I remember being shocked as a kid when Arc and Co. turned out to be good guys, as I hadn't played the first one. Even without any knowledge of the original game, and not even being that good at English yet, this was still one of my favorites!
This was a quality review video! Im shocked at how low the view count is! I can empathize with how u might feel, putting in so much effort but not getting much back in return. But if this is something u love doing, then never give up! You’ve certainly convinced me to check this game out.
Thanks man! It's my creative outlet, so I don't mind if there aren't a ton of views. I guess if I am passionate enough about it, the views will start to come. Thanks for the kind words, I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy playing Arc the Lad II. It's a really fun game!
Great video review, your series on Arc the Lad convinced me to get the digital versions of all 4 PS1 Games on PSN. Im in a PAL territory so never got the chance to play this one, although my video store as a child did have a copy of this I didn't have a modded console at the time to try it. Might get Twighlight on PS2 as well. As for underrated gems on the PS1 Legend of Legaia is my all time favourite ps1 RPG, and Shadow Hearts on ps2 was extremely uncommon in my area and I never met a single person who played it at the time.
Glad that I could inspire you to look into this series. It really is a lot of fun, and you should definitely look into Twilight of the Spirits too. It did a few things differently, but it's probably my second favourite of the five I have reviewed (Arc the Lad II being my favourite). Oh yeah, Legend of Legaia was a really fun game. I remember it being really emotional when I played it, too. As for Shadow Hearts, I grew up in Australia and was lucky enough to find it around the time it released in a Big W, of all places. Was so glad to pick that one up. Will definitely have to revisit it sometime in the future.
Glad to hear it. I hope you enjoy the game as much as I did. I recently finished Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits, and am so glad I stuck with the series.
Well done! And I think a big reason Arc Collection didn't sell well in NA is cause the ps2 had already been out for like 1.5 years. Most gamers/casuals want the latest and greatest and "good graphics". Id bet money if the Arc games were released in 96 or 97, they would have sold better in NA.
Yeah, definitely. It also never got a release in PAL territories, which would have also adversely affected the total sales figures. But that would have also been a gamble because, as you said, the PS2 was what many people were focussing on at the time.
Thanks for the in depth review! If I were to just play this one without the bonuses from Arc 1, are the only story and character interaction scenes I'd be missing be the Choko scene? Not that interested in playing the 1st one cuz of its length but don't want to miss out on story and party interactions. I'm okay if I miss the other bonuses though
I believe you can still technically get Choko, you just can't complete her side quest which makes her incredibly powerful. Oh, and you also wouldn't be able to get the Romancing Stones, which can be combined to make your MP cost 0. Plus basically all the special equipment you find in the bonus dungeon in the first game transfers to this one. That's about it.
@@Venoix gotcha. Also does this game use random encounters? And does the world map have any secret locations and treasures to find? I like the sense of exploration when a game's world map has this.
As a fan of the genre I highly respect this game. It helped me gain interest in games like it for sure. Watching your review is making me want to revisit the gameplay! Thank you for your time and energy 😜
Sorry that the review made you want to revisit he game. It's definitely worth a relook. Anyway, glad you enjoyed the review. Thanks for your comment. :)
Aaah yes, Arc the Lad Compendium. A hidden gem, rivaling the fabled Final Fantasy 7 in general quality. And no, I don't just say that. Excluding End of Darkness and that mobile game (R); you have 4 solid games. Plus an anime series (that ended abruptly, but was really good). If there is anything that deserves to be remade or remastered, Arc the Lad (ALL of it) deserves it the most. Somebody contact Square Enix, or Yoko Taro - anybody who can make it happen!
@@Venoix I just finished the melee at the Romalia Tunnel. I'm assuming the next part I need to do is a mandatory job at Houfion. the job Delivery the Charm didn't pop up. Romalia Interior supposed to be next. What should I do to advance this story?
@@Toxicplyer Do you mean when Tosh and Shu place a bomb, or before that? I haven't played the game in quite awhile now, so I don't remember the specifics, but you could always check Shotgunnova's FAQ on Gamefaqs. It's pretty thorough. You don't have to do the Hunter's Guild quests to progress the game. Maybe you've missed talking to someone in Houfion? Make sure you try different party leaders, as sometimes you need to be a different character (like Tosh), to be able to advance the story.
I am currently playing this and after investing a pretty significant amount of time in it, I think I'm going to just give up. There's a lot of frustrating design elements like having about 7 new characters join the party all at once. Now I have a small army but I can only use 5 of them in battle while everyone else lags behind in level. The combat is slow, tedious and devoid of strategic depth. I am sitting on a mountain of gold and have nothing to spend it on. Plus my inventory is constantly getting maxed out with junk I don't need. If the story was good, I might be able to suffer through all this but it's really not. All of the characters are shallow and uninteresting and the plot is your typical "bad guys want to summon the dark lord to destroy the world" type stuff.
