Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel

 PlayStation 3
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 75 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 54 out of 75
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 75
  3. Negative: 11 out of 75
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  1. sgb
    Mar 31, 2011
    5
    In a nutshell, this third AT game is mostly a step back from AT2. The character interactions are a little better, but the gameplay is much worse.

    Starting right with the bad, the battle system in AT3 is very bare-bones. They went with a Star Ocean style battle system, but forgot to give your characters any interesting skills to make these battles fun. You will pretty much just be    In a nutshell, this third AT game is mostly a step back from AT2. The character interactions are a little better, but the gameplay is much worse.

    Starting right with the bad, the battle system in AT3 is very bare-bones. They went with a Star Ocean style battle system, but forgot to give your characters any interesting skills to make these battles fun. You will pretty much just be spamming the same attack over and over and over. To make matters worse, there are only three non-Reyvateil party members the entire game. In previous AT games, your Reyvateil(s) had a numbers of different songs (aka spells) to choose from. Here, you get one attack spell and that's it. The final nail in the coffin is that, like the previous games, the difficultly is still laughable. Your Reyvateil's attack is so strong that all non-bosses will die in one shot, and unlike AT2 you have to charge and use this in every battle past the halfway point as your melee attackers hit for 10 damage on enemies with 20000+ HP. The controversial gimmick in AT3 is the purge system. Basically you hold a button and shake the controller every so often and your Reyvateil will...strip. Doing so increases the song damage and special effects provided to the others. There is absolutely no sense whatsoever to this beyond blatant fanservice, seeing as AT1 and 2 took place in the same world and yet have never heard of this Reyvateil 'power-up method'. It's really just a huge step down from AT2s gameplay, and you really have to wonder if the game would have been better off as straight visual novel this time around.


    The popular synthesis system is back, but unlike previous games the sole benefit to using it is for the banter while making it. As noted above, your non-Reyvateil party members are little more than distractions, so equipment upgrades have almost no impact on performance. Not that you need to get your upgrades this way, as enemies drop equipment and accessories like candy. Basically you will make everything once to see if it triggers a talk event afterwards, then never looks at the stuff again.


    The game's saving grace is the Cosmosphere and character banter. The characters in AT3 have better chemistry than in previous games, so the relationships don't feel completely forced by the writers. The secondary characters get developed a bit more than previous titles as well. As other reviewers have said, this game flies past the semi-subtle innuendo in previous titles and goes right into openly discussing sexual fetishes. On one hand, it gets a little crude at times, but on the other hand it's somewhat refreshing to dispense with the *winkwinknudgenudge* dialogue for once. Combined with the purge cutscenes, that M rating is fully justified so be warned. There sadly aren't alternate costumes like in previous AT games, instead having (without spoiling any plot) a few different 'personas'. It's not quite as good, but I guess they couldn't justify having 9 different costumes per Reyvateil with the purge cutscenes. The overall story isn't amazing, but it provides a reasonable conclusion to the AT series.


    All in all, there's not much to say here. For fans of the series the game's strengths are the same as previous titles, and the weaknesses...are sadly standard to AT as well. You won't be playing this for the gameplay. Players new to the series looking for a new jRPG should run away. This is a visual novel first, and a game second.

