a chance to play much after the first Dive Shop scene.

Spoiler:

If the tower DOES play a major role, though, I wonder if we'll see Shurelia back in Phase 3?

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Spoiler:

Depends on the time period of the game. She is very much alive in that games world(shes 500 years old, or maybe 5000), but I imagine it will be way before the incident with Mir and the war against humans. Thus her having any purpose in ATII. Just speculating.

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Well, after browsing some GameFAQs posts and subsequently spoiling a large portion of the game for myself (oops), I've figured out that the game takes place 1.5 years after the Phase 3 (True Ending) of the first game, and seems to be the second game in a Trilogy as there are three Ar Tonelico towars, this game dealing with the second.

Recurring Characters, Spoilers for Phase 3 of AT1:

Spica returns, and from what I can gather plays a rather large role in the story. Mir and Shurelia are also in the game, not sure how important they are or if they're playable. Aurica and Misha make cameo appearances, too.

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Really? huh...

Spoiler:

That's interesting. I don't know why, but I thought it was a prequel for some reason. This is even better then I hoped. I'll see my Misha again. WEEEEE

Did they ever mention there being 3 AT towers in the original? I wonder if that means there are 2 more Shurelia type characters that are administrating the other 2.

Furthermore, I wonder if you'll find out who ended up with Lyner in AT2.

How ya doing, buddy?

Well, what with the mentioning of the Goddess Trio all throughout the first game, and this second tower deals with another goddess, Freya, it's reasonable to assume that there will be a third game to deal with the tower of the third.

Who he ended up with? Humorous scene spoiler:

From what I read when you see Shurelia it's kind of a girl-next-door kind of thing, and you overhear her saying that her work sucks since she can't be with her man, assuming it's Lyner. Then again I haven't heard anything about encounter dialogue with Misha or Aurica. It'd be nice if they did actually have an OFFICIAL ending of the first game.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

It's not mentioned in the first game that there is three towers. Well with that info, we know what Goddess will be presented in the third game.

Hmmm - Sol Ceil is held up by the Tower of Tyria(I'll call the one from the first game that). So if there is three..I wonder why it was portrayed that if the

Spoiler:

remaining plasma bell was destroyed it would be the end of the world. Thats pretty much how the Left Wings of Horus is still floating.

FELIPE NO

Hey so today at lunch I was talking to some voice actors/actresses that are doing some work in my building on a certain project. I can't say who for obvious reasons, but not one but TWO of them let it slip that they had just finished some work for Ar Tonelico II. Looks like it's coming, just a question of when.

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Originally Posted by Cetra

Hey so today at lunch I was talking to some voice actors/actresses that are doing some work in my building on a certain project. I can't say who for obvious reasons, but not one but TWO of them let it slip that they had just finished some work for Ar Tonelico II. Looks like it's coming, just a question of when.

You. Better. Not. Be. Kidding.

Seriously, that's awesome if true.

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If this were true, it would be very relieving...dear god the Banpresto situation really irked me. Now I just have to hope the PS2 will last long enough for Mana Khemia 2.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I hope they make a 3rd game after this one, the first was excellent and I can only hope the second is equally as entertaining.

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This is very good news indeed. Mana Khemia's been holding me over for Gust for now, but I figured it was only a matter of time before some kind of news surfaced about Ar Tonelico 2.

Here's hoping for the official announcement and another high quality artbook for the release, too.

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Check out this interview RPGamer got with NISA.

RPGamer - News Bulletin - RttS 2008 - NIS America Interview

Quote:

The PlayStation 2 is still alive and kicking. Since it is still alive, is there a chance of Ar tonelico II or Mana Khemia II making it to our shores?

JN: Those are two exciting games that we would love to work on, but we're not quite ready yet to make any announcements. Don't worry. We're not saying that these games aren't coming to the States. When the game is ready to be revealed, we will make sure to notify everyone.

Quote:

Anything else you'd like to share with us about your upcoming lineup, as it seems full of Disgaea at the moment?

JN: We've got some surprise announcements to be made on June 6, 2008 at our San Francisco event, so please look forward to them. Also some of the games that you mentioned above...we are working on them right now.

Just announce AT2 already!

I was speaking idiomatically.

It's coming fourth quarter and they'll announce it really soon.

^
The above is not a fact. Or is it?

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Well, it's not fact yet, but the rumour also suggests that Mana Khemia 2 would also be announced this Friday.

Something to watch for, at least.

FELIPE NO

A question dodge like that is almost a 100% certain upcoming announcement. The only way you could get more obvious than that is with Atlus' little "hints" they've been using recently.

Edit: Leave it to NISA to prove me wrong. Delays, shit we already knew was coming, and a game without any gameplay trailer. Yawn.

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Ha ha. I like how I noticed this article over a month later, yet it was run the very same day I complained about the NISA conference.

Quote:

Speaking to an unnamed representative of Japanese game developer Gust, RPG Land asked if our boy knew anything about Ar Tonelico II going overseas. The rep noted that indeed, usual suspect NIS America picked it up. More details or a release time frame were unavailable, presumably because really, that’s not so much Gust’s department. When asked about Mana Khemia 2 also making the swim, our source was unsure, so we’ll have to wait. It’s not yet known if Ar Tonelico II will be officially unveiled at the upcoming NIS America press party or if it will wait until later.

Fuck yeah, now when are they actually going to announce the game?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Spoiler:

Coming out in December apparently.

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For those that don't get the emails, NIS started taking pre-orders on AT2. Seems the early pre-order bonus is an extra artbook which is limited to the first 2000 pre-orders and then an extra soundtrack that covers the rest of the songs not on the default original soundtrack.

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No sooner had I gotten that e-mail I had that pre-ordered because I'm a sucker for extra artbooks and soundtracks.

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Funny how the image in the email showed an E rating on the game. This is the best game to give to a 6 year old.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Taco is a bad influence on me, and I also cannot resist neat extras that involve artwork. Right when they sent the e-mail I had just pre-ordered it.

Of course now I regret not picking up the reprint when I had the opportunity.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?