A great RPG with a good storyline and an innovative battle system with minor faults such as lack of difficulty.
The gameplay has very fun new features similar yet different from most RPGs. In battle you can have 4 allys, 3 of them being normal fighters and the forth being a Rayvateil who can use powerful songs to invoke magic. A key to battle is your Rayvateil which can use a wide variety of songs to create different effects from supporting your party, killing the enemies, or healing and reviveing your allys. As you become closer to your Rayvateils they can craft stronger and stronger songs, also you can "Dive" to enter their subconscious and get to know the deeper emotions they carry allowing even more powerful spells to be obtained.
Diveing not only allows you to gain access to stronger and better songs but it also allows you to see more storyline and dialogue about the character you dove also every level that you clear gives you another outfit for them granting them special bonuses and changeing their looks. In doing this you bond with the Rayvateils some have given this game lots of talk about how it is like a "Dating Sim" picking between the Rayvateils but i found it quite entertaining. The humor might be a little out there and in some situations there is lots of sexual-inuendo but i found it well done and funny but if you can't handle a little sexual humor maybe this game isn't for you.
Ar Tonelico has a very well made and in-depth item system in which you can not only create items through a system called "Grathmelding" but you can also take them apart for crystals that you can use in turn to place in your equipment makeing it stronger and better or giveing it special additional abilities. Through this system you can create some very amazing equipment and useable items to help your party throughout the entirety of the game along with createing various storyline items that are required to move on in the game. These crystals have various colors some used to be placed in your armor/weapons or made with them and others to be used on your Rayvateils being placed into their songs giveing them stronger powers or new effects all together makeing the song system much more customizable.
The storyline although somewhat straight forward and predictable also has a variety of twists and turns that you shouldn't see coming providing more entertaining gameplay as you course through the story. It isn't an epic breathtaking storyline that will leave you crying in a corner for days but it is a great story that i think most RPG gamers would enjoy. Now i come to the downside of Ar Tonelico the one major problem i had with this game- its lack of difficulty. I like most gamers like a good challenge and although this game is quite fun it is lacking greatly in difficulty as if it was made for a small child. Most RPGs have an epic and exausting final battle in which you moan and groan until you finally beat the sucker down feeling accomplished with your hard work although Ar Tonelico has no such battles. I have played a unending list of RPGs so i have an innate sense of direction and skill in them but unless it is one of your first games i don't see how you could find it difficult.
The graphics and music in Ar Tonelico is very similar to many NIS or Atlus RPGs so if you like either of there games then you will definatly be attracted to this one. Personally im a massive fan of down-gradeing graphics a tad to open up a better feel for the game, graphics do not make the game this is not a first person shooter. The soundtrack is great and im sure i will download some of it because it is very well done and very impressive. This is the end of my review and i must give my overall standpoint of this game after some thought i think it deserves a flat 9/10 although a great game it had some minor flaws and unless you are in dire need of a massive challenge i would suggest trying out Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia.