Remember the old days of RPG’s? The hero with the overly exaggerated justice complex, that always fell for the simplest scams to save somebody? The villain bent on world domination, and stopped at nothing to get it? The big burly warrior, the wimpy mage, the debonair thief, and the petite healing girl? DO YOU REMEMBA?! Well now it’s time to re-live it! Arc the Lad is back to give you old school RPG’n goodness, with a lot more UMPH to it in the fourth installment subsequently named Twilight of the Spirits.hmm.that’s original, right? I know. You partake in a split story between two people chosen by the ancient Spirits to defend the world against an oncoming darkness, a legacy that has been relived throughout the history of this game’s time.
On one side is Kharg, a human boy born into a regal family of a small country that trains to become a soldier in the Defense Corps to protect his country against human and Deimos (Magic wielding Demi-humans) alike. And on the other side is Darc, a Deimos bent on gaining power to become the king of the Deimos and wipe out the entire human race in hopes of prosperity for all Deimos. But the both of them are somehow bound together by fate, and they alone are the hope for all living things. In a world split in two between Deimos and Humans both struggling to prosper in fruitless times, how will the chosen two, opposed to each others races, beliefs, and ideals, be able to join together and fight for the sake of the world?
Graphics and Sound
The graphics in this game are pretty basic for its’ time. Great amounts of detail were put into the characters’ appearances, facial expressions, and motion physics. On the field they have the predetermined course of action look, and don’t have the eye-catching, cinematic value, but that only matters if you’re a picky little wanker! Environments are beautiful with tons of rustic designs and colors, and special effects are full of color and visual appeal. The sound of this game is fitted to a tee. Sound FX are good to the last slash, and and spells are as rich in sound as they are in appearance. The voice acting has its’ ups and downs, if you like it, enjoy the old school RPG dialogue like “Justice shall prevail” and stuff like that. If you don’t like it, TURN IT OFF! Vibration – ON, Battle Voices – OFF. Isn’t that nifty? The music..if you hear about a sound track for that game, TELL ME! The music in that game was a vivacious symphony of guitar riffs, trumpet blares, bagpipe bursts, you name it, it’s in there, and it sounds fan-freakin-tastic.
Gameplay
The basis for this game is strategic turn-based combat, a favorite of many a RPG’er. Move your fighters within your movement range and dish out some good ol’ fashioned justice. But of course you have to have the word STRATEGY in mind; spells and attacks only have so much range, so it would be good to fulfill your New Year’s Resolution and work on that patience of yours, cause timing can win or cost you a battle. After that battle, get some XP and some skill points to buy some more skills to assist in your quest to royally beat evil’s ass. There is a world map, no.none of that “Traverse the wilderness in search of your next destination with tons of random battles” crap, just some “Walking across a couple of map markers with a chance of coming in contact with a random battle so I can get on with the freaking story” crap. There are some other little goodies in this game, with the traditional “gather these secret items” fling, and some other stuff that’ll give away the story if I tell you. What?! This is a review, not a game guide! Go to GameFAQ’s or something like that!
Overall
The story is pretty solid; no mind bending plots, or shocking twists, or anything like that. Just straight forward “Little back story, meet the peeps, talk with an entity, and save the world” stuff..You’ve noticed that I put a lot of stuff in quotations?…Well aren’t you observant?! All in all, if you want to have some sweet nostalgia of games like Lunar, Lufia, FF, and old school goodies like that, give this game a try! I don’t recommend buying it, but I do recommend you give it a whirl. This is Axtuse Grimfist..signing off!