DS Luminous Arc (S-RPG)

What is unique about this Strategy RPG that will continue to hold the attention of players and keep them away from other titles in the genre?

Clayton: Well, I’m pretty hesitant to call anything “unique” in the video game industry. Someone somewhere has done nearly everything already in some fashion, and I don’t want to trample all over their achievements in an attempt to rewrite history in my favor. That being said, I think Luminous Arc has some key features that will set it apart from the other SRPGs coming out this year, especially on the DS. I think the largest distinguishing feature is that Luminous Arc offers both wireless and wi-fi multiplayer. I remember having heated forum debates on which character lineups for Final Fantasy Tactics were the best, so when those debates come up for Luminous, it’s going to be a blast settling those debates on the field of battle.

I think that the game’s uncommonly versatile control scheme is going to please a lot of strategy RPG gamers. Some people, myself included, don’t like using the stylus for their SRPGs, while others like it a lot. Luminous Arc also has left-hand and right-hand setups so that nobody playing it is forced to develop “gaming ambidexterity”. It may seem like a little thing on paper, but in my experience, when you’re really getting into an SRPG, comfortable controls mean a lot.

Luminous Arc also has a solid chunk of voice acting in the game, which is pretty rare for a DS title. Some of the characters are really bolstered by the acting. I remember a couple of times in the studio where we’d see a line on the script we knew was supposed to be funny, but hearing the voice actor/actress nail the line with just the right cadence and timing took it to another level of hilarity. I have to man up a little bit here and admit that I honestly didn’t care if we put voice acting in Luminous Arc or not, but Sammy Matsushima, the project lead, had worked with these actors before and he was dead set against removing the voice acting. After playing this game with and without the voices, I am now in total agreement with Sammy. The game just would not be as good without hearing some of these lines voiced.

Of course, the solid combat, the characters and the artwork will make Luminous Arc an overall appealing package for any strategy RPG lover, but I think the ability to challenge your friends over wi-fi is really going to set this game apart from the other titles for fans of the genre. People have been asking for the ability to play this style of game online for a long time, and that should go a long way towards convincing gamers that if they are looking for an SRPG, they will be getting the most bang for their buck out of Luminous Arc.


Is there anything in this title that might draw in people that originally were not SRPG fans?

Clayton: I don’t think that there are many gamers out there who are just hardwired to only like specific genres. I think there are certain aspects of gameplay that gamers derive enjoyment from, and they’ll play whatever game can generate the enjoyment that they specifically crave, whether it be an RTS, strategy RPG, or a date-sim, so long as it provides the interactive experience they desire. I don’t think classifying people by what they’re playing is as accurate or as insightful as trying to figure out WHY they’re playing what they’re playing.

So, I feel that Luminous Arc does cast a pretty wide net, in terms of finding an audience even among people who don’t normally play SRPGs. If you’re a person who enjoys games with a good story, you’ll probably enjoy Luminous Arc. If you like good looking artwork, enjoyable character interaction, or characters that are a bit more humorous, I imagine that you’ll enjoy the game, even if grid-based combat isn’t your favorite style of RPG. Sammy loves the music for the game, so if you’re a game music lover, you’re going to get a kick out of that, too. I think there are a lot of things that Luminous Arc does well, and that a lot of people are really going to like it, regardless of genre preference.


About how long can normal players expect the game's story to last them hourwise?

Clayton: Their testers tell me the main storyline is about 20 hours long if you're not powerlevelling. However, I'm playing through the sidequests and completing the full Intermission sequences, and I'm clocking in at 30-35 hours.


Are there many side quests in this title or is most of the game linear?

Clayton: There are quite a few side quests, but you have to do a little work to find them. They aren’t just going to be waiting for you as a conversation option at the same location you need to be at in order to advance the plot. Of course, you can just blow through the main storyline if you desire, but I feel that in games, as well as in life, it is the side quests you complete that define you. For those looking for even more playtime, there’s an extra dungeon after you complete the game, and the aforementioned multiplayer component will add even more replay.

Clicar para expandir...

Previews: Luminous Arc
The DS gets a hot new tactical RPG from Atlus.

If you've got the same soft spot in your heart that we do for epic tactical RPGs starring petulant adolescents with tons of hairspray, Christmas is coming early this year. Atlus is bringing Marvelous' Luminous Arc for DS to the states this summer, and the early version we played is shaping up to be a worthy tactical RPG experience.

The story of Luminous Arc follows a band of young adventurers from Ever Garden known as the Garden Children. Under the leadership of Sir Heath, it is charged with a literal witch-hunt in the name of the theocratic Church of Light. Witches, whom the church blames for the original sin of draining the planet's vital forces by using magic in ancient times, purportedly live a cursed existence worthy of condemnation. Nevertheless, we learn early in the story that witches are not categorically evil and that the heroes are misguided, however well-intentioned.

