In the beginning of the days of the Playstation there were hardly any RPG’s for the system, then they came out like crazy. As they were being released in the U.S, there was twice as many being released in Japan. Final Fantasy VII was the first to take the throne on being the best RPG on the Playstation. Wild Arms by Sony almost had those bragging rights until FFVII was released. The Playstation has been around since 1995 and there has been one series that has not graced us here in the states, and that is Arc The Lad. Before FFVII this title was being considered the best in Japan. Along with being the best RPG in Japan it also became one of the most imported RPG’s, and many asked why not bring it here? Why won’t someone pick up the license for it here? Well those questions have been answered with the help of Working Designs. Working Designs was originally one of the companies that began picking up the license for games that were developed in Japan and then brought them here. So doing one of the things that they do best, they picked up the whole license and are bring us Arc The Lad: The Collection.

Arc The Lad holds to the true forms and elements of an RPG, and here we give you the inside scoop on the series. We were lucky to get our hands on the first of the series for this review. Arc The Lad looks like what you would expect from an RPG from the Super Nintendo, classic cartoon sprite based characters and enemies, with the typical attacks and magic from that era of gaming.

In the first Cd out of the collection you have the first and original Arc The Lad game. The Story in Arc is, you play the role of Arc and set out to find who or what killed your dad when you were younger. At the beginning of the game Kukuru a ninja girl is at a moutain temple that is protected by a light that burns from a flame. She puts this flame out and releases an evil demon upon the land. Arc sets out to the temple were he meets Kukuru the ninja girl. There he decides that he is going to relight the flame that protects the town. In a battle with the demon he dies. A spirit then gives you the powers to defeat all demons. You then go into battle and make your way to the castle of your King. In a different part of town the King’s army is in battle against many monsters. You meet with the King and tell him that you will rid the town and kingdom of the monsters. The King thinks your insane and you prove him wrong. At this time you meet a musician from the army. He is equipped with cymbals and other musical instruments that you use in either you basic attack or in magic attacks. After this battle you and your newfound friend return to the castle and show that you have defeated the monsters. Another attack takes place outside of the castle and here is where Kukuru becomes part of your party.

The game play in this already classic (in Japan) game is great. You have solid control and you never witness any slow down in gameplay. One thing that I enjoy is how Working Designs got the game to work with the Playstation’s Dual Shock controller, both with the analog sticks and the vibration functions. The attacks in this game are very basic, but fun. There isn’t much of a difference between the original and the one we are playing here in the states. When in battle you have a grid form that you move in, it kind of plays like a chess format. When you have the chance to move you can either use a magic attack that allows you to attack a monster or enemy from a certain distance, or you can move in closely to a monster or enemy and do a basic attack.

Now let’s talk about sequels. Once your done with the first Cd in the collection you can convert the file to the next cd and start your save game with the attributes that you gained from the first. I have to say it, with all the leaps and bounds we have made in videogame programming only one game came up with the idea to start off of your previous game save. Then, Genso: Suikoden did the exact same thing. I wish Squaresoft would implement this into the Final Fantasy series with a sequel from one of the last titles like FFIX or FFVII.

We are still in the middle of the second disk and are waiting for the third. Keep watching so we can update you with the information as we get. The release for this game is coming soon, and if you like RPG’s this is definitely a must have.

Publisher   Working Designs    Developer   Working Designs   Platform   Playstation    One Player   RPG

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