A series that I wanted to start last August before the tech gods took a dump on me and my luck. Either way that seems to be behind us now, and the first retro classic I'm trying out is Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia. Hope you like it! As a plug, A and S Rank Patrons will be able to vote on the next game I cover!
This game looks really cool. I am in the same boat as you, having only started playing games and RPGs in my teens. I missed so many old retro games, especially with me being a Nintendo child. I do have steam too now, but I still missed many old retro titles. My first console was a DS Lite. And one of my first RPGs was Pokemon. Still, I am looking forward to many great games you are going to shows us on your channel.
If you don't mind tactical RPGs, try Soul Nomad and the World Eaters. Yuri Lowenthal was hilariously hammy there. Its funny, and it can get real dark too. Made from the same makers as Disgaea
Ar Tonelico, Atelier Iris, and Mana Khemia are my fav games on PS2. In general, all of them are very similar, and specially combat and OST (the OST in all of them is just too good). I still replay them from time to time.
I could not figure out what a game was called but seeing this comment finally reminded me of what it was. Mana Khemia was a fantastic game. Wish I could play it again
@@Dekent It's a shame cause the focus on Manas are pretty interesting, though it kinda clashes with Atelier Iris and the alchemy gameplay clashes with Atelier series in general But yes, these PS2 classics is in need for a modern port
Oh man Ar Tonelico was awesome. You didn't even mention but the hymnos songs really puts the OST into a whole new level. EXEC Chronicle Key and Rig Veda are some of my all time favorites JRPG OSTs, never heard anything like them before
Welcome to the world of one of my favourite franchises. Better later than never man, enjoy. Especially Ar Tonelico II, that one is majestic. Was yea ra, chs hymmnos mea.
Man, Ar Tonelico really looks like a series I'd love. From your description, it reminds me a lot of Stella Glow or Luminous Arc in terms of... general aesthetics, I guess. And I love those games. Shame I don't have the proper systems to get into the series. Either way, thanks for the video!
I sadly missed the first two Ar Tonellico titles when they were new, despite being deep into RPGs back then just as I am now, I always hold out hope they'll get an HD Remaster one day. Also, I am so excited to see you getting into classic and retro RPGs! I can't wait to see the new reviews
It sucks that we don't have remasters, but I think a real issue is that there's just a mess of different publishers for the games. Lots of red tape to get through to make it happen.
@@TheKisekiNut I wouldn't even object to them having a new localization, even if that meant no English dub anymore. But the sad reality is that Koei Tecmo seems to want to put the barest of bare minimum budget into international Gust releases. Heck, Atelier Marie being included with its remake is the only pre-PS3 Gust game I can think of that's ever gotten a rerelease
@HybridAngelZero Gust used to re-release Atelier titles onto different platforms all of the time back during the PS1, PS2 and PSP eras. Of course most of those didn’t appear outside Japan except for the PSP port of the 1st Mana Khemia. But Atelier Marie was ported several times, Atelier Violet was ported to PSP and just many examples like that.
I love this game especially the creative way they use the Reivateils mind with visual representation of their fears and trumas. My favorite is the second one, although the game in general is very easy. A pity that Ar Tonelico Qoga is very difficult to find and is not available on PSN in my country. A pity that the franchise's projects were not successful on PS3
I think the main issue for many is that the third game was a drop in quality and then that followed to NoSurge where the bad taste remained. Saying that, a lot of people still want the series to return in some way.
I got few odd stares for my behaviour when i spotted both AT Qoga and Ar Nosurge on the used shelf on local shop. It mainly sells mainstream big release games and peripherals and my brother couldn't understand or give a shit when i tried to explain how rare that find was. Last time i bought anything from there was 2011 and those 2 were faster purchase decision for me than free meal.
@@TheKisekiNut haha! Also I am currently playing trails from zero. You and Scott convinced me to play trails and I loved it! The first three games were awesome, and zero is amazing and I’m only in chapter 4
I remember stumbling on Ar Tonelico through a very very old game review channel from the early days of youtube. It was mainly the innuendo that caught my attention cause it was so stilted that I had to see what it was about. I was delighted to find out the game was so much more than just the innuendo though, the dive spears, multiple endings and paths, and unique system over all just really drew me in. The OST was damn awesome too. I eventually played the second one, but never got the chance to play the third as I got rid of my PS3 before it came out due to losing interest in console gaming. To date, I have only found a couple games that even scratched the surface of the camp dialogue, but not so much as delved fully into a companion system like the dive system. It really makes you want to find more games like it since it pulls the characters together in a way most JRPG don't.
