Give this game a try
Ar Tonelico review
Ar Tonelico has an original idea with character designs, art, and battle system. There might be a few rpg cliches that might appear here and there. But it is definitely one of my favorites out of my collection. The battle system is quite different from the the normal rpg battle system and it may seem stupid at first but it will soon be more than just the repetitive battles. The story and character relationships effect the strength and development in your characters.The beginning seems a little bit awkward as the Main character Lyner Barsett goes on to a fight with his master Shurelia and then they fight an unknown virus which cannot be defeated. So Lyner goes to find a way to save upperlands and ends up going down even farther then he thought. During this time he meets these people called "Reyvateil" which are basically partners in combat. Lyner soon meets a few of these people and to give you a little background on them their power is like a magician's Reyvateil sing to enhance strength or cast spells and in other words during battle they sing. To improve their powers you must "Dive" into a reyvateil. It will go into more details but depending on your relationship with a reyvateil you can dive in deeper and learn even newer more powerful abilities.
Graphics are decent but I would've preferred 3D over the original graphics but I can deal with it for the most part. Its very detailed in its own way but I would prefer this type of graphics on a portable system. The sound is good and the voice actors are decent for the english version of this game for the most part. And the opening sequence music is a masterpiece if you ever get the chance to listen to it.
The story is decent and needs a tweak here and there, but its definitely over the top. Though there is some unnecessary romance and some annoying characters. It is a game though where you think you have reached a far point and almost done there is still much more which could be good in a certain perspective to some of us, it might be overdone for the rest. The game is the average length for most rpgs and I'd suggest this to an intermediate player. Most people will dislike this game cause of their taste in games but thats just how I feel about the rpg lengths.
Battle System is very detailed, my only complaint is battles can be too long and boring. Otherwise its very deep and gets more complicated the more you play as the enemies get harder to beat. The characters you choose to fight along your side effects the gameplay most above all. But you could say that all the reyvateils are equal in attributes if you dive into them at a higher level.
In conclusion this has to be a definite choice for you if you collect rpgs. I suggest this if your really into rpgs and things like that. But it could be this game is very expensive and not worth the price. Its definitely a ruby in the collection though. I hope you like it if you buy it.