Arc the Lad: End of Darkness
Posted July 3, 2005
Regardless of your feelings about real-time combat in roleplaying games, the industry seems to be moving in that direction (even when it has no
business doing so; see "Shining Force series, The"). Is it the natural consequence of online play? Experimentation to rejuvenate tired franchises? Who knows; maybe turn-based systems are just too darn slow and boring for whippersnappers these days. Whatever the reason, I don't think anyone could make the argument that real-time combat has been terribly deep in most RPGs up to this point, and Cattle Call's Arc the Lad: End of Darkness doesn't do anything to change that. It's pure hack-and-slash. That's fine if you're expecting hack-and-slash, but as the fifth game in the Arc the Lad roleplaying series (and direct sequel to 2003's Twilight of the Spirits, by the same developer), it's a bit of an unexpected turn. Gone are experience, random battles, free-roaming exploration, turn-based combat, and story (almost).
The story, such as it is, starts out pretty typically. You play a 16-year-old kid named Edda. One day, licensed adventurers called "hunters" show up on Edda's island homeland and promptly get themselves killed by something called a malademon. Despite this, Edda becomes googly-eyed at the thought of becoming a hunter himself, and luckily for him, he has a niche: it seems malademons have been appearing more and more frequently throughout the world, only exorcists have the power to defeat them, and he happens to be the last one in the world. Score.
Gameplay:
End of Darkness is not so much an RPG as it is a mission-based action game. One type of mission tells a simple, usually self-contained story, while the other pays the bills. The types of assignments vary, but they're usually limited to escorting, capturing, finding, or killing. There are around 40 missions altogether, and after a certain number of both types of missions, you are given the option to take a series of combat tests to improve your rank.
Battles usually consist of pressing the attack button repeatedly – unless it's a malademon, in which case you press the attack button repeatedly and then one additional button at the end. Every now and again you might heal or execute a spell or something (by assigning them to one of four slots). Enemies are of the braindead variety, so don't worry about them attacking you unless you wander directly in front of them. If you run away they'll follow you for a little while, but you only have to put a few meters between you and an enemy before it abandons the chase. It's the type of AI we've come to know and love in bad stealth games, and since there's no experience, you're better off just cruising right by most enemies, anyway.
By obtaining certain "character cards" from enemies or the lottery, you can play as someone besides Edda in the non-story missions. Past characters from the entire series are present, 24 in all, and each character has his or her own special skill, as well as a unique armor or weapon card that can be acquired or won. This is also the only way to play as the title character since he sure as heck isn't in the story. In fact, cards represent just about everything of importance in the game (tasks, equipment, magic, and skills), but the medium is more or less superficial. Players can also synthesize new cards from two existing ones. While these combinations sometimes make sense, it's pretty much a given that no one will waste the inordinate amount of time and money through trial and error to find them on their own. An attack, defense, and special card can be equipped on each character; this is the only way to improve their base stats.
With so few PlayStation 2 games taking advantage of the broadband adapter, it's good to see Cattle
Call making use of it, but honestly, if you don't like the single player, the online aspect won't change your mind. It's completely free, though, and there are 30 or so cooperative missions. The hardest of these I beat on my own with little difficulty. That's good, since you might also have a little trouble getting a group together; whenever I logged on, there were only a few dozen people online at any given time. Not surprisingly, there's no lag time. You can also battle each other one-on-one or in teams.
End of Darkness would be a slightly above-average game were it not for some poor design choices. First and most importantly, you cannot pause in the middle of combat. Important phone call? They'll leave a message. Bathroom break? Better lay down some newspaper. I also hope you don't want to change your equipment during a battle sequence, because you can't. What's that, you say? You're playing online and want to refill your special meter completely? Log out, return to the main menu, load up your save game, refill, save, reset your PlayStation, and log back in, my friend.
There are some neat ideas that can be found in End of Darkness, however, my favorite being that you can play past the ending. Not only that, but a new area opens up and there are still things you can do on the same saved game without having to play through again, including three additional ranks that you can attain. Altogether, the single player content will probably last most players 20-25 hours.
Graphics:
I never played Twilight of the Spirits, but from what I understand, Cattle Call has reused most of the settings, characters, and enemies. Despite that and some jagged edges, it's a pretty good-looking game regardless, although character animation is a bit stiff and the environments are somewhat dull. Nothing is interactive besides crates and doors.
Audio:
Apparently the music is also largely reused, but it sounds good and some of it is sort of catchy. There's no voice acting whatsoever besides a few lines in battle that are repeated far too often. Sound effects do their job, but are mostly limited to footsteps and thwacks.
