"It's a great game, but I just have one question: where's Arc?"

This game really took me by surprise. I played it one day at a Best Buy demo kiosk and decided I liked it. A couple weeks later on a vacation in Portland (great city) I buy it at EB and fell in love with it. I've always been a sucker for strategy RPGs, even though I'm not too good at them. Arc the Lad provides that same strategy feel with a lot of RPG and a nice battle system to boot.

Gameplay

I haven't yet seen a game go so far with racism. Anyway, that comes later. The game begins with Kharg of the humans beating up cute little killer monsters and doing various stuff. After a few battles you cut over to Darc, a half-man, half-Deimos. The game proceeds like this throughout, taking you through one character's chapter, then the other. The two main characters (Kharg and Darc) each have their own party members, and their own quests that intertwine in more ways than one.

The battle system is what you might expect from the strategy RPGs of old, converted into 3D. Rather than individual squares, every character (and enemy) has a circle of movement. Like 2D SRPGs, you can wander around within this circle all you want, but eventually you must stop and either attack, use an item, magic or a special attack. Something interesting is the introduction of combo attacks. When a character attacks or is attacked, they build up a sort of tension meter. When said meter is full, the character is able to perform a powerful combo attack with a second character when both are within striking distance of an enemy. Only one character is required to have maxed out tension in order to perform a combo, and these combo attacks are often the only way you can beat a boss monster without an hour of more ineffectual regular attacks.

Special attacks and magic consume spirit stones. Enemies drop spirit stones. Picking up spirit stones allows you to do more special attacks and magic. Sound simple? It is, in a way. New magic/attacks are earned by A) defeating enemies to gain skill points, which will eventually take you up through eight skill levels, and by spending said points on certain abilities. Unless you level up excessively, you won't have enough skill points for all your special moves, so picking the right move is often key.

The cast isn't very large for a SRPG, especially given games like Shining Force, FFTA, and Fire Emblem. The ones that are there, however, are unique, and have their own personality and (dark) past. The past events of both Kharg and Darc's parties are somewhat similar, and feed an intense hatred of the Deimos and humans for the respective groups. The few times these two groups get together, it very nearly comes to blows, and even late in the game they're not really able to get over their differences, even when what they want is the same thing. In the beginning, that thing is spirit stones, the game's version of fuel, but even when fuel becomes a minor want in comparison to a greater crisis, the hatred between the two races isn't diminished. While the plot to this grand epic isn't much, the moods and personalities of the characters is an interesting thing to see as they progress in their adventure.

The main story is of a decent length, though there's not much in the way of extras to extend play time. There's one major sidequest for each side, both of which consist of finding a certain number of special items over the course of the game. The arenas are certainly challenging, however. In them, you must take one or two characters (depending on the arena) and fight through a certain amount of rounds (usually a lot) with only regular and combo attacks. The prizes for making it through an entire arena challenge are exceptional. There are certain rare items that can only be won via the arenas.

Something I should note is this game isn't as tough as other SRPGs. Not to say it's too easy, as there's many battles that will test your mettle (especially the arenas). However, compared to other games like Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, etc., it won't cause you to throw your controller against the wall...as often. While that may be a turn-off to some, as an above-average strategist it's the perfect difficulty for me: just tough enough to give you a bloody lip and some bruises, but not so much that it throttles you with every step you take.

Graphics

If this weren't playing in my PS2 right now I wouldn't believe it. It's very pretty for a PS2 game, especially the character models. Kharg suffers from stiff hair (where the hair doesn't actually move, even when his head bobs up and down) but overall everyone looks really good. Allies and enemies alike are fluid, always in motion (which looks like they're hyperactive sometimes, but still). Special attacks are fun to watch, but they're not quite as flashy as some others out there. The world map is pre-rendered and similar to such maps as Chrono Cross, but it still has some activity. Clouds pass by overhead, and rivers flow through the continent. The interiors range from dark and drab to bright and very fantasy-like in design. It's all very nice to look at.

Sound

There's a lot of voicework in this game, and it's all very well done. David Lucas lends his chops to the works among others, though Darc sounds like he gargles with rocks. The music's nothing truly memorable, but enjoyable to listen to during battle. It's all a bunch of trumpets and drums, it seems. There might be a guitar thrown in at some point.

Replay Value

There's a lot of battles to get through, as well as the arena challenges. The latter will take either great strategic planning or excessive leveling up, since getting through the 20 and 30 round challenges is an accomplishment only reserved for the strong. The main game is perhaps 30-40 hours, and once you're done you can start a New Game+ that will let you start with a lot of money and certain rare items, but none of the levels you've built up. Still, the game's worth a second play-through at the least, especially considering the nice swag you get for the New Game+.

Conclusion

This title may go unnoticed by most, but it shouldn't. It's a new take on strategy RPGs, and one that works quite well. All in all, it's a solid title without many sidequest-y frills, but the main game is good enough to stand on its own merits. Considering this has since gone down to bargain bin prices, if you're a fan of this genre you would do well to pick it up and enjoy the ride.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/08/03, Updated 06/12/04