This would be a 8 but it gets extra 2 points for not being three houses
To edit in a actual review
Neat story with raw moments nothing rly offensive in it the real draw is the gameplay, played on maddening and a had a well, engaging time this is just the best series has ever balanced the hardest difficulty
the music is fire both original tracks and remixes, the supports are all mostly fun to read, the cast is likeable this is something that will grow on me as time goes as i replay it not because i need 325235 playthroughs to get a full picture but because i actually want to play this,
3rd edit: changed my mind this is the best game ever

I soyjak pointed at like 10 different nods towards PSX/SNES JRPG's and even then I'm genuinely amazed at how well-crafted and unique it's world, story and characters are.

It's taken nothing but the best from it's inspirations and wears them on it's sleeve - and so it's an absolute blast to play through if you have any love for the genre whatsoever.

Gameplay's ridiculously good too, the Overdrive system keeps you on your toes and makes sure you don't just spam your strongest moves and I absolutely adore that it has a leveling system akin to Chrono Cross and gets rid of grinding entirely.

Just a really solid game on all fronts honestly, I absolutely loved it.

As a sequel, Ar Tonelico 2 is one of the most impressive upgrades i've seen in the genre. The story is much more involved, the characters generally better rounded, the gameplay reworked into something even more engaging and the general themes by which the first game shone are very much still present, and only flourish further with the added stakes and conflicts.

But if I had to pinpoint one aspect in which this entry shines the brightest, it would be in its use of previously set up concepts, gameplay and lore ones alike, to greater effect than its predecessors. The cosmospheres especially play a lot with one's expectations from 1 and a lot of the player's preconceived notions are taken advantage of in clever ways.
However, you are actually locked from progress in other cosmospheres than the reyvateil whose story split you choose, something that mildly upsets my completionist side, but absolutely works better within the context of the game.

So what I say can't fully apply to Cloche or Luca's cosmospheres, because I ended up doing and (extremely painfully, thanks to a terrible grind) finishing Jakuri's cosmosphere, which had some of the most beautiful, sincere and heartfelt character writing i've seen across these two games. Holy shit I love her so fucking much.

Another thing I HAVE to mention desperately is the focus on Cloche and Luca's relationship throughout the game. The first game had been fairly lackluster in terms of inter-party dynamics, but the second remedies that by giving every character a foil, which further gives way to exploration of other types of dynamic, like fraternal or paternal love. And amongst these differing dynamics, the one Cloche and Luca share, which develop over the course of the whole game, is legitimately so emotional and made me cry multiple separate times. The game is genuinely great at letting the girls breathe and write themselves, instead of relying too heavily on the male protagonist, who this time around is often on the side as a supportive, yet helpful entity. Croix also feels more flawed and sympathetic than the A Little Too Shonen Lyner.

Overall the game follows suit to Ar Tonelico 1 in the way it delves into our mutual understanding and relationships between people, and it does so with a genuinely exciting plot, incredibly likeable characters, and a very loving message about the need to live our lives together, with the people we love and understand. Also Holy Fucking Shit Jakuri Deserves The World.

I had such a great time going through this game, and it was made even better by playing it with a close, genuine friend. It only strengthened my appreciation for the themes at play.

Thanks Radd, sorry for the fan club grind, that really sucked lmao.

This game somehow managed to take everything from the previous 6 games and just make all of it so much worse besides the music and graphics.

The story feels so halfassed and also like a stupid ripoff of what made Dusk great.

The best way to experience this game is to look up the OST on Youtube and stop there

Ar Tonelico is kinda good. It's pretty neat. It's like really nice.
It's a genuinely incredible artistic and musical direction put into a fairly fun gameplay system, with somewhat annoying dungeon design and borderline nonexistent difficulty.
The plot itself is nice and conveys its general themes of understanding and harmony between people fairly well, but the highlight of the writing comes in the form of both main girls' cosmospheres, and the general handling of the struggles, development and relationship with the main protagonist.
One fairly pervasive issue with the game is its insistence on making you backtrack through previously visited areas fairly often, especially in Phase 2 and a little 3, but it's more of a light blemish than an all-encompassing problem to me.

All in all, I'm glad to have played it, it's a lovely little game that might not break any new ground but I know I'll cherish it in some small part of me.

Definitely has some flaws. The combat is fun but is a little too simple. Needs some more meat on the bones. Also a little too easy, enemy encounters are harder than a lot of the bosses.

A pretty damn large amount of backtracking also can make certain parts of the game drags on for quite a while.

Absolutely incredible soundtrack, the final boss theme and the end of phase 1 boss theme are the peak of it. Along with an incredible credits theme.

Pretty funny writing at times, can definitely tell the Mana Khemia influence with how mean-spirited but still friendly some of the banter is. A few pretty good emotional moments here and there, makes for a pretty likable cast.

Having played it on and off over the course of two years, I think this is my favorite roguelite deckbuilder.