This game looks so good. Can’t wait to dive into it really. I’m all for this new series, I lost my way in my teens and I really only played shooters or MMO’s. Now I’m playing all of the jrpgs I’ve missed out on and your channel has shown me banger after banger after banger to play. Loving the content as always mate
@@BangNugs you will definitely love 1 if you like 2. Only major changes are more traditional battle system and no bath. Thus 2 better but one still great xD
That was my take on the series aswell until i finished Ciel Nosurge and Ar Nosurge. Explains the backstory of where the power for song magic originates, Origins of Teru and lots more while giving you a grand adventure that far surpasses the scale of AT1-3.
so, i would have NEVER heard of this series without having first played Ar no Surge and if you ever get the chance to... give it a chance... You will be blown away. Trust me. you are NOT ready for how meta and existential the story gets.
As much as I'd like to, it falls outside of the retro guidelines for this series so it'll have to be during my own time. If I do enjoy the sequel to Ar Ton though, then I'll probably seek out the games.
This game series is a treasure to both videogames and music, especially the later. The setting itself deserves WAY MORE attention, and I'd love it if it got an animated series, with all the music from it played in it.
I’m glad to have seen this review. I only learned pretty recently about Ar Tonelico through its ost in RUclips that I got recommended that immediately hooked me. I started the first game around December and immediately got to enjoy its charm and gameplay through its shortcomings that didn’t bother me too much. Only got back to it last month after finishing phase 1 back in January (just couldn’t decide between Aurica and Misha, ended up deciding to pick Misha) and am currently in the middle of phase 3. I really can’t wait to listen to the Exec songs I haven’t got to hear yet and to know how this game plans to end, though I also got this feel that I wish the game would still go, I like its characters so much ! Thank you for the video, you earned a new subscriber !
Well, I'm convinced. The game looks fun, might check it out myself. Funnily enough, I'm kind of in the same boat in that I'm also trying to go back and play older games I missed the first time around. So thank you for the suggestion! 👍
Oh if you plan to play ar tonelico 2 be sure to use the fan-retranslation patch, the original has a lot of mistakes. You can easly find the retranslation made by Aquagon, a mad man devoted to ar tonelico since the dawn of time, it even adds an entire new difficulty.
Glad to see you played this! I haven't gotten around to it yet but it has been on my radar for a few years now. The moment I heard the premise I was immediately intrigued. It's good to know that it'll most likely live up to that intrigue once I get around to it.
I love the concept of song magic and the world of Ar Tonelico had me so curious that I took all my courage, tried to ignore all the fan service and pushed through! To be fair the first game was still pretty mild in its fan service but I just love the world and the music so much that I played all 3 main titles + Ar No Surge and really enjoyed every one of them. Bossfights seldom hit as hard as they do in Ar Tonelico. In my opinion Ar Tonelico is one of the games that combined sci-fi and fantasy the best.
I hope you will do a video on the sequel, Metafalica as its very much a step up in story and characters from the first game in my opinion, also, I would recommend you play the version with a patch that was a retranslation and bug fix by fans (I think it was called Project Metafalica) because the original release had a lot of translation errors as well as a game breaking bug in one of the versions (either ntsc or pal)
It all comes down to what the Patrons vote for in the end, but the sequel is definitely on the short list. Tarks Gauntlet told me to use the retranslation patch if possible too. He played the original version which had all the problems you mentioned, and a soft lock to boot.
My favorite is ar tonelico 2. its the same world as ar tonelico 1 so its kinda like kiseki. The undub version of ar tonelico 2 has more voice I believe so I played it on JP dub.
This was one of the fewer gust works I wanted to play when it came around the mana khemia/iris time line. The combat in the game looked mad clean, iunno how anyone can get this game without emulating it now adays though. It's not cheap at all lol, and dope stuff as usual kiseki, I'd love to hear someone talk about some of these gust games
Unfortunately physical media especially on older games has just skyrocketed. And to be honest, I'm not gonna pay some random bloke a bloated price just to own it, that's not supporting the developer.
I've heard a lot of people state that the original translation for AT 2 was terrible and also had a few glitches. I'll see if I can find that patch if Patrons vote to play the second one.
@TheKisekiNut Most of the glitches in Ar tonelico II are avoidable like that game breaking bug towards the end where you can either skip the battle entirely and go straight to the final boss without worrying about the bug or you can fight the battle with the big in it but beat the character as quickly as possible. But the Translation is unavoidable. Like some scenes still had the Japanese text displayed.
