What we've been waiting for, on the Nintendo DS
User Rating: 8 | Luminous Arc DS
Although the isometric battle system can get repetitive in most SRPGs, as I progressed through the game and the story evolved the battles became more interesting with twists in the story and the characters. By the end of the game you have access to 15 different playable characters. Luminous Arc (LA) is easily compared to Final Fantasy Tactics (FFT) as with its strategy-based isometric battle system however the difference between the two is that each of the playable characters in battle in LA are woven heavily into the story, with side quests and extra conversations available with each character depending on the time in the story where as on the other hand in FFT characters are “recruited” to fight in battle with the main characters in the story and are not part of the story itself. All in all once I was gripped into the story I couldn’t put the game down. As for re-playability, once the game is completed a new-game + is unlocked. This is where you can play through the game again with your characters at their end-game levels and access a secret dungeon. This gives people the opportunity to go back and finish any side quests there missed, max out any characters they missed (to view the final Intermission sequences, like Alph and Lucia’s end intermission, steamy!). It would only be after completing the game that I would now attempt the wi-fi random battles with other plays around the world as from reading forums people are using extremely high level characters to beat people who have unlocked the wi-fi function but are still low levels. There is meant to be a level matching system to match players of similar levels together to battle, however this depends who is playing at the time and if no one of your level is available then you battle who ever is available. Story
In LA is the story and relationships between all the characters that can make or break a battle. As the story progresses and relationships in the story strengthen, synergy attacks become available between certain characters, weaving the story into the battle. An example of this is the “Rainbow Synergy” attack that is acquired near the end of the game (once all the elemental witches are together they can use this power) that needs all of the witches present on the battlefield to use- this heavy attack greatly helped me with the harder end game battles. The narrative is strong however there are a few plot holes which are easily forgotten. The story scenes are a little too heavy at times. Over all I enjoyed Luminous Arc and would recommend it to other RPG fans. 
