"The fourth U.S. installment of Arc the Lad impresses yet again!"

June 25, 2003- Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits sees a North American release. The games follows a previous collection of the first three "Arc" games translated by Working Designs, who are no longer in business. While certainly not expected, it is a pleasant surprise. Developer Cattle Call mixes the traditional gameplay of the old games that has attracted somewhat of a cult following while adding fresh new story ideas.

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Story 8/10
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Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits (hereby referred to as TotS) follows the story of a two boys named Kharg and Darc. Kharg lives in the peaceful human town of Yewbell where he is a member of the town's Defense Corps. led by Lloyd. Kharg will eventually follow in the footsteps of Lloyd and rise to lead the town. Darc is a Deimos, and species of magic-using monster, often shunned for looking like a human. He rises to lead the Deimos to unity. While the humans and Deimos bear an intense hatred for each other, both he and Darc will embark on separate journeys for their own personal goals. Little do they know they are beginning what can be called the typical quest to save the world.

Interestingly, the story takes place in separate chapters, with each of the two main characters getting his own part of each chapter. The two separate (but related) stories follow Darc and Kharg. Their stories will both meet eventually, giving you the opportunity to experiences both sides. Cattle Call pulls of this idea fairly well and adds interest. One moment you could be playing as Kharg and his chapter ends suddenly, only for you to find out what happens in Darc's chapter. While the story is your typical save the world type, the characters and twists the story takes is more than enough to divert your attention from the bland basis for the story. Something is always happening to keep the story going from battle to battle.

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Gameplay 8/10
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The battles are strategy-based as the series always has been. For fans of the previous Arc the Lad titles, movement on the battlefield is no longer based on grids. Instead, players have a set area that they can move in each turn and are free to move in any direction they feel. The best part by far though was the fact that each battle had story quality and advanced the story further. You could get through the entire game without level-grinding much and still be on par with the enemies. In battle, characters can perform a basic a attack or opt to use a skill or spell, the latter of which requires Spirit Stones to use. Spirits Stones, simply put, are like the Magic Points (MP) of this game. You need a certain amount of Spirit Stones to can a spell or perform a skill and your supply can be replenished either by buying them in shops or picking them from fallen enemies in battle.

The level up system is your basic traditional way. Gaining experience from battles increases your level at set increments. However, new spells and skills are gained differently. After each battle, you earn Skill Points (SP). Gaining a certain amount of SP increases your Job level, which opens up skills and spells. While not having to actually buy new skills from shops, you can only gain them by using a certain amount of SP.

While not battling, players are free to explore towns. On the world map, each town or area is connected by a line. In order to travel from one town or area to another players simply select the area they want to go to and the character automatically follows the set path. Areas may contain random battles, which are easily escaped from. Towns and cities have typical item and weapon shops and are quite small. In fact, most of the gameplay is linear, which is a big downfall for this game. Towns don't promote exploration at all and it's not difficult to figure out where to go next, as it is repeated about fifty times with flashing yellow signs around the key words, literally. Despite this, TotS manages to blend fun battles with a story that never lets up.

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Sound 7/10
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The music for each area fit it fairly well. Event music suited the situation very well, albeit the said track was used every time something bad happened, and a different track was used every time something favorable happened. Certainly, the music fit well but a little variation couldn't hurt too much, could it? While very little of the game is voiced, the parts that are are well done. I have the feeling Cattle Call wanted to avoid voice acting all together. Some of the characters in your party get about three to four lines at max and there are about seven, very short cut scenes. Most of the story is unfortunately told through text dialogue. The battle voices are well done and very clear; you can easily understand what phrases they're saying without straining your ears.

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Graphics 9/10
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For such an old games, the graphics are really quite good. The towns are well done and the battlefields are rich with detail. However, most of the character expressions are virtually non-existent. It was awkward staring at a raging Kharg and seeing his expression almost the same as when he's happy. Battle animations were solid, and it's obvious of a lot of time and effort went into this part. Whether it's Darc slashing up a monster or casting a spell, they were all done well, with each skill and spell having a unique animation. There's not much of a noticeable different between ingame graphics and the cutscene graphics as well, but overall, the graphics are done well. While the cutscenes could've been done better, TotS has much more to offer than graphics.

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Replay: Low-Medium
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Upon finishing TotS, there's not much the game has to offer, and admittedly, the game gets stale the second time through. It's one of those games that you can take out four or five years from now and thoroughly enjoy it again though.

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Buy or Rent?
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Overall, buy this game if you get the chance. Nowadays, the price is low enough that even if you don't enjoy the game, it's not too big of a deal. If you've been a fan of the previous Arc the Lad games, don't miss the chance to buy this game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/20/07