Fans of tactical RPGs in the vein of Ogre Battle and Final Fantasy Tactics will feel at home here. Familiar conventions such a higher hit percentage and damage from rearward strikes and high ground are in place, and touch screen selection helps to eliminate some of the awkwardness of navigating the isometric perspective. However, the touch controls aren't flawless and can be delicate when trying to select spaces that are obscured by environmental obstacles and characters, and some areas of the touch screen occasionally don't advance the dialogue (at least in this early version), but otherwise the touch controls are a welcome addition to this genre.

Though the version we played wasn't fully voiced, Luminous Arc contains an impressive amount of well-acted spoken dialogue. Even the unvoiced dialogue has a comical tongue-in-cheek flair ("Did you see that!? Tough like algebra when I do my thing..."). The opening anime cinematic is also impressive, and hopefully Marvelous found a way to squeeze even more video on the cart alongside the copious voice work.

Look for the retail version of Luminous Arc this August.

Clicar para expandir...

E3 2007: Luminous Arc Hands-on
We kill witches and dragons for the church.

July 13, 2007 - We stopped by Barker Hanger to get an updated hands on with Luminous Arc, the upcoming Strategy RPG from Atlus and Image Epoch. The title appears to be an interesting mix of religion and fantasy: long ago, dragons and witches battled God for control of the world, and after a long war, God finally defeated the creatures. However, the deity paid for his victory with heavy injuries, and fell into a deep sleep to recuperate. Ten years before the game starts, the church claims that God has been reborn, but unfortunately, the witches and dragons have also returned. Players take control of the Garden Children, a group of fighters and mages raised since childhood to help combat the evil threat in case God was too weak to defeat the beasts again.

While we haven't seen the game since last year's TGS, it will be released on August 14th, and we were interested to see if any changes had been made to the title since then. One thing that we were somewhat surprised to find is that the stylus still didn't seem to be implemented in the control of any characters in the game. We couldn't use it to interact with any menu systems or other facets of the gameplay, so we're not sure whether or not there's any stylus functionality within the game.

That's a bit odd, because it would seem as though many of the other elements are decently implemented for an RPG. During battle, players can move around the field on the bottom screen, while the top screen will provide status information for that character. Once battle is engaged, the top screen delivers updates on the success or failure of an attack, as well as the probability of striking a monster. Many of the monsters we went up against seem to be the standard fare for an RPG, such as minotaurs, but we're sure that as the game progresses, your characters will take on the witches and dragons that seem to have returned to the land as a side effect of God's resurrection.

We also found out a couple of new features for the game. For one thing, players won't have to rely upon shops for equipment. Thanks to the Vitae Imbuing system, characters can create their weapons and gear that they'll use in battle, placing specialized enchantments on them to make them more effective. To further strengthen their blows, characters can build friendships with each other, creating a kind of combo system that makes them better in battle. Players will also be able to use the Wi-Fi capabilities of the DS to play friends and see who the better battlefield commander is, which should add to the replayability of the title. We'll have more on Luminous Arc soon.

Clicar para expandir...

How much you like Luminous Arc is going to depend on how much you enjoy SRPGs. It sounds like an obvious thing to say, but that is what it comes down to. See, Luminous Arc delivers exactly what it promises a strategy RPG with voice acting. Nothing more, nothing less. If you’re expecting anything extra then Luminous Arc is bound to disappoint you. On the other hand for fans of the genre and those gamers looking for a first step into SRPGs Luminous Arc has enough in it to entertain players. I just wish you could rotate battlefields or the touch screen control was polished up.

Clicar para expandir...

Fou-Lu disse:

Em principio devo recebe-lo amanhã....mandei vir através do Ebay, assim que o receber coloco aqui uma review, é a primeira vez que comprei pelo ebay espero que não tenha grandes problemas.

Tenho bastantes expectativas acerca deste jogo, gosto bastante de RPG's e desde o FF Tactics que tenho andado a procura deste tipo e jogos.

Clicar para expandir...

How important are the interactions between characters in between regular
battles? In the end, do they adversely affect the story?

Mike Meeker (Editor): The player-controlled interactions don't have much of
an impact on the main story, but they do grant benefits in battle and
provide nice insights into how the other characters view Alph. Having good
relationships will give you fancy items and eventually unlock special scenes
involving those characters. Interestingly, the "wrong" answers are sometimes
more fun than the "right" ones.

The musical score is going to be outstanding, a facet which is obvious
when names are thrown around like Mitsuda's. How diverse is the musical
score and how brilliant is it? Seriously.

