Arc the Lad

 is a series of Tactical role-playing games created by Toshiro Tsuchida and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Each "Arc the Lad" game often features recurring characters and locations, as well as a consistent timeline. Most of the stories in the series involves a cast of characters battling against the forces of an evil organizaiton or empire, with monsters attacking the world alongside them. The series features a similar strategy-like battle system, which all games except "", follow. 
The series began with the release of "Arc the Lad" in 1995 exclusively for the PlayStation, followed up by a sequel a year later. Alongside seven other released games after II, the "Arc the Lad" series has also branched into other media such as manga, anime, and novels. 
Though the series enjoyed huge success in Japan, often regarded as a staple RPG of its generation, Western sales and overall knowledge of the series are low due to its obscurity. This is due to the first three "Arc the Lad" games not being released outside of Japan until the "Arc the Lad Collection" was released by Working Designs in 2002, which was followed by "" in 2003 and "End of Darkness" in 2005.
Games.
"Arc the Lad" was developed by G-Craft and published by SCEI in Japan on June 30, 1995. The game features tactical role-playing game battle elements, which would become a staple for the series. "Arc the Lad" introduces several characters that appear in all three games in the collection. In this first installment, the lead protagonist, Arc, sets off from his small town of Touvil after he learns about a plot to destroy the world during his quest to discover what happened to his missing father. During his travels, Arc gathers a band of allies: Kukuru, Poco, Gogen, Tosh, Chongara, and Iga, all of whom would go on to appear in later games.
"Arc the Lad II", developed by ARC Entertainment and published by SCEI, was released in Japan on November 1, 1996, and was re-released twice under Sony's 'The Best' brand. Arc 2 continues to use the tactical battles, featuring much more complex statistics than its predecessor, a more interactive world map and a longer game length. A new feature to the game is the Hunter's Guild, which allow the player to take jobs as side quests. Arc 2 also has the ability to transfer save data from the original Arc the Lad, allowing the player to carry the same levels they had on their party members in the original game. In this sequel, Elc, a young hunter who has the ability to cast fire, is joined by a new cast of allies in his own quest against the evil corrupt Empire of Romalia, revealed to be the one involved with the plot to destroy the world. Harboring hatred towards Arc due to believing he was involved in the massacre that decimated his village, Elc soon learns that he and Arc's destiny are closely intertwined, and them and their allies join forces to take down Romalia and its Four Generals together.
"Arc the Lad: Monster Game with Casino Game", developed by ARC Entertainment and published by SCEI, was released in Japan on July 31, 1997, and was re-released twice, first as part of Arc the Lad Collection (where it was known as "Arc Arena: Monster Tournament"), and again when it was released on the Japanese PlayStation Store as a PSone Classic on December 12, 2007. This spinoff for Arc 2 consists of the "Monster Game" allowing the player to raise up the stats of recruitable Monsters gathered in Arc the Lad II, as well as the stats of the playable characters by pitting them in fighting arenas, and the "Casino Game", a set of gambling minigames for the purpose of gathering money to transfer to the player's Arc 2 save file. So far, the "Casino Game" is the only Arc the Lad game that has yet to be translated into English.
"Arc the Lad III", the final Arc game for the PlayStation, was released on October 28, 1999. It was the only game in the collection to feature two discs. Similarly to the first two, this Arc title uses tactical battles and basic RPG elements. The explorable maps of Arc II return. However, unlike the first two, the game is strictly job-driven; the story only progresses as the player takes and completes jobs from the guilds. This final entry to the original PlayStation titles follows a young man named Alec, a survivor of the Great Disaster that occurred during the ending of Arc the Lad II. After a hunter saved his life, Alec determines that he wishes to become a hunter, and once he becomes of age, he sets off from his small village with his best friend, Lutz, only to encounter a large plot involving a new, corrupt establishment known as The Academy. Like in Arc 2, characters from previous games make cameo appearances and occasionally fight alongside Alec.
In the US, Working Designs published "Arc the Lad I", "II", "III" and "Monster Tournament" as part of a compilation of Arc games (Arc the Lad Collection) on April 18, 2002 in North America. The collection as a whole received mainly positive reception.
"Arc the Lad: Kijin Fukkatsu" ( is a Wonderswan Color game developed by Bandai and released in 2002 in Japan. Set after the main series, this game features similar combat and gameplay to the previous installments. In this spinoff, Elc returns as the main character alongside a mysterious girl named Finia, who was sent from the future to his time due of a hostile robot takeover that occurred in her time. Finia, Elc, and several of Elc's friends return once again to save humanity from the robots that have now begun to travel to the past. While this title was only released in Japan, a fan translation is currently in the works.
