However, one of the main strong points of the game, is that in addition to these new characters, many of the old characters from the first game return some way into the game, and remain in your party. Thus a new cast of characters is gradually introduced. The story takes place shortly after the original left off, but begins from the perspective of another young lad, Elc. Your data from the first game can be loaded into the second game, carrying over some of your items and levels. In complete contrast to the first, the game is an epic, which can take anything up to 100 hours to complete.

The second game in the series is considered by many to be the best. However, I would still definitely recommend that this be played first. The game serves as an introduction to its sequel, but not a lot more. It is also awfully linear, simply sending you between battle and cutscene without any room for exploration. The game ends on a cliffhanger ending, and it comes as no surprise to me to learn during the research for this write-up that the story of Arc the Lad 1 and 2 was originally supposed to be realised in just one game, which was broken into two segments due to scheduling issues. However, the game lacks in depth, with many 'RPG staples' - for example, shops - not present, and an extraordinarily short length of 5-10 hours. The system benefits from being simpler than some other strategy RPGs, making it easy for newcomers to the genre to pick up and play. The battle system is similar to those of the Shining Force series: a turn based strategy RPG system using an overhead view.

As the first game in the series, it does a great job of setting up the world and characters.

In Arc the Lad, you play the titular Arc, a young lad (see?) who is searching for the truth behind his father's disappearance/alleged death. The game suffered many delays (like many other Working Designs titles before it) and the release date slipped and slipped until its eventual release in 2002. Eventually Working Designs, picked up the translation rights and decided to release US versions of all three games and the Monster game together in this box set collection. Two Japanese sequels and a spin-off game were released between 19 and the series grew in popularity. Despite a fairly good reception in Japan, the game didn't make it stateside at first. History Arc the Lad was originally released for the Playstation in Japan in 1995, making it one of the first RPGs on the system. Developer : G-Craft aka Arc Entertainment

Arc the lad collection eboot