Arc the Lad Collection

"3 great games and 1 expansion..."

The wait has finally paid off. People in North America can finally play this great series. Don't let the graphics fool you because these are 3 great games. Underneath the ancient graphics are great stories and a great battle system. Let me just tell you why the games are so great.

Arc the Lad:This is the game that started it all. You control Arc and with his 6 companions you go around the world trying to figure out exactly why everything is falling apart. The thing I didn't like about Arc 1 is that it was VERY linear expect for 1 optional dungeon you are lead around by the nose for most of the game.

The battle system is great though. If you have played games like Shining Force or even Final Fantasy Tactics then you will be right at home playing Arc the Lad. If you attack from the front you will not attack for much damage, but if you attack from the sides or rear then you will attack for much more damage without the fear of counter attack.

Arc the Lad 1 is more or a prologue of things to come and you won't be playing it for more than 10-15 hours at the most. It is a good game and it serves it's purpose.

Arc the Lad 2:Now this is what Arc the Lad 1 should have been. If you saw the ''Making of Disc'' that was included in the package you will have noted that Arc the Lad 1 and 2 were meant to be 1 game. Sony pressured G-Craft to release a game for the fledgling Playstation ASAP so they had to split the game in 2.

Arc the Lad 2 has a ton of things to do. You can capture monsters Ala Pokemon and train them as party members and even battle them in the included Arc Arena.

Arc 2 is a serious game and continues the story from Arc the Lad 1 while introducing new characters.

A nice feature that was in Arc 2 is the Hunter Guild. You take various jobs for some extra cash on the side, you can also search for various wanted monsters.

Arc 2 is a difficult game but at the end it just becomes frustrating. Monsters will have be 20 levels higher then you that I didn't really mind, what I did mind is that monsters constantly counter attacked and I am not just talking about frontal attacks either. Every physical attack at the end of the game can be countered regardless of what side you attacked from.

Even those Arc 2 has a few faults they still aren't so annoying as to make the game bad. It is a great game that you will be played for 50-70 hours.

Arc the Lad 3:This game went a bit backwards instead of forward. The leveling up of weapons and armor was removed and you now just buy your weapons from a shop like any other RPG. You can no longer capture monsters and train them, now you turn them into cards which you can summon to attack monsters.

Arc 3 is more of a lighter when tone compared to Arc 2. It has more humor. It isn't a bad thing just a departure from the previous 2 games.

This game continues the idea of the Hunter Guild started in Arc 2. But this time that is the main focus of the game so you only get a bit of the story every 4-6 hours. That might annoy some people.

Well that is my review. I suggest that if you like RPGs that you buy Arc The Lad Collection. 70 dollars isn't much for this collection.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/19/02, Updated 05/19/02