Customer Reviews

Luminous Arc 2

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Pros:

+Some good art
+Good music
+Well written story
+Simplistic Gameplay that anyone can pick up on
+Fast paced battles

Cons:

-Graphically doesn't look much different from a GBA game
-Very easy game
-It does little to separate itself from the first game or to really try to stand out in the genre. This is a con that is subjective, however

Last year, the first Luminous Arc dropped down. It wasn't really anything special--especially if you were a veteran of the SRPG--but at it at least had merits. Anyone who was just starting out with the genre, however, may have found it a nice introduction. On the whole, Luminous Arc wasn't the greatest title, but it was far from being a bad game. It was just a bare bones basic SRPG. The same could be said for Luminous Arc 2. Overall it is a better game, but it doesn't do much to really go above and beyond the first game. In short, if you didn't like the first game, there's no real reason to think you'd like the second one.

Things don't pick off from where the first game left off. A trend that isn't really new in the SRPG realm. Nonetheless, the storyline of Luminous Arc 2 uses many stylistic things from the first game. There are usually character portraits facing one another and speaking through facial expressions. For the most part the story is well written, but it suffers from the same thing as the first. That being there is quite a bit of exposition. The other thing the story suffers from is the imbalance in voice acting; another flaw from the first game. There will be moments when you'll hear voices and then abruptly, the voice acting stops and then abruptly continues again. The story itself isn't bad, but you might find you want it to be better. There's a good sense of humor abound, and the writing itself isn't bad either. Not to mention you'll like most of the characters. While the story is by no means bad, it is a little weak and predictable. The characters make it work but you definitely won't find yourself blown away.

Gameplay wise, Luminous Arc 2 is, once again, not all that different from the first one. You move your characters around and perform attacks, usually taking turns. Characters also have special abilities and flash drives (which are fancier flashier abilities) they can use in battle as well. Nothing about Luminous Arc 2's mechanics are difficult at all. The game is easy to pick up and play. Unfortunately, it isn't too difficult either. Veteran gamers will find themselves getting through the game with no problems whatsoever.

Simplistic gameplay aside, Luminous Arc is not so stellar in production. The anime inspired art is pretty neat and most of the maps look good, but for the most part, Luminous Arc continues to look like a late GBA game. The battle animations for the spells and flash drives in particular are horrible. You might get a kick out of the art style but other than that you won't get a kick out of the visuals. The music is pretty good, though, as are some of the voices. The voice acting isn't always the strongest but for the most part it's a lot better than its predecessor.

In the end, Luminous Arc 2 is a good game, but like the first one only throws in the most basic of basic things. If you are expecting something innovative you won't get it with Luminous Arc 2. Yet for what it's worth, it is an inviting game for those who've yet to really experience the SRPG. Likewise you don't need to know anything about the first game to jump in. Unfortunately, if you didn't find the first game to be all that great you probably won't think the second one is all that great either.

Perspective: I am a 40+ year old mom. I play video games to relax. Generally I prefer RPG and puzzle games. I do like tactical or strategy RPG if the pacing is good.

I loved this game! I thought the story was interesting. True it was kind of the same old-same old but that's o.k. as I like it! The characters are funny and sometimes over the top hilarious. Seriously. I laugh as much at some of the Luminous Arc games than I did when watching Friends and I love that TV show!

The gameplay is not overly complicated. This is not Final Fantasy Tactics--the level of customization and item availability does not match something at that level. I found the visual's to be very good. I like anime and I thought the battlefield, for the most part, was clear and you could see all your units well. You might be surprised that some tacticals just get a too jumbled view going and it makes it hard to position your people. The menu system is also excellent.

The game is not too short--clocking in at over 50 hours for completion including most of the side quests I made to stay at a good level. It has two save files but it can be hard to tell which one you are on when you go to save if you are not careful since it is color based and the palette just doesn't lend to distinction well (or didn't for us..my daughter actually overwrote my file when I was 50% in and she was just starting--that was pretty tough! The deal was she would get me back to the chapter I was on by double saving her game..so it all worked out in the end!)

If you like tacticals OR you want a tactical/strategy game that is turn and grid based to try I highly recomment this one. I think it provides a good starting point for the newcomer to the genre. I will grant it is a little on the teen humor side but even at 40 I still find that funny. I think the value on this for your dollar is very high and certainly worth a purchase!

After playing Luminous Arc 1, I knew this game had to be added to my collection. With the added elements of the additional battles you can play in order to level up, and the even more intense graphics, you truly feel that you're inside an anime episode. Atlus is an amazing company--any game of theirs is one you should own.
As for this edition, with the music and the art book, I'm even more impressed with the final product. The art for each character, as well as some panels from the previous game are beautiful, and so vivid.
I love this game--and anyone who might enjoy an RPG, and a turn based RPG at that, will love this game.

