Every gamer knows that Japanese players have the possibility to play games or whole series of games that will never be released in the rest of the world. Sometimes these games are only minor productions designed for the Japanese market, but it also happens that major games fails to reach the U.S. stores because of mysterious publishing policies.
That’s exactly what happened with the Arc The Lad series, one of the most popular RPG series to ever hit the PlayStation in Japan. The first Arc The Lad was released in Japan in 1995 as one of the launch titles for the newborn Playstation. The series continued with Arc The Lad II (1996) and Arc The Lad III, released a couple of years ago in Japan.
Thankfully, Working Designs has decided to publish this magnificent series in a unique collection for PsOne. The Arc The Lad Collection is currently scheduled for an April 2002 release. The special package will contain a selection of goodies with no precedents on Playstation.
The Arc The Lad Collection
The package features six CDs containing four full games (Arc The Lad, Arc The Lad II, Arc The Lad III, Arc The Lad Arena) for more than 100 hours of gameplay, a special documentary CD on the “Making Of Arc The Lad Collection”, a hardcover 150 pages leatherette instruction manual, and an extra box containing 22 character mini-standees, a custom plastic memory card holder embossed with a character from the game and four custom analog thumb button covers. The whole package should retail for $74.99.
There is more than a characteristic in these games that gives this special collection a sense. First of all, the stories of the first two episodes are continuative, and the first Arc The Lad can be considered an introduction to the epic journey of Arc The Lad II; Arc the Lad III takes place many years after the events of the first two episodes and features a series of new heroes. Save data can be transferred from one game to the following episode; in this way, you can enhance your party from the very beginning in the second and third instalment. Adding to that, in Arc The Lad II you can collect monsters on your memory card and use them in Arc The Lad Arena bonus game, where you can build up your characters’ stats for use in Arc The Lad II.
But let’s take a closer look at the games.
Arc The Lad
The game was released in 1995. Working Designs enhanced the original version introducing the support for Dualshock control, transparent menu windows and extra save slots.
The game tells a classic, epic story in which a team of young heroes has to save the world from the evil forces of the country of Romalia. Arc is a young boy that according to a legend will bring Earth and Heaven out of the darkness. Arc has to find six companions in this first adventure: Kokuru, the priestess, Tosh, the rebel warrior, Gogen, the magician, Iga, the priest, Chongara, who has the ability to summon creatures, the musician Poco. The party of heroes will need the help of the five Guardians of the world in order to succeed in their quest.
Make no mistake here. Arc The Lad is a classic Role playing experience, far away form the complexity of recent RPGs released on PsOne. Anyhow, after more than five years, the Japanese game is still highly enjoyable. Explorations are present, but they don't represent the core of the game. In the game there are no weapons, no armors and no shops or money to spend. The game is mainly a strategic RPG based on massive strategic battles in which you control a party of seven characters who can use abilities and spells that are upgraded proceeding in the adventure. Many characters have also special abilities; as I said before, Chongara can summon a creature to join the party during the fight.
Arc The Lad is the shortest game in the series. You’ll need only ten hours to successfully complete game. Anyhow, the game will include an extra bonus dungeon introduced for a better replay value. Adding to that, all save data can be transferred into Arc The Lad II.
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The graphics are in 2D |
The backgrounds are nicely detailed |
Arc The Lad II
Arc The Lad II picks up the story where the first instalment left off, but this game is definitely much more complex. New characters, new enemies, new dangers are introduced; the story culminates in a final showdown that will determine the fate of all the heroes of the series.
Exploration is more important in this new episode. The world of the game is huge, filled with towns, dungeons and secrets for more than 60 hours of gameplay. You can buy weapons, objects and level up them by fighting. Items can be also combined in order to create new weapons, while the ones stored in your savegame from the previous instalment can be obtained in Chongara’s Shop. The game has a large number of optional side-quests and a special Guild system which lets you accept one of the many different jobs available to earn money.
The game also features a special monster-catching ability that lets you control enemies and save them in your memory card to play in the included bonus game, Arc The Lad Arena.
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The adventure continues! |
The world of Arc The Lad II is huge |
Arc The Lad Arena
In this bonus game you can fight in a special arena using up to 12 monsters among the ones you have captured in Arc The Lad II. The game includes many different gameplay modes (Battle Arena, Vs. Battle, Tournament) and lets you build up your characters’ stats to strengthen your party in Arc The Lad II. You can also challenge your friends; each of the players can use the monsters stored in his/her memory card.
Completing the game you can unlock additional extra modes and find exclusive extra items that can be used in Arc The Lad II.
Arc The Lad III
This big game was released a couple of years ago in Japan and it comes on two CDs. This third adventure in the series uses a good graphic engine in which 3D polygonal backgrounds are mixed with nice hand-drawn 2D character models and brilliant spell effects; CG cutscenes are introduced to narrate the most spectacular moments in the game.
Save data from Arc The Lad II can still be used here, but the game features completely new characters. The story takes place many years after the events of the preceding episode. The game offers multiple paths depending on your skills, and a new battle system. For example, by using the “Cardish” ability, players can collect Monster Cards and use their abilities in battle; you can synthesize new weapons, armor and items in the game.
Arc The Lad III also includes a mini game named “Choko Time!”. This can be played either in-game or on the PocketStation. Playing “Choko Time!” you can unlock new useful items for your party.
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The third instalment features CG cutscenes... |
...3d environments and special effects |
There is no need to say that this is one of the most impressive all-in-one packages ever to grace a gaming console. That’s why we decided to suggest it to our readers at Ps2Fantasy.com. Thanks to the backward compatibility of Sony’s new console, all the ones who own a Playstation 2 will be able to enjoy this amazing release.
Stay tuned on Ps2Fantasy.com for a review of the Arc The Lad Collection. For more screenshots, follow the link below.
- Harry (March 19th, 2002)
