Metascore
71 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 17 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 17
  2. Negative: 2 out of 17
  1. Combat is overly long and easy, and once you get the correct IPDs, the only reason you'll take damage is because of the annoying lag. The plotline is fairly boring and predictable, and most of the characters are humdrum clichés or have no personalities at all.
  2. Pretty girls? Check. Effeminate guy? Check. Enthralling experience? Mehhh, not really.
User Score

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 44 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. RockKroc
    10
    I am ammending my score. Previously I had scored this game a 7 due to the now (in)famous glitch near the end of the game. Owners of various cheat-devices, however, are now able to include a simple code which "fixes" the bug. This code is easily searchable on Google. My score is now a 10 for a remarkably superb game experience. Full Review »
  2. I can appreciate a good old Gust game once in a while, perhaps not to the point where I can suffer through 2 of them back to back but these games have a certain charm to them that I just can't find in any other games. Be it the cheesy dialogue that can only come from the mind of a japanese developper, the use of adorable sprites wich Gust are known for in almost all of their PS2 titles, the recurring sound effects and environments, all of these things contribute to a smile forming on my mug when I play these games, and Ar Tonelico II was no different. After having played and thoroughly enjoyed the first game in the series, I had very high hopes for this one, and it mostly did not disappoint. The soundtrack is typical Gust, beautiful and sweet, the hymns alone are worth buying the soundtrack for (or if you're lucky and got the collector's edition you already have it). The story, while cheesy is memorable and will keep you interested for the most part, overall there is nothing fundamentally wrong with this game, game play has been dumbed down, which saddened me somewhat and combat has been easy in any Gust game to date, no point in complaining about that now. I do however have one major complaint, the localization... oooh boy did NISA screw up with this game, I would go as far to say that if I were the translator for this game, I would be utterly ashamed of myself. I have seen typos in games before, it happens to the best, but some of the text in this game is littered with mistakes, ranging from typos to mixing up genders to even grammatical errors that would make a 12 year old cringe. Suffice to say that in a game relying mostly on text for dialogue, this becomes very annoying rather quickly, and while not game breaking whatsoever, I must say that the localization for this game feels incredibly unprofessional if not downright a complete mess, wich is strange for a game coming from a company wich has delivered amazing localizations so far. Overall I would recommend this game to die hard RPGamers, casual gamers might find this game just a tad too japanese for their tastes, but it is still worth a try at the very least. Though I will warn you, if you're someone who can't stand spelling errors, stay far away from this title, you will not live through it. Full Review »
  3. One of my favorite PS2 game, and one of my favorite game of all the time, a really good game, with an amazing songs, and very good character, and I liked very well the story; I really love this game. Full Review »