Conclusion:
Arc the Lad: End of Darkness is a radical departure in gameplay from the more traditional Arc the Lad series, but I hope it is an odd footnote rather than an entirely new direction. Although it can be fun at times, a mediocre battle system, a thin story, and a handful of poor design choices make it hard to recommend, at least at full price. Rent it.
business doing so; see "Shining Force series, The"). Is it the natural consequence of online play? Experimentation to rejuvenate tired franchises? Who knows; maybe turn-based systems are just too darn slow and boring for whippersnappers these days. Whatever the reason, I don't think anyone could make the argument that real-time combat has been terribly deep in most RPGs up to this point, and Cattle Call's Arc the Lad: End of Darkness doesn't do anything to change that. It's pure hack-and-slash. That's fine if you're expecting hack-and-slash, but as the fifth game in the Arc the Lad roleplaying series (and direct sequel to 2003's Twilight of the Spirits, by the same developer), it's a bit of an unexpected turn. Gone are experience, random battles, free-roaming exploration, turn-based combat, and story (almost).The story, such as it is, starts out pretty typically. You play a 16-year-old kid named Edda. One day, licensed adventurers called "hunters" show up on Edda's island homeland and promptly get themselves killed by something called a malademon. Despite this, Edda becomes googly-eyed at the thought of becoming a hunter himself, and luckily for him, he has a niche: it seems malademons have been appearing more and more frequently throughout the world, only exorcists have the power to defeat them, and he happens to be the last one in the world. Score.
Gameplay:
End of Darkness is not so much an RPG as it is a mission-based action game. One type of mission tells a simple, usually self-contained story, while the other pays the bills. The types of assignments vary, but they're usually limited to escorting, capturing, finding, or killing. There are around 40 missions altogether, and after a certain number of both types of missions, you are given the option to take a series of combat tests to improve your rank.
Battles usually consist of pressing the attack button repeatedly – unless it's a malademon, in which case you press the attack button repeatedly and then one additional button at the end. Every now and again you might heal or execute a spell or something (by assigning them to one of four slots). Enemies are of the braindead variety, so don't worry about them attacking you unless you wander directly in front of them. If you run away they'll follow you for a little while, but you only have to put a few meters between you and an enemy before it abandons the chase. It's the type of AI we've come to know and love in bad stealth games, and since there's no experience, you're better off just cruising right by most enemies, anyway.
By obtaining certain "character cards" from enemies or the lottery, you can play as someone besides Edda in the non-story missions. Past characters from the entire series are present, 24 in all, and each character has his or her own special skill, as well as a unique armor or weapon card that can be acquired or won. This is also the only way to play as the title character since he sure as heck isn't in the story. In fact, cards represent just about everything of importance in the game (tasks, equipment, magic, and skills), but the medium is more or less superficial. Players can also synthesize new cards from two existing ones. While these combinations sometimes make sense, it's pretty much a given that no one will waste the inordinate amount of time and money through trial and error to find them on their own. An attack, defense, and special card can be equipped on each character; this is the only way to improve their base stats.
With so few PlayStation 2 games taking advantage of the broadband adapter, it's good to see Cattle
Call making use of it, but honestly, if you don't like the single player, the online aspect won't change your mind. It's completely free, though, and there are 30 or so cooperative missions. The hardest of these I beat on my own with little difficulty. That's good, since you might also have a little trouble getting a group together; whenever I logged on, there were only a few dozen people online at any given time. Not surprisingly, there's no lag time. You can also battle each other one-on-one or in teams.End of Darkness would be a slightly above-average game were it not for some poor design choices. First and most importantly, you cannot pause in the middle of combat. Important phone call? They'll leave a message. Bathroom break? Better lay down some newspaper. I also hope you don't want to change your equipment during a battle sequence, because you can't. What's that, you say? You're playing online and want to refill your special meter completely? Log out, return to the main menu, load up your save game, refill, save, reset your PlayStation, and log back in, my friend.
There are some neat ideas that can be found in End of Darkness, however, my favorite being that you can play past the ending. Not only that, but a new area opens up and there are still things you can do on the same saved game without having to play through again, including three additional ranks that you can attain. Altogether, the single player content will probably last most players 20-25 hours.
Graphics:
I never played Twilight of the Spirits, but from what I understand, Cattle Call has reused most of the settings, characters, and enemies. Despite that and some jagged edges, it's a pretty good-looking game regardless, although character animation is a bit stiff and the environments are somewhat dull. Nothing is interactive besides crates and doors.
Audio:
Apparently the music is also largely reused, but it sounds good and some of it is sort of catchy. There's no voice acting whatsoever besides a few lines in battle that are repeated far too often. Sound effects do their job, but are mostly limited to footsteps and thwacks.
Conclusion:
Arc the Lad: End of Darkness is a radical departure in gameplay from the more traditional Arc the Lad series, but I hope it is an odd footnote rather than an entirely new direction. Although it can be fun at times, a mediocre battle system, a thin story, and a handful of poor design choices make it hard to recommend, at least at full price. Rent it.