アルトネリオII　世界に響く少女たちの創造詩 Ar Tonelico II Sekai ni Hibiku Shoujo-tachi no Metafalica Song Magic / Cosmosphere / General FAQ 22 April 2008 Version 0.6.3 =============================================================================== Table of Contents [#ToCs_0.0] =============================================================================== Table of Contents [#ToCs_0.0] Introduction [#Itro_0.0] Romanization Notes [#roma_0.0] Frequently Asked Questions S&D [#FQSD_0.0] Song Magic [#utau_0.0] Cosmosphere [#Psyc_0.0] Acknowledgments [#Aknw_0.0] Version History [#VerH_0.0] Legal [#Phnx_0.0] =============================================================================== Introduction [#Itro_0.0] =============================================================================== Well after playing it on and off since it's release, I finally finished Ar Tonelico II sometime between 04-16-08 and 04-17-08. Actually, it was much closer to the 3AM side of the later than the 11PM side of the former. And so now it it time to gather together the stuff I have been sitting on into and FAQ... because currently... there is nothing! Whilst all along for the past three months or so I have been sitting on an incomplete diving guide! In addition to that, upon beating the game and looking through the gallery, I felt suddenly compelled to start translating some of Jakuri's Song Magic. The result was a basically complete Song Magic FAQ. Though the translation still needs a lot of work, as after my initial two years of taking classes I've only continued my Japanese studies as a hobby, there is still a lot of useful information there. Anyhow from here I intend to eventually cover a lot about the game's various systems, for fans of the first game who are curious. Right now I'm just concerned with getting it posted, so the FAQ only contains the single most asked question. This will change shortly. If you are lucky this guide could potentially become an "Everything but a Walkthrough" FAQ, as I'm not one for hand holding. Missable Stuff is definitely in for the future versions. I will explain the battle system. =============================================================================== Romanization Notes [#roma_0.0] =============================================================================== Notes on character names ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This specifically applies to Ruka, though may be applicable elsewhere. I don't neccessarily accept romanizations present in Japanese games as canon. From what I've seen, they're just there for "style." This isn't to say romanization done in Japanese publications can't be a usful tool, e.g. we learned シンシア = Sincere and not Cynthia from the World Setting book. However over time I've seen enough craziness and inconsistancies in Japanese Romanization, in general, to automatically accept them as canon. Therefore, As far as I am concerned, ルカ is the only official name. Ruka, Luca, Luka, and Ruca are all aproximate romanizations and phoneitically identical to ルカ. That as it may I have the tendency to switch between the irratically. I would use Luca one place, and Ruka the next, depending on my current mindset. Something needed to be done about this, so I decided, somewhat arbitrarily, that Ruka would be the standardized named for the character throughout this guide. I choose this one since it is the closeset to ルカ in terms of strict romanization. Someone who's familiar with Japanese should in theory automatically read ru as ル. For those not familiar with Japanese, this does not neccessarily mean Ruka is the closest in terms of English pronunciation to ルカ. So in summary, I'm using Ruka simply as a convention. I am making no assertion on how the name should be properly rendered in English. If the game is ever properly localized I will probably update my this guide at that time. Notes on the romanization ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I intend to standardize it at some point. For now its mainly a cross between hepburn and word processor romanization. hiragana and kanji are lower case. katakana is UPPER CASE. Long vowels are typed as the kana would appear. e.g. ou instead of o with a - above it. For katakana I doubled the vowel instead of using '-'. e.g. NOORU instead of NO-RU. =============================================================================== Frequently Asked Questions S&D [#FQSD_0.0] =============================================================================== Contents What we know about the North American Version Battle Basics: How things Differ from Ar Tonelico I find it hard to use the Question and Answer format without feeling like I am insulting the person asking the questions, which is presumed to be the readers. Insulting the readers is definitely not something I want to do. It's also why I assume they are smart enough to use Google, Wikipedia, and Dictionary.com when they encounter vocabulary words and terminology they don't understand. (How I miss my Hypertext.) Therefore instead of a Q&A format, your getting S&D. No, not Search & Destroy. Subsections & Details. What we know about the North American Version ----------------------------------------------- Surprisingly a lot, considering the correct answer is "Nothing." We know that NIS America