Role-playing games, perhaps more than any other genre, are fairly easy to predict. If the first few hours are good, chances are the rest of the experience will be entertaining. Likewise, if the opening portion is a dud, it’s unlikely that the remaining hours will keep you awake. Many would argue the exceptions, but that’s precisely why they’re called that – because they are not the norm.

Ar Tonelico 2: Melody of Metafalica is very much a part of that genre prediction. The introduction is good, as are the first few dozen battles, boss encounters, and story sequences. The game develops at a decent pace without forcing the player to endure too much of one thing. Ar Tonelico 2’s story plays an essential role in building the characters, more so than the average he’s-a-hero, she’s-a-heroine storyline. This is most apparent as you cross into the fourth or fifth hour, when the time spent learning about the character is almost equal to the time you’ll spend on the battlefield. For old-school role-players who miss the days when the story actually mattered, this revelation couldn’t be better.

That doesn’t mean the developers skimped on gameplay – quite the contrary. Ar Tonelico 2’s battles are short, fast and rich; they’re not incredibly deep or complex but are fully capable of engaging the player. Once again, song magic is a significant part of your artillery, which may simultaneously consist of two standard fighters and two songstresses. The latter are vulnerable and must be protected by the others, who you’ll control most of the time.

If that doesn’t sound too shocking, wait until you experience the semi-real-time attack system. Apparently inspired by games like Tales of Destiny, Ar Tonelico 2 lets you attack freely by tapping the X and square buttons. The catch is that this occurs during the attack phase, which is timed; when the clock runs out, it’s back to the defense phase, where you must hone your skills in a music-style mini-game where the potency of enemy attacks may be reduced. But that only works if you’re quick enough to press the X and square buttons in-sync with the enemy assault, which is shown as a typical 2D RPG animation, along with a defense meter that helps you determine when the proper buttons should be pressed.

Like the first game, Ar Tonelico 2 is an RPG that wants to connect the player to the characters. Most RPGs do this in the same way: when the characters talk, the developers hope you listen. Ar Tonelico 2 is a bit more daring in its approach, as it forces the player to actually participate in the character development. As before, you’ll find additional story collections (shown as a small glowing orb, almost like a star) throughout each environment. By obtaining these, you’ll be able to experience additional communications with certain characters, thus increasing the characters’ bonds with each other, as well as the player’s bond to the characters.

That, however, is completely optional – the cure system is not. In Ar Tonelico 2, the Reyvateil species is being threatened by a strange sickness. In addition to the Cosmosphere system, which lets you tap into a Reyvateil’s subconscious world (and explore its top-down map for battles, story developments and physical growth), players must cure a Reyvateil when it becomes ill.

The process is an unusual one, to say the least. In terms of gameplay, it’s a matter of paying close attention to what the Reyvateil says. Her comments are usually followed by a few response choices. The story wants you to pick the right responses to get her to react favorably; the game wants you to pick the right responses to keep her mood from changing, which could end the cure scenario. By picking a response that heavily excites or angers the Reyvateil, her mood meter will jump ahead. If her mood stays within a certain range, you should be successful.

Ar Tonelico 2 features a few animation sequences, but most of the story unfolds with a traditional old-school presentation. It’s decent but won’t blow minds. Voice-overs are used, and though most of them are good, not every story sequence features a voice track. Thus, one minute you’ll hear the characters speak – the next minute you won’t. This is a problem I’ve seen in a lot of Japanese RPGs, and I can only imagine it has something to do with the translation process. They likely bring in the voice actors to perform the script and that’s it. If re-rewrites occur or if additional dialogue is needed, they must be done without the acting crew. One could assume that the developer could bring the actors back in, but the cost would likely be as high as it was the first time, and with the way Hollywood schedules are, there’s always the possibility that some of the actors won’t be available at all.

The average gamer, of course, will not care or even think about the costs and logistics – he’ll just notice that sometimes there are voice-overs and sometimes there are not. That doesn’t take away too much from the story, which is no doubt a credit to the tale’s original writers. There are some weird moments, for sure (just look at the subtitle – Melody of Metafalica), but this is most certainly a game that will appeal to the console RPG market.

Gameplay: 8.0
Fast, action-oriented gameplay from an old-school, turn-based perspective.

Graphics: 7.5
Good, but no more impressive than any other retro-styled RPG.

Sound: 8.5
The soundtrack is gripping and memorable; the voice-overs (when they're present) are solid and respectable.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Every once in a while, Ar Tonelico 2 throws in a battle that is fiercely unexpected. You'll die and quickly think about the last save you made and hope it was very recent. The other challenges, however, are generally easy to overcome.

Concept: 7.0
Not a groundbreaking game or a revolution; just an RPG that carves a slightly different path and does it very well.

Overall: 8.0
A great continuation of a solid RPG franchise, Ar Tonelico 2 is worth the time and effort you'll put into its lengthy quest.