Change of Plans

計画変更
It's halfway through the year and I'm where I wouldn't of hoped myself to be at. My JET interview wasn't perfect but the positivity level was high enough for me to believe that I had a pretty damn good chance of getting in. Then the unexpected of all unexpected happened -- a whopping earthquake shook the country and created a shitload of other problems bigger than the earthquake itself which then lead to frightened parents and uncertainty. After receiving word of my [partial] acceptance (waitlisted), there was no need for excitement since I well already knew I'd probably have to reject it. Having actually rejected the position left me with my current issue: finding a new job. I got this current job keeping in mind that it was temporary since the pay was no way up to par and the working conditions are extremely less than ideal. I figured the relative convenience for travel and it's relatedness to my skillset worked at the time. Not to mention it was a well known company in the area but I didn't know what kind of company it really was until I started working in it... no surprise there, really. Now that I'm here to stay (in Canada), I've begun thinking about myself, my career, and my future in the long term.

No, nothing philosophical here.

I don't think I've had this level of stress since my JET application (yeah, that sonuvabitch was stressful). I recently plowed through 3 interviews for a prospective global corporation but didn't make the final cut due to the less experience compared to the other candidate. It was unfortunate but it /was/ my first multi-tier interview, so it was a pretty good experience. Other than that, it has been extremely quiet on the battlefront since I've been picking my battles carefully.

On another front, I'm currently looking to invest in a place out of town. In-town (aka. Vancouver) has become unreasonably unaffordable and at this rate, the cities surrounding Vancouver will end up the same. Burnaby (see: Sovereign) is a good example of ridiculousness (it even sold out on the first day) and its prime location justifies its desirability, which in turn, jacks up the prices as well. Then there's Richmond which has become out of the question ever since earthquakes have become an ongoing global concern this year. Doesn't help that we also have to fight with foreign investors (aka. China people) who have way too much pocket change.

Although the job hunting hasn't been very fruitful, I've been well occupied and entertained by life's other diversions. Regrettably, Fable 3 has been doing quite the opposite and I'm just looking to get it over and done with. The inner [selective] completionist in me is making that rather difficult though. I definitely wasn't thinking straight when I decided to play Fable 3 when I was in the mood for a JRPG. Fable 3's disappointment aside, life's still being sprinkled with small moments of joys. The near completion of my brother's new place is one. The family will be taking a look over it tomorrow. And more recently I think I won something... kinda big. More on it when I actually get it.

Okay, now back to the hunt.

Ar Tonelico II: vine en vine, zweie arsye yor

Erm, slight review backlog. This is from a year ago. Didn't have the time to put in the final touches. Allow me to finally dump this here.


Story 4/5
AT2 brings us another tale of Ar Ciel, this time in Metafalss where Reyvateils are being affected by an epidemic of unknown origins. Croix (ku-ro-a), an exceptionally skilled knight, wounds up becoming a bodyguard for Cloche, the holy maiden of the Grand Bell, when she gets attacked during her holidaying by a resistance against the church/organization (governing body) she represents. This becomes the start of his investigation into the source of the epidemic and uncovering the powers and history of his land.

Croix isn't complete without his trusty childhood friend, Luca, who's the perfect polar opposite of Cloche. The two ladies butt heads throughout the story but, of course, there's a whole huge reason behind all of the bickering. The two eventually have to come to terms with each other for the sake of the world and their loved one (aka. the lucky protagonist) after they find out their wield more power than they think.

Saving the world isn't a surprising story but the references from the first game definitely make this experience a lot more deep and interesting. Just like the first game, the second allows you to choose one of the two paths (the two girls) which opens up a different part of the story but closes others. There's also a third girl option which usually takes a bit more effort to reach but she's worth it. I played through the game twice again (yes, it's absurd) to get both paths and to finish with two of the three girls. Luca was not one of them, so now you know.

Characters 4.5/5
I really liked how the design direction of the characters in this game felt more mature (although I think they're about the same age as the prev series). Neither main girls really spoke to me, but Cloche was a bit more interesting than Luca. Still, her ending left much to be desired. On the other hand, the third reyvateil was pretty amusing with her sarcastic personality and her quirkiness makes her all the more interesting. I already knew what was featured in the ending from the Concert OST so watching the scene for myself just topped it off for me.

Unfortunately the protagonist is, again, an indifferent guy who is unaffected by the pretty girls who'd die to get in his pants. His (or I guess yours) feelings will change according to how you advance with the girls but it comes off a tad bit forced. The fortunate part, though, is that his character design is refreshing a nice change in comparison to the genericness of Lyner of AT1. His look is complete when he wears his glasses when he's in normal clothing (glasses fetish? me? no way!). Perhaps I'm a sucker for cool guys. Maybe.. yeah, probably. He even uses a giant lance and his strongest move is called, ahem, maximum penetration. Who can resist a manly scream like that. ;)

Overall it felt like there were more character sub-stories (some selective merchants) and more background stories to be uncovered (if one wished to pursue them).

Sound 5.5/5
AT music has always been known to be nothing less than amazing. I was already well familiarized to the hymns prior to the game and playing the game put the tracks into context. I fell in love with the distinct music style of the vocal tracks just the same as how I did for the first one. Always loved the duets and multiple singer tracks and without a doubt, my most favourite track is featured in the third reyvateil's ending as a duet with Croix.

Yusa Kouji makes such a cool and delicious Croix and out of character Suwabe Junichi as Chester in the optional Cosmosphere was the icing on the cake for this game's Japanese voice track. I avoided the English language track as usual and it's a good thing I did as I heard it's quite distracting and embarrassing to play when the girl shouting for you to insert the thing into them, telling you its overflowing from the inside, and that they demand for more. Ahem.

Graphics 3/5
Average graphics although there's definitely improvement from AT1. Areas have more dimension as the perspective adjusts and move with your character now. Your pixel character, however, continues to be its pixel self. The still portraits and full background images return to provide that dating sim feel but the cutscene animations seemed to have dropped in quality.

Gameplay 3.5/5
The gameplay probably received the biggest upgrade from the first. The battle system has evolved and every action you take now counts for something towards your reyvateil's performance. You now also get up to two beautiful ladies to protect during battle - 2x more work but 2x more powerful. Battles are divided into turn phases (attack and defense) and your offensive turn is to be used as efficiently as possible as you're under a timer. Songs now have branches and evolve depending on your battle action and with the right circumstances, you can synchronize your reyvateils for a powerful attack, call on a satellite for help, or just evolve the song to its most powerful level.

Other nifty [mostly optional] gameplay features include the Cosmosphere (from AT1 - diving into the minds of the ladies to uncover deep dark secrets), bathing events (no you don't get to bath with them but you can watch!), crafting (the ridiculous inventions return) and finding infected reyvateils (which you then recruit to do your bidding).

Overall 4/5
As a second timer into the Ar Tonelico series, I knew what to expect and it definitely lived up to its name. The typos and bugs aside (it won't let me fight Raki :( ), the obvious sexual innuendos are so amusing and that itself just continues to entertain. Having a bit more than just a bit of reference from the first game ([spoiler]The third reyvateil[/spoiler]), made this game all the more interesting as well.


Creepy bug I felt like snapshotting.
Looking forward to diving into AT3 and whatever else they have planned for the world of Ar Tonelico!