Ah, don't you love sexual innuendo? I know I certainly do when Steve Carell says the famous "That's what she said" line in The Office after even the slightly suggestive bit of dialog. Well, if sexual innuendo and Japanese RPGs fit your bill and taste, then Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia might just be the game for you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go dive into my girl's port opening.

THE STORY SO FAR
In Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia (Ar tonelico from here on) you play as Lyner, a knight who soon finds himself fighting for his life up in his magical city from viruses running over the place. Unable to stand a chance, Lyner is ordered to the world below to find a crystal that will help in his city's battle against the viruses. However, things don't go that smoothly, as Lyner crashes down, wrecks his ship, and must now find a way to get back to help save the day. The picture and scope of the story expands as you go along, but that is the general gist that sets the whole ball rolling down the hill.

A big thing about the game in terms of both gameplay and story are the character developments that happen along the way, especially when it comes to the Reyvateil, who are robotic women essentially at their core. The Reyvateil aren't looked favorably upon, because to many people – The Empire specifically – they are nothing more than tools to be used up and thrown away once their gifts are used up (in this case their gift of Song magic). To many the Reyvateil are nothing more than equipment. However, others like Lyner respect the Reyvateil and treat them as singular unique individuals.

In case you didn't know already, the symbolism of Reyvateil representing women in general and all their intricacies is a major sticking point of the whole game. One could easily take offense at some of the stuff in the game, like upon your first Dive (which is played for sexual innuendo as sex) your Reyvateil partner will say things like, "Be gentle" or "I'd let you dive if you wanted" it really is all played on the light and is handled pretty well from a delicate standpoint.

The story of Ar tonelico is good, but what tends to be more interesting are the character moments, such as diving into one of your Reyvateil compadres and getting a lesson in human psyche and psychology in the process. Meanwhile, story unfolds in both a sampling of animated cutscenes and static dialog scenes that are at times fully voiced and at others not.

GAMEPLAY
Ar tonelico doesn't break all that much from the RPG cookie mold when it comes to most of its things. You'll still run around, do battles with enemies and bosses to move the story to the next level, hang about in some areas to focus on gaining experience and levels so you'll be stronger for the battles to come. You'll also run around, talk to villagers, and all that good stuff. However, there are some fundamental changes to make this more than your average RPG.

For starters, the battle system is a bit unique, thanks in part to the Reyvateil. Though you'll pick moves during turns like the more traditional turn-based RPGs, you've got an interesting mechanic with the Reyvateil. The Reyvateil are always on the back line of combat because they are frail bodies though extremely powerful when it comes to their mental spells. Since they are on the back, enemies will only attack those on the front line until each of them is gone. However, you will run across the power shot which will focus on your Reyvateil partner, and it is here where you need to block that shot with as many people as you need to cancel it out (one, two, three, etc). As for the Reyvateil you'll issue them commands, ranging from some infinitely reusable spells to those that have a number restriction, like can only use five times before you need to rest up. You issue commands with the triangle button, and once their spell is selected they will continue to build it up until it is their strongest or until they run out of magic points (magic points replenish fairly quickly in battle). For instance, casting an infinite spell right away will do some damage, but it is best to sit back on the spell for a few turns, let it build up in strength, and then release its full power (a meter reads how strong it is). You can also make moves even more powerful by constantly attacking an enemy, leveling up to level three power.

As for the spells, you don't get those right away, but through combat you'll gain points that you'll use to unlock story advancements inside the girls' psyche by diving into them at Dive Shops. If you have enough points to advance around the board, you'll unlock stories, making the girls more open to you, and them more powerful in the process. It is one of the more interesting aspects of the game, and though you don't really do much beyond clicking some place and watching the story happen, it feels like you are actually contributing and making these Reyvateil truly something. To get access to their deeper levels you must chat with them while resting about certain events that have happened or you have discovered.

Also interesting is the Grathmelding, which is basically alchemy in the game. You'll find item cards, items, and you'll be able to match them together to make new items you might need or to make things such as heals which are more potent than they would be if you just bought them in the story. There are also some items that won't appear until after you've created them first, and then they'll appear in the stores for you to buy. Beyond buying the best weapons and armor, each one also allows for the placement of crystals that improves performance, such as giving you two hits, putting an elemental attack in the strike, increasing defense, etc. If you delve into it enough, you'll find characters you'll like and build them up your way thanks to the crystals that act as supplements for them.

There are a few gripes about the gameplay though, such as the point and click nature of traveling around the world and the constant loading. In many RPGs you'll wander around in towns, head out, then be able to wander around the world. In Ar tonelico you'll instead point to places you've visited or places you need to go, and you'll instantly warp there. Once there, you'll find the action pushed in real close as your character runs about on these isometric landscapes, which don't exactly make for the greatest time as it can be at times difficult to judge where you can head off the screen at to where an obstacle will impede your progress. You'll also find yourself constantly loading up the next section of the playing field as you move around, because it isn't expansive in the slightest. Some games you can run around these giant, open screens before you have to walk off the screen and to the next section, but with Ar tonelico you are always loading up the next area, and then when you do load it up, it pretty much looks the same as the one you were just on.

GRAPHICS
The graphical quality is hard to nail down, because though I'm a sucker for manga and anime and loved that styling, at times it simply doesn't work. The characters all look nice and in the case of the Reyvateil beautiful, but that usually only applies to the static dialog screens where a giant drawing of the character appears on the screen, giving you the ability to see all the detail. Otherwise, they are confined to little sprites that look more like something from the SNES days of videogames like Chrono Trigger. The enemies aren't too exciting visually either and they like to repeat the same features over and over, much like the environments. I will say the colors are bright and cheerful, popping off the screen at every moment they can.

AUDIO
The music is good, but nothing amazing; the sound effects work is mostly the same too. One thing that will divide players is the voiceovers, which range from the cheesy to the insanely too cute for its own good. If you want solid, emotional voice acting, such as a great Shakespearean actor reciting Hamlet for you, then this game won't deliver, but if you've listened and watched your share of anime, then you'll know the quality to expect and won't mind so much. Me? I didn't mind that much, cause it had a charm about it in its flaws.

IN CONCLUSION
Though Ar tonelico isn't an amazing game by any stretch of the imagination, it is a pretty solid effort for Japanese RPG fans. It's mostly the same boy ends up saving the world after gathering enough party members, but it does have its uniqueness, thanks in part to the Reyvateil and the character depths taken exploring them through the Dive system. We've seen better and we've seen worse, but if you need a RPG to play then Ar tonelico wouldn't be a bad choice.

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