That’s not to say that I’m a huge fan of the character development. Unlike most epic RPGs, the characters in
Arc the Lad don’t grow or evolve. Without a shadow of a doubt, this game has some of the stupidest protagonists to ever set foot in a vide game. They just love to be trick, betrayed, double-crossed and turned on. Time and time again they’ll make the wrong choice in the most obvious situations and the problem is, they never learn from their past mistakes. It’s annoying as hell and to be honest, it just serves as an artificial deterrent to help make the game just that much longer. Every time a pivotal moment comes up in the game you’ll cringe because you can almost be guaranteed that your character will make the wrong choice. Seriously, it’s like the RPG equivalent of walking outside of the house in a scary movie, it’s just that frustrating.
To make up for the inane characters Cattle Call developed one of the better combat systems that we’ve seen in an RPG. It’s a great mish-mash of
Star Ocean Second Story, Legend of Legaia and
Final Fantasy Tactics all rolled up in to one. As opposed to going with the traditional
Final Fantasy method of fighting, combat takes place on a large field that’s more akin to
Tactics and
Front Line. There are spells and special abilities here, but instead of using an infinitely replenishable source such as magic points they require the use of Spirit Stones. These cannot be recovered within the midst of a battle so players must choose wisely when an ability should be used. It should be noted that the combat in the game is a bit too easy and anyone with a bit of RPG knowledge should have no trouble blazing their way through the battles.
Ever since the release of the
Getaway Sony has shown us some incredible things with its motion capture talents. In
Arc the Lad each character looks different, acts differently and behaves differently. This makes interaction between various characters feel different from one another and adds another layer of depth to the game. Even the NPCs run differently from one another; some running with their hands in full swing while others running with a more conservative hands-to-the-side stance. It’s a joy to see that Sony took its time with the motion capture to ensure that everyone didn’t look like carbon copies of one another.
Make no mistake about it, the characters are the highlight of this visual package. There are some neat environments here and there but they have an unusually empty feel to them. Areas such as the larger towns are quite small and lack most of the main components of a town. Don’t expect to see intricate or detailed towns on par with
Final Fantasy X or
Dark Cloud 2. Just expect to see the bare necessities such as a few homes and the requisite item and magic shops. To spruce things up a bit there are a few neat lighting and particle effects but nothing that will blow away your senses.
Over the years musical scores have come to define the RPG genre. It’s paramount that the pivotal moments in the adventure have the appropriate soundtrack to accompany it. In a tradition that hearkens back to the 16-bit days, it’s the vehicle that helps us feel compassion, sorrow, rage and sadness as the events unfold before us. We’re huge fans of RPG soundtracks and that’s why we’re glad to report that
Twilight’s musical score does an admirable job of conveying the emotions and feelings that are supposed to be running through our bodies. Not quite up to par with the masterful work of the Square-Enix RPGs, but good enough to get the job done.
Where the audio doesn’t fare so well is in the effects department. Combat voices (which can be turned off, thankfully) are repetitive and highly annoying. You’ll understand what we mean when you’ve heard “You, Huh?” for the 10th time in a single battle. To make matters worse the combatants tend to say the most inane and irrelevant things. Occasionally they’re funny but they’re bothersome about 90 percent of the time.
There’s limited speech in the game which is relegated to the small handful of in-game rendered cutscenes. Even those are pretty short and are mostly reserved for the introduction of a key character or party member. Because the gamer is forced to read line after line of text it becomes difficult to feel the proper emotions in the right circumstances. By the time they’ve read the line that corresponds to the on-screen action it’s time to move on. We’re not saying that a person can’t be moved by text, but it’s just much more convincing and altogether satisfying when they can hear it the way it was envisioned in the minds of the writers.
Aside from a few minor gripes
Twilight of the Spirits is a rather solid effort from Sony. It rarely falters and even when it does, it recovers quite nicely. Sure it has “Twilight” in its title but trust us, it’s nowhere near the twilight of its career. If you already own
Final Fantasy X and
Xenosaga and are looking to pick up an RPG to tide you over until the release of
Final Fantasy X-2, you should look no further than
Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits. Do yourself a favor and check it out, it just might surprise you.
C+
Looking for an RPG that will wash out the bitter taste that UNLIMITED Saga left in your mouth? Then you should look no further than Sony's Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits.
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