has never, said we are getting this game. We know that they have never said they will not be bringing the game over. We know that once in response to if they were bringing the game over they said :-). RPGamer.com's "Run to the Sun" Interview. http://www.rpgamer.com/news/Q2-2007/060107d.html We know the original Ar Tonelico took them a long time to translate because of the huge amount of text in the game. We have had it confirmed by NIS America employees posting on the forum that when they delayed the first Ar Tonelico for about half a year, it had a lot to do with the huge amount of text in the game. We've seen NIS America's track record of preferring to announce games only when release is immanent, generally withing 6 months. We understand it is silly for a small company to announce a game who's release is potentially two years off. (For example.) We know (from personal experience) that Ar Tonelico II has much more text than the first game. We know Banepresto, the company the jointly developed the game with Gust and was responsible for the distribution, was eaten by Nomco...err Namco-Bandai. They used to be a subsidiary of Namco and could act independently. This is no longer the case. We kn... believe that Namco hates the idea of people outside of Japan playing their 2D RPGs. Their track record indicates they almost never bring them over themselves, and don't like other people bringing them over on their behalf. This mainly applies to the Tales of... series. In that case it's kind of understandable that a large greedy company would refuse to let anyone else touch one of their flagship series. Still, it shows their motivation is certainly not centered around pleasing their fans. Holding onto the distro- bution rights of their properties is more important than their North American fan-base. Note the philosophical differences between the definitions of the words "know" and "believe" and which of those two words I chose to use. We know NISA gave that smiley before the Namco-Bandai consumption of Banepresto wentdown. Someone who emailed NIS America a couple months ago about Ar Tonelico II, and I think other games as well, allegedly (just like half the stuff on the news) received a vaguely positive replay. Actually it's still posted on the forum, so it's a matter of whether or not it was faked, which would be easy enough as it's just text. Also a picture wouldn't necessarily get you out of that problem as, barring photoshop, email headers can be spoofed. Anyhow, the reply, at least, was worded typical of NIS America. http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=939100&topic=41535729 So in the end I personally feel we will get and English version eventually, at some unknown point of time. However, I have to acknowledge there is a very real possibility we won't. Therefore I refuse to encourage hope, which could be very well be false. However, by looking at the information I have stated above, you opinion will probably turn out similar to mine. But really, let me warn you once again about crimes of Namco-bandai. They recently just announced there would be no localization for Tales of Innocence. This is a DS game. One we have sort of been watching with the assumption we would be getting it since it was announced. Because it's a DS games. And DS games, they print money. Or so men wiser in these things than me have been want to say. You know, Wise Forum Men. And Donkeys. <> And finally, I would like to state that my personal experience has lead me to the conclusion that companies are always much sooner to deny games' releases than to confirm them. Updates: RPGamer.com had their 2008 run to the sun unterviews. Though they didn't have time fo ra full interview with NISA they managed to do an extensive follow up with them that can be read here: http://www.rpgamer.com/news/Q2-2008/060308a.html There is also this interview with NISA's president that while at first seems to dash hopes for Ar Tonelico II, has the president correctin himself saying ATII is not form NISA, so his comments don't apply to it: http://www.siliconera.com/2008/06/09/ our-mega-interview-with-nis-america-president-haru-akenaga/ Note I cut the URL into two lines so copy and paste them seperately to form one URL. And then, there is also this blurb from RPGland which indicates NISA has the North American rights to Ar Tonelico II: http://www.rpgland.com/content/?p=5012 Battle Basics: How Things Differ from Ar Tonelico --------------------------------------------------- "How Things Differ" is a bit of a misnomer. This is because the battle system has been completely revamped to the point here listing what has changed is sort of pointless, but cause it woudl be jsut about everything. Instead I will start by listing what is the same. Your party is still divided up into two types of characters: Fighters and Reyvateils. Fighters can equip Weapons, Armor, and an Accessory. Reyvateils can equip a Costume, Armor, and an Accessory. Reyvateils only use Song Magic, which is very powerful, so they have no physical attack stat. The first Ar Tonelico had 3 fighters in front, who basically attacked using a version of the tried and true (or worn and weary) ATB system, and one Reyvateil in the back who is controlled form teh menu whenever you want. In Ar Tonelico