Luminous Arc 2 brings back the lovely Witches and a New Hero to take on Evil.
Other Platforms: None
Sequel to: Luminous Arc
Publisher: Atlus
Developer: Image Epoch
Release Date: November 18th 2008
Genre: Turn- Base Strategy RPG
Number of Players: 1; 2 Online
ERSB Rating: Teen
Review
Luminous Arc 2 is a game I was stoked for when I found out they were bringing the fun loving Witches back. One thing that is great about LA2 is that it is a stand alone game, and playing through the first wouldn't be entirely necessary if you chose not to. As mentioned it brings back Witches to fight with a hero of course, that is a Knight in training. Together they travel through a world of 30 Chapters and many side quests to ultimately take down an evil force that may not be who you think mid way through the game. If you are a fan of Turn-Based games you can easily pick this up and go to town, others may also be able to pick it up with little trouble once you learn things. Anyways, onto the backbone, the story of this brute of a SRPG.
Story:
The story to LA2 is one you probably have heard before if you are a fan of RPGs or Strategy games alike. You take control of a Knight in training who is learning with his friends how to some day be this power, in this case, Rune Knight. Your training starts by making sure the Kingdom of Carnava is safe from some beast fiends. You meet many characters throughout your journey and some enemies in the end may be friends, or they may be foes, you must see! The story is spilled throughout the game in very long text heavy sequences between battles. Most times these seem to take longer then the actual battles, more on that later. The game feels like your playing a novel more then anything, which can also be a downturn. Let me explain a few of the game play basics.
Game Play:
First off, LA2 has an insane amount of details and battle specific things I won't be able to touch on. The review may be as long as the game! Anyhow, the game map is where you spend a fair amount of time, simply because it can be a pain. Areas are hard to recall where to go and sometimes you may enter three or four areas before you can find which spot you need to be at. Once you do find where you need to go, you enter the area, listen/read the text and enter battle. Most battles you can choose up to 6 players to control during the fight. Some you may have only 3 or 4 where other characters are AI controlled, this is rare and may only happen 3-4 times the entire game. During battle you have a few options to what to do with each character. First option is move, easy enough to know what that is! Followed by a simple Attack command, depending on what kind of weapon you character has, you may need to be right next to your enemy, others may need to be 2-3 away. When you click a simple attack you are given a % of what the chance is it will actually hit, it then gives you what damage it will do. It is nice how it does this and it also does it for the Arts option which is simply different actions that allow you to cast an spell or attack with some force. As you interact in battle your Flash Drive gauge will go up. When you reach a point, you can unleash a massive attack on the enemy. You can also use an Item command and End Turn, simple and explanation not needed. So now you have had a run down about battle. Now you can wait another 25 minutes until your ready for the next. Some battles do have another battle right after and do not give you a chance to heal or save. Another thing I really disliked about the battles is that it seems like you are fighting the same battles over and over. For spoilers sake I won't say to much, but how many times does it take to kill that enemy?! I was also really disappointed with the amount of Text heavy actions in the game, it really was hard to keep my attention during most of the interactions. Your best friend will become the R button as it lets the text keep flowing without having to hit any buttons.
Sound and Graphics:
The music in LA2 is pretty good for the most part. Atlus was nice enough to include a soundtrack with the game if you pre-ordered it. As far as I know, this is a first with a DS game. The voices, for the most part are not terrible, however, the Witches voices can get very irritating and are hard to listen to after a little while. Not every conversation is in voice overs as it would be more like a movie then a game. Only certain high priority sections are voiced and you never know when this is going to happen. I didn't think the graphics were anything to give an award to by any means, maybe if it was a GBA game. Ok they are not that bad but it does have that old school kind of feel to. The spells are pretty tame and basically are a chunk of ice falling down, spout of water shooting up, or some thorny roots coming out of the ground at you. For it being later in the DS generation, it seems the graphics could have been better. One thought I had on the graphics being simple is that LA2 is a basic and simple idea game, hence the simple and basic graphics. Just a thought!
Overall
Overall I would in fact recommend LA2, specially if you did like the first, as you will like the second. Luminous Arc 2 has some good points with the music being fantastic as well as the game play being fairly easy to understand. Most users should be able to pick up and play after a little tinkering around. The story is good and keeps you wondering whats going to happen. Just be prepared for some non flashy graphics and a huge amount of Text and Reading. My reading skills gained 10 points after playing through the game. Luminous Arc 2 is nothing fancy compared to the other Turn-Based Strategy games out there, but it has its moments and is a fun way to get in touch with the side of you that truly likes scantily clad witches. Final score of 7.5 as it is worth the time you put into it.