History VideoGame / ExaPico

** IPD Reyvateils are Third Generation Reyvateils mapped to the Infel Phira server instead of the standard Ar tonelico one, which gives them access to a more efficient and powerful dialect of Hymmnos and [[HiveMind connects them to each other on the deeper levels of their subconscious]], allowing them to use said collective power to do things like a CombinedEnergyAttack and even [[spoiler:create ''entire continents'']] that are far beyond the scope of a normal server. Unfortunately, it also means that they become susceptible to things that damage said collective consciousness, such as excessive discord, [[spoiler:sensing too much negativity from the HiveQueen, or damage to the server causing mass outbreaks of [[FreakOut sudden violent behavior]]]].

** Third Generation Reyvateils get nifty song magic and all, but after coming into their powers, they have to take a substance called Diquility every three months just to ''continue living''. This stuff is expensive (unless if you live in Metafalss, where they are given for free) and the Installation is equivalent to a first time.

** The Pureblooded Reyvateils (such as Betas and the Origins) initially seem to avert this, as they get ''stronger'' song magic and ''very'' extended lifespans (Betas have about 150 years and the Origins are over 700 years old each, implied to be immortal for as long as their tower exist). But it does have one major drawback -- while a Third Generation Reyvateil is effectively an empowered human who would simply be BroughtDownToNormal if they were to step out of the range of the Tower, Pureblooded Reyvateils are made purely of biofluid that retains a human form via connection to the server, and leaving the range of the Tower would cause them to meet a [[ImMelting very untimely end]]. Notably, this is why Cocona ends up having to carry the Heart of Gaea at Jacqli's request; Cocona certainly has her fair share of bumps along the way as a foreign Reyvateil, but she manages the journey and even gets to use Hymmnos again once Sasha sets up a relay satellite, whereas Jacqli, despite being far more powerful and capable, would have never been able to do it herself no matter how much she wanted to because Sol Cluster being so far from the First Tower would have meant that she'd quickly end up turning into a puddle.

** The Pureblooded Reyvateils (such as Betas and the Origins) initially seem to avert this, as they get ''stronger'' song magic and ''very'' extended lifespans (Betas have about 150 years and the Origins are over 700 years old each, implied to be immortal for as long as their tower exist). Not that they don't have to deal with their own problems, though -- while a Third Generation Reyvateil is effectively an empowered human who would simply be BroughtDownToNormal if they were to step out of the range of the Tower, Pureblooded Reyvateils are made purely of biofluid that retains a human form via connection to the server, and leaving the range of the Tower would cause them to meet a [[ImMelting very untimely end]].

** Averted with the Pureblooded Reyvateils (such as Betas and the Origins), who get ''Stronger'' song magic and ''very'' extended lifespans (Betas have about 150 years and the Origins are over 700 years old each, implied to be immortal for as long as their tower exist).

** The third game plays it entirely straight with TheIngenue Saki and {{Tsundere}} Finnel; the third Reyvateil, [[spoiler:Tyria, is awakened halfway into the game and joins the party thereafter]]. Her [[spoiler:Binary Field]] is integrated into the story by default, but her route is selectable via story choices, and like with Jacqli, she also gets her own ending. Also like in the second game, [[spoiler:Cocona]] is the fourth girl who steps up if Aoto fails to romance any of the other three.

** The second game subverts it to hell and back: initially it seems that Croix's girlfriend Luca is the Betty while the proud and haughty Cloche is the Veronica, but as [[BettyAndVeronicaSwitch more about the girls' true natures are revealed]] it turns out that the distrusting and manipulative Luca is the Veronica while the well-intentioned but insecure Cloche is the Betty. The third Reyvateil is Jacqli, [[spoiler:also known as Mir, who makes a HeelFaceTurn from an AntiVillain halfway through the game and has her own Cosmosphere and ending]]. Unusually, the game also has a ''fourth'' option in the form of [[spoiler:Cocona]] if Croix fails to get with any of the girls, and unlike the other Tower Origins, Frelia isn't romanceable [[spoiler:because it's implied her heart belongs to Shun, and her Binary Field is really just there for fun]].
** The third game plays it entirely straight with TheIngenue Saki and {{Tsundere}} Finnel; the third Reyvateil, [[spoiler:Tyria, is awakened halfway into the game and joins the party thereafter]]. Her [[spoiler:Binary Field]] is integrated into the story by default, but her route is selectable via story choices, and like with Jacqli, she also gets her own ending.