II, you have two Reyvateils, with fighter guarding each. In other words, you have two Fighter-Reyvateil pairs. The fighters are in the front row and the reyvateils are in the back row. Because of this pairing, you will never be able to have more than 2 fighters in you party, even if you only have one Reyvateil with you. (More, the fighter who is not paired with a Reyvateil will only be able to use level 1 skills.) Instead of from ATB-like system with party and enemy attacks intermixed, their next action based on stats and previous action, the battles are now divided into Attack Phase and Defense Phase. During the Attack Phase, a timer ring appears around the Mood Graph (more on that later) in the bottom right corner. You can attack as much as you like with your fighters until the time is up. Your fighters are assigned to the X and □ buttons. You press the corresponding button, and that fighter attacks. It's like a scaled back version of the Valkyrie Profile battle system. There is a short cool down period of time after each attack that effectively limits how many times you can attack during each Attack Phase. The cools down takes the form of both a frame delay as part fo the Skill (e.g. Croah recovering from recoil when using his Machine Gun attacks) as well as an ATB-like "charging" bar that fils (rather quickly) with time. When higher level skills are availible you have to let the bar fill multiple time in order to use them. By Having your two fighters combo you can add more time onto the Attack Phase timer, although there does seem to be a limit to this. Still, the amount of time high-hit characters like Cocona and Chroah can add back is can be enough to get in an extra attack or two per round. This can be critical when trying to meet the Reyvateils' needs. (More on that soon.) Naturally each character gets more than one attack. You can use different skills by holding a directional button on the D-pad when pushing the character's face button. Generally not holding a direction is the same as having held left. (Because of this, when you attack you'll always be using a skill of some sort.) For example, if you do Croah's foward attack, he will move close to the enemy and hit it a couple times, then return to the frontlines. If you use his up attack he will engage the rocket on the back of his lance and launch himself at the enemy. If you use his down attack, a machine gun pops out of the bottom of his lance and does many hits to the enemy. (If you haven't noticed already, Croah's weapon ranks as one of the most over-the-top RPG weapons of all time. I haven't even mentioned the sheild and laser beam/lightsaber functions yet.) You might have noticied I didn't mention a back attack. The time has finally come to explain the battle mood graph. This is a diamond shaped cartesian style graph that is present in the bottom right corner of the screen. The top point of the graph (positive Y) is Harmonics. [HARMO] - Levels up your fighters' skills. The bottom point (negative Y) us Psycho. [PSYCO] - Increase Synchronization between Reyvateils The left point (negative X) is Burstech. [BURSTEC] - Increases the Burst Gage faster. The right point (positive X) is Care. [CARE] - Improves MP efficiency (?) ※The bracketed names are how the game refers to them. If you haven't guessed already, each direction you hold while pressing the fighter's attack button correspnds to one of these moods. When you are doing an "up attack" you are really doing a Harmonics Building attack. When you attack holding Left, you are building Burstech. Etc. Note that when you use care you are caring for a Reyvateil instead of attacking. Whilst there's definatly sadists among them, I don't recall any masochistic reyvateils in your party who would appreciate being attacked. Note that the stats are raised independantly of eachother during battle. This is not an opposing graph. i.e. leveling up Psycho will not negatively impact you Harmonics level. At the beginning of Attack Phase, a blue diamond figure appears on the graph, representing the Reyvateils' needs. It can actaully be kind of hard to see at first, since the interface, in general, is blue. When you have your fighters attack, the energy they are adding to the mood will "fill" the needs. So if you are holding up to attack, you will raise Harmonics until the reyvatiels' needs for harmonics are fufilled. At that point you will get a harmonics level up message and be able to use stronger skills. ? That should serve as a sufficient overview for the attack phase for now. Time for the Defense Phase. After the Attack Timer runs out, the eneimes get their own roudn to attack. Though simpler, the defense phase is often much more intense than the attack phase because you will be actively defending. Gone are the days when enemies lazily attack your fighters whilst occassioanlly mustering up the effort to try a charge attack on a reyvatiel. In Ar Tonelico II, if there is a reyvateil in your party, she will be targeted. And this time around, you must protect her in real time, syncing presses of your fighters' buttons with the enemy attacks directed at the reyvatiels they are respectively guarding. To aid you in this, what was once the fighter's skill charge meter now becomes a rhythem gage, as seen in most rhythem