While each Ar tonelico game has their own unique gameplay, a few major gameplay features are consistent across all three games.
Exploration
In the Ar tonelico series exploration consists mostly of towns and dungeons, with the world map only acting as a menu to select different locations and can not be explored on foot.
Towns
Towns in the Ar tonelico series consist of points of interest. Players explore the town by selecting a point of interest to load and explore a section of the town.
Dungeons
Each non-town section of the world is considered a dungeon, which has monsters and treasure that hinder the players path. Unlike many RPG with random encounters, Ar tonelico uses a system that is unique to Gust games. As you walk around a dungeon, a bar in the lower corner will start blue and turn red over time. The closer to red, the more likely you are to encounter a random encounter.
Cosmospheres
Reyvateils have a unique space in their minds known as a Cosmosphere or Soulspace. By heading to a Dive Shop, players can enter the mind of a Reyvateil and learn more about the girl to create a stronger bond and increase her magic. In order to complete a Cosmosphere, players obtain Dive Points (DP) from battle and then use DP to visit locations within the Reyvateil Soulspace.
Similar to Japanese visual novels, which put great emphasis on dialogue and character development, the objective is usually to resolve their inner doubts and concerns.
Talk Topics
Talk Topics are where the bulk of character development occurs in the Ar tonelico series. As players complete unknown objectives and rest at inns, they can talk to the Reyvateils in the party for interesting and sometimes funny conversations.
Combat
While combat is different in each Ar tonelico game, these main features remain the same:
- The active party consists of up to three fighters and one Reyvateil.
- Reyvateils fight by singing song magic which increases the longer she sings.
- At the end of battle the player gains Experience Points, Dive Points, and Items.
While the first two games consist of a 2D plane in which the party fights in turn-based fashion, Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel's combat is done in real time on a 3D field.
