Luminous Arc 2

"Luminous Arc 2 is a worthy purchase for all strategy rpg fans (and those who like cleavage)"

Luminous Arc 2 is the sequel to Luminous Arc, though mainly in name only. You will not find any reoccurring characters from the first game (with the exception of a brief cameo from a certain busty witch) That said, LA2 is a great sequel that improves on much of the flaws of the first.

Story: The story is that Roland, a Knight in training becomes a rune knight and is tasked to save the world from the Shadow Frost Witch Fatima. Things go wrong, plots twists occur, etc. If you've played LA, you know the story is going to be a bit cliche. Still its an enjoyable romp to play through and yo won't find yourself putting it down anytime soon.

Game-play: The game-play is your standard typical Strategy Role Playing Game. You move around a grid and attack monsters. You can have up to 6 characters in your roster and have more plenty of characters to choose from. Similar to the system in LA, Roland bonds with witches in order to use their power. He can bond with many different witches, though one at a time and this increases one of his stats depending on which witch he bonds with.

Upon doing any action such as healing someone or attacking a monster will give you some DP. DP goes into a DP gauge and as you progress through levels, you can use powerful flash drive attacks when you've collected enough DP.

Before each battle (mostly) there are certain characters who will have hearts near them. If you choose to have them in battle, you can have a conversation with them after the battle is over. Picking the correct choices will net you increases in their hears and overall relationship with you. Near the end of the game, you will be able to have conversations with the three characters you were closest too and they are all pretty funny or interesting skits.

Sound/Music: The sound is passable. While its not grating to the ears, its certainly not something you'd go out and buy the sound track for. The voice acting however is excellent. Many times you'll have some voiced conversations with characters and it just adds much to the presentation and atmosphere of the game.

Overall, LA2 is an above average strategy role playing game that will last you for quite some time. While the story is a bit cliche and the sound is passable, you will find the game-play and atmosphere of the game is too enticing to put down.

On a side note, there are multi-player options with the game. However I didn't try these options.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/07/09

Game Release: Luminous Arc 2 (US, 11/18/08)