Agreed with the bit on the number of vanguards. However, I disagree on the fact the game was terrible and even the songs were weak, considering that it had jewels on the levels of Singing Hill ~Harmonics TILIA~, Windstone, Arphage, Fusionsphere, Cosmoflips, Rebirthia Protocol, Hymmeli and all of the songs that play during the battle with the final boss, not to mention each of the four ending themes. Aside of that, while the first half of the plot seems to be a series of disconnected events, in the end all of them make sense and lead to the conclusion of the entire series, also bringing full-circle the worldbuilding the developers started with the first game.


Saki is the only character that really didn't have much development, which had to do with the fact that the developers wanted to make her as the only girl that was entirely pure in the franchise, which was to be a large point of contrast to Finnel's myriad of issues, not to mention that the girls in the previous game had so many psychological problems buried in their minds as well as flaws, that they thought it would be refreshing to have a girl that didn't have much of a dark side in her. I think it doesn't need to be said that it backfired.


In this point we both agree.

This one doesn't make a lick of sense, as the only character who actually attempts to commit suicide in that game is Finnel, and even then, that chase sequence doesn't last beyond a few minutes.

Although actually these two titles do make sense in the context of their respective games.




!!SPOILERS FOR BOTH GAMES BELOW!!

"Qoga" translates to "end, finale, demise, death" from Hymmnos, and is a very direct clue to the fact that the game is not only the finale for the Ar tonelico series, but also to the fact that this is the one that decides the fate of the world of Ar Ciel. To put it simply, anything short from attaining any of the four true endings, and the planet dies together with everything living in it. As for "Ar tonelico", it has meant "The Only Divine Tree" since the first game, making a reference not only to the Ttwers being a symbolical representation of the Yggddrasil (world tree), but also to the fact that they are the only place in which life can continue existing and thrive after the catastrophe that destroyed the surface of Ar Ciel and rendered it uninhabitable. Maybe it have been better to leave it as Ar tonelico III, but still isn't as unwieldy as having translated the entire title literally. Or does something like "The Only Divine Tree Finale: Knell of the Only World" sound better?

As for Radiant Historia, if I recall correctly, the main goal of the game is to create an ideal timeline in which the world doesn't perish in the end due to the desertification. And well, we all know what "Radiant" means, while "Historia" is the Spanish, Italian, Portuguese (and several other romance languages) word for "History", all of which descend from the Greek word ἱστορία (istoria). So we can reduce the name to "Shining History", with the title referring to the ideal timeline that the characters are trying to create in it. Likewise, the place from which the traveling between the timelines and to different points inside them is called "Historia" as well.

!!END SPOILERS!!



Personally, I don't really think that a strange title has actual bearing on the sales of a game. Most people will actually look at the cover, read the summary on the back or seek information online before trying to buy anything.