games. As the enemies attack green hatch marks will slide down the gage, representing said attacks. At the end of the gage nearest your party is a red target zone. If you press the fighter's face button while the attack is in the blockign zone, you will block the attack. Further more, like msot rythem games, the blocking zone is subdivided. If the button press occures while the attack is in the first zone, the block is rated "good." In the second (middle) zone it is "Great." In the final (closest to your party) it is rated "Perfect." After that it's "Bad." Blocking too early will also get you "Bad," or possibly even "Terrible." Obviously you want as many Perfects as possible, though Great will usually suffice. I'm a little fuzzy on the exact mechanics blocking quality, but my understanding of them is as follows: Perfect Nullifies all damage and to both the Fighter and Reyvateil. Also grants immunity to status ailments taht atack coudl have caused. Great Significantly reduces damage to the fighter. Reyvateil will usually not take physical damage, though she might take a little if the attack has an elemental component to it. Not 100% sure. Regardless, it's insignificant. Good Reduced damage for reyvateil. Not sure if fighter gets a damage reduction or not. Terrible I'm not sure on the differences between Terrible and Bad, or which is worse. Bad I'm assuming both fighter and reyvateil take full damage. To put this in perspective, If you have 2 fighters and 1 reyvateil, the fighter not guarding a reyvateil will pretty much only be taking damage from full party attacks. (But will also be stuck with level 1 skills.) That's it for now. Yes, there is more to cover, but getting what I already have hear uploaded is long, long overdue. =============================================================================== 詩魔法 Song Magic [#utau_0.0] =============================================================================== Section ToC coming eventually. ======== Legend ======== Example: Rank 3-1: 死神デス子ちゃん Shinigami DESUko chan : Miss Reaper Death-Kid Power: 36 6000% Psycho 3 MP: 29 Jakuri's Cosmosphere, Level 2 [ 1 ]: [ 2 ] [ 3 ] : [ 4 ] Power: 36 [ 5 ] [ 6 ] MP: 29 [ 7 ] [ 8 ] Power and MP are sefl explainatory. [1] Rank and Path [2] Song Name [3] Song Name Romanization (if kanji: add "attempt") [4] Song Name Translation [5] Burst Requirement [6] Mood Requirement [7] How to obtain [8] Effects, if I've listed them ============ ルカ Ruka ============ Ahem. Welcome to Ruka's kanji hell. Though the meanings of the kanji are easy enough to look up, I just don't have the experience (but this is part of gaining it) to have gotten all, or even many, of the romanizations for her Song Magic correct. My current course of action is to replay what I can of her Cosmosphere and the Infelsphere, as they usually will say a spell's name at least once. So for now, don't accept these as cannon. Better yet, feel free to submit corrections. Assuming you have enough experience to be correct. 氷冷歌弾 koorirei utadama : Hail Cold Song Shot Rank 1-1: 氷憐弾 kooririndama : Hail Mercy Shot Power: 6 No Requisite MP: 2 Initial Song Magic Rank 2-1: 雪蛍 yukihotaru : Snow Firefly Power: 10 1500% Burstech 1 MP: 5 Ruka's Cosmosphere, Level 1 Rank 3-1: 雪月花 setsugekka : Snow, Moon, and Flowers Power: 20 2500% Burstech 3 MP: 13 Ruka's Cosmosphere, Level 2 Rank E: 銀髪氷女 kinpatsu koorime : Silver Haired Ice Woman Power: ?? Synchro MP: NA Clear Infelsphere Level 4, Chroche Route 気楽唱撃 kiraku shougeki : Relaxed Chant Beat Rank 1-1: 無問題 mumondai : No Problem Power: 15 No Requisite MP: 10 Ruka's Cosmosphere, Level 3 Rank 2-1: 御結転々 ogetsu denten : Bound Kineticism Power: 18 2000% Harmonics 3 MP: 11 Ruka's Cosmosphere, Level 3 Rank 3-1: 下駄飛占 geta hiura : Geta Divination Power: 39 6000% Psycho 3 MP: 23 Ruka's Cosmosphere, Level 7 Rank 2-2: 簡単全席 kantan zenseki : Simple Banquet Power: 20 3000% Burstech 3 MP: 14 Ruka's Cosmosphere, Level 3 Rank 3-2: 芸術爆弾 geishutsu bakudan : Gourmet Bomb Power: 46 7500% Harmonics 5 MP: 32 Ruka's Cosmosphere, Level 2 Rank E: 不器用熊 bukiyouguma : Clumsy Bear Power: ?? Synchro MP: NA Clear Infelsphere Level 3, Ruka Route 隠性妖詩 : Concealed Gender Bewitching Song Rank 1-1: 笑子 emiko : Emiko (Laughing Child) Power: 11 No Requisite MP: 8 Ruka's Cosmosphere, Level 1 Rank 2-1: 百夜嬢 momoyojou : Momoyo-jou (Miss Hundred Nights) Power: 23 2000% Burstech 2 MP: 17 Ruka's Cosmosphere, Level 4 Rank 3-1: 茨姫 ibarahime : Ibara-hime (Thorn Princess) Power: 33 6000% Psycho 3 MP: 22 Ruka's Cosmosphere, Level 5 Rank 2-2: 泣女 naku onna : (Weeping Woman) Power: 18* 4000% Care MP: 23 Ruka's Cosmosphere, Level 8 Rank 3-2: 恋心 koi kokoro : Awakening Passion Power: 45 8000% Care 3 MP: 29 Ruka's Cosmosphere, Level 9 Rank E: 戦女神 ikusa megami : Battle Goddess Power: ?? Synchro MP: NA Clear Infelsphere Level 4, Ruka's Route * zapanet lists it as "18x2" 潜在超力 senzai chouchikara : Latent Super Power Rank 1-1: 受付乱舞 uketsuke ranbu : Reception Desk Slam Dance Power: 25 No Requisite MP: 20 Ruka's Cosmosphere, Level 5 Rank 2-1: 護り神 mamorigami : Protection god Power: 30 3000% Psycho 3 MP: 24 Ruka's Cosmosphere, Level 6 Rank 3-1: 魔大陸 madairiku : Demon Continent Power: 35 5000% Burstech 4 MP: 28 Ruka's Cosmosphere, Level 9 Rank 2-2: 受付光線 uketsuke kousen : Reception Desk Ray Power: 40 8000% Burstech 