I joked to my friend about this game being the "Xenosaga Killer" and I'll be damned. They did it. And How. How did they do it? I love Xenosaga 3 to death, and this review is not about that game, this game is about Ar Tonelico 2. Also, I know the spoiler warning is here, but we're spoiling the whole game baby. DON'T READ IT UNLESS YOU'RE DONE. I AM BEGGING YOU.

------

This review will mainly be covering 2 things, Party Dynamics; and Music. As I think that is what this game does the best above all. I mean yeah, the story is great, makes sense thematically, all that good stuff, but a story is a canvas for characters to grow and to experiment with all sorts of crazy ideas.

-----

I personally love party members being honest. I think games thrive when the party members can sit down and talk to each other about their sincere feelings about each other, negative or positive. Because that's how a real human relationship is; we fight; we love; we hate; we argue; it's just part of reality.

Luca Trulyworth. That smiling little lady on the box art, I embarked on my journey. I checked both of the Phase 1 Route splits, because I wanted to learn. I ended up going with Luca's.

But why? Why did I go with Luca. Well. I sit down in the prison and she goes up to Cloche and calls her (paraphrased) a murdering bitch, who killed her sister, goes up to the main character Croix, and tells him that she's been using him the whole time.

What goes through my mind during scenes like this; first off; Holy shit. I am like 7 hours in. How did we even get here to begin with?

Second off; I realize the game is already up my alley. Why? Because it is willing to make a party member aggressive. My party member is allowed to think for themselves, they don't need to prevent to be likable. This expression is something that I love.

So Luca. I double down, I need to understand Luca. I am now fully drawn into the situation.

Before this; Luca also tells Cloche to her face that she's privilaged princess who has never had to worry about a penny, has always had people their to support her, and that she'll never understand.

Cloche of course, defends herself. Why wouldn't you? If someone shits all over you without a tiny bit of knowledge of you outside of your position of a princess, of course you would be mad.

We have created a rivalry. A route split, if you will.

Then in Phase 2, Luca's unfiltered feelings come in to Cloche to understand, Luca being casually s***lly harassed at work, her relationships being flimsy due to Dive Therapy and feeling like she always exposes herself to people, her strained relationship with her Mom due to lack of communication, all of these issues pile up before she explodes, all on top of this is Cloche; who if she denies it or not; is adjacent to the deaths of thousands of IPDS; and more importantly; Luca's sister.

I am left in shock. The first game has some good themes, but this game is feisty. The main conflict in this game; is it better to suffer through life; or dream on in our own minds forever; and the two leads live their life suffering; all they can do is release their rage on each other.

But there's a light. A light that progresses and gets brighter and brighter. The fight of humans is what makes us closer. The only way to evolve as people is to face these issues forward and learn, why did we do this? Why do we act like this?

Are any of these people's issues invalid? Of course not. They should be mad, they should be frustrated, These struggles build us up, and break us down. When Luca looks at Cloche, all she sees for a while is class, and the blood that has stained Cloche's hands.

But Cloche has her own trauma. A caged bird, not able to spread wings, while also watching all of her fellow birds burn around here. She watches, that's all she can do. And the princess is not even what she is; Luca ends up being the one holding the Crown. So what is Cloche? A puppet to the government? Is she any better than any other person in the world?

Alice. Alice is part of Cloche. Luca is part of Luca, Cloche is part of Luca; and Luca is part of Cloche.

The puzzle starts adding up. The tension is at an all time high, but the Infel wants Luca and Cloche to learn something before all of it boils over. The sister that Luca has been fighting for; basically her whole life; is Cloche.

The fog has lifted, and the perspective has changed. Cloche who has never had any sort of family, and has been chained to the ground, Luca who's mom; who she already has a strained relationship with; had her real child right in front of her eyes. This fixes some issues, but it can not fix the IPDS, it can not fix Luca manipulating Croix's emotions, there are things that can not be fixed.

But they can be forgiven. Cloche can atone for her sins, make a real Metafalica where there is no need for warfare, where the IPDS can be cured with Dive Therapy. Luca needs to communicate; make real friends; craft real relationships with her family; including Cloche as a start to creating the perfect world.

And they do. They understand humanity at it's core; people contradict, people make terrible decisions they can't even comprehend, but do they understand them? Can they recover from them?

Jakuri; The last of the singers; feels that Humans can not recover from them.

Another caged bird, stuck to human will, demanded to do anything that people demand. If she cannot preform for warfare, why does she exist?

She cannot give people hope, the people have given her no hope to begin with; the one song that she created; has been thrown away because; it's just useless. Why would humans need to do anything other than win the fight?

She cannot fully accept humans, but she watches as Luca and Cloche create this world, this new world. She knows that it is possible for humans to work together, but she's also seen what they've done to Reyvateils, in the first Ar Tonelico, they're basically slaves to human will, they are created for power. At some point, this paradise has a chance of ending.

But paradise even for a limited time, is still a eutopia, we can be human. We can still fight, and argue, and still live in a world that we want to live in. A full life is one full of conflict and reflecting on that conflict. Croix realizes the only way he can truly reach Jakuri's heart and it is through Song. "The Heart Talks"

---------

Music is the secret backbone to any RPG. Sometimes I wonder if games like Xenoblade would be nearly as good without the score. And Music, music is the thing that gives Ar Tonelico 2 a real identity.

The Hymmos is something that has never really been replicated to me; They can show any emotion; Fear; Anger; Sadness; Happiness; Calm; Serene; Destruction; Death. This is all within human range. These are something that humans go through everyday. The lyrics perfectly reflect this, the composition is all beautiful. The flexability within these songs is something that I don't know will ever be matched. It's hard for me to really articulate why it is so special without just listening to it.

-------

I apologize if this has been worded a little clunky, or a little scattershot at time, but when I feel passionate about something it just comes in waves. I just hope I portrayed how I felt about this game in a way that is easy enough to understand. It is a game that makes me love being human, and love being in this world.

"We must appreciate that the world allowed us to exist"