EXEC_PAJA/.# is still one of my favorite JRPG soundtracks to this day. Although I wonder if your JRPG journey will ever take you to the Rance series....
Legit felt bad for Ar Tonelico 3. AT2's bar is just way too high and the rough transfer to 7th gen console doesn't help with that. Honestly, they should've stayed 2D like Disgaea did so they could focus on other things instead
What it lacks in story plots twists and turns it makes up for in OST. The story is nothing crazy but it gets the job done. Absolutely enjoyable RPG. I loved it.
These games were amazing! About 2 years ago Gust did 2 remasters of a few games from this series for the Switch and PS4. I was really hoping we would get them here in the West too. But it didn't happen. 😢😢😢
I also played all the ar tornelico games and enjoyed it very much. Stella glow has a similar dive in premise and multiple endings you can probably give that a shot
Well just so happens that a hidden gems vid came out from The Gaming Shelf and someone mentioned Stella Glow on there, so maybe I can add that to the list!
Ar Tonelico is fantastic. Especially the 2nd game. It has the best battle system of them all. Ar Tonelico 3 on the PS3 took some getting used to as the battle system got downgraded, but Gust released Ar No-Surge: a prequel to the entire series that gives us a souped up battle system that's a mix of the first two games. Absolutely love them, and the 2nd game even saw a fan retranslation that fixes bugs, restores hard difficulty, and replaces the English dub with the Japanese only. By playing the original NISA release and the retranslation, you get to see how badly things got bungled. Great series though that needs an HD remaster that'll never happen. Between Gust, Bandai Namco, Koei-Tecmo, and NISA, there's just too many spoons in the legal soup with Bandai-Namco having sole rights to the Ar Tonelico trilogy and K-T owning Ar No-Surge ...
Good idea for a series. One suggestion for the end of these vids might be for you to let the viewers know whether the game can be played on modern systems in any way or if it is only available on original hardware.
I played this back when it was released in my university days and I loved it, especially the soundtrack and the crafting elements - the way different characters could assign items goofy names was so cute. The way dives would unlock silly costumes and abilities made the progres feel extra rewarding too. And don't worry about Misha, she was my bae.
Singing is part of combat? As a Macross fan, you have my attention. 9:33 Probably not, since most video game casts voice their lines individually and at different times. More likely they didn't have a good voice director to give them context or line reading.
For ps2 generation jrpg, I recommend trying Musashi: samurai warrior. If you like swordplay, robots, talking cats, a princess to rescue and a flying whale, this is the game for you
I bought this waaaay back when it came out! Never finished it, but I remember that I got it because the store had the Collectors Edition in stock and the art was awesome! I still have that kicking around somewhere!
I haven't played Ar Tonelico, but I have played Ar Nosurge which is a "parallel universe" game of the same series to that series and uses the same mechanics. I am not sure why I picked up the game, I have to say I had a very similar experience - the story's pacing was all over the place and it felt like a rough diamond, but it was a diamond all the more because of its strengths, that being its character's deep dives and the unique song combat. And that game had some very dark deep dives psychologically speaking; the best RPG if you want to feel like a counsellor.
Though I would like to play the NoSurge games, they unfortunately fall outside the spectrum for this retro series. :( I believe they're from the PS3 era?
@@TheKisekiNut Yes PS3 / Vita era - no worries about them falling outside your retro timeframe but was just thinking that you should play them at some point for your own entertainment.
Yo nice bike. I had a Yamaha R1 when I was 18 but I got shot (I'm American) and I have severe nerve damage in my right hand so I haven't rode in a while. I would have to have a total conversion with throttle and rear brake on left side instead of right.
I own all the ar tonelico games, but haven't played them. I have played Ar nosurge though and didn't know it had the same systems / was kinda part of the same series but not really.
Son, I am disappoint. While not for everyone and certainly not without its faults, I thought the Ar Tonelico series was a lot of fun. If at all possible, try to get your hands on an undub of the games, because IMO the english language dubs were beyond horrible. Also, the X nosurge games (Ciel nosurge and Ar nosurge), they're set in the same universe and are also well worth your time.
I've heard that they made this game a bit more lewd in the English localization, but the 2nd game definitely got butchered in this manner. I'm glad we at least have the re-localization patches at least.