A big complaint I have with the genre of roguelite deckbuilders is that a lot of them feel like slightly better or worse versions of Slay the Spire. I like Slay the Spire, but not enough to buy and play through 10 copies of it. Fortunately, Chrono Ark does not feel like a Slay the Spire clone.

The game feels pretty unique with the skills each character brings to the party and the deck, as well as how it handles healing.

Healing is the game's main defensive mechanic but it's effectiveness is reduced when suffering multiple hits in a row from enemies, discouraging saving healing for bursts and encouraging a steady use of healing between enemy attacks. Armor is a lot more scarce, and is typically a specialization of specific tank characters.

As for the characters, each character has at least one unique mechanic attached to them. Making them all feel pretty distinct. Even two healers end up with different playstyles, such as heal over time, heal by hurting teammates, combo healers, etc. This is true for all characters among the three archetypes: DPS, Heal, and Tanks. And having 4 members in a party, each with their own deck, allows for a pretty varied and fun deckbuilding.

The game really shines in boss fights. Each boss has unique mechanics that interacts with your deck, hand, or the way you play cards. Making each fight feel interesting and stand out from common enemy fights. The pace of the game also ensures that each boss feels pretty intense for where you are in the run.

I'll mention the story briefly, but I haven't really interacted with it. The very little I've seen is just the stuff that occurs mid-run. It's seems to be tonally dark in a way similar to Lobotomy Corporation's tone. It seems interesting enough and I'll be trying it more in depth later.

The average run for me, assuming I make it to the final stage/final boss, is about 1.5 hours. Luckily mid-run saving is convenient and can occur pretty much anytime not in a battle. There's also a easy mode if you're finding the game too difficult. It basically slowly increases your strength as you do more runs, similar to Hades' system.

As for its current state in Early Access, as of version 1.82, the game has 18 out of 20 characters added, all stages are complete, the final boss is reachable and beatable, and from my understanding the main story is partially implemented. The most recent update gave an alternative path for one of the stages, so presumably more may come in future updates. Other future updates are likely to be the remaining two characters, more cards for each character, improved animations, and the rest of the story. Updates seem to come out every 1 to 2 months, but some updates are pretty small. So pace is development can be a bit slow, but not unbearably so.

Anyway, definite recommend. A fantastic roguelite deckbuilder with unique mechanics and interesting boss fights. My personal favorite in the genre.

Atelier Sophie 2: A redemption arc for Sophie Neuenmueller

The precedent that Atelier Sophie 2 followed was a genuine surprise. Like Atelier Lulua, it was a new entry in a subseries that had already concluded years ago. And like Atelier Ryza 2, it was an Atelier game which featured a character reprise their role as the main protagonist. But where it differs from those two games is the circumstances of it's release. Before Ryza came along, Sophie was Gust's fan-favorite Atelier protagonist, so when the time came to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the series, it made sense why Gust chose to go back to Sophie. However, the currently ongoing Secret subseries of Atelier had not yet finished so in addition of following the precedent set by Lulua and Ryza, Sophie 2 would set it's own: that a subseries can be interrupted, temporarily. Now, i doubt it'll happen again for a good while but it is no longer out of the question. While i'm always in the mood for Atelier, i will admit that the reveal of Sophie 2 set off some concerning bells for me. First, while i enjoyed Sophie as a character, i was never really a fan of her original game. Second, while the Mysterious series does get better with each installment, it was still in my opinion the weakest subseries in my opinion. Third, i was really enjoying the Secret series coming off after Ryza 2 so for the next game to not be Ryza 3.....yeah, i was a little disappointed. Fourth, Lydie & Suelle was such a natural conclusion to all of the character arcs in the Mysterious series that i wasn't sure if going back in time would be worth it. Despite all that, i went into this game with an open mind, as i always do with games that aren't Balan Wonderworld. What i would proceed to play would be yet another banger entry in the series.

First off, Atelier Sophie 2 manages to do something that Mysterious kinda struggled with before: great characters, but more importantly, great characters that can stand on their own, without needing to be carried by the main cast. Sophie 1 sucked at this, having no returning cast because it's the first game in that series. Firis was better at it but was still mainly carried by returning characters. Lydie & Suelle's original characters were much much better but like half the cast, playable or not, were still returning characters. Sophie 2 manages to continue that trend of improving in each installment by having a cast of characters that stand on their own, finally giving Mysterious a cast that stands among the great casts from across the series. Sophie 2 only has two returning characters: Sophie herself and Plachta. By not having a lot of returning characters, this gives a lot more time for the new cast to shine, while also allowing newcomers to jump into this game with no prior knowledge (there is even a recap video covering Sophie 1). Every character is good, from Alette's over-the-top energy to Diebold's cool guy factor. But the two shining stars of this game's cast are Ramizel and young Plachta. Due to this game's isekai setting, it allowed for some out-of-time interactions but i am so glad that Ramizel's character wasn't just "wow Sophie, you're my future grandaughter, that's crazy" and young Plachta's character wasn't just "wow future me, that's what happens to me in the future, that's crazy". Instead we get genuine interactions that rarely bring up the nature of meeting someone from your own future. The nature of the isekai setting also allows Sophie 2 to blend elements from the previous Mysterious games: obviously we have Sophie and Plachta representing Sophie 1 but besides that, the game's structure builds off of what Firis tested out long ago and some of the areas are very reminiscent of the Mysterious Paintings from Lydie & Suelle. I just think this is neat.