5 MP: 34 Return after clearing Ruka's Cosmosphere Rank 3-2: 流星光 ryuusei hikari : Meteor Light Power: 54 10000% Harmonics 7 MP: 38 Ruka's Cosmosphere, Level 9 Rank E: デモンジェル DEMON'JERU : Daemongel Power: ?? Synchro MP: NA Clear Infelsphere Level 2, Ruka's Route 柔音治癒 yawaon chiyu : Faint Sound Healing Rank 1-1: 三角鋼音 sangaku haganeota]: Trinagle Fullmetal Sound Power: NA No Requisite MP: 6 Initial Song Magic Rank 2-1: 煌輝鈴 kirameki suzu : Glitter Gleam Bell Power: NA 2000% Harmonics 1 MP: 10 Ruka's Cosmosphere, Level 2 Rank 3-1: 浄夜鐘 kiyoyorugane : Pure Night Chime Power: NA 6000% Harmonics 3 MP: 20 Ruka's Cosmosphere, Level 8 守護呪曲 shugo jukyuku : Protection Charm Tune Rank 1-1: 双玉 futadama : Twin Sphere Power: NA No Requisite MP: 15 Ruka's Cosmosphere, Level 4 Rank 2-1: 優香炉 yuukouro : Elegent Fragrance Power: NA 4000% Psycho 3 MP: 30 Ruka's Cosmosphere, Level 6 Notes I'm sure many corrections are needed to these translations, and probably the roomaji as well. Unless you know enough Japanese to double check my roomaji, you probably want to play it safe and assume I got it wrong for now. If you don't know what roomaji is, well... you know what Wikipedia is, right? 御結転々 ogetsu tenten : Bound Kineticism Should it be tenten or denten? The later part that I translated as shuffling is moving about / being passed about repeatedly. Also rolling on the ground. Kind of hard to sum that up in one English word. I think I did pretty well. 簡単全席 : Simple Banquet Simple + All Tickets. I believe the context of is "All-Tickets" is "everything on the menu." Maybe "Full Course" would work better. 芸術爆弾 geishutsu bakudan : Gourmet Bomb Lit. Fine Arts Bomb. I figured Gourmet was fine arts applied to food. I might change it. 隠性妖詩 Many of these song magic are names for the characters they summon. Though Emiko literally means laughing child, her name is Emiko. You wouldn't call someone named Yamamoto "Mr. Under-Mountain" even though that's what it means. That's assuming you're not trying to make some sort of Hobbit joke. 泣女 naku onna It could alternately be nakujo or kyuujo. Not sure if it is name or a description. 受付光線 : Reception Desk Ray Really tempted to put "Reception Desk Death Ray" here. 魔大陸 madairiku : Demon Continent I wouldn't be surprised if this was really some sort of pun such as "ma o oka" or something. ===================== クローシェ Chroche ===================== ホーリーバースト HOORIIBAASUTO : Holy Burst Rank 1-1: ファイアブラスター FAIABURASUTAA : Fire Blaster Power: 6 No Requisite MP: 1 Initial Song Magic Rank 2-1: ランタノール RAN'TANOORU : Lanterneal Power: 11 1500% Psycho 2 MP: 5 Chroche's Cosmosphere, Level 1 Rank 3-1: ボルカニクス BORUKANIKUSU : Volcanix Power: 22 4000% Burstech 3 MP: 13 Chroche's Cosmosphere, Level 2 Rank E: インバートブリッド INBAATOBURITTO : Invert Bullet Power: ?? Synchro MP: NA Clear Infelsphere Level 1, Ruka Route ブレイブサンダー BUREIBUSAN'DAA : Brave Thunder Rank 1-1: F.S.T. Power: 9 No Requisite MP: 3 Chroche's Cosmosphere, Level 1 Rank 2-1: イシカワジャンヌ ISHIKAWAJAN'NU : Ishikawa Jeanne Power: 15 1500% Burstech 2 MP: 11 Chroche's Cosmosphere, Level 2 Rank 3-1: ソーラーパラディン SOORAAPARADIN' : Solar Paladin Power: 30 4000% Harmonics 3 MP: 19 Chroche's Cosmosphere, Level 6 Rank 2-2: T.S.S.M. Power: 27 3000% Psycho 4 MP: 20 Chroche's Cosmosphere, Level 6 Rank 3-2: クレセントプリズマ KURESEN'TOPURIZUMA : Crescent Prisma Power: 35 8000% Burstech 7 MP: 25 Chroche's Cosmosphere, Level 7 Rank E: モンサンガール MON'SAN'GAARU : Morn' Sun Girl Power: ?? Synchro MP: NA Clear Infelsphere Level 2, Chroche Route キュートドライブ KYUUTODORAIBU : Cute Drive Rank 1-1: サンサンサモン SAN'SAN'SAMON : Sun Sun Summon Power: 12 No Requisite MP: 9 Chroche's Cosmosphere, Level 2 Rank 2-1: エググ EGUGU : Eggu Power: 17 2000% Harmonics 1 MP: 11 Chroche's Cosmosphere, Level 2 Rank 3-1: クエーサーリカル KUEESAARIKARU : Quasar Recall Power: 40 4500% Burstech 3 MP: 28 Chroche's Cosmosphere, Level 8 Rank 2-2: ぺペン PEPEN' : Pepen Power: 22 3000% Psycho 3 MP: 14 Chroche's Cosmosphere, Level 5 Rank 3-2: キャットシェイカー KYATTOSHEIKAA : Cat Shaker Power: 58 10000% Harmonics 8 MP: 41 Frelia's Cosmosphere Level 5 Rank E: ロリポップスイーツ RORIPOPPUSUIITSU : Lollypop Sweets Power: ?? Synchro MP: NA Clear Infelsphere Level 1, Chroche Route マインドザッパー MAIN'DOZAPPAA : Mind Zapper Rank 1-1: レーテルナイト REETERUNAITO Power: 30 No Requisite MP: 21 Chroche's Cosmosphere, Level 6 Rank 2-1: ジオメトリカ JIOMETORIKA : Geometrica Power: 36 3000% Burstech 3 MP: 24 Chroche's Cosmosphere, Level 7 Rank 3-1: インフェルブリーズ INFERUBURIIZU : Infel Breeze Power: 51 7000% Psycho 5 MP: 34 Chroche's Cosmosphere, Level 9 Rank 3-2: デスランディア DESURAN'DIA : Death Landia Power: 43 4500% Burstech 5 MP: 30 Chroche's Cosmosphere, Level 9 Rank 4-2: インフェル・ピラ INFERU PIRA : Infel Pira Power: 56 8000% Harmonics 7 MP: 36 Return after clearing Chroche's Cosmosphere Rank E: 氷瀑竜華 kooritaki ryuubana : Ice-Waterfall Dragon-Flower Power: ?? Synchro MP: NA Clear Infelsphere Level 3, Chroche Route キュアメロディ KYUAMERODII : Cure Melody Rank 1-1: キュアリーノ KYUARIINO : Cure-olin Power: NA No Requisite MP: 6 Initial Song Magic Small HP Recovery + Revive Rank 2-1: キュオール KYUAOORU : Cure-ole Power: NA 1500% Harmonics 1 MP: 10 Chroche's Cosmosphere, Level 4 Medium HP Recovery + Revive + Cure Status Rank 3-1: キュロ KYURO : Curello Power: NA 6000% Harmonics 3 MP: 15 Chroche's Cosmosphere, Level 9 Large HP Recovery + Revive + Cure Status ゼロスイッチ ZEROSUICCHI : Zero Switch Rank 1-1: リセットボタン RISETTOBOTAN' : Reset Button Power: NA No Requisite MP: 15 Chroche's Cosmosphere, Level 6-R Reset Battle Rank 2-1: エセットボタン ESETTOBATTON : Esc Button Power: NA 4000% Psycho 3 MP: 30 Chroche's Cosmosphere, Level 8 Could Possibly Reset Battle Notes インバートブリッド INBAATOBURITTO : Invert Bullet It's certainly better than inbart bullet and invert burrito. Haven't seen the spell myself yet, so I can't say if Invert Bullet fits it or not. キュアリーノ : Cure-olin キュオール : Cure-ole キュロ : Curello These seem to be portmanteaus of the word cure + a musical instrument. It works better in Japanese than in English, that's why I put the dashes. Cuolin, Cuole, and Cullo were my considerations, but when I read them I kept mentally mispronouncing them. If you can't guess, the three instruments are violin, viol, and cello. ================== ジャクリ Jakuri ================== あの日のおもひで ano hi no omohide Rank 1-1: ポツネリオ POTSUNERIO Power: 25 No Requisite MP: 20 Initial Song Magic Rank 2-1: バブルバ　BABURUBA : Bubble Bath Power: 52 6000% Care 4 MP: 34 Jakuri's Cosmosphere, Level 7-P Rank 3-1: アルトネリコ ARUTONERIKO : Ar Tonelico Power: 65 15000% Harmonics 8 MP: 50 Jakuri's Cosmosphere, Level 9 Rank E: ファンタズマゴリア FAN'TAZUMAGORIA : Phantasmagoria Power: ?? Synchro MP: NA Clear Frelia's Cosmosphere ウツムード彼女 UTSUMUUDO kanojo : "utsu"-mood Kanojo : Blue-Mood Girlfriend Rank 1-1: 闇クロくーかん yami KURO kuukan : Dark Black Space Power: 26 No Requisite MP: 19 Initial Song Magic Rank 2-1: みつめるアイ mitsumeru AI : Staring Eye Power: 30 3000% Burstech 2 MP: 24 Jakuri's Cosmosphere, Level 1 Rank 3-1: 死神デス子ちゃん Shinigami DESUko chan : Miss Reaper Death-Kid Power: 36 6000% Psycho 3 MP: 29 Jakuri's Cosmosphere, Level 2 Rank E: グラトミー GURATOMII Power: ?? Synchro MP: NA Jakuri's Cosmosphere, Level 7-C 私のしもべたち watashi no shimobe-tachi : My Minions Rank 1-1: かわいいELMA kawaii ELMA : Adorable ELMA Power: 33 No Requisite MP: 23 Jakuri's Cosmosphere, Level 2 Rank 2-1: ゾドマすぺしゃる　ZODOMA supesharu : Zodoma Special Power: 38 3000% Burstech 3 MP: 27 Jakuri's Cosmosphere, Level 3 Rank 3-1: Go!ジャクリロボ　Go! JAKURIROBO : Go! Jakuri Robo! Power: 49 6000% Care 2 MP: 32 Jakuri's Cosmosphere, Level 4 Rank 4-1: 魔神DEダンス mashinDE DAN'SU: DevilDE Dance Power: 56 9000% Harmonics 7 MP:38 Jakuri's Cosmosphere, Level 5 Rank E: 奏鳴＜絶望＞ soumei ] Power: ?? Synchro MP: NA Frelia's Cosmosphere, Level 5 ドリームダイバー DORIIMUDAIBAA : Dream Diver Rank 1-1: ぴぃ　[pii]: *Peep!* Power: 35 No Requisite MP: 27 Jakuri's Cosmosphere, Level 3 Rank 2-1: オナガレ ONAGARE : Cancelled! Power: 37 6000% Burstech 5 MP: 34 Jakuri's Cosmosphere, Level 8-1 Rank E: 幻真無慚断 maboroshishinmuzandan : Phantom Failed True Atrocity Power: ?? Synchro MP: NA Return after clearing Jakuri's Cosmosphere ステキメディスン SUTEKIMEDISUN' : Suteki Medicine : Lovely Medicine Rank 1-1: りぽで ripode Power: NA No Requisite MP: 10 Initial Song Magic Rank 2-1: ばんでーど bandeedo : Bandaid Power: NA 1500% Psycho 3 MP: 15 Jakuri's Cosmosphere, Level 5 Rank 3-1: ちゅう chuu : Chuu Power: NA 3000% Care 6 MP: 30 Jakuri's Cosmosphere, Level 7-C ダークサイド DAAKUSAIDO : Dark Side Rank 1-1: カージングエイド KAAJIN'GUEIDO : Caging Aid Power: NA No Requisite MP: 10 Frelia's Cosmosphere, Level 1 Critical Rate Up Rank 2: 心の檻 kokoro no ori : Heart's Cage Power: NA 10000% Care 8 MP: 25 Jakuri's Cosmosphere, Level 7-C Reduces all damage to the party Notes あの日のおもひで [ano hi no omohide] I'm stumped here. Is omohide a pun on omoide? ウツムード彼女: Blue-Mood Girlfriend utsu ~= depressed. It's the second part of the word yuuutsu, which there is a decent chance of you being familiar with. "utsu-mood" has a nice assonance to to it that wanted to preserve, so I went with "Blue-Mood." As for kanojo, it's one of those Japanese pronouns, the most famous one being 貴方 [anata], you're never supposed to use unless you know what you are doing. They way I look at it, and correct me if you know better, you don't say "you" so much as you say "YOU," and and in the case of 彼女 you don't say her so much as you say "HER." And when you say HER, unless you're pointing trying to indicate a stranger who's name you don't know, you're probably talking about the girl you're involved with. Honestly I still personally prefer "utsu"-mood. 幻真無慚断 : Phantom Failed True Atrocity True Atrocity is made of Fail. I didn't put "Phantom of a True Atrocity Failure" because in Japanese it's a compound word, and I thought adding grammar would detract from that. Also I didn't want to to be *that* long, which is why I am using Failed... instead of ...Failure. For now. This title is a great indication of Jakuri's sarcastic sense of humor. 奏鳴＜絶望＞ [soumei ] Having trouble with the Kanji on this, so I just put the on-yomi. Refer to it as soumei at your own risk. ステキメディスン : Suteki Medicine If suteki is nice enough sounding word where Microsoft decided to defile it a nonsensical title for one of their games, I don't see any harm in using it. カージングエイド : Caging Aid I wasn't sure about this one at first, but the more I think about it, the more sense it makes. Possibly my favorite song magic. ジャクリ : Jacuzzi You know you want to say this, even though it's wrong in so many ways. =============================================================================== コソモスフィア Cosmosphere [#Psyc_0.0] =============================================================================== Be aware that you might encounter "Luka" or even "Luca" in this section. In both cases I mean Ruka. I still pronounce it closer to Luka when I say it, but Ruka is used throughout the rest of the guide for purposes of standard- ization. This section of the guide is was done a couple months before the rest of it, and is still a bit rough and very incomplete. ============ ルカ Ruka ============ Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 {*..