Arc the Lad Collection

"So much gaming..."

I have been an avid PSX RPG fan since the days of Beyond the Beyond.. I hated that game, but it looked so good compared to everything else out there at the time, I played it anyway. I remember waaaay back in the day when a game called Arc the Lad was coming to America. It was touted as a new era in RPG's, the beginning of a franchise, something to rival SquareSoft's lines of games. It had a unique battle system, fantastic sprite-based gameplay, and the kind of strategy not so much seen in early PSX games (compared to the likes of Loaded, Twisted Metal, and Jumping Flash).

It never came to the states, and in fact it seemed that American audiences would once again get snubbed and deprived of yet another set of titles that no one seemed to want to bring over, regardless of potential profit. Now, some 5 years after the release of the original, our friends overseas have finally wizened up and brought this collection to our shelves - consisting of all 3 of the AtL games that never made it here to the States, as well as all the extras and neat little touches expected of Working Designs a la the Lunar PSX reworks.

Graphics on these games are admittedly dated, as they are first- and second-generation titles, with the possible exception of AtL3 which still looks pretty good, the voice acting decent, and the gameplay still somewhat original though done before to an extent. The first game in the series is disappointingly short, and as a stand-alone I'd be mighty angry at it's short playability fuse. However when taking into consideration that there are two more games to play to finish this series (three, if you count the nifty Battle Arena add-on disc), and that you get to take your old characters with you to the next game, it makes it almost like a prelude or a long first chapter of the other two games. Being able to take your characters to the next game is the sole saving grave for the first game in the series, as its 10-hour duration doesn't warrant a purchase by itself.. a good indication as to why it never came here to the states. The second game is decidedly longer, weighing in around 30-40 hours, and looks and plays a lot better than the first. Still dated, but very good storyline and a feeling of continuity comes with bringing those old characters with you to the new game. The third in the series looks completely different than the first game, with crisper polygonal graphics and good voice acting. The battle system seems to have gotten a very slight overhaul too, making battles a bit quicker to go through.. a good thing, as this last game will take you around 50 hours to finish for the average gamer. The Battle Arena disc is a nifty add-on, really more of a novelty than a stand-alone game, and adds a bunch of replayability to the series after you have beaten the single-player missions.

Overall, this is an RPG fan's delight, with plenty of strategy-based and story-driven gameplay to keep you occupied for weeks. Kudos to Working Designs for opting to publish this in the States, smart move even if it was at the end of the PSX's life span. Better late than never, I say.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/09/03, Updated 07/09/03