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Pretty Engaging

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 22 / 22
Date: August 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The Good

+Gorgeous anime inspired art
+Simple to get into; there's nothing about this game that's complicated
+Battles are tackled at a good pace
+Fantastic soundtrack
+There's some voice acting, and it's good
+There's online multi-player

The Bad

-A lot of user error with the touch screen controls
-Very linear
-Doesn't look all that different from a GBA game
-You have to complete the game to unlock the extras
-Does very little to come into its own

The DS is perfect for tactical RPGs. It's been demonstrated to us several times. Luminous Arc is another example of a Tactical Strategy RPG that works well on the DS. While Luminous Arc really doesn't do anything different from your typical strategy RPG, it's still a pretty fun and engaging game on the whole. If you've never played a Tactical Strategy RPG before, then Luminous Arc is a brilliant introduction. If you have, you won't find anything here outside of the standard.

There's not much to Luminous Arc's storyline. 1000 years ago a war happened involving witches and the church. The witches lost the war. Now, there are rumors that the witches have returned, and soon the church of Luminous proves these rumors to be true. A band of people known as the Garden Children are dispatched to take care of things. However, the problem lies in the fact that the evilest of the witches has already grown very powerful. It's not much of a story really. There's some political intrigue here, but for the most part the storyline could've been better overall. It's presented through cutscenes in which you view your characters facing one another and talking (similar to Disgaea).

The animations are beautiful, and there's even some voice acting. The keyword there being "some". Its rather sad that there isn't always voice acting, but it's more about how the game utilizes it. In some cutscenes you'll be reading and then the next moment there will be voices. In another quick moment there won't be. The game is inconsistent with its voice overs. Most of them are quite good too. And while the writing won't win any awards, it's got a good sense of humor about it.

The game is played out very simple like. You move your characters around, have them attack other units and whatnot. If you've played Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, it's pretty much the same thing here. Attacking an enemy directly will mean less damage and a better chance of missing. Attacking from the side or from behind increase damage and your chances of landing a hit. Each character also has a set of skills or magic that they'll learn as they level up. Pretty basic stuff.

Part of what does make Luminous Arc a little interesting is the use of "Flash Drives," which are more or less your special attacks. Whenever you attack enemies you'll fill up a flash gauge. When its full you'll gain a flash point. Get three flash points and you'll be able to team up with other characters to devastate your enemies. Much like the rest of the game, it's simple stuff, pretty basic.

You can control the game either by using the stylus, or by using the D-Pad. The idea of using the stylus and touch screen only sounds like a fantastic idea (after all, it's perfect for a tactical RPG), but in Luminous Arc it's more trouble then it's worth. For starters, this is an isometric 2D map and on top of that, it uses the grid system. User error is just far too great when using the stylus and moving units around. Sometimes the angle of the map will cause you to select the wrong square. Thank goodness you can cancel any action before a character's turn is over. Moving around your units is not simple when using the stylus on a 2D isometric map, especially because you can't rotate the camera. There's a lot less stress in using the D-Pad. The stylus works, but battles go by faster with the D-Pad

Battles move at a surprisingly fast rate. Where as in most SRPGs it could take you close to half an hour to complete a battle, many of the battles in Luminous Arc can be done in less than ten minutes. After every battle you are also given the option to talk to a member of your team. For those who like character development, this gives you a chance to really get to know some of these characters. Much of it is optional, but doing this can improve friendships. As you become better friends with your allies they'll give you items. The better friends you are, the better the item.

If there was anything slowing Luminous Arc down, it would be its story. It's simplistic and predictable. It's also very linear. Aside from random Monster Encounters, there's really nothing you can do off the main path, and all the optional stuff can't be accessed until after you've completed the game at least once.

There's online multi-player in Luminous Arc. It isn't available from the get go, however.

On the visual side, I already talked a little about the animations, but the in game itself isn't bad looking. For the most part the landscapes and settings that you battle in are really good looking on an artistic level. Not a whole lot of 3D effects are brought out, but a lot of the anime inspired art is really good. The game is also really colorful. As far as how the game just looks, though, it doesn't look that different from a GBA game. In fact, you can easily mistaken it for one. So while a lot of the anime inspired art looks good and the landscapes look good for what they are, the DS is certainly capable of more than this.