I haven't spent much time with it. Maybe I'll revisit it one day. But, I don't think I mentioned Alundra 2 in this review, did I? I don't think I mentioned Alundra at all?
@@gimmeonion Oh! Haha. You're the first one that's answered the question so I'd forgotten about it. Sorry. What did you enjoy about Alundra 2? I just remember the game play being a lot different from the first one, and it didn't have the same protagonist.
@@Venoix Yeah, no problem! I enjoyed it as the stand-alone it is... I love the puzzles, combat mechanics and story overall, the characters are lovely, the places are interesting, I love everything about it!
@@gimmeonion I think I was disappointed the first time I played it because I loved the original Alundra, and wanted to continue the story of that protagonist. But, that's when I was a kid. I'll definitely have an open mind when revisiting it. Thanks for your reply. :)
Don't worry! I spent a LONG ass time grinding so that I would be able to beat the final boss. I think I ended up over 100 before I entered the final dungeon.
Arc the Lad 2 is a DAMN GOOD game, but every game after 1 and 2 are either okay, or suck major balls. ...I mean, the first minute sets the tone of the game pretty well with what happens in Elc's home....
![Arc the Lad 2 Retrospective [PS1]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dNn1JE11Pic/mqdefault.jpg)
I remember being shocked as a kid when Arc and Co. turned out to be good guys, as I hadn't played the first one.
Even without any knowledge of the original game, and not even being that good at English yet, this was still one of my favorites!
Glad to hear you enjoyed the game. I wish more people knew about it.
This was a quality review video! Im shocked at how low the view count is! I can empathize with how u might feel, putting in so much effort but not getting much back in return. But if this is something u love doing, then never give up! You’ve certainly convinced me to check this game out.
Thanks man!
It's my creative outlet, so I don't mind if there aren't a ton of views. I guess if I am passionate enough about it, the views will start to come. Thanks for the kind words, I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy playing Arc the Lad II. It's a really fun game!
Great video review, your series on Arc the Lad convinced me to get the digital versions of all 4 PS1 Games on PSN.
Im in a PAL territory so never got the chance to play this one, although my video store as a child did have a copy of this I didn't have a modded console at the time to try it. Might get Twighlight on PS2 as well.
As for underrated gems on the PS1 Legend of Legaia is my all time favourite ps1 RPG, and Shadow Hearts on ps2 was extremely uncommon in my area and I never met a single person who played it at the time.
Glad that I could inspire you to look into this series. It really is a lot of fun, and you should definitely look into Twilight of the Spirits too. It did a few things differently, but it's probably my second favourite of the five I have reviewed (Arc the Lad II being my favourite).
Oh yeah, Legend of Legaia was a really fun game. I remember it being really emotional when I played it, too.
As for Shadow Hearts, I grew up in Australia and was lucky enough to find it around the time it released in a Big W, of all places. Was so glad to pick that one up. Will definitely have to revisit it sometime in the future.
Hey there! Arc Twilight of the Spirits is available for PS4 online purchase :-)
Great review! Was all the info i needed to finally give this game a try for the first time
Glad to hear it. I hope you enjoy the game as much as I did. I recently finished Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits, and am so glad I stuck with the series.
Well done!
And I think a big reason Arc Collection didn't sell well in NA is cause the ps2 had already been out for like 1.5 years. Most gamers/casuals want the latest and greatest and "good graphics". Id bet money if the Arc games were released in 96 or 97, they would have sold better in NA.
Yeah, definitely. It also never got a release in PAL territories, which would have also adversely affected the total sales figures. But that would have also been a gamble because, as you said, the PS2 was what many people were focussing on at the time.
This game is a masterpiece, it always made me dream about making a game based off it, the music in it just touches the soul.
Definitely. It's a must play of the classics.
Thanks for the in depth review! If I were to just play this one without the bonuses from Arc 1, are the only story and character interaction scenes I'd be missing be the Choko scene?
Not that interested in playing the 1st one cuz of its length but don't want to miss out on story and party interactions. I'm okay if I miss the other bonuses though
I believe you can still technically get Choko, you just can't complete her side quest which makes her incredibly powerful. Oh, and you also wouldn't be able to get the Romancing Stones, which can be combined to make your MP cost 0. Plus basically all the special equipment you find in the bonus dungeon in the first game transfers to this one. That's about it.
@@Venoix ah I see. So the Choko sidequest would be the only story thing I'm missing?
@@winnethetoad Yup, as far as I remember, that's right.
