Worried that Ar Tonelico Qoga was going to abandon the series’ longstanding staples of suggestive jokes and tantalizing teases? Don’t be. If anything, Qoga takes it even farther than the first two games — far enough, in fact, to score a “Mature” rating from the U.S. games rating board, the ESRB.
What drove the ESRB to slap the game with NIS America’s first ever “M” rating? Stripteases and pulling magical crystals out of suggestive female genitals, amongst other things. Here’s the rating:
This is a role-playing game in which players control a character named Aoto, an apprentice who becomes entangled in a three-way war on the fantastical planet of Ar Ciel. Players roam through towns and use swords and magical attacks to engage monsters and human-like enemies in hand-to-hand combat. Battles are accompanied by punches, kicks, colorful light effects, and loud cries of pain; enemies collapse or disappear in brief flashes of light when defeated. Some power moves cause female characters’ clothes to vanish in layers; the characters are often depicted holding (covering) their breasts, wearing only underwear, or standing behind strips of light that obscure their genitals.
In one cutscene, male characters encourage a woman to strip (e.g., "Uh . . . do I have to take off even more clothes…?" and "Quit teasing us and do it already!"); another sequence depicts a male character "removing" a magical crystal from a female character—this scene is accompanied by suggestive moans and comments (e.g., "Aoto’s putting his hand inside Soma" and "Fumble around every inch inside of her . . . you will find what you’re looking for . . . !"). One brief cutscene depicts a female character’s exposed buttocks. The words "sh*t," "a*shole," and "b*tch," appear in the dialogue.
Ar Tonelico Qoga doesn’t have a finalized release date yet, but Gamefly have it listed for a March release. Meanwhile, Europe are getting Ar Tonelico Qoga on March 25th. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more of the game in the weeks to come.