} 50 DP 世界の果て {***} 140 DP サクランシティ {***} 160 DP ルカの家 [Ruka's house] (Song: 双玉) {*..} 20 DP ルカの家 [Ruka's house] {***} 200 DP サクランシティ (-300 DP) (*..) 10 DP サクランシティ {***} 140 DP 世界の果て (Choice effects next location) {***} 220 DP 白夜城 (Previously: Option 1: -450 DP or Option 2: -50 DP, Song: 白夜嬢) {***} 230 DP ルカの家 {***} 140 DP Stonehenge (Paradigm Shift) Total Level 5 700 DP Upon entering. {***} 170 DP 世界の果て {***} 170 DP 世界の果て {*..} 50 DP 世界の果て {***} 150 DP 西の草原 (*..) 50 DP 西の草原 {*..} 150 DP 東の丘 (Option 2: "何もしない") {*..} 150 DP おはなばたけ {*..} 150 DP Stonehenge (Option 1: "自分の持っている実をあげる") {***} 200 DP 山小屋 {***} 230 DP 世界の果て (-600 DP, Song: 隠性妖詩：Lv3A "茨姫") {*..} 150 DP 東の丘 {*..} 150 DP 西の草原 {*..} 150 DP おはなばたけ {***} 300 DP 世界の果て (-300 DP, Song: 潜在超力：Lv1A "受付乱舞") {***} 170 DP 世界の果て (End of line if on Chroche Route) {***} 330 DP Stonehenge (Paradigm shift) Total They could at least give you the costume.... ===================== クローシェ Chroche ===================== Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 {***} 150 DP Stonehenge Total 150 DP This level amused me. Yes there is really only one location to go to. You find yourself on level 4 automatically afterwards. Level 4 100 DP Upon entering. {*..} 30 DP 底無しの闇 {***} 60 DP 大鐘堂学園 (Pick first option) {***} 100 DP 孤独の街 (-200 DP, Song: Cure Melody LV2A "Cure-ole", CG) {***} 150 DP 大鐘堂学園 (Holy Burst LV3 "Volcanix") {***} 170 DP Stonehenge (Paradigm Shift) Total 880 DP Level 5 -250 DP {***} 160 DP クローシェの家[Chroche's House] {***} 60 DP 夜店町 {***} 180 DP お花畑 (-350 DP, CG) {***} 250 DP 夜店町 (-300 DP, Song: Holy Bust LV1B "Pepen") {***} 160 DP クローシェの家[Chroche's House] {***} 300 DP お花畑 (End of line for Luka/Jakuri Route?) {***} 300 DP Stonehenge (Decision point) Decision Option 1: Become partner Chroche will paradigm shift and you will get her ending when you beat the game. Option 2: Stay Friends You get Chroche's level 5 costume, but she does not paradigm shift. You cannot get her ending now, but you can get Jakuri's. Option 3: Take time to think it over. If you want Chroche's ending the choice is obviously number 1. If you want Jakuri's ending, you can choose option 2 or 3. If you go with option 3, you can post pone the choice. If you proceed far enough with Jakuri, then the rest of Chroche's cosmosphere will lock as if you chose option 2. HOWEVER, you won't get Chroche's level 5 costume. Therefore if you are certain you want Jakuri's ending, it's better to choose option 2 so you can get the costume. It's also worth noting that which option you choose will affect dialog in the main game, so the sooner you choose "just friends," for example, rather that taking time to make up your mind, the sooner Chroah and Chroche will start acting like "Just friends" in the main plot, which could in turn effect some of the other characters' dialog. Just something to consider. ================== ジャクリ Jakuri ================== Level 1 {***} 100 DP 校庭 (Song: ウツムード彼女：Lv2 "みつめるアイ", CG) {***} 50 DP 男子寮 {***} 70 DP ナムの海 {***} 75 DP 男子寮 {***} 50 DP ストーンヘンジ[Stonehenge] (Paradigm Shift) Total 345 DP Level 2 {***} 50 DP 繁華街 {***} 100 DP 教室 {***} 100 DP 教室 {***} 120 DP 人形屋 (-500 DP, ウツムード彼女：Lv3 "死神デス子ちゃん") [Doll Shop] [utsumuudo kanojo: Lv3 "shinigami DEATHko-chan"] {***} 120 DP ナムの海 {***} 120 DP 男子寮 {***} 110 DP 教室 {***} 100 DP ストーンヘンジ [Stonehenge] (Paradigm Shift) Total 1070 DP Level 3 {***} 180 DP 校庭 {***} 180 DP 教室 {***} 180 DP 校庭 {***} 180 DP 教室 (CG) {***} 220 DP 学園正門 (song: Dream Diver Lvl1 "Bii") {***} 110 DP ナムの海 {***} 170 DP 繁華街 (私のしもべたちLv2｢ゾドマすぺしゃる) {***} 150 DP ストーンヘンジ[stonehenge] (Paradigm Shift) Total Level 4 {***} 220 DP 教室 {***} 210 DP 繁華街 (CG) {***} 210 DP 繁華街 (song:私のしもべたち：Lv3｢GO!ジャクリロボ) {***} 170 DP ナムの海 {***} 200 DP ストーンヘンジ[stonehenge] (Paradigm Shift) Total 1010 DP Level 5 {***} 220 DP ナムの海 {***} 240 DP 人形屋 {***} 250 DP 男子寮 {***} 220 DP ミュロス城 (ステキメディスン：Lv2"ばんでーど", 私のしもべたち：Lv4 "魔神DEダンス") ---------- {***} 250 DP ストーンヘンジ[stonehenge] (Decision Point) Notes: After ミュロス城 you will leave Jakuri's Cosmosphere automatically. You'll only be able to come back and go to the stonehenge if you are not already locked into an ending with Luca or Chroche. If you do go to the stonehenge, you will be given the same set of choices given at the end of Luca or Chroche's level 5. 