Arc The Lad II

Arc the Lad II
Āku za Raddo II アークザラッドⅡ
Developer(s)	G-Craft ARC Entertainment
Publisher(s)	PSX: JP: Sony Computer Entertainment US: Working Designs PSN: JP: Sony Computer Entertainment US: GaijinWorks, Sony Computer Entertainment America EU: MonkeyPaw Games
Platform(s)	Playstation PlayStation Network
Genre	Tactical role-playing game
Release Date	PSX: JP: November 1st, 1996 JP: July 9th, 1998 (PlayStation the Best) JP: November 22nd, 2001 (PSOne Books) US: April 18th, 2002 (Arc the Lad Collection) PSN: JP: November 14th, 2007 US: November 23rd, 2010 EU: March 28th, 2012
Ratings	CERO: A ESRB: T PEGI: 12+

“	Elc... I want to be free too...	”
—Mariel

Arc the Lad II (アークザラッドⅡ, Āku za Raddo II) is a tactical role-playing game developed by G-Craft and ARC Entertainment and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Directly following Arc I, it first deals in the exploits of a young up-and-coming Hunter named Elc and how he becomes embroiled in Arc's quest to save the world, later continuing the story of Arc and the cast of the first game alongside the new faces of this game, concluding in the final act of Arc's fated journey.

Released in 1996 in Japan exclusively for the PlayStation, it was later published, after a tumultuous licensing and translation process, by Working Designs in 2002 along with Arc I, Arc III and Arc Arena, exclusively in the United States. It was later released in the PlayStation Network, where it reached Europe along with the US and Japan.

It would later receive an anime adaptation titled simply Arc the Lad, in 1999.

Plot

Waking up from a nightmare, memories of his abduction by the Romalian Army after the destruction of his home of Pyrenia still stinging, Elc'kowala'pule, Elc for short, decides to take a job at the Prodias Hunter Guild as obtained by his friend Lynx (ビビガ, Bibiga). Taking the job of stopping the terrorist Alfred at the Aldia Skyport, he meets a young Monster Tamer named Lieza and ends up escaping from Gallarno's cabal with her, after taking Alfred to justice goes wrong and he ends up getting killed by the mafiosos. Confiding in his best friend and guardian Shu to take care of her as he searches for Dr. Lado while avoiding the police who assume he has kidnapped the girl.

Meanwhile, Arc Eda Ricolne and his party are working on avoiding Andel as they plot their next move. First off, to destroy the mind control mechanism that Gallarno plots to place on the statue of the Goddess outside of Prodias. As they continue to foil the plots of the Four Generals and Romalia, Elc and Arc's destinies will intertwine as the two work to stop Romalia's plots and deal with power and evil beyond their comprehension.

Cast

Elc'kowala'pule (Elc)

Voice: Ai Orikasa

Age: 15

A young hunter from Pyrenia with the power to wield flames. Orphaned by Romalia at a young age, escaping from their White House orphanage to avoid becoming a chimera, the flames and the sight of Seirya's Silver Noah stick forever in his mind. Once he has a regrettable encounter with his former best friend Ginie, he makes a choice to save his beloved childhood friend Mariel from the White House.

Lieza Flora Mellno

Voice: Yōko Asada

Age: 14

A country girl from the farming village of Holn in Forles. Hunted by Gallarno's Cabal for her monster taming abilities, she escapes with Elc after a hijacking situation on the Aldia Skyport went awry, sustaining a bullet injury. Slowly becoming closer to Elc, she learns that she doesn't have to live in fear due to her abilities.

Paundit

Lieza's pet monster, a Killer Dog. Fiercely loyal to his owner, he serves as an introduction to monster raising.

Shu

Voice: Shūichi Ikeda

Age: 25

A mysterious hunter who took Elc under his wing after he found him lost in his travels. Saved from a monster who pretended to be his mentor when he was a thug on the verge of execution, and raised to be a professional assassin, he is a serious, stoic hunter who usually lets his fists, or guns, do the talking, but cares for his friends deeply.

Shante De Ou Homme

Voice: Michiko Neya

Age: 23

A pub singer who had her younger brother Alfred, killed by the Cabal during the Skyport attack. Fooled by the Cabal to work for them in luring Elc and Lieza in exchange for her brother's safety, she turned her back towards Gallarno when he revealed what truly happened. To make up for her initial double-crossing and to avenge Alfred, she joins Elc's journey.