Musically, Luminous Arc sounds absolutely brilliant. It's got a really good soundtrack with a lot of memorable tunes. The sound effects are also good and along those lines, the voice acting (when there is voice acting) is pretty good too. \

For the most part, Luminous Arc is a fun game. It may not do things that differently from your standard Tactical RPG, but it's still a fun game overall and it's pretty engaging. The story isn't the best, but it certainly isn't the worst either. If you're looking for some fun, Luminous Arc delivers it. If you're looking, however, for an SRPG that goes above and beyond, you won't find it with Luminous Arc.

Been here before, but nevertheless enjoyable

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 15 / 15
Date: August 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Luminous Arc is yet another turn based strategy to hit the DS, and like a decent number before it, it's pretty good to boot. The story of Luminous Arc unfolds in a typical fantasy world with some typical fantasy characters, but it's the core gameplay that helps set it apart from the rest of the pack. The typical turn based gameplay gets a tweak thanks to being able to level-up during the battle instead of afterwards, which can greatly assist you and adds some depth to the otherwise tried and true gameplay. The overall storyline of Luminous Arc isn't really anything we haven't come across before (and in fact can come off as confusing), but the colorful cast of characters more than make up for it. Not to mention that the game also offers a lengthy (yet somewhat linear) quest with some extras to find once you play it again, so the replayability factor is nice as well. All in all, though Luminous Arc doesn't really bring much new to the table, it's unique charm and different take on the overall gameplay mechanics make it worth checking out nonetheless.

Disappointing.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 15 / 20
Date: September 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is John. Say hi to John. John has never played a strategical RPG ever. He got Luminous Arc. He loved it. He played it again. He still liked it. Hurray for John.

Unfortunately, I am not John. I have played strategical RPG's before. I have replayed certain ones before and not just FFTA, which was, yes, a fabulous and in depth game.
However, this game has no depth. Nor does it come up to the DS's expectations.

First of all, the DS. A fabulous system. You probably have Mariokart and thought "Wow, these graphics are just as good as the N64, maybe better!" These graphics are fat, choppy, and the battle animations look like the guy is doing the robot. It looks like a slash movement took 2 or 3 frames of animation. Yes, the portraits are pretty, but that's it. It is not going up to the limits of the DS. Even all the armor looks the same, and as no color. When you have a different sword, everything is still the same. It's annoying really. Also, there are things called "Flash Drives". Using one is kind of like using a combo. Even these are poorly animated, and it looks like something off a GBA. I remember Riviera: The Promised Land haveing better animation than the "Flash Drives". One thing really shines in this game. Voice acting. It's fabulous. Everyone has a different voice, accents, laughs, everything. It really is a enjoyable cut-scene experience.

Besides the limitations, it's not a terrible game. The leveling system is pretty nice. You never know when you'll get a new skill, or what it'll be! New skills are always fun, and every one is actually useful. You get new characters, like every game, and they each have their one special weapon and skills. When your on the battle field, you use the stylus to move your people and select options etc. You can change to the buttons, but this is the only time where you use your stylus. It's nice, but also clunky. I calibrated my stylus fifty times, but still nothing doing.
So basically, it could've been a slightly better GBA game in the end.

PROS:
Good leveling and skill system.
Voice acting is spectacular.
When people die, they don't go forever.
Storyline is strong.
CONS:
Graphics are bad, not using the DS to its full power.
Battles are kind of boring.
Linear. Moves to fast.
No depth, slightly dull.
Multiplayer is a laugh.
More like a GBA game than a DS.

Luminous arc is an extremely mediocre RPG. I would only suggest getting it if you haven't played a strategical RPG, or you don't own one.

A well developed and engaging strategy RPG experience!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: August 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Having been on the market for nearly three years now, the Nintendo DS has given us innovation, new types of games, and revitalizing old genres (like the point and click adventure game), all the while providing loads of fun. Surprisingly, though, one genre has been all but ignored on this little handheld: turn based strategy RPGs. Hoshigami Remix tried to fill that void, but it's essentially a port of an old Playstation title that's too complex and unrewarding for it to be enjoyable. So, is there anything that can really fill that itch? Fortunately, Atlus has answered the call and delivered "Luminous Arc", an original game that is quite the satisfying strategy RPG.

