"Why can't l just sit on the couch, like you, watching this story unfold, waiting for this planet to die?"
This is like if Stanislaw Lem was forced to write an Idea Factory game at gunpoint. The metafictional aspects are incredibly well done - they appear trite and overdone when you approach each individual part of its self-aware "gimmicks" but taken together the way it involves the player and our reality into its metaphysical narrative space is nothing short of masterful and its eventual drive of our space into its space into a further, unknown, unrelated space is incredible. I also enjoyed the core narrative after having completed my required reading (ciel nosurge plot summary), I am super baffled they translated this without Ciel since its a direct sequel. Not my favourite gust game but its up there, and Akira Tsuchiya's involvement in blue reflection tie makes a lot of sense after having played this. Definitely gave me a stronger basis for my interpretation of that game.

P.S. I know the intended reading of Earthes and ion's relationships supposed to be a "the anime girl is in love with you anon" thing but my reading is that I am ion and I want to fuck the robot. Thank you Mr. Tsuchiya for the robotfucker girl representation

Ar Norsuge is the 5th game in the Exa Pico universe developed by Gust. the very start of the game establishes the last of humanity traveling in a spaceship for 5000 years in search of a new planet after the destruction of their previous homeland, Ra Ciela. During the search, Humanity also engages in a war with the Sharls inside the spaceship, fairy-like creatures made with song magic. Song Magic is the kind of magic that is executed through singing, which allows the singer to convert their emotions into energy that can be used for manifesting their fantasies in the real world in order to attack, support or heal. There are also humans that worship the Sharls as the new saviors of humanity and abduct them. However, there are also humans, cryogenically frozen from when Ra Ciela existed, who possess the ability to use and weave song magic to fight back against the Sharls.

And you know what, that introduction to Ar Norsuge is just the first 5 minutes of the game, even before the game’s first set of protagonists, Delta and Cass, get introduced in the game. And the second set of protagonists, Ion and Earthes, do not get introduced until later on. Ar Norsuge is an incredible story-focused game filled with exploring the complicated depths of human emotions and feelings buried inside all of us and how we communicate those emotions. Even if those emotions are hidden away because they’re dark, ugly, and generally feel that the person is afraid to express to others. Plus there are a lot of plot twists involving the war against humans and Sharls and who is manipulating both sides and how far someone will go to obtain their desires and wishes. Not to mention, the player themself participate in a major role in the game. As Ar Norsuge has an incredibly strong emphasis on player immersion and their emotions towards the story, creating a tale that can only function as a video game and would be impossible to adapt as any other medium.

There’s a much stronger sense in storytelling in Ar Norsuge, even for RPG standards as there is a minimum amount of focus in combat due to the lack of enemies to fight in each area. Instead, Ar Norsuge features multiple forms of storytelling and dialogue among the cast, alongside the main plot such as Genometrics and Soulscapes and synthesizing items.

First of all, the overall soundtrack and OST must be noted. Since the series is built around song magic and singing, music is an essential part of the game. It’s more than a passive element in games or sound to fill up a background. The songs often reflect the feelings of the user and since music is often a shell for different emotions, there are various genres at play. Such as metal to represent anger and aggression, to soft piano ballads to represent somber and melancholy. While fusing with the game’s overall genres of ambient electronic and intercultural world, to give a sense of the setting taking place in a sci-fi universe with uncharted unknowns within the spaceship and beyond. Music in Ar Norsuge is more than a passive element, it’s a direct interaction in the game.

Gameplay is incredibly unique with different fundamental mechanics standards in the gerne. Rather than fighting as a party in nearly every turn-based game, you only fight as one pair. Plus it will remain your turn until you run out of attacks to perform. One person (which is Delta or Earthes) directly attacks and engages with the enemies in waves while the other (Which is Cass or Ion) will sing their song magic to charge up the burst meter. The higher it’s charged up, the more power the song magic will have to wipe out enemies in waves and end the battle faster. At first, it may seem like a complicated battle system to understand but the depth of combat is quite simple. Once introduced, the gameplay remains the same barring new song magic and support attacks to unleash. It’s very shallow but Ar Norsuge is less focused on combat and grinding. So it would serve little purpose to create more complex gameplay.

Instead one of the biggest elements of gameplay is Soulscapes and diving into a person’s mind and heart using dive and wave technology, to simplify it a lot. These Soulscapes function as a visual novel and you must select the correct choices to complete their dive. Otherwise, the diver will be forced off the person’s mind. A person’s Soulscape is often, while comedic, exaggerated, and nonsensical, it’s ultimately an analogy of their deep-rooted issues within themselves, such as a war between the Tsun Kingdom and Dere Empire for the very first one (and I will assume everyone knows how is a tsundere is written). Completing these Soulscapes will grant new song magic to use. However, these Soulscapes will slowly merge more and more into reality and their surface feelings around their other peers.

Another element that features an abundance of dialogue is synthesis when the player gathers materials in areas and creates items and equipment for the player for combat. Although synthesis is nowhere as deep and complex as an Atelier game (Gust’s mainline series) that focuses on synthesis as the main gameplay element. However for its lack of gameplay mechanics, Ar Norsuge makes up for its huge amount of talk events after the first creation for every item crafted, there are nearly 380 talk events to discover between all 4 shops and each pair has different talk events for every item. These talk events humanize and give the characters far more authentic personalities and create organic relationships and with various interests and reactions to different topics and subjects. Not to mention each shopkeeper has their own personal story throughout the game that one of the two pairs assists with and creates further characterization between the pair and the shopkeeper.

Ar Norsuge places heavy emphasis on bonding and understanding each other for relationship development. Purification ceremonies help strengthen the bond of the pairs by placing crystals on each others’ bodies and talking in a relaxed atmosphere surrounded by pools of water. Although it may seem overly and unnecessary sexual for the characters to be half-naked during this process at first. It actually gives off a sense of vulnerability, intimacy, and revealing their true self to one other. Placing crystals can serve as stats boosts for combat while the majority of the talk topics are reflections and afterthoughts of what has happened elsewhere in the game. Humans often think back to past events and discuss them with a companion. Forging a sense of care, dependency, and reliability to build upon.

However, Ar Nosurge is not a flawless game by any means. There are some tired and even bothersome anime archetypes and tropes that insist on remaining present throughout the entire game regardless of the progress of a character’s development. It can reach a point when it can be counterproductive and ultimately hinder them due to a sense of reversal development. Also while the majority of the main plot is tightly written, there are a few plot beats near the end that are skimmed through or not explained well enough. Creating a few questions that could be possible plot holes in an otherwise spectacular epic that does not let up the entire time. To address a more neutral point, depending on how the player feels about sexuality. Ar Nosurge features plenty of sexual imagery and dialogue (Which I personally still don’t understand how it got away with a T rating). This can be seen as a good or bad thing depending on the player.

Despite the minimum flaws, Ar Nosurge excels as a story with its believable and organic characters, innovative and creative plot, and a sci-fi space opera (quite literally in ways) setting with its imaginative fantasy edges built around music and emotions. It’s one of the greatest games ever created due to the fact it completely utilizes the fact it’s a video game to the fullest extent beyond typical narrative structures and writing in RPGs, let alone all of gaming. It fluidly executes and explores multiple senses of moods and feelings, providing a grand sense of immersion. It is just simply a breathtaking experience that demands your presence and anyone that values storytelling and innovation need to play this game at least once. Very few games will offer a unique and fantastic adventure as Ar Nosurge does.