Title: Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel
Released: 2011
Let me start by saying this was one of the primary reasons for getting a Playstation 3, for me. This and Ni no Kuni were exclusive to the Sony console, and given my interest in them well before they were completed, I had to get them. I am not disappointed one bit by the choice, either!
Story: Sol Cluster is the home of the third tower, the Tower of Tyria, and is under constant control of the Clustanian Army, an all-Reyvateil force that feels themselves superior to the humans and exerts their ideals on them. Aoto, a young man, rescues a girl named Saki from the Clustanian forces and finds himself embroiled within the war not solely over the two factions, but for the world itself. The sub-title "Knell of Ar Ciel" alludes to the final vestiges of life for the planet below the three towers of this world and that this is the conclusion of the trilogy. The Reyvateil Saki is also joined in their group with another by the name of Finnel, and throughout Aoto's journey, he comes to find that there are other Reyvateils working in the shadows to aid and, equally, impede him.
As with the previous games, there are gap points where your actions can either stop the story abruptly or let you continue through all four phases, which is where the real story lies. Through the phases, we come to see Aoto overcome the hardships placed before him and his comrades and make all of the Sol Cluster better for Reyvateils and humans alike, all while facing the antibody/virus threat from the world beneath the Sea of Death.
Gameplay: This is the first in the trilogy for the PS3, and also the first in a 3D style. As such, the battle system has been reworked into something similar to the roaming arena style that you'd find in a Star Ocean game (definitely much more similar to the PS2 entry Till the End of Time, as reference). Despite this, the combat is still rather lax, and you will spend more of your time mashing the square button for basic attacks than anything else. The magic in the battle lies in the Reyvateils and their Song Magic, which you can amplify through your strikes to synchronize her heart beat. The beauty of this is that, in order to increase the potency of the song and add additional effects, you must Purge her clothing in three different layers. Yeah, I know, it's weird to read that bit, but when you take into account that this is also a dating simulation game as well as an RPG, it makes a bit more sense (not a whole lot, but a bit). When they are ready to Purge, you hold one of the four shoulder buttons and then give the Six-Axis controller a shake.
Grathmelding (crafting) and Cosmosphere Dives (dating sim stories) return as staples to the series. Instead of installing Grathnode crystals into the Reyvateils to power up their abilities, you are only allowed to install Hyumas (the little Song Magic chibis from the previous games) based on the Install level you've gotten each Reyvateil up to. In this way, you can install higher level Hyuma to them, increasing their capabilities when you Purge that specific element.
Music: One thing that really makes this series stand out even further in the RPG library is the use of songs in the story. Reyvateils are what I would classify as modified female humans, and while the story goes more in-depth for the Reyvateils in the Sol Cluster to state that they're bred and incubated in tubes, the fact remains that they are modified to be able to share their feelings through physical form by singing. The magic that they unleash through their songs convey their feelings as well as exhibit such a strong destructive force that they shouldn't be taken lightly. Examples of the power of emotion can be heard in the following songs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUPO1rXQcZs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSUaKHRz44
Overall: It is a fitting end to the trilogy, but it still feels like there are some parts that they could've at least done a bit differently. For one, Grathmelding is still a nuisance as ever, but I think that's also if you understand that this is coming from the same concept as the Atelier serial, where alchemy is the primary focus and everything else secondary. I did like the characters, and only after watching Madoka Magica and then resuming the game with three-quarters of it complete did I realize that they used one of the voice actresses for both Kyubey in MM and Harvestasha for this game. That was definitely a surprise to me, but I should be used to this with the common voices in the English dub community. Now, to re-play it for the remaining endings and trophies before I move on to the prequel game, Ar nosurge: Ode to a Newborn Star (also for the PS3).
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