    FINAL BREAKDOWN:
    6/10 for AT fans
    4/10 for anyone else    … Expand
  2. vahn
    Apr 17, 2011
    6
    I always liked Gust's Rpgs for many reasons: they tend to be "old-style" and their stories aren't that serious but yet are enjoyable, reminding me of fables...well this game can be a sort of half-way work. First of all the story starts off rather rushed and fast but tends to improve with time (sort of); the graphics are ok and I particularly liked the backgrounds even if they are 2d andI always liked Gust's Rpgs for many reasons: they tend to be "old-style" and their stories aren't that serious but yet are enjoyable, reminding me of fables...well this game can be a sort of half-way work. First of all the story starts off rather rushed and fast but tends to improve with time (sort of); the graphics are ok and I particularly liked the backgrounds even if they are 2d and the music is nothing to be reminded but it does it's job good enough. What are the problems then? First of all, the battle system...it feels kinda weak, thin and totally lacking: your main job is to attack the enemies by pressing just one button 3 times and then cast the spell that your Reyvateil for finishing them by using purging for powering up their spells: the end. That's it mostly, and you don't even need to parry: it's automatic (by standing still...). You can also defend your Reyvateil by pressing circle when an enemy attacks her, but that's it basically: it feels like they rushed this battle system and your main job is to just help your Reyvateil to cast better magic, as your attacks won't be as strong as hers later in the game. But to me the biggest flaw of this game is just one: the fan-service. I mentioned before you need to purge for powering up your spells...and you do that by stripping your Reyvateil: it feels very annoying and very unnecessary and even though they explain "why" they have to strip it grows tiresome with time, making you skip their "strip" in battle from the start. However I enjoyed the game and if the players can pass the "purging" and fan-service gimmicks (or enjoy, depends on the taste) I would really say this isn't a bad game and it's worth a check before getting it completely.… Expand
  3. seieko_pherdo
    Jul 13, 2011
    6
    After the first's game flawed emergence into the world followed up by superb squeal (with a not so superb localization) one would think the 3rd game would a golden rainbow that hands out candy. Sadly this game is a step backwards, in more ways than one. For whatever reason it's similar to the first game rather than the second one. The combat while no longer turned based is not all thatAfter the first's game flawed emergence into the world followed up by superb squeal (with a not so superb localization) one would think the 3rd game would a golden rainbow that hands out candy. Sadly this game is a step backwards, in more ways than one. For whatever reason it's similar to the first game rather than the second one. The combat while no longer turned based is not all that good. While the match the attacks with the meter thing at the bottom of the screen was a nice touch the combat lacks the "Tales Of Game" flexibility to pull that off. For the most part the Reyvateils that are considered so useful and valuable throughout the games don't even feel necessary. By time the magic is strong enough to be useful without spamming super attacks the enemy will already be dead from constant wailing. Then there's the weird stripping function which replaces different song magic, while the system works well there is no reason for the strange removal of clothes. Though to make it even the males lose theirs when they use their super moves too which creates what I like to call, "The hot spring laser barrage" Besides the music being awesome and story tying up all the loose ends through the last two games, it was a nice touch to add more detailed conversations during item creation. And while the mind diving is still interesting the Characters aren't as good as the ones in Ar Tonelico 2 and their respective life stories are not as interesting. In a way moving the last game to 3D didn't do a whole lot of good for the game and it's sad that the grand finale of the Ar Tonelico saga wasn't as good as it could have been.… Expand
  4. deadlysilentbob
    Apr 24, 2015
    5
    Extremely inferior to the first 2 games, which were for the ps2. The first 2 had an engaging storyline, did not try to muddy the backstory to add a preceived depth to the world and did not have an oversaturation of pervy dialogue which i dont usually mind but in this game it becomes tiresome. The stripping of the heroines is also a feature which gets tiresome. if it was once in a while asExtremely inferior to the first 2 games, which were for the ps2. The first 2 had an engaging storyline, did not try to muddy the backstory to add a preceived depth to the world and did not have an oversaturation of pervy dialogue which i dont usually mind but in this game it becomes tiresome. The stripping of the heroines is also a feature which gets tiresome. if it was once in a while as like a reward mechanic then i could see it being an enjoyable thing, but every single little battle is a bit much (unless your a 14 year old boy whom has never seen a naked woman). i also wish they left the graphics as sprites as they had for the first 2 games, they were very charming and this game suffered for the poorly rendered and implimented 3d models they went with.

    possitives: the cosmosphere is more entertaining this time around as its not just a static path, the heroines are likeable and very distinct, the hymnnos music is as always very interesting, and an alpha male for a main character is HUGELY WELCOME.

    negatives: slow confusing storyline, feels like a rushed game, too much reliance on pervy mechanics.

    overall i only recomend this game to anyone who played the first 2 and wanted to the the conclusion to the trilogy.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

92
#92 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
61

Mixed or average reviews - based on 27 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 27
  3. Negative: 5 out of 27
  1. GameCritics
    Oct 26, 2011
    85
    There's always more to learn of the characters in all sorts of ways, and underneath the goofiness, there was still a thick layer of strong narrative and character development that kept me invested through sixty hours. I don't know if JRPGs will ever return to their previous prominence, but if Ar Tonelico Qoga is any indication, they still have a lot to offer.
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  2. SpazioGames
    May 9, 2011
    70
    Ar Tonelico Qoga is the third and final installment in the saga. It does have what it takes to satisfy the fans, but it's not impressive enough to reach a bigger audience.
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  3. IGN
    Apr 27, 2011
    60
    With all the technological bells and whistles driving this sequel, it ended up halting rather than evolving the series. Great animations set against clunky backgrounds, too much repetition in both the combat and music, and the lack of difficulty hold this JRPG back from being something truly special.
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