Story:

The story of "Luminous Arc" can be summed up like this. Kids that are raised from the Church, known as the Garden Children, are called up to raise arms against the "evil" Witches, who plan to kill all the people and disobey the will of God. Alph, a young, courageous youth, becomes the leader of the group, and leads off the fight to condemn the Witches. Although the story initially sounds very cliché, the plots really starts to twist early on, and you eventually learn that things are not as black and white as they appear to be. You also start to question who is really the villains in this game: the Witches... or something else?!
Overall: 9.0

Design:

The main story mode is what you'll be spending the most time on in "Luminous Arc". All areas are marked on a map, and locations are marked with icons, and you move the cursor to where you want to go. The locations you visit vary up to battlefields, towns, forests, and the like. Sometimes, you may end up being forced into a battle while trying to get to your next destination. When you arrive at your destination, you either talk to some of your party, sometimes shop, or just advance to the next story battle. This simplicity with providing menus to help you along ensures that it's very difficult to get lost in this game.
During battle, you can choose up to eight party members at a time. To gain experience, you can either land an attack on an enemy, or do a status enhancer or heal on your party. Movement is on a grid based board, and the movement is determined by squares. The attack range is also determined by this same setup. The battle system is very similar to that of most strategy RPGs, but it does work well here. Leveling up, though, is more determined by getting up to 100 experience points rather than a random number. This system makes it easier to determine how many points you need to earn to level up. All status of individual characters is displayed on the top, while the bottom is for actions. This makes things easier to follow, and it leaves the bottom screen uncluttered.
The problem is that the touch screen controls are sometimes unresponsive, leaving you with some frustration if you use that method. You eventually decide to just use the no touch screen option in the options menu and just use the old d-pad. Although it's not much of a gripe, it would be good if the game had good touch screen controls. Either way, it's hardly even a problem for me.
After battles, you have an opportunity to talk with one of your party members. You choose a response. If it favors them, their trust increases. If you talk with them enough, depending on how full their heart is, you get a special cutscene. These special scenes can be rather amusing, to be honest, and adds some depth to the whole game. All the pieces together make for a great blend.
Overall: 9.0

Graphics:
Graphically, Luminous Arc is a decent looking game. The game is 2D completely, but the sprites animate quite well, and their movement helps convey some realism to the anime style characters. Cutscenes are told using still portraits that look quite good, with painted backgrounds. Their expressions change depending on the dialogue, witch helps a bit as well. Some attacks also have a bit of flash, as well. While not much here that could not have been done on lesser hardware, like the GBA, it's still quite impressive. There is also a full motion anime intro at the beginning, as well.
Overall: 8.0

Sound:
Audio wise, the game is a real treat. You get fully orchastraic music, a catchy Japanese pop intro, and voice acting. While the voice acting only really happens for about 20% of the whole game, when it does happen, it's performed well, for the most part. One character I don't like, though, is Nickolai. What is his deal?! Come on!! The sound effects are appropriate and do the job. So, overall, the audio part is great.
Overall: 9.0

Overall:
The game is quite an enjoyable experience. If you're looking for a great strategy RPG for your DS, don't hesitate to pick this one up. It's quite good.
Overall: 9.0

NEAR PERFECTION!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 12
Date: August 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

At first most will pass this game off as a "Final Fantasy Tactics" ripoff. First of all, MOST games like this are pretty much ripoffs. Now with that out of the way on to this game.

The story is pretty silly but fun. The full voices in the game are amazing realizing its only a DS game! There is some text also but most of it is voiced and done well! The voices really fit each character and help breathe added life into them. The graphics are also pretty good for a DS game and while they maintain a strictly anime look they are both crisp and vibrant. The story won't win any awards but it doesn't need to. You play this game for the action not the story really however the story moves along well enough and keeps you fairly interested enough.

Hunting witches has been done before but this game makes it work well enough to be interesting and still fun.

The gameplay I would say is fairly easy to get the hang of and rewards the player quickly by (grinding) - which is battling over and over outside of the story to level up. Leveling up is quite cool too as you never know which level will give you a new spell to use. It reads from 0-100 and when you hit 100 you level up. Grinding in this game isn't as boring as some Rpgs/rts in the past. There is still quite a bit of strategy involved later in the game also when enemies become harder (unless you grind to very high levels). If you grind your levels up you can pretty much become quite godlike and the game will be quite simple. However, if you play it straight it will be a bit more challenging.

It maintains typical shops in order to buy weapons, armor and health etc. You get quite a bit of money after battles so money isn't a problem here. Grind for awhile and you'll have a lot! The other cool aspect of the game is how you can use "Vitae" which you can put into weapons to change their attributes etc. The game focuses on being linear but with this type of game you usually expect this and focus on strategy during battles.

You have the typical (spell effects) that do small to large damage depending on your level and how you utilize the spells against each other. You also get a cool feature called the (Flash Drive) which when full can unleash a more powerful attack (shown with cut scene). You can fill it up three notches by defeating enemies and can use it up to three times. One is all I've needed so far to defeat most early to mid game enemies. Also by utilizing certain extra items in your slots you can gain more magic points, stronger attack etc...