Then there's the spiritual successor to Tonelico on the Vita, but I can't remember what the name of the game was. Scratch that, the game is Ar nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star and it's a distant prequel to Ar Tonelico only available in the west on the Vita.
Um Ar noSurge is on PS3 and PS Vita worldwide and PS4, Switch and Steam only in Japan. Ciel noSurge was released on PS Vita, PS4, Steam and Switch but that game never made it outside Japan at all.
🤔PS2 era and beyond? That leaves this wiiide open to explore the Xenosaga trilogy and the Shadow Hearts trilogy and some Wild Arms😉 They all need waaay more love. I mean, who can say no to a space opera, a dark trilogy, and a western JRPG.. and by western I mean horses and saloons and guns with Zelda style dungeons, not Mass Effect style😁
I'm planning to release the short list of retro games in next weeks video, I think it'll be a fun topic and get everyone up to speed on what's gonna happen (by no means set in stone, it'll only have more added to it as time passes).
As much as I've heard about this franchise in the last decade I've never played it before but it seems good cuz everyone on RUclips praises it with barley any criticism
It's definitely not perfect, and the second game while considered better had an awful translation and several glitches, one of them actually causing a soft lock. But it is a rough diamond.
A series that I wanted to start last August before the tech gods took a dump on me and my luck.
Either way that seems to be behind us now, and the first retro classic I'm trying out is Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia. Hope you like it!
As a plug, A and S Rank Patrons will be able to vote on the next game I cover!
This game looks really cool. I am in the same boat as you, having only started playing games and RPGs in my teens. I missed so many old retro games, especially with me being a Nintendo child. I do have steam too now, but I still missed many old retro titles. My first console was a DS Lite. And one of my first RPGs was Pokemon. Still, I am looking forward to many great games you are going to shows us on your channel.
If you don't mind tactical RPGs, try Soul Nomad and the World Eaters. Yuri Lowenthal was hilariously hammy there. Its funny, and it can get real dark too. Made from the same makers as Disgaea
Ar Tonelico, Atelier Iris, and Mana Khemia are my fav games on PS2. In general, all of them are very similar, and specially combat and OST (the OST in all of them is just too good). I still replay them from time to time.
I could not figure out what a game was called but seeing this comment finally reminded me of what it was. Mana Khemia was a fantastic game. Wish I could play it again
Ahh all the classics. Good time.
The two Mana Khemias were amazing, would love a remaster of them or a remake keeping the same feel and mechanics.
@@Dekent It's a shame cause the focus on Manas are pretty interesting, though it kinda clashes with Atelier Iris and the alchemy gameplay clashes with Atelier series in general
But yes, these PS2 classics is in need for a modern port
Mana Khemia is part of the Atelier series.
Oh man Ar Tonelico was awesome. You didn't even mention but the hymnos songs really puts the OST into a whole new level. EXEC Chronicle Key and Rig Veda are some of my all time favorites JRPG OSTs, never heard anything like them before
Welcome to the world of one of my favourite franchises. Better later than never man, enjoy. Especially Ar Tonelico II, that one is majestic.
Was yea ra, chs hymmnos mea.
I love you giving more eyes to this series, its so underrated. The 2nd game is actually my favorite game of all time.
Yeah, played Ar Tonelico back in 2008 after beating Mana Khemia. Great games made by NIS Gust. Would love to see remasters on the Switch.
Ar Tonelico hymnos is what hooked me on the series, such a unique take in weaving the music, gameplay and story together
Love the series, and have all of the games. The music is heavenly, and I've imported all the OST and hymmnos cds.
Man, Ar Tonelico really looks like a series I'd love. From your description, it reminds me a lot of Stella Glow or Luminous Arc in terms of... general aesthetics, I guess. And I love those games. Shame I don't have the proper systems to get into the series.
Either way, thanks for the video!
It's a great game, and the sequel is even better apparently!
I sadly missed the first two Ar Tonellico titles when they were new, despite being deep into RPGs back then just as I am now, I always hold out hope they'll get an HD Remaster one day.
Also, I am so excited to see you getting into classic and retro RPGs! I can't wait to see the new reviews
It sucks that we don't have remasters, but I think a real issue is that there's just a mess of different publishers for the games. Lots of red tape to get through to make it happen.
@@TheKisekiNut I wouldn't even object to them having a new localization, even if that meant no English dub anymore.
But the sad reality is that Koei Tecmo seems to want to put the barest of bare minimum budget into international Gust releases. Heck, Atelier Marie being included with its remake is the only pre-PS3 Gust game I can think of that's ever gotten a rerelease
I pre-ordered both of these games back in the day. Amazing games.
