Arc the Lad Collection Review

Arc the Lad was originally released in Japan during the summer of 1995. It was a strategy RPG hung on the familiar premise shared by countless console role-playing games--it told the story of a young man who came of age and gathered faithful companions on a journey to save the world. Two direct sequels followed that continued to trace the efforts of good against evil in a tale of increasing breadth and scope, and we would never have seen these games outside of Japan had it not been for the efforts of Working Designs. It's a noble endeavor, and if you can find the time to tame the Arc the Lad Collection and the patience to sometimes painstakingly level your characters, it's worth a try.

Arc, Elc, Alec...who can keep them straight?

The collection itself consists of four games: Arc the Lad, Arc the Lad II, Arc the Lad III, and Arc Arena. Arc the Lad I-III serve to make up a single, progressing story with a continually evolving cast of characters, while Arc Arena lets you use monsters you've captured in Arc II to battle in a beastly tournament. You begin the first game in the village of Touvil, where a girl named Kukuru seeks to free herself from the fate of her clan. The women of her line are pledged to wed the men of the royal family of their kingdom of Seirya, but Kukuru wants no part of it. To end her obligation, she douses the Flame Cion, a holy flame that her clan has sworn to protect, and in doing so, she awakens a terrible evil. That same night, from that same village, a teenage boy named Arc dons his father's armor and sets out to rekindle the sacred fire. Predictably enough, however, events have been set in motion that cannot be stopped, and this is only the beginning of what turns out to be a long fight against the forces of evil, with Arc and Kukuru at the forefront. The overarching story in Arc the Lad is contiguous through all of the titles, and while your main character and cast will change from game to game, most of the cast of the original game will still be present. The games truly feel like a mostly unbroken experience, and this is aided by the fact that you can convert your final save file from one game into your start file for another, carrying over some items and unlocking some events.

All three of the RPGs are turn-based strategy games when in combat, with enemies and allies moving according to their respective speeds. The battle interface and button configurations for battle remain intact from title to title, keeping you from having to relearn command schemes. Your allies can attack with a weapon, with magic, or with a special attack. When in close-combat melee, enemies may be struck at the side or the rear to lessen the chance of a counterattack; using a ranged weapon (like a spear) or otherwise attacking with a special move or from afar will prevent a counterattack entirely. Each character you recruit generally has his or her own suite of spells, songs, martial arts, or sword techniques, allowing for a lot of in-battle variety. While it can be tempting to rely on the same characters much of the time, the key to success is to both spread out the experience among all members of your party and to spend time leveling up.

You'll fight monsters, capture monsters, and stick monsters in cards. Monsters are good for everything!

Taking time off from your main quest to perform side quests, explore dungeons, and thereby level up your characters is just about a requirement in all three Arc the Lad games. If you attempt to progress through in a straightforward manner, going only where you need to, you'll often find yourself ending up woefully behind the enemies you're expected to face. End up too far behind by mistake, and you can find yourself in a dungeon you cannot leave, facing the same battle over and over again, having to painstakingly nurse your characters higher until you finally clear the area. Arc I won't even let you do this, as a lost battle means a game-over screen. If you're wiped out in battle in Arc II or III, you'll restart with your team at full health, and they'll retain any experience points they gained in their previous attempt, enabling you to limp to higher levels while you rue not having invested the time previously. The fact that the game forces you to level in this way can make certain stretches pure tedium if you've been trying to pass areas in rapid succession.