The music is also quite awesome for a DS game also. Some games just have very basic boring music but here it is quite fitting and enjoyable. However if you don't like music you can turn it down, or off. You can also pretty much save anywhere before and after a battle and can even stall a battle and save it and come back later and finish it. Very cool feature indeed!

Some gripe about the stylus controls but honestly I didn't have much problems with it but prefer using button controls.

The only two things I didn't like were how when you equip different equipment, weapons etc it doesn't change your character's appearance in game which is kind of minor but the other issue that I didn't like is how each character can only carry one weapon and only buy upgrades for that kind only. Anotherwords you can't have a swordwielder carry a bow also. It is pretty straitforward here with this part of the game and you rarely come across more than one upgrade in each town making the weapon selection pretty dull. The only saving point for this is being able to customize your weapons with "Vitae" later on.

No, its not THE perfect game but almost! Atlus put out a very solid game that is worth every penny and hopefully with the next game (be it a sequel or another like this) it will have more variety with weapons/customization etc.

For now it is a very fun game to play and one that is easy to get lost in for hours at a time.

A very good, but underated tactical rpg.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: November 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

First off, let's get this out of the way: this is not Final Fantasy Tactics or its Advance counterpart. I do not understand why people like to compare these two titles. Final Fantasy Tactics did not event the tactical rpg genre; I believe that belongs to the Fire Emblem series (they've been around in Japan since the late 80's). Also, I had more of a fun time playing this game than I did with Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Another thing is, when this game was released back in August, the only tactical rpg for the ds at the time was Hoshigami Remix (which isn't too bad either). It's not going to be sometime till next year before we get a hold of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 here in the US. Now with that out of the way, let's talk about Luminous Arc.
Like I said before, this game is great. Not the best, but great nonetheless. Let's talk about the story first. Don't worry, I'm not giving away spoilers, but this isn't the best or most original story in the genre (then again, most stories in the rpg genre aren't, so that's not saying much). It comes off hilarious, though not necessarily in a good way. Even though, the characters, their development, and their dialogs are all pretty good, and can be funny a lot of the times. In fact, I found this to be more of the reason to keep going on in the game, just to see what would become of them. Though one thing about the dialoges I don't like is the redundent speaches they give. In fact, I don't think I've ever played the game with so much talking, with alot of it pointless and repetitive.
Anyway, then there is the gameplay. I like it a lot. It's easy to learn and use (especially if you love these types of games). Even though their is no class system in the game, it doesn't really hurt the game, as it gives the characters a more distinct personallity. Even though it's an easy game to control for the most part, using the stylus can be a problem every now and again because for some strang reason you can't select certian targets that are within range. This isn't a bad problem as it doesn't happen often. But when it does come up, just switch to the directional pad controls (which is cool, because you can do this on the fly, even during battle).
Finally, there are the graphics and music/sound. This is some of the best 2-D graphics that I've seen, and it's also a bright game too. My only complaint is why the designers didn't make the battle stages in rotatable 3-D. This isn't real bad, because the 2-D stages never affect the gameplay. Also, their is a cool animated intro to the game. As for the music, it's great, and one of the best things of the game. Another cool thing is the voice acting. The acting can be a tad melodramatic at times, but it does add personality to the characters. I was suprised that VO was even in the game.
So, is this game for you? Well, if you want to get into the tactical rpg genre, then yes. If you are a veteran of the aforementioned genre, yes again. If you think that Final Fantasy Tactics and it's Advance counterpart are the be all and end all of the genre, and nothing can even come close to them, then no, you won't like this game at all. It's not the most original or the best in the genre, but it's good, darn good. Definitely the money it's worth.

A waste on the DS system.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: October 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I read the other reviews before I purchased this game and thought I was making a smart purchase. Now that I've played it, I'm feeling a little stupid. In fact, it takes VERY little thought into playing Luminous Arc. It's very dialogue-heavy but lacks the excitement of a comic book which is what i think this game was meant to mimic. Comic books at least have a dynamic in the illustrations. In Luminous Arc, the main characters are well-drawn, but aren't very "animated." No, I'm saying the characters should be moving. I'm referring to the way they're ALL posed: arched back, head tilted slightly forward, eyes looking in the same direction. With the exception of the occasional angry brows and open mouth, there's not much to these characters. The voices were inconsistent. Sometimes you got to listen; other times you had to read. It wouldn't have been so much of a problem if there were some use to what was said. Most RPGs tend to hide clues in the dialogue that aid you later in the game. Luminous Arc's storytelling is a bit silly ("Fatal hounds," "condemn the dark, defend the light") and probably unnecessary in beating the game. I was more disappointed by the fact that it was released on the DS. If L.A. was a GBA game, it would've gotten a slightly higher rating from me. So knowing how well the DS can perform, this game felt like a lazy effort to utilize the DS' capabilities.

