Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits

"Enough for Fans Dedicated to the Series"

When I first heard of Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits, I thought to myself, ''Hoorah! Another Arc the Lad, and on the PS2, at that.'' Then, I realized something. This game was produced by a completely different company. Although still published by SCEA, the producing company was Cattle Call. I said to myself, ''Hell no! I aint buying that peice crap.'' So I rented it, still being a fan of the series. I was so amazed by it, I bought it. After playing through the first time I decided to submit this review.

Story

This is the reason I love this series. Although they are always so similar the storylines are always great. In this Arc game you alternate between the two Half-Deimos, Half-Human brothers Kharg and Darc. Some of you may be asking ''Deimos? WTF?''. According to the game the Deimos evolved from monsters and posed a threat to humans (Who created monsters BTW) so the humans shunned them away and every continent on the planet was split between Deimos and Humans. You start playign as Kharg. Kharg grew up with humans who knew nothing of his heritage (neither does he the naive moron!). Kharg was raised by his mother who's taboo topic is his Father. Also ex-royalty of the local nation, Nidellia, he is protected by a small defense force who insists that, although they taught him to fight, he not fight. His hometown's Spirit Stone mine (Humans use spirit stones as a source of power for their homes) is attacked by Deimos. To sum it up his friends father (and his father figure) is killed by Deimos wanting revenge for his family (Who the Father-dude just killed). This results in Kharg wanting to kill all Deimos and he sets out to prepare to do so. Meanwhile, you play Darc, too. Darc actually looks like he's a half-blood and is raised by a Deimos called Geedo after his father dies. Geedo considers Darc her slave and even puts a collar around him to choke him with using magic and even chains him up and beats him (I still think she likes the bondage stuff). This results in Darc being introverted and angry almost through the entire game. It also results in an extremely useful cunning which pops out of him throughout the game. When you get to play him he is sent out on a couple of errands and gets tied into killing humans and meets up with a few Deimos who are after a memento his father gave him on his deathbed along with the message to save the Deimos. Darc ends up learning the hard way (Having his wing pulled off and a couple other traitorous acts) that Deimos are not easy to save with words. So he decides to conquer them all and use them to wipe out the Humans and keep the Deimos supreme over the world. Meanwhile, both of the brother end up going up against not only each other, but the Dilzweld empire who are after the Five Great Spirit stone that, when gathered, will unlock unlimited power. So in short it all a big quest for these five stones. I give the storyline a 10 out of 10 cause its damn good.

Gameplay

Same old innovative Arc the Lad good old tactical style battle system. This time it's in 3D! That means no more of that annoying move only on the sqare grid crap. This was very pleasing to me after playing Arc 3 on my Playstation all the way through. I can actually attack the enemy from any direction now! Well except above and below (How I wish could have!). The only annoying thing about the battles is those cursed spirit stones. They act as your MP stat. Just one problem, they don't recharge like a stat, they're items! If you thought keeping your MP up in the other Arc the Lad games, then run away and never try playing this game again. If you thought it was a cinch (Like me) then this game will actually challenge you. Aside from the battle system there are the puzzles. These are virtually non-existent, and the ones that do exist are too easy to be talked about. The only puzzle you get stuck on are the one that had potential to be more complex and were just very VERY basic. So if you like the old dungeon puzzles, go play Zelda (I know it's an adventure game, but play it and you'll see what I mean). So overall Gameplay I give a 8 out of 10 for sheer tradtion of the series.

Graphics

OMFG!(That was out of character) The graphics are amazing when you see the backgrounds. Too bad they didn't last the entire game. The mouth dropping graphics give you a jolt to realize that you're playing Arc the Lad, the series that does great at everything in graphics well except the actual charcters! For once I would of loved to see Darc's mouth move somewhat realistically or possibly do something other than grab that birthmark of his or do that shocked look outside of Cut-Scenes and battles. Other than that everything is very smooth and flowing. The lighting effects need a little work. For example when Darc steps into light coming through stained glass windows he doesn't even remotely showw change in color from it. He just seems to glow. I give Graphics a 7 out of 10 as it just needs work.

Sound

I am the sound monger. I will hate a game if it's sound sucks! Why? Because in RPGs the sound is the key to make the storyline better. This game went a little beyond that and used the great music that fans of this series love. Including the traditional opening song. The games theme, ''That there may be a soul'', was geniusly devised and placed in the right spots. I exspecially loved how Lilia got to sing it in the middle of a bunch of Deimos! When it plays at the end credits it made me want to beat the annoying final boss-dude again just to hear the whole thing through again. Regular music gets repetitive from time to time, but it's still a good soundtrack. That's why I give sound a good ole 9 out of 10.

Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits proves that it is worthy of the series. At least for me, the one who came in hostile and, after a few gameplay hours, ended up falling in love with the game. If it's that good it deserves definite recommendation. I mean come on Everquest couldn't even change my mind about it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/01/03