"" was the first PlayStation 2 game in the Arc series. It was developed by Cattle Call, published by SCEI and was released in Japan on March 20, 2003 and in North America on June 25 of the same year by SCEA. This was also the only Arc game to date to come out in Europe, released by SCEE the following year. Set 1,000 years after Arc the Lad III amid striving tensions between humans and a new race of humanoid monsters known as Deimos , "Twilight of the Spirits" follows a hybrid human and Deimos twins named Kharg and Darc who set out on a journey to collect five magical stones for their own ambitions, all while trying to take down a corrupt empire who longs for those very same stones and a mysterious girl. The battle system in this installment allows characters to move freely in circular ranges across fields during their turns as opposed to the grid-based fields of its predecessors.
"" is the second Arc game to be released on the PS2. Developed by Cattle Call and published by SCEI, the game was released in Japan on November 3, 2004. Namco then published the game for its North American release. Taking place five years after Twilight of the Spirits, "End of Darkness" follows an exorcist named Edda who becomes a hunter and has to defeat a group of monsters called Malademons, who can only be destroyed with his exorcist powers. This game does not follow the tactical style of the previous games, instead using action RPG based combat. This game also has the distinction of being the first crossover in the "Arc the Lad" series, allowing players to play as characters from the original PlayStation trilogy, as well as "Twilight of the Spirits".
 is the latest Arc game, released on August 25, 2018 for iOS and Android in Japan, later getting a Chinese localization by Boltrend Games in 2019, with the company announcing an English localization in 2020 and released on May 11, 2021. Developed by AltPlus and published by ForwardWorks, Sony's mobile gaming division, Arc the Lad R was developed by many key members of the first two Arc the Lad games, including creator Toshiro Tsuchida, artist Ryuichi Kunisue, and composer Masahiro Andoh. It returns to the tactical gameplay of the trilogy while including a new gacha based system to obtain characers, and takes place 10 years after the events of Arc the Lad II (Retconning the series past Arc the Lad III, however, characters from this game appear in R). The game follows two protagonists named Halt and Mizuha, who attempt to stop the Empire of Aldia from taking Mizuha for unknown purposes, and the Divine Beasts, monsters which threaten the world as society currently tries to rebuild from the events of the Great Disaster caused during the ending of Arc the Lad II. On April 26, 2021, it was announced that the Japanese servers for "Arc the Lad R" was going to be discontinued on June 30, 2021.
Development.
When the "Arc" games were originally released in Japan years before a North American release,
SCEA hardly considered bringing them to the U.S., thinking that the role-playing video game market was not an important one. Working Designs, then known in the U.S. for publishing RPGs, actually tried to license "Arc the Lad", but Sony of America turned them down. Years later, SCEA came under new management, and with the popularity of other RPGs like "Final Fantasy VII", Working Designs was able to publish all three games at once with the Japanese release of "Arc the Lad III".
"Arc the Lad Collection" was released in 2002 and boasted four separate games--"Arc the Lad I, II, III" and "Monster Arena", a side-game that allows players to take captured monsters from "Arc the Lad II" and use them in combat. The collection also featured a making-of CD, DualShock controller thumb pads, a memory card holder, character standees, a hardcover instruction booklet, and a glossy box (omake box) to hold it all.
Reception.
Each of the "Arc" games has received decent reception. "Arc the Lad Collection" has an 80.77% on GameRankings. The compilation is often praised for its ambitious packaging and game content, which could last over 150 hours. When the collection was released, the first two games' graphics seemed a bit outdated, although some critics find the graphics acceptable. Critics mostly agree that the take on tactical battles was refreshing because the battles are generally fast-paced. Although the first game in the series is much shorter than the other two, it is believed to be only a prologue to the second game.
"Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits" received similar reviews. It has a 75% on GameRankings.com. "Arc the Lad: End of Darkness", the second "Arc" game for the PS2, is generally rated much lower than the other games, receiving a 57% on GameRankings.com.
Anime.
The "Arc the Lad" anime adaptation was produced by Bee Train and directed by Itsuro Kawasaki. The series ran on Japan's WOWOW satellite network for 26 episodes from April 5, 1999, to October 11, 1999 as part of the "Anime Complex" omnibus series. A North American release was produced by ADV Films and aired on the Anime Network.
Plot.
The story follows the story of "Arc the Lad II", the second game in the video game series. The world is also similar to the game, full of technology, but with magic and beasts as well. An evil corporation secretly controls this world and produces powerful monstrous (sometimes human) creations called chimera. Elc gets caught up in this mess when he rescues a young female beast tamer from the corporation. Her name is Lieza. Together with Shu and the rest of their companions, they fight to save a corrupt world.
Music.
The opening theme for the anime series was "Arc the Lad Main Theme" by Masahiro Andoh. Two ending themes were sung by NiNa: "Happy Tomorrow" (episodes 01–12, 26) and "Rest in Peace" (episodes 13–26).