Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica

by NIS America

Product Features

• Combat the mysterious IPD epidemic and uncover the secrets of Metafalica
• Stay on your toes with an improved song battle system and a dynamic blend of 2D and 3D graphics
• Dive into psychological realms and date other characters
• Enjoy expansive customization and object crafting capabilities
• Stay Engaged with more than 100 hours of gameplay and four different endings

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001GMSHSI
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches ; 4.8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: January 20, 2009
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,965 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #18 in Video Games > PlayStation 2 > Rhythm > Singing & Karaoke
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Developed by Gust, AR Tonelico 2: Melody Of Metafalica Premium for PS2 brings you into the midst of a civilization in crisis. With the Knight Croixe, you'll undertake a search for the source of a raging I.P.D. epidemic that threatens the survival of the magical, singing Reyvateil maidens and end up caught in the middle of an epic struggle between humans and the ruling Goddess. Anime-style characters, bold graphics, and haunting, original music bring this world to life, while more than 100 hours of game play and the existence of four distinct endings keep even serious RPG enthusiasts on their toes.

Navigate using map screens with impressive 3D graphics. View larger.

Produce powerful magic effects during song battles. View larger.

"Dive" into a Reyvateil's Cosmosphere for conversations that drive detailed storylines. View larger.

The Legend of Metafalica: Story Behind the Struggle Set on the same planet as the first AR Tonelico, this game focuses on the region of Metafalss at the top of a tall, narrow tower. Inhabited by refugees, this artificially created land can't sustain the crops people need to survive, but the legend of Metafalica offers a faint glimmer of hope. It is said that, long ago, whenever a Holy Maiden sang a special hymn called Metafalica it produced a utopia filled with fertile land, and this myth gives people aspiration.

Efforts to create this type of world are denied again and again by the ruling Goddess, creating an atmosphere of hopelessness and desperation, and a new government called the Grand Bell rises to power promising to create a utopia without the Goddess' help. As a player in the unfolding drama, you'll have to decide between living with the Goddess or rebelling against her. The realism of your chosen character's plight is enhanced by the experience of moving through the city of Pastalia and navigating ruins on an SD graphics screen.

The Song Magic Battle System Has Evolved
The song battles from the first game are improved upon -- the two-part battles in this game again focus on vanguards protecting Reyvateil maidens and the song magic unleashed by those maidens. Divided into an "attack" segment and a "defend" segment, battle centers around timing, harmonics, and synchronization between your Reyvateils. As you advance in the game, the things you learn and enemies you conquer add additional capabilities to your arsenal. Pairings between characters that have created strong individual bonds put even more power at your disposal, bringing the events that occur in between struggles into the fray and adding strategic interest.

Object Crafting and the Cosmosphere
Between battles, you'll stay busy interacting with shop keepers, moving around the region, exploring the maidens' object crafting capabilities, and "Diving" into psychological realms, where you can explore a Reyvateil's "Cosmosphere," uncovering her emotions and spiritual power. Unlike in the previous version, interactions in the Cosmosphere have effects in the real world. You can even date other characters, impacting the evolving social networks of Metafalss. The intricate conversations that occur, the wide range of character interactions, and the unique magic behind the harmonics of song battle give this game a rich, innovative texture.

Product Description

A mysterious epidemic called Infel Pira Dependency (IPD) has been driving Reyvateils insane and killing them at the floating land of Metafalss. Croix, a young knight from the Church of Pastalia, is sent to contain the epidemic. However, many more challenges await, which lead him to unraveling the mysteries of the planet Ar Ciel and seek the legend handed down by the people of Metafalss: the lost Song of MetaFalica.

Ar Tonelico 2 marks a new approach to the RPG genre by seamlessly combining simulation with role-playing. You can not only synthesize weapons and items, but also now design their character's characteristics through virtual interaction. Also past events will intersect with future game play as well as the outcome of the game. During battle, how well you cheer (fight with) your Reyvateil becomes the key to victory

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars NIS, I just don't understand., February 15, 2009

By 

M.D.C. "The Franchise" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica (Video Game)

I'm probably going to attract fire for this...but I feel the inclination towards honesty.

First, Ar Tonelico 2 is a quirky RPG from NIS. Its predecessor, Ar Tonelico, came out with limited fanfare and great packaging. Reviewers didn't give it too much praise, and people could do little else but complain about what they felt was too much sexual innuendo...a sign of the sensitivity of Americans these days, and what our culture has come to. In any case, part two seems to take place in a totally different setting than the first, sharing only the idea of Reyvateils as a commonality. The reason for my title is that NIS seems to be unable to improve everything, and instead can only improve on single concepts and break others in their efforts to be unique. This was prevalent in the Atelier Iris series as well, which this does borrow from.