As far as the story goes, it's Atelier so it doesn't matter too much but i did find it interesting how this game's tone and structure is more akin to the Secret series than the Mysterious games. But unlike Secret, this game found a different way of showing Sophie's growth. Whereas Ryza 2 allowed Ryza to relearn her recipes from her first game with SP since she "needed to get used to the new equipment", Sophie 2 has Sophie keep most of her original recipes at the get go and has her initial battle and alchemy level be set at the levels which it would be maxed out in the first game, which honestly was a way better way to do it. Another good thing about the story here is that despite the story being light, it was still one with an ending that genuinely made me shed a few tears. Ryza 2 did this as well but i feel like this one hit harder. I have no idea how Gust managed to do this twice in a row but they did it and yes, this ending bumped this game up to top 3 Atelier material.

Gameplay-wise, this game saw a bunch of numerous improvements.....even if it did take some steps back, more on that later. As far as the combat goes, this is right up there with Escha & Logy and Shallie in terms of having the best combat in the series. This is because Sophie 2's combat basically rips off the combat in those two games, in a good way plus it makes some neat additions. For the first time ever in a turn-based RPG, i am able to see aggro lines (that's a lie, i've seen it in Three Houses but that's an SRPG). This is a mechanic i'm familiar in more action-oriented games but i've never seen it done in turn-based games and believe me, it does make a difference in strategy making. The combat also features a team-attack combo thingy, in which the front and the back characters swap in while attacking. In E&L and Shallie, you could not do this, you could only swap in to defend. Here you can do both, even if being unable to swap without preforming these actions is a little bit cringe. Honestly, if you ask me, this is the best turn-based combat Atelier has had period and the only annoyance is that giving regular enemies Aura barriers can drag some fights out.

On the other half of the gameplay, the crafting, i can finally say that i fully enjoyed the "Tetris crafting" in this game. I barely enjoyed it in Sophie 1, found it unintuitive in Firis and liked it enough in Lydie & Suelle but i never really got addicted to it until this game along and made very well improvements to it. I won't really go about explaining the crafting mechanics, they rarely hold up to simple text explanations but just know that i was able to enjoy it significantly more than the previous Mysterious games.

In the rest of the gameplay, Gust has finally, finally added in quest markers for items and enemies.....although this has a little asterisk because this only applies to main and quest objectives. You'll still be forced to search for anything you'd need outside of that but with so much shit to keep track of, it was just easier to bust out a guide at that point. It's especially egregious when the game has a point of no return (you are warned of this) and any character events get locked out forever after that but the last two character events require items that would be easy to get after the point of no return. If i didn't look it up, i would've never found which quest specific boss i needed to kill in order to get that one item drop i needed. I would like in the next game for me to just be able to set trackers for anything i'm searching for. This is baby steps but i'm actually kinda shocked it was never implemented before in the series about gathering and crafting items. However, while the gameplay is mostly good, i was disappointed at the removal of some features from the Ryza games. Gone is being able to swim, swing and ride beasts. Instead, we get the ability to change the weather which sounds cool but it honestly gets a bit annoying at times, making the navigation of some areas a bit confusing (and don't even get me started on the exclusive enemies and items that depend on the weather, once again making the absence of markers outside of quests strange). The Item Rebuild mechanic, which allowed you to upgrade already existing equipment instead of starting from scratch, is also gone though at least thankfully Ryza's duplicate system remains intact, even if it just requires money now instead of gems, so it's not as easily farmable (although after certain discount upgrades, it becomes a non-issue anyways, ironically making it better than requiring gems).

Visually the game is a marginal improvement over Atelier Ryza 2's visuals, which were already good to begin with. The typical Gust budget is still there but you really don't think about it with these recent games. Sophie 2 has a graphics/performance toggle, of all things, not that it seemed to make too much of a difference, at least on Switch. Musically, it's an Atelier game, which means it's got bangers. The desert theme in particular gets high praise from me, i haven't heard an RPG desert theme that good since Xenoblade X and 2. Only negative thing i could say about the presentation is that some of the areas are a little bland compared to Ryza 2 (the hub town especially) and there's a surprising lack of CG stills.

When i think about it, Atelier Sophie 2 did exceed my expectations going in. A direct sequel to a game disliked, in a subseries i saw as the weakest, should've not popped off like this, yet Gust managed to pull through. And in hindsight, why wouldn't they? These guys have been on a great roll with Atelier since Lulua (fine i'll be fair and say since Lydie & Suelle) and i don't see them stopping anytime soon. Keep it up!