A series of three role-playing games that tell the story of a ruined world where humanity lives on giant towers, and songstress maidens called Reyvateil wield mysterious magical powers.

Developer: Gust
Publisher: NIS America
Available on: PS2 (Ar Tonelico 1 and 2), PS3 (Ar Tonelico Qoga)
Original release date: 2006 (Ar Tonelico), 2007 (Ar Tonelico 2), 2010 (Ar Tonelico Qoga)

Articles about Ar Tonelico

Seven Arbitrarily Chosen Things You’re Missing Out On If You’ve Been Operating Under the Mistaken Belief that JRPGs are “Dead” - It seems that every time we get a new Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy or Persona release, we have the same old “we’re having a JRPG renaissance!” discussion. Well, dear reader, with my coverage of Death End Re;Quest on the horizon at the time of writing and plenty more RPGs in our shared futures, I’m here … Continue reading Seven Arbitrarily Chosen Things You’re Missing Out On If You’ve Been Operating Under the Mistaken Belief that JRPGs are “Dead” →

The MoeGamer Podcast: Episode 1 – The Goosebump Effect - After the positive response to our pilot episode, my good friend Chris Caskie and I recorded a brand new podcast for you to enjoy! We’re aiming for the MoeGamer podcast to be a bi-weekly sort of thing, but whether or not that is practical will, of course, depend on availability for Chris, me and anyone … Continue reading The MoeGamer Podcast: Episode 1 – The Goosebump Effect →

From the Archives: Layers Upon Layers - One interesting contrast between Western and Eastern role-playing games is the way they each handle their core “rulesets.” Western RPGs tend to follow a model that is somewhat closer to tabletop role-playing, whereby all the rules are set out clearly in front of you from the outset. You generally spend the entire game applying these … Continue reading From the Archives: Layers Upon Layers →

From the Archives: Let’s Go Round Again - What do you think of lengthy games such as JRPGs (or indeed Western RPGs) having multiple endings? I remember having this discussion with a friend a while back, and he commented that he hated it when there was more than one possible outcome to the story, because he 1) hated having to repeat things and … Continue reading From the Archives: Let’s Go Round Again →

Nights of Azure: Introduction and History - 2015’s Nights of Azure — or Yoru no Nai Kuni to its Japanese audience — was something of a departure for veteran developer Gust. Primarily known for unconventional turn-based role-playing games with heavy crafting components, a style of game best exemplified by the developer’s flagship Atelier series, Gust opted to step out of their comfort zone with Nights … Continue reading Nights of Azure: Introduction and History →

Ten Great RPGs That Came Out After Final Fantasy VII - As we saw recently, there are those among us who believe that the Japanese role-playing game has been in consistent decline since Final Fantasy VII, and that only now are we starting to see a “comeback”. We’ve already talked about how this is a load of old nonsense, and that in fact the role-playing game … Continue reading Ten Great RPGs That Came Out After Final Fantasy VII →

Are JRPGs Primed for a Comeback? No; They Never Went Away - If IGN’s Colin Moriarty is to be believed, then Japanese role-playing games have been in a “steep decline” since Final Fantasy VII. You and I, as fellow enthusiasts of Japanese gaming, both know that this is perhaps a somewhat questionable claim to make, but it’s also worth examining, particularly in light of the fact that Moriarty … Continue reading Are JRPGs Primed for a Comeback? No; They Never Went Away →

I Shall Give You Endless Earth - Every avid gamer out there has at least one series — or perhaps even just one game — that they latch onto and will defend to the death. For my friend Alex, it was the Ar Tonelico series, a generation-spanning series of role-playing games from Gust, the team best-known for the Atelier series. And, once I’d played through all … Continue reading I Shall Give You Endless Earth →

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