@HybridAngelZero Gust used to re-release Atelier titles onto different platforms all of the time back during the PS1, PS2 and PSP eras. Of course most of those didn’t appear outside Japan except for the PSP port of the 1st Mana Khemia. But Atelier Marie was ported several times, Atelier Violet was ported to PSP and just many examples like that.
I randomly picked this game up in my tween years when picking my *Easter gift*. Fav game to this day, wish I had the time to play it again
I love this game especially the creative way they use the Reivateils mind with visual representation of their fears and trumas. My favorite is the second one, although the game in general is very easy. A pity that Ar Tonelico Qoga is very difficult to find and is not available on PSN in my country. A pity that the franchise's projects were not successful on PS3
I think the main issue for many is that the third game was a drop in quality and then that followed to NoSurge where the bad taste remained. Saying that, a lot of people still want the series to return in some way.
I got few odd stares for my behaviour when i spotted both AT Qoga and Ar Nosurge on the used shelf on local shop. It mainly sells mainstream big release games and peripherals and my brother couldn't understand or give a shit when i tried to explain how rare that find was. Last time i bought anything from there was 2011 and those 2 were faster purchase decision for me than free meal.
Love the intro skits. That random fish and chips got me
Actually did have a cod and chips last night too, coincidence?!
@@TheKisekiNut haha! Also I am currently playing trails from zero. You and Scott convinced me to play trails and I loved it! The first three games were awesome, and zero is amazing and I’m only in chapter 4
@@TheKisekiNut update. Finished zero last night, started azure this morning! So gooood
I remember stumbling on Ar Tonelico through a very very old game review channel from the early days of youtube. It was mainly the innuendo that caught my attention cause it was so stilted that I had to see what it was about. I was delighted to find out the game was so much more than just the innuendo though, the dive spears, multiple endings and paths, and unique system over all just really drew me in. The OST was damn awesome too. I eventually played the second one, but never got the chance to play the third as I got rid of my PS3 before it came out due to losing interest in console gaming.
To date, I have only found a couple games that even scratched the surface of the camp dialogue, but not so much as delved fully into a companion system like the dive system. It really makes you want to find more games like it since it pulls the characters together in a way most JRPG don't.
Loved this as a teenager. Kinda sad that the series died.
This game looks so good. Can’t wait to dive into it really. I’m all for this new series, I lost my way in my teens and I really only played shooters or MMO’s. Now I’m playing all of the jrpgs I’ve missed out on and your channel has shown me banger after banger after banger to play. Loving the content as always mate
We're in the same boat bud! Hopefully can introduce some more games to you, and by all means suggest some to me and I could add them to the shortlist!
The whole series is great. I think my favorite is 2 but 1 and 3 are still great.
I havent played the first, but the 2nd series is my fav so far
@@BangNugs you will definitely love 1 if you like 2. Only major changes are more traditional battle system and no bath. Thus 2 better but one still great xD
@@flamehiro noted
That was my take on the series aswell until i finished Ciel Nosurge and Ar Nosurge. Explains the backstory of where the power for song magic originates, Origins of Teru and lots more while giving you a grand adventure that far surpasses the scale of AT1-3.
@@Eksistenssi I played some ar no surge. Good but not as good imo
love the Ar tonelico and Surge series for its OST the Surge series is still in my backlog to do
so, i would have NEVER heard of this series without having first played Ar no Surge and if you ever get the chance to... give it a chance... You will be blown away. Trust me. you are NOT ready for how meta and existential the story gets.
As much as I'd like to, it falls outside of the retro guidelines for this series so it'll have to be during my own time. If I do enjoy the sequel to Ar Ton though, then I'll probably seek out the games.
Love your take on ar tonelico. My favourite game is all time is ar tonelico 2, the combat, music and setting enraptured me.
You have no idea how happy my days are now because I discovered your channel.
This game series is a treasure to both videogames and music, especially the later. The setting itself deserves WAY MORE attention, and I'd love it if it got an animated series, with all the music from it played in it.
I’m glad to have seen this review. I only learned pretty recently about Ar Tonelico through its ost in RUclips that I got recommended that immediately hooked me. I started the first game around December and immediately got to enjoy its charm and gameplay through its shortcomings that didn’t bother me too much. Only got back to it last month after finishing phase 1 back in January (just couldn’t decide between Aurica and Misha, ended up deciding to pick Misha) and am currently in the middle of phase 3. I really can’t wait to listen to the Exec songs I haven’t got to hear yet and to know how this game plans to end, though I also got this feel that I wish the game would still go, I like its characters so much !
