It stands testament to how damn good Ar Tonelico series are when Ar nosurge, despite being disappointing on almost every single aspect, is still somehow the best JPRG I’ve played in the past five years. It’s just too bad that despite being probably among the trickiest games to translate ever, the series have been plagued by half-assed translations from their very conception.
I also wish GUST went back to developing 2D games already, as it’s obvious they have neither resources, nor talent for 3D graphics.
Best song:
Runner ups:
| Positive: | Negative: |
| Attractive, evocative character sprites | I’ve seen better looking 3D environments in PS1 games |
| Atmospheric, memorable background music | Somewhat formulaic, predictable story |
| Absolutely amazing hymns, as always | Making cosmospheres a joint thing makes them feel less personal |
| Fascinating world set inside a spaceship that double-functions as a planet | Game-play feels almost like a half-assed extra, rather than a core aspect of the experience |
| Charming, interesting, relatively profound, and all in all fantastic heroines | Pales in comparison to the prequels, namely AT2 |
| Likable, interesting side-cast | |
| Cosmosphere is a fantastic tool for adding depth to characters | |
| Well-written, good romance | |
| Well-written, genuinely funny humor | |
| A couple of pretty cool twists | |
| Does an amazing job at breaking the fourth wall and involving the player into the story |
Visual novel & other stuff impressions 