Luminous Arc is one of those games you can spend ages upon ages playing. It's that awesome!
Luminous Arc is a strategy RPG from Atlus, who also brought you the awesome Shin Megami Tensei series. The game is certainly not up to the standards of Final Fantasy Tactics or Disgaea but that dosen't mean its not a good game, in fact its really entertaining and fun.
Story:
The story focuses on a young man named Alph and his companions, who together form "the Garden Children". Alph the rifleman, Heath the noble knight and lance user, Leon the great sword wielder, Cecile the priestess and Alph's younger brother Theo the archer all make up this little group of warriors. All members were orphans as children and have been raised and trained by the Ever Garden Church to become witch hunters. Other than the Garden Children, there are other characters that will join you throughout the game, but I'm not going to spoil who they are.
Gameplay:
Luminous Arc is your average SRPG game, however there are no character classes you can change other characters into. Heath, your lance user will always be a lance user and you can't ever change that. I don't see this as a bad thing though since it keeps the game basic and easy to play. The game is progressed through chapters and stages. If you want you can go back to past stages to train your characters. Leveling up is very, very simple in this game. You only need 100EXP every time at any level to gain a new level. Additional stuff like strength increase will be done automatically. Leveling up can also be used to your advantage in battle. This because every time you gain a new level your HP and MP will instantly be fully restored. Lets say you've got Alph with 2HP and only needs 1EXP to level up and you just got Leon, who has full health to weaken an enemy almost to the point of death. Don't let Leon finish it off, instead get a dying Alph to, that way he will gain a new level and be full restored to life again. Understand?
Besides basic attacking and magic there are also special attacks called Flash Drives. To preform a Flash Drive you need to fill up your Falsh Meter. This can be done by having your character make any basic action. Attacking, healing etc. Some Flash Drives can cause status ailments to your enemies which is pretty handy in battle. Flash Drives can be learned by leveling up your characters, however some require you to progress through the story. Some enemies can also use Flash Drives so watch out.
There are even stronger special attacks called Synergy attackes. Synergy attacks are combination attacks that can be used when all characters involved have their Flash Points filled up and are close to each other on the field. However, not all characters can perform Synergy attacks, as they are unlocked via story arcs that revolve around certain characters bonding together.
Once you've finished a certain chapter in the story (there are 24 in total) you'll get your rewards and also be able to talk to one of your fellow companions. This is where you can build a stronger relationship with them. To do so you'll be given a choice of things to say. One will boost their relationship a lot, and another slightly. If the character is pleased with your response you'll get an item from them.
However, the player is given a finite number of opportunities to talk to each character, after which it will be impossible to improve the bond. If the player has made good choices throughout the various conversations with a character, there may be a special scene between Alph and that character featuring anime-style art and an additional voice-over, yep there is voice acting in this game.
Graphics:
Graphics are very basic for the DS. It's all in 2D, no 3D elements at all! It's all a bit too GBAish and doesn't make use of DS's true potential in graphics, what also really surprised me is that if you change your weapon it will ALWAYS look the same. It's a bit of a letdown but the game is still awesome nonetheless. Flash Drives and Synergy attacks are nice to look at and should give you a little grin.
Overall:
Luminous Arc is such an entertaining game and will keep you occupied for a very long time. There are 25 chapters within the game to complete which could easily be completed within 15 hours, but there are also things to keep you playing like going back to past stages to level up. If you do manage to beat the game there is new game+ and you also unlock a gallery mode where you can view cut scenes and other stuff. New game+ is basically a restarted game with an extra dungeon (a hard one may I add) to go to. Also all your characters will also retain the levels they had when you completed your first game, but characters that joined you later in the game will also retain their levels when you battle them again. Lets say you get to a point where a character is about to join you. He or she will still be level 60 for example when you fight them. I guess this does make it more of a challenge.
Buy or Rent?
BUY this game since it will probably be rare in future. I live in the U.K and this game is highly overshadowed here since hardly any shops stock them brand new.
Final score is 8.5, it would have been more if there were better graphics and challenge. Lets hope Luminous Arc 2 will improve on this. Don't let the score prevent from buying the game ok? 8.5 is great for a game like this, although maybe I'm being too generous.
So... what are you waiting for? Buy the damn game, you won't regret it! Run, run now!