Thank you for the video, you earned a new subscriber !
Well, I'm convinced. The game looks fun, might check it out myself.
Funnily enough, I'm kind of in the same boat in that I'm also trying to go back and play older games I missed the first time around. So thank you for the suggestion!
👍
i played the hell out of this game one of my childhood classics
That Jrpg guidebook is a goldmine of information
Best £30 I've spent in recent memory - such a great book.
Thank you so much for this review! Such games need more attention and your analysis was very cool!
This PS2 era of Gust with Atelier Iris Trilogy, Mana Khemia 1&2, and Ar Tonelico 1&2, will always be my favorite one. 😁
Oh if you plan to play ar tonelico 2 be sure to use the fan-retranslation patch, the original has a lot of mistakes. You can easly find the retranslation made by Aquagon, a mad man devoted to ar tonelico since the dawn of time, it even adds an entire new difficulty.
🙏aquagon🙏
The man, the myth, the legend
Yeah, Tarks Gauntlet has told me to use the retranslation patch if possible. He played with the original version which had a fair few errors.
I don’t know much undud but that pretty much it
Glad to see you played this! I haven't gotten around to it yet but it has been on my radar for a few years now. The moment I heard the premise I was immediately intrigued. It's good to know that it'll most likely live up to that intrigue once I get around to it.
I love the concept of song magic and the world of Ar Tonelico had me so curious that I took all my courage, tried to ignore all the fan service and pushed through!
To be fair the first game was still pretty mild in its fan service but I just love the world and the music so much that I played all 3 main titles + Ar No Surge and really enjoyed every one of them.
Bossfights seldom hit as hard as they do in Ar Tonelico.
In my opinion Ar Tonelico is one of the games that combined sci-fi and fantasy the best.
I hope you will do a video on the sequel, Metafalica as its very much a step up in story and characters from the first game in my opinion, also, I would recommend you play the version with a patch that was a retranslation and bug fix by fans (I think it was called Project Metafalica) because the original release had a lot of translation errors as well as a game breaking bug in one of the versions (either ntsc or pal)
It all comes down to what the Patrons vote for in the end, but the sequel is definitely on the short list. Tarks Gauntlet told me to use the retranslation patch if possible too. He played the original version which had all the problems you mentioned, and a soft lock to boot.
My favorite is ar tonelico 2. its the same world as ar tonelico 1 so its kinda like kiseki. The undub version of ar tonelico 2 has more voice I believe so I played it on JP dub.
Brilliant. Love the into.
This was one of the fewer gust works I wanted to play when it came around the mana khemia/iris time line. The combat in the game looked mad clean, iunno how anyone can get this game without emulating it now adays though. It's not cheap at all lol, and dope stuff as usual kiseki, I'd love to hear someone talk about some of these gust games
Unfortunately physical media especially on older games has just skyrocketed. And to be honest, I'm not gonna pay some random bloke a bloated price just to own it, that's not supporting the developer.
Ar Tonelico was great, and Ar Tonelico 2 is even better. The only issue is that to fully experience it, you'd need to get the relocalization patch.
I've heard a lot of people state that the original translation for AT 2 was terrible and also had a few glitches. I'll see if I can find that patch if Patrons vote to play the second one.
@TheKisekiNut Most of the glitches in Ar tonelico II are avoidable like that game breaking bug towards the end where you can either skip the battle entirely and go straight to the final boss without worrying about the bug or you can fight the battle with the big in it but beat the character as quickly as possible.
But the Translation is unavoidable. Like some scenes still had the Japanese text displayed.
EXEC_PAJA/.# is still one of my favorite JRPG soundtracks to this day. Although I wonder if your JRPG journey will ever take you to the Rance series....
Ey, don’t feel bad. I’ve never heard of this series until you put out this video!
Ar Tonelico 2 is by far the best in the series. no contest.
Legit felt bad for Ar Tonelico 3. AT2's bar is just way too high and the rough transfer to 7th gen console doesn't help with that. Honestly, they should've stayed 2D like Disgaea did so they could focus on other things instead
amen to that.
I love how you started this video haha
It was raining as well, sacrifices!
Ar tonelico is one of my fav RPG series
Shoulda bought this game a while back honestly, oh well emulation it is! Thanks again kiseki, this game i always ways wondered about.
