Working Designs Arc the Lad PS1 Roleplaying Review

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Price Paid:  $75.00 from best buy

Summary:
Arc the Lad has done it again!! I've played all three of the games and there great, specially for being old-school. i like how they upgraded the graphics and made the hunters guild the bases for the story line. the characters are great to, my personnal favorite is Lutz 'cause he reminds me a lot of myself. if your looking for a good, old fashion RPG game, this is the one for you.

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Price Paid:  $70.00 from EB

Summary:
Having finally gotten through ATLC I have to say that it was well more than worth it to me. For those of you still wondering whether or not to pick it up, ask yourself these questions:

1) Have you bought any other RPGs for your PSX besides Final Fantasy in the year?

2) Do you like strategy RPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics?

3) Are graphics the least important thing about RPGs?

4) Have you ever purchased RPGs for systems other than the PSX/PS2?

5) Have you ever heard of Arc The Lad before?

If you answered "yes" to at least 3 of those, it's worth checking out Arc The Lad Collection. It's not perfect by any means, but it is a lot of fun, and it's arguably one of the best RPG series to hit the PSX in its history. There's a lot of old school RPG joy in the package like we've come to expect from Working Designs: the translation is superior, the sound is top notch, and the gameplay is superb. But the graphics are STRICTLY dated, especially Arc I and II. These are not pretty games, although they get better as the series goes along.

As with Dragon Warrior 7, if you can get past the dated graphics, there's a wonderful game series in here, one that you will remember fondly for years.

ARC THE LAD: The first title is the story of a young boy name Arc, who is destined to save humanity. With the ability to channel the magical powers of the five elemental Guardians (and a heck of a sword arm to boot) Arc must find a way to free the Guardians, obtain their Power Stones, and use them to unseal the Ark, a mystical treasure that has the power to save mankind...or doom it. Along for the ride is Kukuru, a priestess of the Cion Flame and guardian of the Ark. Together with the friends they meet, they travel the world to stop mankind from destroying itself.

Arc I is a pretty enjoyable game, but it's, well, homely to a point, circa 1994 stuff here. It's not FF7, for sure. But, the game serves as a prologue to the meat and potatoes of the series of Arc II. Arc I is also the weakest of the series, weighing in at 12-15 hours tops, but again if you consider it a prologue to Arc II, it's passable.

ARC THE LAD II: Here's where the story really takes off. ATL2 is one of the best RPG titles on ANY console, and it's the part of the collection I enjoyed the most. The series introduces Elc, a bounty Hunter who does odd dirty jobs disposing of monsters and mayhem, but of course he has a mysterious past he can't remember (Cloud Strife, anyone?) Elc and his ninja Hunter friend Shu help a young girl named Lieza, who is being pursued by the murderous Cabal crime organization, lead by Gallarno. To make things even better, Arc and his friends are not only in the game, but you can convert a save from the end of Arc I to Arc II, preserving Arc and company's levels and powers for use in Arc II, for they are fully playable characters!

Eventually Elc is charged with hunting down and killing Arc...and the story REALLY takes off from there into one of the truly great RPGs of all time.

ARC THE LAD III: The series ends here with Alec, another bounty Hunter who serves to complete the story that Arc and Elc have started. Arc and Elc and friends make appearances, but really Alec and his friends take over here as they fight the Academy which is really...well...you'll find out. Arc 3 is better than Arc 1 for sure, but it's a bit of a letdown after Arc 2 (much like FF8 was for fans of FF7.) Still, it's a great game and follows much the same path, with even better graphics and effects.

ARC THE LAD ARENA: Finally there's the Arc Arena, which allows you to fight with monsters Lieza can collect in Arc 2. This is a fun bonus game, and there's interesting things you can do with the Monsters, training them, changing class, etc. It's a lot of fun and will appeal to you Jade Cocoon and Monster Rancher fans out there too.

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Price Paid:  $80.00 from Best Buy

Summary:
Excellent Set of Games. The first game should only take about ten hours. However, it gets you into the mood needed for the next two games. The Second game, if you take the time to beat out the Arc Arena disc and get do everything can take you anywhere from 70-100 hours plus! The third disc, though not as good as the second, adds to the Guild Jobs as the main storyline, where you complete certain jobs to make the story progress.

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Price Paid:  $70.00 from Walmart

Summary:
I just now finished up this three-game series and all I have to say is that I loved the whole thing. I liked the first game for it's movie-like apperance. Face it, if we wanted an Arc the Lad movie, then the first game would be the perfect story line to put up for a great movie. Just take away level building and you have about 5 hours worth of game. Not much, but the game is straightforward and to the point, and also makes you want to jump right into the 2nd game. As for the second game, I have one word to sum it up: LONG. I played Dragon Warrior 7 just before I started on Arc the Lad and the hours I had into Arc 2 were close to that of 7's. That was scary. I honestly had said to myself once or twice, "Isn't this over yet?" while playing Arc 2. Then again, once I defeated the final boss, who is extremely difficult, unlike the 'boss' in Arc 1, I got a well deserved and great ending. Now, as for Arc 3. It was my favorite. It was about the typical length of a normal RPG and it was comical, had very well developed characters, and was a very fun game. It was difficult in some respects, but it was good to have something that actually seemed beatable after my near-unbeatable boss at the end of Arc 2. All in all, this is a great series that any real RPG fan should have a great time playing.

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

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1.00 of 5,
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Price Paid:  $75.00 from Funco Land

Summary:
When playing these games, it boggled my mind because this is something I would expect from Sony, some one who has no clue about role playing games, but Working Designs. It is scary to think that they invested so much effort over the past few years and this is the result! For them to release this in 2002, at a ridiculous price, is an insult to gamers. Granted that there are a few hardcore rpg fans who will enjoy this, and I may have enjoyed it as well, if it was 1996, but most people will regret buying this and probably trade it back in the next week. For every good thing about these games, there are three things wrong with them.