Ar tonelico, along with Disgaea, is a cornerstone of Nippon Ichi Software games. The traditional turn-based role-playing game got its start on PlayStation 2 about four years ago with a follow-up in 2007, and now the series make the jump to PlayStation 3 for the final installment.
Unfortunately, due to a new business strategy for NIS America, we won’t be seeing the PS3 Ar tonelico until at least 2011. With the game so far off, NIS only had a batch of screenshots and a features list to share with us a their annual preview showcase event.
The most striking update is a planned battle system alteration that shifts the series away from traditional turn-based combat to “something more action-y” within monster encounters. It sounds a little like the free-running, button-mashing combat in the Tales series from Namco Bandai; however Qoga adds a musical twist. During combat, players can unlock combos or bonuses by timing attacks or other button presses to the beat of the music. Pulling this off fills a Song Magic gauge that allows you cast special effect spells like stat buffs.
It wouldn’t be Ar tonelico without a little bit of kink. To that end, there are characters within the game who cast stronger spells by shedding more and more clothing — and certain characters the main character can “interact” with to change their appearance. No, we’re not talking hot coffee stuff, but expect some interesting dialogue options en route to one of several possible game endings.
Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel us due out on PS3 around spring next year.