Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia

Ar Tonelico pretty much has it all. The story and especially pacing is fantastic; the music is truly special, the battles are incredibly engaging via the Revyatelis, and the art is simply gorgeous. [Feb 2007, p.36]

This is a very nice RPG, and if you enjoy Japanese RPGs at all you owe it to yourself to pick up this title.

This was the first time in a long time that I felt like I went on a real traditional RPG adventure.

A unique role playing experience and one that is dripping with sexual innuendo and overtones. However, if you can get over this fact (and I'm sure you can), you're going to find an adventure that is often amazingly fun, but ends up feeling rather dry and contrived at times. The concepts within are fantastic, but the combat, which makes up the majority of the game, is beyond tedious and that hurts the title quite a bit.

Despite its pedantic handling of some topics and questionable dialogue parts, the game never takes itself too seriously. That, and it's actually a pretty awesome RPG at that.

A very average game, enjoyable without standing out, and sadly forgettable.

If you’re looking for a unique RPG experience that graphical harks back to RPGs of the SNES or early PS1 era, this is your game.

While Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia may not be host to cutting-edge graphics, its script and game play make up for it, delivering solid turn-based entertainment for at least 50 hours of enjoyment. A solid choice for NIS America fans.

A solid RPG/dating sim that will please those that love all things Japanese.

What the game lacks in the battle and exploration departments, it more than makes up for in the experience of getting to know a girl intimately.

Its tone is a perfect balance—not cutesy and not over-serious. The characters may be stereotypical, but there’s a real sense of self-awareness and satirical humor in them as well.

Overall, this game offers a solid RPG experience despite its flaws it also has many things going for it, and makes a nice addition to the PS2s massive RPG collection.

It's not even so much that the game can come off as a surprising date sim-lite turn-based adventure. It's that a couple of less defined game features weaken a title that would've otherwise been impressive.

Ar Tonelico certainly wins points for originality but in the end it does very little to get past its boring combat and limited exploration options that drag this game down considerably.

If you're looking for a light RPG, then Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia definitely fits the bill because it's cheerful, well animated and utterly predictable. Combat is a breeze, even if you're farming for items, and the plot is lackluster at best.

If you've enjoyed the past two "Altelier Iris" games, tonelico is more of the same. [Mar 2007, p.86]

"Final Fantasy" followers might be looking for more. Even so, at times tonelico conveys more energy and thoughtfulness than most big-budget RPGs even attempt. It's primarily for the hardcore audience, though any gamer looking for another fantasy outlet should take a look.

Whether you'll like Ar tonelico or not is dependent on how much of a sucker you are for a cute damsel in distress. These aren't helpless girls, mind you, and your relationship to them will provide the bulk of enjoyment that Ar tonelico has to offer.

Just as soon as I was ready to sing the praises of the game from my rooftop did the debilitating graphical and gameplay flaws begin to rain down on my happy-go-lucky concert, soaking down my scores.

Those who have fond memories of the PSone cult classic "Thousand Arms" will definitely enjoy Ar Tonelico's strange blend of action, dialog, and courtship. [Feb. 2007, p.101]

Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia is not a bad game, but just falls short in the execution of some pretty unique and inventive ideas. It's still an okay game, and offers some good laughs and interesting gameplay mechanics, but it looks, sounds and plays a generation behind its platform.

A pretty solid role-playing experience that will be familiar and well received by fans of GUST's other RPG titles. The Dive system is an interesting idea but it would have been nice if it was a little more interactive.

The battle system is a refreshing twist on something that has been done for the same way for many past RPGs, and diving into your Reyvateil makes for reasonable character development.

After combining the "meh" story with the 2D sprites, the passably amateurish voice acting, and the melodramatic localization, Ar tonelico feels like a pretty forgettable RPG. But it does do one thing that needs elaboration, one thing that pushes up a bit higher than "meh" on the RPG scale: It has a freakin' dating sim as a major gameplay component.

Ar tonelico is built on a solid role-playing foundation, but the lengthy character exchanges and lack of any challenge take a lot of the fun out of the game.

What I like most, though, is the game's brisk pace. Even within the first five hours, I felt like I had lived a virtual lifetime. [Mar 2007, p.92]

Further hampering the dungeons is sheer repetitiveness. Most contain only a few combinations of enemies to fight and the battles are such that you can use exactly the same strategy, for exactly the same result, every time.

An average RPG that could've been so much more if Gust hadn't ignored their solid ideas and focused on the 'sexy' innuendo. [Apr 2008, p.84]