Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits (PlayStation 2)

Page 2

Mechanically, Twilight of the Spirits is put together like just about every other standard RPG. You move between towns and other areas on a world map, you visit shops to buy supplies, and you talk to townspeople to gather information. In short, the game is familiar RPG territory, and it's all done well enough that aficionados and newcomers alike can appreciate it. The biggest variation on the standard formula is the game's combat engine, which integrates an element of strategy into its turn-based format. You have to move your characters around the battlefield so they're physically within striking range of enemy targets, and you can get damage and evasion bonuses for attacking from behind, taking advantage of uneven terrain, and performing other tactical maneuvers. Adding to the strategy element, individual enemies drop gold and items on the ground when defeated, and you'll have to weigh the cost of expending a turn to pick them up. As you'd expect, your characters will gain levels and also learn character-specific magic and special abilities as they fight. The character-upgrade model in the game is item-specific and very accessible: You equip accessories on your characters to enhance their attributes, and you can also attach weapon parts to your weapons to increase their strength and give them special properties. It's easy and gratifying to see your characters powering up as you progress through the game, and while many RPGs' random encounters end up being a drag, the fighting in Twilight of the Spirits manages to stay engaging even when you're doing a lot of it.

The point of a video game is to provide an entertaining gameplay experience, and Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits certainly delivers in that respect. Still, it's hard not to notice that the game is somewhat lacking in other areas, specifically in its visuals and sounds. Don't take that to mean the game looks and sounds horrible--it doesn't. But the graphics, voice acting, and music do vary pretty widely in quality. Some of the backgrounds are lovingly crafted, but some of the character models are surprisingly blocky and poorly textured. The visuals aren't jarringly bad, but at times you might mistake Arc the Lad for a first-generation PlayStation 2 game rather than one that's come out well into the system's life span. To its credit, the game's cutscenes feature some inspired, cinematic camera work and effects (such as depth of field), and these add to the overall level of visual polish. The game fares about the same in the audio category--like with the graphics, you have to take the bad with the good. Musically, this is one strange game. The soundtrack combines typical RPG-esque orchestral arrangements with such instruments as bagpipes, mariachi-style horns, and even electric guitars. Unfortunately, many of the more ambitious compositions just aren't very good, though we will give the game credit for its excessive use of guitar solos. Finally, the voice acting runs the gamut from pretty good to barely tolerable. Thankfully, most of the offense lies in the in-battle voices, which can be disabled.

Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits is a strictly by-the-numbers RPG, and that's not at all a bad thing. It features a lengthy, epic story with interesting characters and lots of locations. Its combat and character-customization systems are both accessible to inexperienced players and intricate enough for RPG diehards. It may falter a little in the audio-visual department, but certainly not enough that you should overlook this otherwise great game. If you can see and hear past these minor flaws, it's just downright fun to play, and isn't that what matters most?

See more CNET content tagged:

role-playing game,

human,

Sony Playstation,

power,

Sony PlayStation 2

Where to buy

Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits (PlayStation 2): $14.99

store	price	in stock?	rating
	$14.99	Yes

see prices from 1 store

Compare prices for Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits

GameQuest

$14.99