In AT2, you're Croix, a young and promising knight in the Grand Bell Knights. You've been heralded as a legend in the making, being of sound skill and power. Part of your job involves containing Reyvateils who have contracted what is referred to as IPD, a "disease" that causes the Reyvateil to temporarily lose control of their faculties. Along the way you'll meet other characters, including Reyvateils, who have varying objectives, none of which seem to be perfectly aligned with yours.

What?

If you're confused, I don't blame you...because what I just explained is what I got out of the game.

Let me start out with the great things of the game. The battle engine is fresh and unique. It does involve button mashing, with a twist though. You can hold in different directions as you attack, resulting in one of three attacks, or guard your Reyvateils. As you use these directions, you can increase psyche, harmonics, or burstech...in a nutshell, either the speed of your burst, the power of the attack, or the power of your guys' attacking. Blocking is also interactive, in that you can block with the push of a button, but if you time it right, you can minimize or even eliminate damage. What's more, the burst meter climbs for each successful block. Once your Reyvateil reaches a certain percentage of power, she will unleash her attack automatically; you can initiate it before hand if you want. Later in the game, you can equip other Reyvateils as "Girl Power", resulting in additional bonuses. These Reyvateils are ones that you have saved from an IPD infection and who are now assisting you as you do battle, separate from the ones that are actual team members. There is a lot of variety in the game, and it's clear that NIS was trying to improve upon the first one in every way possible. It's extremely fun.

Making a comeback is the "Dive" - that is, the ability to enter a Reyvateil's Cosmosphere and not only learn more about her, but unlock more powerful songs and art. Another change NIS made is that the conversations are significantly more difficult to locate; some are physical orbs that you can find scattered around the area. Others just come with the passage of time, and still others are event driven: equip a certain outfit, etc. Along with the Dive concept are some new additions: Dualstall, which is effectively the only way you can level your Reyvateil up. It's nothing more than a bath with some crystals that you strategically place throughout, resulting in various temporary and permanent powerups. Also, you can get things like bath powders and toys to increase HP and/or start up conversations which help with sync levels (more on that later). There's also the Infersphere, which can be thought of as a joint Dive between two of the Reyvateils. It's actually a required activity to progress through the game.

Your other goal is to make your Reyvateils "sync" with one another. Since they're contributing to each other's songs in battle, you'll want their sync to be as high as it can be. Dualstall helps with this as do intermittent conversations between the two (that you can't initiate or predict). It's clear the game is trying to diverge from the first AT, where the Reyvateils bonded with the hero but not with each other. Here, the Reyvateils seem to bond with each other more than with Croix, and only use Croix to further their own agendas.

I have to admit, I do love the intermittent anime cutscenes, though short, they do add to the edge of the game. There are a lot more than there were in the first one and that's a good thing, and their placement is not out of the way as in other games. The music is also catchy and it's clear they put lots of effort into some music that would be memorable and stay with you for a long time. Graphically...err...well, it's not terrible, I mean beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I don't care for the art direction at all. It's the same art direction they used for Atelier Iris - and I like it for that series, but not for Ar Tonelico. Characters look strange, and the pseudo 3D world just doesn't fit right for me.

As far as the good stuff, that's about it.

Thus, the very first negative, strong enough of a negative to warrant a whole star knockoff: The game's story is haphazard. First, you run across a Reyvateil who is the Holy Maiden of Grand Bell. She is blatantly hostile to you in every way possible, but wants to increase her powers, so she has no choice but to exploit you for protection. Then you meet another Reyvateil who is supposed to be your girlfriend/childhood friend/fiance, but in a shocking twist of fate, you end up separated, then in another twist of fate, you apparently end up together again, only to discover during a Dive that you are not together. Err? Mind you, there is never any clear direction on this part of the story - just little snippets of information that tell you what's going on.

Meanwhile, another female character contracts IPD, who is not a Reyvateil. Err?

Yet another female character joins the team, with the apparent intention of swaying one of your Reyvateils to her cause along with another character. Only there is an incident that happens without any explanation where all of a sudden she is back on your side. No apology, no explanation of her motive, nothing. Just forgive and forget, eh? Oh by the way, the Reyvateil I mentioned is the same one I spoke about before where you got separated inexplicably...well, apparently, when she was "kidnapped", she was actually leaving on her own volition and just didn't realize it, then shows back up and re-aligns with Croix with no apology or explanation...nothing to indicate the fallout that should have occurred. Err?

