is this game worth getting?

[Rubbercons]

This game is good. Sell the games you're not playing and buy this game!

[roozzzzz]

This game is allright , only downfall for me is the ugly environments .

The best part of this game is the dialoge rather unusual lol.

But yeah like the post above me just buy it you'll like it

[Gogmagog]

No, this is an absolutely terrible game. As much as I want to support the localization of niche Japanese games, I can't pretend that this game isn't crap.

The levels are repetitious and ugly. The plot is garbled and stupid, and it's presented to you in the most obnoxious way possible - via still frame dialogue boxes that just go on and on about NOTHING. Unfunny inside jokes that really don't make any sense... This game's idea of a clever reference really falls along the lines of "hey look, it's a turtle fighting a plumber that's eating mushrooms! Neat!" To compound how lame this is, the most you'll actually SEE of this event is a vague outline of the character being referenced.

Your characters are equally obnoxious in both Japanese and English... especially Compa, who squeaks in this voice that sounds like nails being dragged across a chalkboard.

The battle system is horrendous and poorly thought out. Take a look at the design for the healing system. What the hell were they thinking with that layout I'll never guess, but even if you think it's innovative, the execution is flawed and annoying. The difficulty balance is completely off as well. You'll find that most of the time you're simply smashing buttons to wade through obnoxiously easy monsters because the world design REQUIRES you to visit AND revisit areas with level 1 monsters.

The combo system is terribly designed. You'll basically create two or three working combos and never need to really alter them, outside of the occasional refitting with a new ability. So, really, all you'll be doing is pressing X triangle triangle triangle or triangle four times every battle, while you need to mash the L2 button to speed along the battle animations WHICH take forever otherwise, which really ends up resulting in you not even watching the battles after a while; you just watch the damage numbers fly around on the screen while you wish it would just hurry up and get to something more interesting.

And when I say the dungeons are boring and repetitive, it's important to realize that the dungeons are ALL the game offers. There's no world map, no towns, just dungeons. Each dungeon requires that you complete one of three set tasks while you hunt around the same narrow corridors looking for treasure boxes and a hidden box in each map. Never mind that the dimensions of each dungeon are the same, never mind that the walls are recycled, never mind that there's really only 5 or 6 variations of dungeon design that are occasionally slightly tweaked, never mind that the boss fights are usually reskinned generic monsters... The three set tasks are unimaginative and boring as all hell! You either A) walk to the exit B) kill a certain amount of enemies or pick up a certain number of enemy item drops or C) kill a monster. THAT'S IT.

Oh yeah, and the music is repetitive torture.

There is almost nothing here to like. If you're that rare person who loved Trinity Universe, this is your kind of game, because it's basically the exact same thing but repackaged with a less appealing world and an inferior battle system. Maybe there's more semblance of an actual plot, but it doesn't matter because it hardly makes any sense.

I can understand someone liking this sort of niche title, but to blindly recommend it to someone is really kind of lame. This is a niche title amongst niche titles, and there's a reason the metacritic score is hovering around 30 percent. This game really has to be RIGHT UP YOUR ALLEY, or it's painful to play.

All of the people who complained about FFXIII being too linear and repetitive should be forced to play this travesty of a game for a couple hours for some perspective. Here's to hoping that Ar Tonelico III is something incredible... I can't take another bland cookie cutter jrpg like this.
And I still can't believe that games like this and Last Rebellion are getting English localizations while Tales of Vesperia isn't. Ugh.

[Emerald Emblem]

Originally Posted by Gogmagog

/Rant

Before people flame this post or whatever, he's not just speaking trash, it is an incredibly niche and old style RPG. It really does have to be up your alley to appreciate and enjoy. If you're looking for a great RPG, it isn't here. However it's a decent JRPG with plenty of fanservice.

[CorpusDelecti]

Originally Posted by Emerald Emblem

Before people flame this post or whatever, he's not just speaking trash, it is an incredibly niche and old style RPG. It really does have to be up your alley to appreciate and enjoy. If you're looking for a great RPG, it isn't here. However it's a decent JRPG with plenty of fanservice.

As stated by the top two posters. However I hardly agree with the rant fanatic. I enjoy this game myself very much, but it's true, it is not for EVERYONE. It is your standard classic style JRPG, with lots of grinding and very repetative. However I do enjoy the story, even though it sadly gets misconstrude due to the fact that you have to move around alot to complete each area, and each area has it's very own story, so you get them broken up. But I also must state to the poster above that is complaining about this as well as Last Rebellion, (both of which I pleasently enjoyed and have completed) Ar Tonelico is developed and produced, BY THE SAME companies. If you don't like their games, don't waste your time purchasing more just to feed more of your flame.

So for those of you just looking for something enjoyable and eye pleasing, yes this game is worth it. The music is great, the graphics are fun and colorful. And I for one love the characters as well

[Emerald Emblem]

It's surprising how mixed the reviews are as well. a few 2/10's and a few 7/10's and a random mesh of scores in-between. I personally enjoy the game, heck I might play it through a second time when the DLC characters are released in Europe. I say to anyone on the fence, wait for a price drop, but if you enjoy games others don't, might as well give it a go.

[CorpusDelecti]

I just picked up Gust and Nisa myself, and finishing up my second playthrough now for the platinum. Also to the ranter again. Apparently he doesn't know very much about the gaming industry while Tales of Vespera has already been localized....

[Emerald Emblem]

Originally Posted by CorpusDelecti

I just picked up Gust and Nisa myself, and finishing up my second playthrough now for the platinum. Also to the ranter again. Apparently he doesn't know very much about the gaming industry while Tales of Vespera has already been localized....

Then maybe you can answer a question I have, when Nisa and Gust join your party, do they also add lines to conversations?

[CorpusDelecti]

Originally Posted by Emerald Emblem

Then maybe you can answer a question I have, when Nisa and Gust join your party, do they also add lines to conversations?

No they do not. They weren't initially supposed to be playable characters. I'm assuming that players from Japan really wanted to play as the characters so they were just added in as DLC. Most DLC is most likely coded into the game already. But Gust and NISA are definately after development created, as they have more animated aspects to their characters when running with them in dungeons then the others do.

[Gogmagog]

Originally Posted by CorpusDelecti

I just picked up Gust and Nisa myself, and finishing up my second playthrough now for the platinum. Also to the ranter again. Apparently he doesn't know very much about the gaming industry while Tales of Vespera has already been localized....

I'm referring to the PS3 version of Vesperia, and I thought that was obvious...

Originally Posted by CorpusDelecti

Ar Tonelico is developed and produced, BY THE SAME companies. If you don't like their games, don't waste your time purchasing more just to feed more of your flame.

No, that game was developed by Gust, while Trinity Universe and Neptunia were developed by Idea Factory. In the US they're all being published by the same company (NISA), but that doesn't change the fact that they were CREATED by different studios. The gameplay in Tonelico is actually action/rpg, not turn-based for starters, so it's already a completely different kind of game...

Originally Posted by CorpusDelecti

So for those of you just looking for something enjoyable and eye pleasing, yes this game is worth it. The music is great, the graphics are fun and colorful. And I for one love the characters as well

Ok, you can like the game, that's fine. You can also like Last Rebellion. You can't get away with praising the graphics though... they look like PS2 games.

And sure, you can like the music, everyone's entitled to their opinion, but wow... really? Even if you like it, you have to admit that it's recycled and repeated throughout the game. The dungeon music is recycled at a faster tempo for the battle music. On top of that, there's about 5 songs in the whole damn game.

Are you sure you played the same game I'm playing?