“It’s like they wanted Eurobeat on kazoos.”
Resetera.com member hwarang caused a stir when they shared what they described as “quite possibly one of the worst jrpg battle themes ever.” Hwarang’s ear-splitting discovery quickly rose to the most popular spot on the gaming forum, where it still enjoyed front page prominence at the time of writing.
The video clip shared in the original post includes a few snippets of music from a PlayStation 3 JRPG called Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel.
Before scrolling down and clicking play, I must warn you. The sounds on the other end of that mouse click will haunt you for the rest of your days. It’s like tinnitus. You can’t undo the damage. You have been warned. We are not responsible for the burden that you are about to place upon your own psyche.
Other JRPG submissions in the thread that vied for the title of the The Worst included tracks from Chrono Cross, Ancient Roman, Shin Megami Tensei 4: Apocalypse, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, and The Last Story. Though, honestly, none of these other entries have anywhere near the same cacophonous, chaotic energy of the Ar Tonelico Qoga soundtrack.
You can see the whole thread for yourself here.
Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel was published by Bandai Namco in Japan and NIS America in North America for the PlayStation 3. It was released in January 2010 and March 2011, respectively.
What do you think? Report back in and let us know in the comments if you can do worse than Ar Tonelico III.