Luminous Arc has again kept me entertained every minute playing it. Its anime-like graphics was drawn and generated greatly, and the gameplay is definitely entertaining.

Story
I thought the story was a little typical and probably the biggest flaw in the game. Its like all the other RPG anime games. 1 hero, 1 super villian who wants to take over/change the world for his own purposes blah blah blah. nothing to say here. 3/5

Gameplay
The gameplay was a great enhancement from the first LA game. I like how when you used your D-Pad, it actually went in the right direction, unlike in the first LA game, it was when you would hit the left button, it would move up, and when you hit the up button it would go left. it was pretty confusing, so it was either that or stylus lol. and the DP system was a much bigger improvement. but there are some minor flaws like you cant change the angle so when your units are all in a big clump, you cant really notice if there are spaces left there or not :/ So I guess thats all thats need to be said about gameplay.
4/5

Graphics
The anime drawn characters were really nice, and I personally loved it, and the anime intro is superb, just like the first LA. but the gameplay graphics arent anything amazing. its pretty basic like the first LA, and not much has been enchanced here. nothing much to say.
3.5/5

Sound
Sound is pretty good. Intro song was great I'd have to say, music and sound effects are clean, and don't but the heck out of you. They chose the right type of songs on the right time. So sound is perfect
5/5

Reply-ability
There are 2 parts to this. In a way its kinda like a visual novel. if you choose certain statements, you can get one ending, if you choose another certain statement, you get another. WARNING! MILD SPOILER UP AHEAD. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ, SKIP DOWN TO FINAL SCORE.
So the two endings you can get depending on your choice of words are two girls named Fatima and Althea. Fatima is a bad character who you fight multiple times, but eventually she joins up with you. Althea is a character you start off right from the beginning, and if there was only one ending, chances are the main character (Roland) would probably end up with her. I consider Althea to be the more important and main character then Fatima. Fatima's ending is slightly harder to get, just cause of the choices you choose. If you miss one, you automatically get Althea's ending. You would probably have to find a guide somewhere online if you want to get her ending.
4.5/5

OVERALL
This game is seriously amusing. its somewhat long, if you play on a constant bases, it'll probably take you around a week or two complete, but considering the two different endings, and all the side events you can partake in, its probably longer. I would definitely recommend this game to FF Tactics lovers and FE lovers. anyways final score:
4.5/5 (I can't make it a half score on the ratings so I just made it a 4 lol)

This is one of my favorite games on the Nintendo DS!! Given I'm a girl and not really interested in the 'flirting' component that goes with this game, but it's kinda enjoyable too (you have no choice but to play from the standpoint of Roland). It makes more sense to look up what I'm meaning online if you have questions on that. Overall, I look for the set-up of: the battle system (pretty much a strategy RPG), design of the characters, plot, and humor - and it is all fantastic!! I find it to be pretty enjoyable myself, and am almost Always laughing.
Some negative components though: The way they have it set up is the characters are up-close, sometimes with voice dialogue (usually in major parts of the story) but otherwise not, which wouldn't be a big deal except that the background is sometimes overused too much. I mean, there ARE a bunch of different backgrounds for whatever the setting may be at the time, but I wish they'd change it up a bit - as the game goes on those increase, but I also wish we had free movement of our characters, not just on the battleground. So while you get to choose the next location you go next, you can't really backtrack very often to a place already visited unless you have a reason to do so (big or small missions, side-quests, etc). You can go to the spot on the map where it is, but you can't enter.
Still, I recommend buying! ^_^

Before getting this one i bought and played the first game and thought the first one was alright. I was already familiar with the grid based turn based fighting system since playing similar games such as advance wars, disgaea and fire emblem. This game IMO, has a much better cast of characters and the plot doesn't feel there are as many "I told you so" moments like the first one had. You first start off with a small group of characters and in the beginning you are introduced to a tutorial of the game which is quite helpful if you aren't familiar with the style of gameplay this game has. Up to this day I've gone through 12 chapters and have enjoyed my time. The game does not require you to grind to progress through the story but does offer side missions (guild missions) to give you an extra chance to earn experience points. Commpared to the first game, the leveling system is more balanced and doesn't allow you to take your mages, sit them in a corner and have them cast stat boosting spells at each other to gain 40 exp each time. This time around it is reduced to 10 exp. In this game you also have to get 100 exp before you reach the next level but fortunately, if you go over 100 the exp carries over unlike the first game.

The game is an improvement over the first game, better control, storyline, game play, basically everything is better. I would pick it up if you are in a rpg playing mood. Voicing is included too.

The game is good but the fights are like a chess game. I think they should be more like live action instead of chess game setting.

Free and easy game, recommended for all levels of players,
who like to sit and enjoy the chats and funs within the games

This is a good tactical RPG. Not quite the level of Tactics Ogre or Final Fantasy tactics, but well worth the purchase. It seems simple at first but the difficulty does ramp up after a bit, so be prepared.