Emulation all the way bud, I'm not wasting this hardware!
you should try the 2nd one, its most fan favourite
Great stuff as always. The game looks really interesting and I'll likely check it out after finishing the Trails series.
If you can find a copy and have the hardware it's worth a try - a rough diamond.
Ar Tonelico switch port would be a dream!!
That opening song is so hypnotic
I played this year ago and when I played Stella Glow in 3ds it reminded me of this. :)
Love the content mate 👍
What it lacks in story plots twists and turns it makes up for in OST. The story is nothing crazy but it gets the job done. Absolutely enjoyable RPG. I loved it.
These games were amazing! About 2 years ago Gust did 2 remasters of a few games from this series for the Switch and PS4. I was really hoping we would get them here in the West too. But it didn't happen. 😢😢😢
RUclips recommends ar tonelico soundtrack, kisekinut releases ar tonelico video, coincidence I think not
Imagine a prinny presents nis classics with both ar tonelico 1 and 2. We can only dream...
The NIS Classics titles only apply to games NIS Developed. NIS did not Develop Ar tonelico. They only localized it.
"It only gets more intense the further you go down." Ain't that the truth. ;) @11:05
Wow, another hidden gem jrpg on the ps2
I wonder how many are still hidden...
Second one is awesome as well 👌
I love the series for many reasons but the main reason is father table flip spell
I also played all the ar tornelico games and enjoyed it very much. Stella glow has a similar dive in premise and multiple endings you can probably give that a shot
Well just so happens that a hidden gems vid came out from The Gaming Shelf and someone mentioned Stella Glow on there, so maybe I can add that to the list!
Ah yeah i saw that video you were also there 😁
Ar Tonelico is fantastic. Especially the 2nd game. It has the best battle system of them all. Ar Tonelico 3 on the PS3 took some getting used to as the battle system got downgraded, but Gust released Ar No-Surge: a prequel to the entire series that gives us a souped up battle system that's a mix of the first two games. Absolutely love them, and the 2nd game even saw a fan retranslation that fixes bugs, restores hard difficulty, and replaces the English dub with the Japanese only. By playing the original NISA release and the retranslation, you get to see how badly things got bungled. Great series though that needs an HD remaster that'll never happen. Between Gust, Bandai Namco, Koei-Tecmo, and NISA, there's just too many spoons in the legal soup with Bandai-Namco having sole rights to the Ar Tonelico trilogy and K-T owning Ar No-Surge ...
Good idea for a series. One suggestion for the end of these vids might be for you to let the viewers know whether the game can be played on modern systems in any way or if it is only available on original hardware.
Good suggestion! I'll note that one down, this is all a work in progress.
This seems like a good candidate for a straight to eShop port on the Switch like the older Atelier games
Alright! so stoked to hear you say that! what was that jrpg book at the beginning? i recently bought a stella deus art book. thank you tkn
A Guide to Japanese Role Playing Games - awesome book written by fans of the genre.
This and the 2nd game was my from highschool. This and Xenosaga. Had a mp3 player that only had hymn songs on it. Was all I listened to.
god i loved these games. i even got Ooga's premium edition and i didnt even own a ps3
The sequel is even better, though I highly recommend playing it with the the undub patch
Never a better time to jump in really, there's so many classics out there so the pool is limitless.
Awesome choice, great game.
I played this back when it was released in my university days and I loved it, especially the soundtrack and the crafting elements - the way different characters could assign items goofy names was so cute. The way dives would unlock silly costumes and abilities made the progres feel extra rewarding too.
And don't worry about Misha, she was my bae.
now, if this was on switch today id prolly buy it day one
A surprise, but a welcome one.
I’ve been putting off playing Ar Tonelico on my Steam Deck for awhile now, if this isn’t a sign I don’t know what is.
I really love these PS2 era Gust games.
Does anyone if that was a actual GUST information book? And where I can get one.
just reading the title ... GASP.
Singing is part of combat? As a Macross fan, you have my attention.
9:33 Probably not, since most video game casts voice their lines individually and at different times. More likely they didn't have a good voice director to give them context or line reading.
The review aside, that's one sick bike!
It's my baby!
For ps2 generation jrpg, I recommend trying Musashi: samurai warrior. If you like swordplay, robots, talking cats, a princess to rescue and a flying whale, this is the game for you
I bought this waaaay back when it came out! Never finished it, but I remember that I got it because the store had the Collectors Edition in stock and the art was awesome! I still have that kicking around somewhere!
