Ar tonelico - Melody of Elemia
Ar tonelico - Melody of Elemia is a PlayStation 2 role-playing game released in 2006 developed by Gust. It centers on combat encounters, area and route exploration, and character or equipment growth, with controls and information arranged around the DualShock 2 twin analog sticks, directional pad, shoulder and face buttons, with a dedicated peripheral only where explicitly required.
- AI score · out of 10
- 6.8 / 10
About this game
Ar tonelico - Melody of Elemia is a PlayStation 2 role-playing game centered on combat encounters, area and route exploration, and character or equipment growth. Story beats, exploration, and progression resources support a longer campaign, with progress divided into stages, tasks, matches, or growth milestones that make immediate goals understandable. Its value depends on whether these rules continue to create judgment and room for mastery rather than on length, sales, or series recognition. Short campaigns are judged by repeat-challenge value, while longer ones are judged by variety, pacing, and recovery after failure. Characters, world building, environments, and music carry most of the atmosphere, while 3D scenes, streamed data, cinematics, surround audio, and interlaced television output need to preserve action and state readability together. The genre-specific limitation is that dense text, menu layers, repeated battles, loading, or language dependence can slow progress. Platform conditions also include DVD loading, the 8MB Memory Card, analog sticks and pressure-sensitive buttons, Multitap, Network Adapter, dedicated peripherals, and retired online services affect present-day use. This description covers only this platform release and does not import features or conveniences from remasters, emulators, or other console editions.
Collected in series
Ar tonelico is a fantasy RPG series where songs become magic and relationships shape a character’s power. You fight with a party, develop equipment and enter the singers’ inner worlds, bringing personal worries and bonds into adventures filled with mysterious technology.
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PlayStation 2
AI review
AI reviews are subjective assessments, not player ratings. See each review for its evidence and limitations.Published date:
Memorable songs amid slow dialogue and easy combat.
The original PlayStation 2 release of Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia gives its battles a clear identity: front-line allies protect a singer while song magic gathers strength. Visits to the characters’ inner worlds tie that power to personal relationships. It is a lengthy adventure with a memorable setting, yet combat rarely demands much tactical adjustment and minimally interactive courtship exchanges repeatedly interrupt the quest. Painted environments, anime attack sequences and the distinctive songs do much of the expressive work. Static portraits and unevenly voiced dialogue offer less movement. A firsthand PS2 account also records occasional lag and frame-rate drops, especially around voiced scenes, providing a release-specific technical limitation. Players who value music and character conversations may enjoy the journey despite its pauses. Those seeking brisk exploration or demanding encounters have less reason to stay. The four judgments are independent of any outlet’s numeric rating.
Strengths
- Song magic and inner worlds support the music.
Weaknesses
- Passive dialogue, easy fights and PS2 slowdown.
Who it is for: JRPG players who prize music and character scenes.
Play notes: Original PS2; voiced scenes may slow occasionally.
View scoring basis
| Dimension | Review state | Score | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dimension Character material is extensive but slow. | Reviewed | 6.4 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Song protection is distinctive but often easy. | Reviewed | 6.9 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Music and art outpace dialogue animation. | Reviewed | 7.7 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Occasional PS2 slowdown affects presentation. | Reviewed | 6.1 / 10 | Not provided |
Review sources
Not provided
Core information
- Developer
- Gust
- Release date
- 2006
- Platforms
- PlayStation 2
- Content kind
- Game
- Release state
- Released
- Region
- Worldwide
- Official website
- Not provided
- Offline minimum players
- Not provided
- Offline maximum players
- Not provided
- Online minimum players
- Not provided
- Online maximum players
- Not provided
- Categories
- Role-Playing · Primary genre
- Tags
- 3D GraphicsThird PersonExplorationFantasySolo-friendlyLevel ProgressionReal-time CombatMain Story 20–50 HoursLong-term ProgressionTurn-based CombatStory-driven
- Supported game languages
- Not provided
- Requires base game
- Not provided
- Standalone
- Not provided
- Age ratings
- Not provided
- Play modes
- Single player
- Perspectives
- Side viewTop-down
Release editions
- PlayStation 2Worldwide2006
Game gallery
Sources
Not provided