** Surge Concerto averts this, as its main heroine is very clearly Ion, and while in ''Ar nosurge'' Ion and Casty could be said to have the personality archetypes comparable to Betty and Veronica, there is no LoveTriangle and their partners are quite clearly Earthes (the player) and Delta respectively. However, the game does toy with the idea briefly when [[spoiler:the player's increased takeover of Delta's actions]] can optionally manifest in Delta flirting with Casty harder, and near the end the game also parodies the first ''Ar tonelico'''s LastMinuteHookUp endings by having [[spoiler:Shurelia]] abruptly ask Delta to leave the others and stay with her, just as she did in that game...[[spoiler:except this time it's a ''bad'' ending, because everyone else immediately reacts with [[RealityEnsues shock and horror from him ditching his long-time girlfriend and planet-saving duties just to stay with some new girl he just met]]]].

** Surge Concerto averts this, as its main heroine is very clearly Ion, and while in ''Ar nosurge'' Ion and Casty could be said to have the personality archetypes comparable to Betty and Veronica, there is no LoveTriangle and their partners are quite clearly Earthes (the player) and Delta respectively. However, the game does toy with the idea briefly when [[spoiler:the player's increased takeover of Delta's actions]] can optionally manifest in Delta flirting with Casty harder, and near the end the game also parodies the first ''Ar tonelico'''s LastMinuteHookUp endings by having [[spoiler:Shurelia]] abruptly ask Delta to leave the others and stay with her, just as she did in that game...[[spoiler:except this time it's a ''bad'' ending, because everyone else immediately reacts with [[RealityEnsues shock and horror from him ditching his long-time girlfriend and planet-saving duties just to stay with some new girl he just met]].

* CrapsaccharineWorld: The Towers are literally beacons of life. The planet's surface is covered by a poisonous fog called the "Sea of Death" and there are only three civilizations left in the entire world. And this doesn't even include each Tower's own problems with the lack of resources, FantasticRacism, and technical failures.

** The Diquility installation can only be called "a PG-13 cherry popping sequence." There is an doujinshi that makes this reference in reverse context.

* {{Fictionary}}: Reyvateils (and occasionally humans) communicate with Ar tonelico in a warped creole of English, German and Sanskrit known as [[http://conlang.wikia.com/wiki/Conlang:Hymmnos Hymmnos]]. However, among themselves they speak garden-variety Japanese (or English, if you're playing the dub.) Metafalss and Ar tonelico have different dialects of Hymmnos (or Hymnos in the English localization).

* GuideDangIt: Getting all the talk options with the Reyvateils, which have requirements ranging from making a certain item to going to certain places or talking to the other girls a certain number of times in a row. Made worse with the fact that a great deal of talks can be {{Permanently Missable|Content}}. Thankfully they can be acquired via multiple playthroughs. Otherwise, it would be impossible (not that all the topics are required to clear the game or the Cosmospheres).

* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: Diving into a Reyvateil's Cosmosphere both helps them craft new song magic and is an excellent form of psychotherapy. However, it can be hazardous to the Diver as they goes deeper.
* KillEmAll: According to the myths from Sol Cluster, Sieryek, son of an El nemesys sovereign, killed the King of his own kingdom and some other ruling sovereigns which included his own father. However, he couldn't kill Princess Liarsha due to his love for her, instead telling her go free. In the end, the love that she had once shared with Sieryek turned to hatred and she eventually killed him and then herself immediately afterwards. Obviously, nobody survived.

* LimitBreak: In the first game, these can be activated after guarding a Reyvateil. Specifically, if an attack requires three people to guard and your respond appropriately, the last one to guard will unleash their LimitBreak.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ar_tonelico_qoga.jpg]]

Strictly speaking, the three games are all [[RolePlayingGame Role-Playing Game]]s, though the exact specifics vary between them. They were jointly developed by Gust and Banpresto, prior to the latter's absorption into Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment; all three were also localized into English by NISA.

The initial trilogy of the series, centering around the planet of Ar Ciel and its post-apocalyptic state after a disaster called the Grathnode Inferia caused the ground to be swallowed up by poisonous clouds. As a result, humanity survives off the ground around the "three towers of Ar tonelico", which power the use of Song Magic. Such magic is usually carried out by "Reyvateils", a [[OneGenderRace all-female]] race of effective {{Artificial Human}}s.

