"Man, am I the only person who saw the HUGE flaw here?"

Alright, I'll try and be as fair as possible, but the side of my head where I pulled my hair out in sheer rage is making that difficult. This game is frustrating to no end, and it took 3 playthroughs for me to ever finish it. Ugh. This review sounds very biased, or written in a bad mood, but it's not. This is weeks after my last playthrough, and I am giving my honest and heartfelt opinion. I have analyzed this game as best I could, several times, and this is what I see.

Story 7
Alright, first off, it's pretty handy if you have played the first Arc the Lad. This is a direct sequal, in that it continues the story probably weeks after the first one. But it also has alot of new characters and places to explore, so don't worry about that. The story itself is pretty hokey; evil thing being released, must kill. That's almost expected nowadays. However, they did a fairly good job in surprising with twists and adding more to the evil empire thing than the classic "they conquered this and that country". Why a 7, then? Well, frankly, it never got my interest. It's similar to how many feel when reading something about advanced technology; it sounds cool and all, but it's just not really you're personal interest. Arc the Lad II came off the same way; that's interesting, but do I really care?

Characters 5
Usually, as in the case of Lunar, characters make up for so-so story. Whether they are funny, deep, or well-developed, good characters can make a mediocre game enjoyable. But that wasn't really here. Some of the characters were pretty good and had relations to the story. But, even if you count what you learn in the first AtL game, most of the characters are kinda "there", or they have their 15 minutes of fame. Most of them have little development, and only a few characters are likeable and entertaining.

Exploration and Stuff 6
This game, unlike the first one, does allow you to walk around the map and the towns to do stuff. There are shops, there are places to modify your equipment (alot of time and money to do, but often worth it), and people to talk to. It's a 6 because, well, it's mostly irrelevant. You don't find a whole lot of stuff and the only things to do are shop or work. Work? I haven't mentioned that, have I. In this game, you will have a main source of income; basically being a mercenary. You will go the "Hunter's Guild" and grab job's that 99% of the time involve fighting. Most are easy, some take longer, and some of them are chain quests where you have to do one to get to the next. My only complaint is that some of the jobs you take can't be done for a LONG time, but you can only have so many at once. It's a real pain.

Battle 8/0
Alright, I'll explain that score soon enough. First off, this game is a tactical, turn-based RPG. The screen is split into a grid which your characters and the enemy move around on. Every guy has a limit to how many squares they can move, and every attack has a range of how far they can hit. Basically, you whach each other till someone wins. It's a pretty tried-and-true system however. Each character has different spells/moves to use, and you have to balance out your MP usage. One problem is that your strong characters will wipe out enemies, giving them tons of EXP, while your characters who really need it get little. Overall, it's alright. It's not quite Final Fantasy Tactics, but it's still pretty good.

So, about that one; it's the reason I hate this game overall. It's incredibly cheap. I rarely complain about this, but the enemies WAY outclass you. Let me put it this way; even if you port over the guys from Arc the Lad I at max level (60 in that game, but it's higher in II), it won't be long before you still get trashed. The beginning starts out alright, but you quickly fall behind. There are a number of reasons for this; first off, it's hard to level weak characters, because they don't live long enough to get stronger and the other allies just take it from you if you aren't real careful. Second, they switch who you are playing alot; they frequently divide and recombine the teams, and sometimes you don't get to play a certain characters for a long time. That doesn't stop the enemies from leveling up, however, even though you can't. Speaking of which, you will sometimes find yourself unable to level. Your one or two seperated characters can't beat all the guys in a random encounter, yet, they are getting creamed by the story enemies. What the hell? Another reason (see the frustration yet) is that you fight many fights in a row without healing. Fine, except the game doesn't give you enough MP and HP to do that. Often, one or two battles will wipe out my supplies, but I got 5 more AND a boss left to go. Many times, you will hit the wrong switch or go through the wrong door and want to reset JUST because it's another MP sucking battle. My final reason is simple; the enemies out level you HORRIBLY. I mean, flat out, they are 5-10 level over you easily. And that rate accelerates throughout the game. You might level and level and level and level and level to get through a dungeon or just a Hunter job, finally beat it, and then the next dungeon is 5 levels higher than you again! No joke, this happens EVERY TIME. It's not rare, it's painfully common. The end of the game...my god. I leveled a ton to get to the end of the game at the same level as the strongest enemies I found. What level were the end-game enemies? TWENTY+ LEVELS HIGHER! I mean, literally 20-25% stronger than me. I got wiped out on the second battle, I believe, because even my strongest guys couldn't touch the enemies (evasion and accuracy seem to be based on level; at 20 levels apart, you can't hit ANYthing). I was destroyed. I stopped playing then. I never went back till I replayed the whole damn game because I was so disheartened by how much leveling I had to do, and how just plain cheap it is. THAT'S the reason I trashed this game's score. No matter how judiciously you manage your resources, look for the greatest equipment, level up, anything, you will be horribly outleveled without mindless DAYS of fighting. This trend starts maybe 20% into the game and just gets worse...and worse...and worse. Given all the other problems this game puts in the way as well, in regards to levels and such, it's just pathetic.

So, final score, 4. Overall, the game is pretty average compared to most games if you have a gameshark code that automatically puts you at the enemies level. If you try and play through the game like a normal person, it will get harder and cheaper until you finally are being destroyed, period. This isn't difficulty, this is just stupid. You take more damage than you can heal, your greatest attacks must be performed several times to kill one guy, and your regular attacks can't even hit. I'd rather have to steal Dark Matter anyday. If you are a total SRPG buff, love to level, or don't really plan on finishing this game anyway, go ahead and pick it up, it's still fun for quite a while. Otherwise. find it cheap somewhere or, for less pain, gouge your eyes out with a rusty screwdriver. At least you have the relief knowing how I suffered for AtL's sins.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 09/09/05