Underplayed Gems

Arc the Lad: End of Darkness (2005)

Arc the Lad: End of Darkness cover
Developer
Cattle Call
Publisher
Namco, Sony Computer Entertainment
Platforms
PlayStation 2
Genres
Role-playing (RPG), Adventure

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The 3D catalog: game boxes on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalog in 3D

The same catalog has a room you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real games from it when you tell them what you feel like playing. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this game is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A hunter-for-hire grind across a fantasy world where real-time skirmishes and card-based skill collecting drive a steady, mission-by-mission rhythm.

action-rpgreal-time combatgrindymoderate difficultyexploration-drivenjob-basedcollection-focuseddynamic camera

About

SCE takes the Arc the Lad series away from its roots and into an Online-playable action-adventure game. Players become a hunter who must travel the world and take on jobs, usually revolving around taking out enemies in real time using magic and special abilities. Collect cards from battle and events and equip them to gain new skills, all the while following an RPG-like storyline. You view the action from overhead, with a camera zooming in and out depending on the intensity of the action and occasionally switching to other angles for dramatic effect. You attack enemies in real time, tapping X once for a simple attack and repeatedly for a combo. You can also guard against attack, dash at an enemy, and press a button to run about the play field faster. The game places heavy emphasis on magic use, with the magic meter recovering automatically and quickly following each spell.

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More by Cattle Call

This page is from Underplayed Gems, a catalog of older and overlooked games. Not quite it? You can browse by platform and genre, or take this one into the 3D catalog and ask the Catbot for something closer.