Story
2000 Years before. The existence of the "steller memory," the record of the planet's birth to its destruction was confirmed in the discovery of the Seventh Fonime*. A war begins on the planet Oldland in dispute over the steller memory. The war stretch on, exhausting the earth and filling the air with poison. Obeying the prediction of the onritsushi Yuria Juwe, who can read the steller memory, the people seal the miasma in the earth to avoid extinction.
Time flows. Nowadays...
The world is divided between two huge countries, the Kimuelasca Lanvaldear Kingdom and the Marct Empire, maintaining a dangerous balance of peace. The hearts of the people are ruled not by the kings of the countries but by the prophecy ("Score") issued by the Church of Lorelei, which safeguards the teachings of Yuria.
*misspelling of phoneme; just nod and smile
Flex-Range Linear Motion Battle System
ToA's battle system is in full 3D like ToS's Multi-Line LMBS, but you can push a button to put your controlled character in "free run" mode, in which you can move around freely.
There's a "free target" system, which gives you the option to target spells on an area instead of centering it on an enemy. You can use this to hit the maximum amount of enemies or to avoid hitting another nearby enemy that you don't want to attack yet.
FOF Henka (FOF Change) [Field of Fonimes].... The use of elemental attacks causes fonimes (elements) to buildup on the battle field, and once it reaches a certain amount, a circle appears. Using a certain skill within the circle can cause the skill to be upgraded to a stronger elemental version. Note that both allies and enemies can take advantage of this.
There's an OVERLIMITS feature similar to Symphonia's except that you can see the guage and, once the guage full, you choose when to activate it instead of it happening automatically.
AD Skills (Additional Skills) are unique battle skills you can learn at via level-up, such as "Free-Run" and "Over Limits." There are some AD Skills that can only be learned by level-up in cunjuction with Capacity Core. (AD Skills can be turned on an off. There does not appear to be any limit to how many you can have turned on.) When you level up while equipped with the C. Core you get on adventures, the character gets bonus a stat boost in addition to the usual growth value and can get an AD skill.
You can use the FS (Fone Slot) Chambers to add special effects to your skills and spells, such as extra damage to enemies or faster recovery time after casting.
Yes, it's confirmed multiplayer. Up to four people with a multitap.
Misc Info
The theme song is "Karma" by the group Bump of Chicken.