@@Venoix gotcha. Also does this game use random encounters? And does the world map have any secret locations and treasures to find? I like the sense of exploration when a game's world map has this.
@@winnethetoad No, there are no random encounters, and you can sometimes find secret locations on the world map, but rarely.
As a fan of the genre I highly respect this game. It helped me gain interest in games like it for sure. Watching your review is making me want to revisit the gameplay! Thank you for your time and energy 😜
Sorry that the review made you want to revisit he game. It's definitely worth a relook. Anyway, glad you enjoyed the review. Thanks for your comment. :)
Aaah yes, Arc the Lad Compendium. A hidden gem, rivaling the fabled Final Fantasy 7 in general quality.
And no, I don't just say that.
Excluding End of Darkness and that mobile game (R); you have 4 solid games. Plus an anime series (that ended abruptly, but was really good).
If there is anything that deserves to be remade or remastered, Arc the Lad (ALL of it) deserves it the most.
Somebody contact Square Enix, or Yoko Taro - anybody who can make it happen!
This game is so underrated, the plot is quite a masterpiece
Best one out of the collection 👌
This is the best RPG game. Played few times
In order to beat the game, do you have to complete a certain amount of jobs to beat it?
Not in this game, no.
In this third game though, only the compulsory ones, plus a few side ones that make the compulsory ones appear.
@@Venoix I just finished the melee at the Romalia Tunnel. I'm assuming the next part I need to do is a mandatory job at Houfion. the job Delivery the Charm didn't pop up. Romalia Interior supposed to be next. What should I do to advance this story?
@@Toxicplyer Do you mean when Tosh and Shu place a bomb, or before that? I haven't played the game in quite awhile now, so I don't remember the specifics, but you could always check Shotgunnova's FAQ on Gamefaqs. It's pretty thorough. You don't have to do the Hunter's Guild quests to progress the game. Maybe you've missed talking to someone in Houfion? Make sure you try different party leaders, as sometimes you need to be a different character (like Tosh), to be able to advance the story.
I am currently playing this and after investing a pretty significant amount of time in it, I think I'm going to just give up. There's a lot of frustrating design elements like having about 7 new characters join the party all at once. Now I have a small army but I can only use 5 of them in battle while everyone else lags behind in level. The combat is slow, tedious and devoid of strategic depth. I am sitting on a mountain of gold and have nothing to spend it on. Plus my inventory is constantly getting maxed out with junk I don't need.
If the story was good, I might be able to suffer through all this but it's really not. All of the characters are shallow and uninteresting and the plot is your typical "bad guys want to summon the dark lord to destroy the world" type stuff.
I think Alundra 2 is an underrated game!
I haven't spent much time with it. Maybe I'll revisit it one day. But, I don't think I mentioned Alundra 2 in this review, did I? I don't think I mentioned Alundra at all?
@@Venoix you didn't mention it, but at the end you said you'd like to see what we think is a good game that doesn't have that much attention
@@gimmeonion Oh! Haha. You're the first one that's answered the question so I'd forgotten about it. Sorry.
What did you enjoy about Alundra 2? I just remember the game play being a lot different from the first one, and it didn't have the same protagonist.
@@Venoix Yeah, no problem! I enjoyed it as the stand-alone it is... I love the puzzles, combat mechanics and story overall, the characters are lovely, the places are interesting, I love everything about it!
@@gimmeonion I think I was disappointed the first time I played it because I loved the original Alundra, and wanted to continue the story of that protagonist. But, that's when I was a kid. I'll definitely have an open mind when revisiting it. Thanks for your reply. :)
A bit long and spoilery to be just a review IMO, but credit for putting in a lot of effort.
Really?? You still level 80 when you get into romalia?? That insane dude.. my level was 120 when i get into romalia
Don't worry! I spent a LONG ass time grinding so that I would be able to beat the final boss. I think I ended up over 100 before I entered the final dungeon.
Me too. I did every mission and dungeon, choko's sidequest and more. My max lvl were about 130 in the final battle
I think i did 100%. This is my second favorite game in history of the Rpg
You're still alive?
I thought you gave up 4 years ago!
Well, technically you could say that the Let's Plays are still dead, as I am not doing them anymore.
@@Venoix
At least you're still alive in some form.
Great review!
@@almondjoy4938 Thanks! And thanks for resubscribing. Reviews are definitely the new focus moving forward.
Arc the Lad 2 is a DAMN GOOD game, but every game after 1 and 2 are either okay, or suck major balls.
...I mean, the first minute sets the tone of the game pretty well with what happens in Elc's home....
Twilight of spirits is very good buddy
@fabolousjada5070
It's mediocre, at best.
At the very least, it's nowhere near as good as the second game.