Sammy Matsushima (Project Lead): If you've been playing games as long as I
have, there are certain composers that you've become attached to. I may be
jaded for saying this, but Yasunori Mitsuda is among one of the best game
music composers ever. For Luminous Arc, Mr. Mitsuda takes on the role as
sound producer/composer, working in conjunction with three other composers
Akari Kaida (Breath of Fire 3, Onimusha 3), Kazumi Mitome (Pocket Monster
theme songs), and Shota Kageyama. I've listened to the entire soundtrack and
all tracks fit the game perfectly. The music is comprised mostly of string,
wind, and percussion instruments, giving the entire score a very warm and
soothing sound. Track types are pretty diverse and can range from grand
dramatic pieces or religious tracks that feature church organs, to downright
comical pieces for those light-hearted scenes. My favorite tracks are the
opening song "Brilliant World" and the Title BGM, which is a beautiful piano
solo that is played on the title screen.

Clicar para expandir...

JohnYamaha disse:

Desculpa a ignorância, mas o que é um S-RPG?

Clicar para expandir...

JohnYamaha disse:

AHH eu curto bue desse tipo de jogo. Outro exemplo (a ver se eu percebi ) é o Fire Emblem né?

Clicar para expandir...

Fou-Lu disse:

É o sistema de jogo, que apesar de revolucionário não ter nada, (visto em Final Fantasy Tactics / tactics ogre ou Fire Emblem) torna o jogo bastante viciante e simples de jogar, estou completamente simplesmente deliciado com o mesmo ainda não o larguei um minuto desde que o abri a banda sonora no geral não é má tendo partes dela que são bastante amenas sendo que a maioria sobressai bastante do que estamos habituados num jogo deste género e ao contrário da maioria dos jogos, grande parte do dialogo é falado, como referido no post do I_Eat_All.

Neste caso como em muitos jogos do género creio que ficavam a ganhar se tivessem mantido as vozes originais em japonês, tendo neste caso como suporte as legendas. Mas como não se pode pedir muito….já fiquei bastante agradado com o facto de não ter mais um jogo com uma história bastante comprida….e escrita.

Os gráficos fazem relembrar um tactics ogre um pouco polido, pelo que se nota que não levaram muito a sério esta parte que para alguns seria um dos factores decisivos na aquisição do jogo, ao contrario de Final Fantasy III ou Heroes of Mana cujo cenário se apresenta em 3D com personagens num 2D bastante vistoso, aqui o 3D está algo decepcionante, mas nada de grave pois muito possivelmente é ai que se encontra a verdadeira essência deste tipo e género de jogos, a simplicidade.

Traz algumas “novidades” a nível do sistema de combates que podem tanto surpreender e agradar aqueles que nunca jogaram um jogo do estilo como se tornar algo monótono e meio “look-a-like” para os mais antigos nestas andanças.

Entre elas estão Sinergy, Flash Drive, Intermission, Vitae Imbuing.(também referido anteriormente)

Flash Drive ->cada vez que matarmos um montro ou executarmos uma acção a barra de FP(Flash Points) aumenta, quando chegar ao máximo podem usar ataques especiais.

Sinergy ->Quando dois personagens tem os FP no máximo podem usar ataques especiais em equipa.

Intermission -> Permite falar com os companheiros de equipa no final dos combates de modo a aumentar a “amizade” com os mesmos recebendo em muitos casos itens por parte deles.

Vitae Imbuing -> permite a criação de armas recorrendo ao uso de algumas pedras e artefactos recolhidos ao longo do jogo. Nada de novo por aqui, apenas o nome.

Vem também com a opção do Wi-Fi o que significa que muito em breve poderá ser possível encontrarem por aqui um tópico “Torneio Luminous Arc”.

Contra: Alguns “bugs” nomeadamente no sistema de combate, a câmara pelo que vi ate agora não se move isto é a posição da mesma é sempre igual o que em alguns casos torna difícil atacar alguns adversários que se encontrem no meio das nossas personagens.

Alguns menus tem o que parece ser alguma alergia ao Stylus pelo que no exemplo de um ecrã com três opções em que se encontra seleccionada a primeira (por pré-definição) e ao tentar carregar na ultima, ele selecciona automaticamente a 2ª em vez da 3ª ou 4ª o que se torna aborrecido quando algumas destas opções são longas conversas.

Excepcional de facto é a jogabilidade do mesmo e alguma dificuldade em certos combates, que o tornam apelativo sempre que pensamos..bahh mais uma batalha do mesmo.

Para todos aqueles que estavam com duvidas acerca deste jogo, um dos melhores S-RPG's que ja joguei ate hoje, ao nivel de um Fire Emblem, ou Tactics Ogre, sem duvida alguma.​

Clicar para expandir...

ashn0d disse:

eu levo 1h30 de jogo e queria apenas deixar aqui a minha impressao do jogo, o que o Fou-Lu disse está, na maioria, correcto.
As unicas coisas que discordo é que a camara move-se mas nao roda (se usarem o stylus para controlarem as personagens o dpad controla a camara)

Clicar para expandir...