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  • So, uh, what's an 'Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel' anyway?

    by 
    Ben Gilbert
    Ben Gilbert
    02.15.2011

    As you know, our primary goal here at Joystiq is to provide you with a thorough, clear, and contextualized picture of video game news. It's with that in mind that we asked NIS America to explain the ... somewhat bizarre name of its forthcoming RPG, Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel. We've been ribbing the game's title internally for some time now. And hey, can you blame us? It's nigh indecipherable! A NIS representative described the title as a "jumble of seemingly random letters," so we're not exactly alone in this. Anyway, NIS America reps kindly provided us with the breakdown of name that you see below, presented unedited: "Break down for Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel: 'Qoga' means "finale" or 'termination.' 'Knell' is like a chime that signals the passing of someone or something. 'Ar Ciel' is a name of a world. 'Ar Tonelico' is an artificial world tree (Yggdrasill). We wanted to use 'Knell' to indicate that this is the finale of the series because 'chime the signals the passing of something' is [the] perfect way of expressing the finale of [the] Ar Tonelico series." Still confused? We were too. Thankfully, NIS reps escalated their efforts several steps further, offering a detailed explanation -- as well as a bit of sympathy to confused readers -- directly from script writer Steven Carlton. "Many people may look at the title Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel and wonder what that jumble of seemingly random letters means," Carlton told us. "There are a few key terms from the game in the title, mainly Ar Tonelico and Ar Ciel."%Gallery-114535%