Cheap Luminous Arc (Video Games) (Nintendo DS) Price

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Customer Reviews of Luminous Arc

Been here before, but nevertheless enjoyable
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.

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A well developed and engaging strategy RPG experience!
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. <
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>Story: <
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>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 <
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>Design: <
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>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 <
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>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 <
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>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 <
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>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

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Mediocre at best
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. <
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>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. <
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>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. <
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>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. <
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>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.