I've always this PS2 era gust graphical style
I'd definitely recommend At tonelico 2 as well
I got into the series through artiler iris to manage khemia to ar to nilico
I haven't played Ar Tonelico, but I have played Ar Nosurge which is a "parallel universe" game of the same series to that series and uses the same mechanics. I am not sure why I picked up the game, I have to say I had a very similar experience - the story's pacing was all over the place and it felt like a rough diamond, but it was a diamond all the more because of its strengths, that being its character's deep dives and the unique song combat. And that game had some very dark deep dives psychologically speaking; the best RPG if you want to feel like a counsellor.
Though I would like to play the NoSurge games, they unfortunately fall outside the spectrum for this retro series. :(
I believe they're from the PS3 era?
@@TheKisekiNut Yes PS3 / Vita era - no worries about them falling outside your retro timeframe but was just thinking that you should play them at some point for your own entertainment.
@TheKisekiNut Ar noSurge and Ciel noSurge have been ported to PS4, Switch and Steam but Koei refuses to localize them outside Japan.
Yo nice bike. I had a Yamaha R1 when I was 18 but I got shot (I'm American) and I have severe nerve damage in my right hand so I haven't rode in a while. I would have to have a total conversion with throttle and rear brake on left side instead of right.
Oh dang, sorry to hear that man! I hope you may one day be able to ride again.
Cool bike, I gotta say~
I own all the ar tonelico games, but haven't played them. I have played Ar nosurge though and didn't know it had the same systems / was kinda part of the same series but not really.
That’s a Prequel game as well as Ciel noSurge.
Legit thought TKN was about to hear the voice of God after that music played in the intro
Misha is queen!
The music in this game is nice, as with all the Atelier adjacent games.
Son, I am disappoint. While not for everyone and certainly not without its faults, I thought the Ar Tonelico series was a lot of fun. If at all possible, try to get your hands on an undub of the games, because IMO the english language dubs were beyond horrible. Also, the X nosurge games (Ciel nosurge and Ar nosurge), they're set in the same universe and are also well worth your time.
I'll add the NoSurge games to the list too!
It is an amazing game.
I've heard that they made this game a bit more lewd in the English localization, but the 2nd game definitely got butchered in this manner. I'm glad we at least have the re-localization patches at least.
Why on earth are you playing it at 16:9? 🙃
Ar Tonelico is a lot of fun but the innuendo... Yeah, you're not wrong! I'm also convinced that the acronym DP while "diving" is 100% intentional.
It wasn't afraid to flaunt it! Apparently the third game took it to a whole new level though.
Then there's the spiritual successor to Tonelico on the Vita, but I can't remember what the name of the game was. Scratch that, the game is Ar nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star and it's a distant prequel to Ar Tonelico only available in the west on the Vita.
Um Ar noSurge is on PS3 and PS Vita worldwide and PS4, Switch and Steam only in Japan. Ciel noSurge was released on PS Vita, PS4, Steam and Switch but that game never made it outside Japan at all.
Great vid dude I highly recommend the xenosaga trilogy and xenogears but saga episode 2 is not great from a gameplay standpoint.
🤔PS2 era and beyond? That leaves this wiiide open to explore the Xenosaga trilogy and the Shadow Hearts trilogy and some Wild Arms😉 They all need waaay more love. I mean, who can say no to a space opera, a dark trilogy, and a western JRPG.. and by western I mean horses and saloons and guns with Zelda style dungeons, not Mass Effect style😁
I'm planning to release the short list of retro games in next weeks video, I think it'll be a fun topic and get everyone up to speed on what's gonna happen (by no means set in stone, it'll only have more added to it as time passes).
Sounds very interesting game. I miss lot of PS2 weird jrpg
Is that Ninja 400 or 250? I ride the 2013 Z250 😊
650 Ninja!
Will you play Xenogears?? :D i think you will like this one a lot if you have not played it before. It's up your alley
Well I am putting a shortlist of the retro JRPGs that are currently on my list up for a video this weekend, so you'll have to wait and find out!
the song and ost are amazing, they made a whole constructed language just for the hymn's
Aurica best girl.
As much as I've heard about this franchise in the last decade I've never played it before but it seems good cuz everyone on RUclips praises it with barley any criticism
It's definitely not perfect, and the second game while considered better had an awful translation and several glitches, one of them actually causing a soft lock. But it is a rough diamond.
Ar Nosurge DX and Ciel Nosurge DX localization wen