(This is why I rarely buy RPGs outside of the Final Fantasy series. I guess I just expect everyone else to produce that same quality of game play.)

Atlus once again provides us with a great SRPG

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: February 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game on a whim; all I knew was that it was a Final Fantasy Tactics-style game, and a little about the storyline. Knowing that Atlus and Nippon-Ichi (who used to have Atlus publish many of their games) tend to produce the BEST SRPGs, I decided to give it a shot. I was not at all disappointed. For me, it came the closest to capturing the feel of the original Final Fantasy Tactics (FFT) of any game in the genre since FFT's release. Granted, you can't really customize your characters (each one serves basically one purpose), but the game play style, coupled with the story line, really brought me back to that first play through FFT, which is what turned me onto this genre of games in the first place. With a storyline focusing on religion and political intrigue, the story is phenomenal. My only issue with the game is with the controls. There are a few options (left-handed stylus use, right-handed stylus use, and D-pad use), but I think if they would have just allowed you to use a combination of stylus and D-pad it could have been great. Otherwise, fantastic game with a great story, that I think deserves more credit than it normally gets.

Mediocre at best

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: August 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Luminous Arc is not that impressive a game. I would say it was a let down for me. On the plus side, the game is very easy. In fact the game is so easy you'll probable become bored with the game play very quickly. When I play games like this I spend a lot of time leveling up my characters. At first leveling up was very quick but once I reached level 20 it become slow and tedious. What's worst if you play the same levels over and over the enemies don't get stronger. In fact you don't even fight different enemies. It's basically the same battle being fought over and over again. At least in Final Fantasy Tactics when you're leveling up you didn't have to keep fighting the same battle over and over. They kept it interesting.

Another gripe I have with leveling up, any spell based character can level up quickly because if they cast their spells over and over they automatically earn 30 experience points. Physical attack characters will only gain a lot of experience points if they are facing off against stronger enemies. Weaker enemies will only gain them 2 experience points if you don't kill them and 6 experience points if you do. The leveling up system is so unbalanced.

Spell effects in this game are a real lack luster. Even the flash drive attacks are lack luster. I've seen better special effects on the Gameboy Advance. The voice acting in this game is annoying. It cuts in and out. Maybe if they didn't waste memory with the opening movie they could have put voicing acting all throughout the game. I don't like that I can't rotate the battle field. A third of the time I can't tell where the cursor is or where the enemies are because they're clustered close together. The stylus controls are unpolished. I can't scroll the screen so I can see where all the enemies are. I have to keep switching back and forth between the two formats. The stylus could have worked very well if they included a scrolling feature for the stylus. I've seen this problem with Hoshigami Remix as well. Only Age of Empires thought to include that in the stylus controls.

The story on the other hand is very good. I was actually quite surprised considering the other reviews. Yes, it is predictable. Yes, I've seen this concept done a hundred times over but it works and it is entertaining. And any game that paints the Church out to be evil earns a star in my book. ...I hate the Church... and they are evil in my opinion... all of them.

The game is very linear. There's no exploration at all, no subplots, nothing to give this game variety. On top of that there are some useless features in this game. There's intermission where you talk to the characters in your party to raise their moral. It adds nothing to the story or the game. Sure you gain some new items occasionally but most of the time I don't even need them. In towns you have the option to talk to people or visit libraries. Again it adds nothing to the game or the story. The cut scenes - if you can really call them that - are terrible. I have to use my imagination because I can't tell what's going on. They could have at least used still images... give us something. Dare I say it but I think they could have done without the item shops as well. The weapons and items you start off with you can play the entire game with them. There's really no need to buy better weapons and armor. You don't even need the health items unless you're just using them to gain experience points and that will only gain you 5 experience points.
I would not recommend this game to anyone even if they are starving for the next Final Fantasy Tactics game. Hoshigami isn't much better either. I would probably recommend playing Final Fantasy Tactics Advance until the next one comes out or get a PSP and play Jeanne D'Arc.

Very interesting game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: October 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I think this game is a good strategy game that I've been looking for. It has an interesting story line, could be controversial, but interesting none the less with witches fighting the church. I just love the strategy, especially when you progress through the game it gets extremely tough.

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