Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel for PlayStation 3 Reviews by Gamers

First off, let me state that this is a JRPG, which only appeals to a very niche market here in the US. This game has its quirks, and its inappropriate moments that earn this games M rating. The games magic focuses on the getting your singer (magic person) to do the video game equivalent of a strip tease to increase their power. The travelling is what is expected of a typical JRPG clunky animation in top view environment with random screen shatters that turn into a battle, everything you'd expect from a retro Final Fantasy game, just this particular RPG reworks its combat in a "meh" sort of way. The most I can say about the combat is that it at least feels original. That's the only Pro I can really think to give it, instead of a traditional (and more successful) turn by turn, the combat in this game is set in a blandly designed combat "area" (I guess) with you basically hitting Square three times, running backwards to avoid, rinse repeat. Add in protecting your singer for a few seconds so you can just spam their attacks and you have the formula for the rest of the combat, that is really the only tactic here. Hit, Dodge, Magic, Repeat. Now, this system can be made deeper with upgrading your characters equipment and so on and so forth, nothing innovative to the JRPG genre. The voice acting (where you can find it) is actually quite good, but the greater majority of the game is unvoiced and after a voiced segment can feel a little lazy not to have voice acting in the next segment. You wont run into this problem often unless you like to take time to do side quests like me. In conclusion, I would recommend this game to any diehard fans of this games series, as this the final game in the saga, but for those of you looking for a new (or even just a good) RPG experience I would definitely rent this title before purchasing it to make sure you can dedicate yourself to this game, or at least wait for it to go on discount.