1. Become Jakuri's partner 2. Don't further the relationship 3. Need more time to decide If you pick option 1 Jakuri will paradigm shift and you will get her Level 5 costume. You will now get her ending, no matter what. If you're considering this, it's advised go to you other potential partner first and turn her down so you can get her costume. If you pick option 2, you will get her costume, but she won't paradigm shift. You will never be able to get her ending. Option 3 is self descriptive. Keep in mind, that if you choose to become Ruka or Chroche's parter without specifically denying Jakuri, you won't get her level 5 costume. Therefore if you want as many costume options as possible in a single play, it's advised you pick option 2 for the girl you're not going for and ending with before you pick option 1 for the girl you want. Considering this, if you wanted Ruka's ending, you might consider waiting a while (and it will be quite a while) before becoming her partner so that you can say no to Jakuri and get her level 5 Costume. =============================================================================== Acknowledgments [#Aknw_0.0] =============================================================================== Sevon Coerced once-over. Additional Corrections and Translations. SieKensou Description of デモンジェル. You know, Demon + Angel. Not Demon + Gel. Though that would make sense as part of Ruka's food Song Magic. Japanese Ar Tonelico 2 Wikis http://art2.gkwiki2.com/ http://zapanet.info/ar-tonelico2/wiki/ http://game3.gaym.jp/ar-tonelico/2/ I originally started typing this all out by hand with an IME. However having to look up the readings of kanji I don't know, which is the vast, vast majority of them in order to type them got old *fast*. So I looked up the wikis where I could copy paste the kanji into an online dictionary to get the reading, to type the kanji into the text file. Now I'm sure you'd agree that there is an unnecessary and inefficient step here. So hooray for copy/pasting kanji from Japanese websites. While most of the information in the guide comes straight out of the game's gallery, again, I found looking up information on the wiki to be much more practical since I didn't have to have my game on and could also work on the FAQ remotely. This guide is still mostly my original work when you consider romanizing, translation (albeit tenuous), and formatting. It's the same as if I'd read the information, memorized it, closed the window, then typed the guide. Actually I'm making a much bigger deal out of it than I should, I just want to give credit where it is due because I would have ended up dead in the water long ago with out these websites. =============================================================================== Version History [#VerH_0.0] =============================================================================== Version 0.7.0 - 26 June 2008 - Updated US release speculation. - Added battle system details. - Probabably other minor changes I have forgotten. Version 0.6.3 - 22 April 2008 - "My Cute Little ELMA" -> Adorable ELMA. Translation note removed. Version 0.6.2 - 21 April 2008 - Inserted a note to insert a MULE joke. - Fixed all the x-0 ranks to x-1 after checking with the game. - Fixed romanization of kinpatsu koorime after listening to her say her name a bunch of times replaying her introduction scene in the gallery. - Updated Version History. Version 0.6.1 - 21 April 2008 - Changed Esset Button to Esc Button. Still probably wrong. - Updated Version History. - Version 0.6.0 lies. Version 0.6.0 - 21 April 2008 - Some addition translations - Some Corrections - Typo Fixes - Updated Version History - The REAL first published version! Version 0.5.0 - 19 April 2008 - The first submitted version. - Contains my rather sorry excuse for a cosmosphere guide. - Contains my rather complete Song Magic list with tenuous translation. - Contains a table of contents! - Contains the the original introduction! - Contains Romanization notes! - Contains a list of FAQs with only one FAQ! - Contains Acknowledgments! - Contains the first version of the version history! - Contains the Legal Information! Everyone's favorite part! =============================================================================== Legal [#Phnx_0.0] =============================================================================== First let me say I'm not at all a fan of internet automatons. To clarify, I think very lowly of the websites who have sent me an email asking if they can host my guides, pretty much the moment they are hosted on GameFAQs. You know who they are. They know who they are. They do not have permission to use my guide. Oh wait, the robots aren't actually reading this and are just going to email me anyway. DENIED. Of Commercial Websites generating decent profit off of ad revenue, the only one that may host this guide is: www.gamefaqs.com For smaller websites, you can contact me to get permission at xerain.gmail. The first . is really an "at" symbol, and the period is a lie, as it has a "com" on the other side of it. And then a period after that to make it gram- matically correct. But don't put that period in your email. As for wikis, they can probably use a lot of the factual information in this guide under fair use. However, I still have rights to the formatting, etc. The general rule is it's more about you NOT getting credit than me getting credit. Mine ego fodder shall not fodder thine ego. As for the translations, at this point you'd possibly look foolish using them. I'm holding onto the rights to them for now. Translations of this guide may be made under the conditions of attribution, non-commercial, share alike. This guide is understood to be (C) Xerain aka "James Smith," despite this being a case of a real name being worth less than a pen name.