Diekbeck

Voice: Torinori Yoshikawa

The leader of the Machine Gods, guards of the Seven Braves of Old, who also waged war against Grolgalde. Unearthed by Elc and Lieza in Yagos Isle, Professor Vilmer soon restores him to as close as tiptop shape as he can. Much like Gogen, he usually acts rather lackadaisically and has the mannerisms of a dorky grandpa. He serves as an easy EXP farming unit as he cannot level up, but his EXP can be siphoned to other characters with the help of a machine in Vilmer's house. As he is also stuck at level 1, he gets the most EXP a character can, but successful battles require strong Power Units to beef up his stats.

Gruga Vade Brakiel

Voice: Takashi Nagasako

Age: 33

A war hero who aided in the independence of Brakia, former colony of Niedel. Feeling distraught and guilty from the damages and casualties of war, he chose to adopt the young and blind war orphan, Elena as his daughter, and to live a quiet life in Clenia Isle. Feeling like he can't face Elena and reveal to her that he isn't her biological father, he fears rejection from the young girl he sees as his daughter.

Saniele Alno He Dvatch Millma (Sania)

Voice: Hekiru Shiina

Age: 18

The former princess of Millmana. Her parents were assassinated by General Yagun, being taken to Greyshinne as the only survivor. She joins Arc and the rest of the team to defeat Yagun, staying to aid the world in any way she can. A fierce, almost tomboyish girl, she gets along the best with Poco and Iga.

Gameplay

Instead of movement from area to area being dependant entirely on menus, actual maps are used when applicable. Submaps for intra-country travel and full blown maps for towns and dungeons have been added, alongside a currency system, using the currency of Goz (ゴッズ).

The equipment mechanics have been further fleshed out, replacing the four accessory slots with a weapon slot and two equipment slots. Levelling armor has also been added and the level cap has been increased from Lv60 to Lv999, with late game enemies reaching the early 100s (roughly 125 for the final boss).

An item synthesis shop also exists, also serving as a sort of reward for collecting the four Romancing Stones in the first game, allowing one to merge them into one single stone with all effects. The stats and levels of the Arc I characters and their inventory can also be transferred to Arc II through the Convert option. All that is required is an Arc I save in your memory card.

If MP is low, one can also pick to use lower level Magic at the expense of shorter range, making up for MP consumption simply increasing due to Magic being stuck at their highest level in the first game.

The battle system continues from where Arc The Lad I took off and refines it, with buffs and debuffs being added. However instead of taking up to eight characters to a match, you can only pick from 5 to 6 characters, as this game has a massive cast. More sidequests have also been added, especially with the enclusion of the Hunter Guilds, extending gametime and the scripts.

Lieza also has the ability to allow monsters to join the party with her Ravish technique. As normal you can level them up like a normal party character but they can also be evolved should you finish the Mother Claire sidequest.

These monster party members can also be taken to the later Arc Arena (Monster Game) game and pit against a second player's monsters, distributed through the Arc II save on the memory card, similarly to games like Pokémon Stadium 1 and 2 (Pokémon Stadium 2 and GS in Japan) and their transferral of Gen 1 and 2 Pokémon, respectively. They can also be used for said game's single player mode as well.

Development

The game was always meant to be part of Arc The Lad I, however pressure to make it close to the PlayStation's launch as well as G-Craft's ballooning ambitions made the original Arc a shorter and simpler game. Arc The Lad II in that way, is the closest to the original intention of Arc The Lad I. It was also intended to be the final Arc The Lad game, with Arc The Lad III only being created due to fan demand.^{[citation needed]}

Reception

Overall, the game was much more well received compared to the first game, due to its breadth of content. Amongst Japanese fans, this is usually agreed to be the best one in the series.

On the western side of things, David Smith of IGN praised it, giving it an 8.8 out of 10 and saying "Arc II grafts a bigger world map, more detailed dungeons, more complex character development, a far larger cast, and most of all a longer quest onto a combat system that remains pretty familiar." but remarking that the game looks too similar to the first in terms of graphics.

Alex Makar of Gaming Age also noted that the Hunter's Guild provides "a lot of flexibility in how [the player wants] to progress through the storyline.", Makar also commented positively on the characters and remarked the story was full of angst and melancholy.

Bethany Massimilla of Cnet noted the improved character sprites, but found the dungeons monotonous.

It currently sits at 81% in GameRankings.

Reference List

Arc The Lad II
Playable Characters	Elc • Lieza (Paundit) • Shu • Shante • Diekbeck • Gruga • Sania • Arc • Poco • Gogen • Tosh • Iga • Kelack • Mofly • Fujin • Raijin • Hemo-ji • Odon • Choko (Akura) • Kukuru
Locations	Aldia • Yagos Isle • Seirya • Clenia Isle • Forles • Romalia • Greyshinne • Niedel • Zariban • Brakia • Millmana • Balbalard • Amigue
Other	Walkthrough • Items and Armor • Bestiary • Guild Jobs • Synthesis • Cast