* MultilingualSong: Many songs are sung in both Japanese and the series' {{Conlang}} Hymmnos.

A prequel pair of games to the ''Ar tonelico'' trilogy, centering around the planet Ra Ciela and its fate. Although the two games follow some different rules regarding Song Magic from ''Ar tonelico'', they follow under the same overarching Wave Theory and universe. These games were developed after Gust had merged with [[{{Koei}} Koei Tecmo]].

Developed by Gust of ''Franchise/{{Atelier}}'' series fame as the brainchild of the studio's sound team head Akira Tsuchiya, the series is known for its ''incredibly'' expansive WorldBuilding and in-series mythology, its indulgent use of {{Magitek}}, and its outstanding soundtrack involving singers with their own distinctive styles that give the series its own unique touch (seriously, just look at the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKvconPM0No openings]] for the ''Ar tonelico'' games courtesy of series regular Music/AkikoShikata).

Strictly speaking, the three games are all [[RolePlayingGame Role-Playing Game]]s, though the exact specifics vary between them. They were jointly developed by Gust and Banpresto, prior to the latter's absorption into BandaiNamcoEntertainment; all three were also localized into English by NISA.

Strictly speaking, the three games are all [[RolePlayingGame Role-Playing Game]]s, though the exact specifics vary between them. They were jointly developed by Gust and Banpresto, prior to the latter's absorption into NamcoBandai; all three were also localized into English by NISA.

** Surge Concerto is an interesting variation in that Cass's Star Singer, YoshinoNanjo, is both a singer and a voice actress, but Cass's speaking voice is a different voice actress (Inori Minase).

* GuideDangIt: Getting all the talk options with the Reyvateils, which have requirements ranging from making a certain item to going to certain places or talking to the other girls a certain number of times in a row. Made worse with the fact that a great deal of talks can be LostForever. Thankfully they can be acquired via multiple playthroughs. Otherwise, it would be impossible (not that all the topics are required to clear the game or the Cosmospheres).

** Misha [[spoiler:at least in the beginning because she de-aged herself.]]
** Beta type Reyvateils age only till [[ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty they get hot]]. Then they don't age ''at all'' and they live for about 150 years, so you do the math. There are some others better covered below by ReallySevenHundredYearsOld.

** The second game features two pair of hymns that integrates the legends of [[CrystalDragonJesus Rhaplanca]], with the EXEC part hold the first half (with a DownerEnding as a standalone), while the METHOD part holding the second part of the legend with an EarnYourHappyEnding conclusion.

** Ar Nosurge have the same guard commands, but you can only defend three times when the enemy bosses may attack more often than that. You do have more leeway for the timing however.

* [[Expy Expy]]: Nero and Zill from ''Surge Concerto'' have similar characterization to Mir and Infel from ''Ar Tonelico'', respectively.

** In ''Ciel nosurge'', [[spoiler: [[BigBad Revelt]] hates the Genom and pushes the Cielnotron's use in hopes they will die out]]. It gets worse when [[spoiler: humans start wrongly believing that the Genom caused the decay of the planet when it was really Revelt's fault]]. In ''Ar Nosurge'', the humans and Sharl have misguided ideas about each other.

* IdiotHero: Lyner.[[spoiler:Mir]] discusses in broad strokes how much his idiocy pissed her off in the sequel, despite being the primary beneficiary of it. [[spoiler:The real reason Mir resents him is that he wrote a fixit fic for Shurelia's cosmosphere due to not liking its sad original ending, giving the excuse that the story should have a happy ending because the real world had enough sadness already.]]

* Expy: Nero and Zill from ''Surge Concerto'' have similar characterization to Mir and Infel from ''Ar Tonelico'', respectively.

** Each Song Magic user has an assigned "Star Singer" who sings all of her significant plot-related songs, while a voice actress does all her dialogue. This is justified both in-universe and out; in-universe, at least in the ''Ar tonelico'' series for Reyvateils, the Tower is what actually processes the songs and it stands to reason that the songs may not necessarily reflect what their actual vocal cords produce, while as far as production is concerned the real-life singers used in the franchise have distinctive signature styles that form the crux of the series' soundtrack itself (Akiko Shikata in particular composes her own songs). Within the games, whenever characters aren't singing with to any major degree (singing to themselves, ''Ar nosurge'''s synthesis songs, etc.), it's usually the voice actor instead.