On top of all of this, the developers saw fit to break certain functionality in the game. In the first one, you had three total Reyvateils, all of which you could max out at a whim, and this idea of "monogamy" was a foregone conclusion. In part 2, you're forced to pick one and stick with her. Even though you can use more than one in battle, after a certain point in the Cosmosphere, you get told that you "...chose another to be with". Temporary or not, I don't like this. If I want Croix to be a polygamist, that's on me. It's a game for crying out loud; I play it to escape reality, not live it. For the life of me I can't fathom why they would make a game with some moderate sexual innuendo, yet add something so pointless to the game.

The other negative - again, strong enough to warrant a star off - the plot is nonsensical. I know that seems like it should go hand in hand with story, but it's a different issue. On one hand, the story is jumping all over the place, but on the other hand, the story is told extremely poorly. Characters enter the scene with no background or history. Characters depart with no reasoning. Characters are your allies, then turn around and stab you in the back, yet Croix is more than willing to allow them back on the squad with no explanation or apology. Your first goal (the subtitle of the game) is interrupted by another character, who based on the story thus far should be expected for a fight, which there is, in which you get trounced, but then they are subdued by a single robot for a period while you escape. Err? You've got characters pulling out handguns - guns, not phasers, not magic, guns - not to mention a guy who is over 18 sharing living spaces with a 10 year old girl not related to him, sleeping in the same room, mind you. You've even got characters who blatantly threaten Croix after discovering disturbing practices, yet Croix never once bats an eye...more than willing to ally with these people. Err?

I could go on and on but a game must have a solid story AND a solid plot. Missing one is tolerable, but both? No matter how great a battle engine, you've got to be able to relate to the characters, the story, and the background. The other fact that there's no relation to the first one seals the lid on this one.

I call it a rental...if they even rent RPGs anymore. Nowhere near as great as the first, by far.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent expansive, real-time sequel, June 17, 2011

By 

K. Owen - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica (Video Game)

Firstly, the Ar tonelico games are definitely sleeper hits. These innuendo-ridden JRPGs feature unique battle mechanics, impressively deep stories and even deeper characters. All of this supported by an amount of tongue-in-cheek humor that no other series features makes these games incredibly entertaining. I have not played Ar tonelico Qoga, the third game in the series, and I don't plan on it based on what I hear. However, 1 and 2 are awesome. Now to talk more about the second game, Melody of Metafalica (MoM).

In a nutshell, this game delivers much more than the first, contains loads more information (and innuendo) and also builds on its predecessor, Melody of Elemia (MoE).

Unlike MoE, MoM sports a real-time battle system which requires guarding to minimize the damage taken. Unlike most RPG games, there is no way for your all-female partner cast to dodge attacks, so you must time your guards to reduce damage. Your party performs significantly better in battle the better you block attacks. Some of the enemy attacks will shake the screen or block off the guarding gauge with attack animations, which is annoying but not to the point of becoming frustrating.

MoM cannot be 100%'d the first time through, unlike MoE. Game completionists, keep this in mind. This is double-edged because it gives you more content, but you have to sink more hours into the game. It's definitely worth replaying, and the skits (which happen quite often and are definite treats to watch) can be skipped, so you can save some time there.

Overall, just like MoE, MoM delivers a thoroughly entertaining and exhilarating experience. The story and characters are even deeper than in MoE, and there are more plot twists than in MoE. If you love RPGs, a deep story and watching complex characters mature, this game series is definitely for you, hands down. Just make sure to play MoE first or else you'll miss the connections the game makes to its predecessor!

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Why NISA, Why?!, February 9, 2009

By 

Tenshi - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica (Video Game)

I purchased Ar Tonelico 2 with high hopes, and boy did it deliver. An amazing and story, beautiful artwork, and a unique, yet very familiar and easy to learn combat system make this game such a wonderful experience. A colorful cast of very likable and memorable characters, wonderful music and a tolerable English voice over (though not entirely that bad) are like icing on a very wonderful and oh-so-awesome cake.
Only one thing holds this game down. Now being an originally Japanese game, and taking into account the overwhelming amount of dialogue and text that was translated, i can forgive a few errors, in both the actual text, and even some minor game play issues, but i will not forgive them for this: near the end of the game (one of the final bosses) the game will tend to freeze up and crash, making you restart from your last save point... absolutely unforgivable. NISA, weren't you supposed to make sure stuff like this never happens? I believe this bug only exists in the US version of the game, so people who imported it, you should be OK, but for everyone else, be warned. i had to power-level until i could beat the boss in only a few turns. not too horrible, but still a pain. This i just a warning however, and i still recommend this game 100% to fans of JRPGs, anime, or anyone just looking for a good and fun story.

P.S.- this game WILL make you feel uncomfortable while playing it around others! there's a plethora of naughty battle cry's and sexual innuendos. If one took the dialogue out of context, the last thing anyone would guess is that you were playing a videogame, if you know what i mean ;)