"At long last, the Arc series reaches Europe with an excellent RPG"

Sony´s Arc the Lad RPG series has gained considerably popularity in Japan ever since the release of part 1 in the early days of the PlayStation. After all, it was one of the first RPGs to hit Sony´s then new console, which might be one of the reasons for its success. But unfortunately, neither this game nor its two predecessors reached western shores until the release of Working Designs´ impressive "Arc the Lad Collection" package. Only in the US, though, as European gamers once again missed an entry in the series. And now, with the series´ first PlayStation 2 installment "Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits", Sony finally decided to provide Europeans with an Arc game as well. But was it worth the wait?

"Most definitely" is the only possible answer here, and the reasons for my happiness about the European release already start with the storyline. Despite Arc´s reputation of being a traditional RPG series, the basic outline of the story is quite intriguing and unusual, even though the very beginning might not really hint at that. You start the game as Kharg, the son of a famous and beloved heroine whom the inhabitants of his village admire beyond compare, and Kharg himself enjoys a good life as well, being everybody´s darling. One day, while Kharg is fighting off some intruding Deimos - a race of humanoid monsters with a wide variety of appearances - together with his childhood friend Paulette, her father and Kharg´s mentor is killed by a Deimos, after which Kharg´s hatred toward the Deimos is being fueled even further, and he vows to take revenge on them, much to his mother´s dismay, as we will find out later. So far, so traditional and cliched. But now comes the twist in the storyline. Instead of following Kharg from this point on, we cut to Darc, a Deimos resembling a human much more than any of his other Deimos fellows. He´s leading the exact opposite of Kharg´s life: he´s despised by the other Deimos and is slave to an ugly frog girl. But Darc is just about to start a journey that will change his life, as he attempts to erase the human race and gain the respect of his fellow Deimos in the process, with his ultimate goal being the unification of all Deimos tribes and becoming king of the Deimos. From this point on, you will constantly change between Darc´s and Kharg´s point of view until the two and their parties eventually meet each other...an event that is really cool not only story-wise, but also in terms of gameplay, I can assure you. This constant change of perspectives between two completely different races is exactly what makes this story so intriguing and absolutely engrossing, learning to know both sides of the conflict taking place in the world of Arc. Sure, the Kharg scenario as well as the characters who join him on his way might be more than cliched and stereotypical, but the incredibly fascinating Darc scenario more than makes up for this. There, you play as a character who is not the beloved uber-hero. Here, you experience the darker side of life, and the characters Darc meets are equally fascinating, be it the strangely sexy Delma or the weird puppet-like girl Bebedora. Actually, the Darc storyline alone grants the plot of TotS a high rating, not only because of its bizarre environments and characters, but also because of the great way of storytelling being displayed here.

The basic gameplay of Arc the Lad is pretty old school to say the least, as it follows the usual RPG formula of exploring towns and dungeons. Unfortunately, your room for exploration is rather limited, leaving you with only few secrets or puzzles in the towns and dungeons to discover and solve. As for the world map, there isn´t much for you to explore either, as you can only move on a prescribed route, with random battles popping up every now and then. Obviously, the main focus of Arc lies on the storyline and the battle system. And even though the combat system might be rather unusual for a "normal" RPG, the game really does succeed in that regard as well. The way you move your characters and cast attacks and spells is quite similar to the basic system of a tactical RPG like Phantom Brave, and it works wonderfully, allowing you to coordinate your attacks and spells on the grid based battlefield in the best way possible. Like in Phantom Brave, your weapons and spells also have their own grid fields, and if you try to attack an enemy, the grid of your weapon has to overlap with the one of your foe, and you will be able to hit him. If you´re lucky, you can also hit two enemies or more at once that way, making the tactical aspect even more intriguing.

Taking a close look at the visuals in Arc the Lad: TotS makes it clear that the series indeed has evolved. Gone are the 16-Bit like bitmap sprites and locations, replaced by beautiful 3D visuals with an unadjustable camera (which did not bother me at all). Every single town and dungeon in this game is easy on the eyes and a joy to look at, abounding with lively colors and details in Kharg´s world and unique but cool locations in the Darc scenario, making the gap between these two worlds really visible. The character models are among the best in any RPG for the PlayStation 2, and especially the facial expressions and details are sometimes even stunning. The only negative aspect in this regard are the slightly exaggerated gestures of some of the characters that can seem kinda ridiculous at times, but they do not detract much from the beauty of the graphics. On the contrary, the special effects seen in the battles only make the visual impact of Arc even stronger, creating an a fairy tale like feel that really draws you even more into the story. Certainly among the best the PS2 has to offer in terms of visuals!

When it comes to the music in this game, Arc the Lad once again fully succeeds. Every single piece fits the current situation perfectly, and there is an interesting change of the musical style between the Darc and the Kharg story. In Darc´s scenario, the music is rather unique and almost bizarre sometimes, underlining the strange touch this world has. The music in Kharg´s scenario, on the other hand, is more adventurous and heroic in a way that is very similar to the first Grandia (even though the music in Grandia was a little happier), and that is definitely a good thing. As for the voice acting, the European version provides gamers with the nice option of choosing between English, German, French, Italian and Spanish voice acting, and at least the English and German voice actors do a pretty good job, making the cutscenes sound professional. Overall, Arc does an excellent job in this department, even if the music is not on par with compositions of games like Grandia, Xenosaga or the Chrono series.

Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits might not be among the very best RPGs for PS2 like Final Fantasy X, Xenosaga or Star Ocean, but Sony most definitely delivered a more than enjoyable gaming experience. The storyline alone will keep you hooked for weeks to come, and in that regard, Arc might very well be in the RPG elite. Apart from its great story, Arc is a well playable and enjoyable RPG every should give a try at least. Indeed, the wait for a European release of an Arc the Lad game was more than worth it!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/30/06