2008 video game
2008 video game
Luminous Arc 2
[a]
is a
tactical role-playing game
developed by
Imageepoch
for the
Nintendo DS
, and published by
Marvelous Entertainment
in Japan on May 15, 2008, and by
Atlus USA
and
Rising Star Games
in North America and Europe respectively. It is the second game in the
Luminous Arc
series.
Gameplay
[
edit
]
Luminous Arc 2
is a
strategy role-playing game
in which characters move across an
isometric
grid. Each character can be equipped with weapons, armor, items, and magical "Lapis"
gemstones
. Characters learn special skills by
leveling up
and are able to use a "Flash Drive"
special attack
upon attacking or defeating enemies. When a character's
hit points
reach zero, they are removed from battle, but can be revived.
Plot
[
edit
]
In the Kingdom of Carnava, in an age when
magic
supports everyday life and civilization itself, peace is maintained by the queen's knights and the Rev Magic Association. Sixteen years before the game's story begins,
monsters
called Beast Fiends start to appear, destroying everything in their way. Mattias, leader of the Magic Association, uses the evil Demon Blade to try to seal the source of the fiends, but is sealed away himself by the elemental
witches
. At the time of the game setting, new Beast Fiends have been appearing, and the government overextends its forces trying to protect the entire kingdom. Meanwhile, Fatima?a powerful witch of the Association with control of the rare Shadow Frost Magic?goes rogue and starts a conflict with the Association, causing more trouble for the Kingdom.
Trying to solve the crisis, the kingdom starts a clandestine research project whose aim is to produce an easier way to use magic. The story starts when the kingdom has just successfully completed the research project, and devised a tool known as the "Runic Engine". Roland, a knight in training, is accidentally imbued with this new power, and fights the Beast Fiends, Master Mattias and the Shadow Frost Witch. In the course of the game, he discovers that the Rev Magic Association had covered up Mattias' turn to evil. However, he does not realise that Mattias did this to try and save the world, rather than destroy it. He later discovers that Bharva, king of the Fiends, was manipulating events, and joins with Fatima to prevent the Mage Queen Elicia, creator of the Fiends, from overrunning the world with them.
The player has a choice of having a romantic relationship with Fatima or Althea, and end game parts of the story, including the ending, will change depending on the player's pre-battle dialogue choices.
Development and release
[
edit
]
| This section
needs expansion
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adding to it
.
(
July 2015
)
|
The game was featured at the
Marvelous Entertainment
booth at the
Tokyo Game Show
2007. It was released in Japan on May 15, 2008 and North America on November 18, 2008.
[1]
As with the
previous game
, famed sound designer
Yasunori Mitsuda
and his studio handled all the audio mixing and mastering. However, unlike the last time, Mitsuda did not compose for the game. Instead, composers
Yoko Shimomura
,
Akari Kaida
,
Yoshino Aoki
, and Shunsuke Tsuchiya wrote the soundtrack, while Mitsuda acted as sound producer.
[2]
The game includes a bonus music CD insert.
[1]
Those who preordered the game at selected retailers received an art book named "Luminous Art", which offers content from both
Luminous Arc
games.
[3]
A manga based on the story of
Luminous Arc 2
began serialization in 2008.
[4]
Reception
[
edit
]
In Japan,
Famitsu
gave
Luminous Arc 2
all four sevens for a total of 28 out of 40.
[7]
The game sold 41,000 copies in Japan in its first week of release.
[16]
For the North America release, the game received "mixed or average" reviews according to the
review aggregation
website
Metacritic
.
[5]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Known in Japan as
Luminous Arc 2: Will
(
Japanese
:
ルミナスア?ク2 ウィル
,
Hepburn
:
Ruminasu ?ku Ts? Wiru
)
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Casamassina, Matt (July 10, 2008).
"Luminous Arc 2 Coming to America"
.
IGN
. Retrieved
July 23,
2017
.
- ^
"MJCD-20125 | Luminous Arc2 will Original Soundtracks"
. VGMDB
. Retrieved
July 17,
2015
.
- ^
"Inside Luminous Art, the Official Luminous Arc 2 Pre-order Bonus Art Book"
.
IGN
. November 5, 2008
. Retrieved
April 21,
2024
.
- ^
"Luminous Arc 2 Development Blog"
(in Japanese).
Marvelous Entertainment
. May 7, 2008. Archived from
the original
on December 2, 2008
. Retrieved
July 23,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"Luminous Arc 2 for DS Reviews"
.
Metacritic
. Retrieved
July 23,
2017
.
- ^
North, Dale (November 19, 2008).
"Destructoid review: Luminous Arc 2"
.
Destructoid
. Retrieved
July 24,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"News for May 8, 2008"
. The Magic Box. May 8, 2008. Archived from
the original
on March 8, 2021
. Retrieved
June 29,
2008
.
- ^
Massimilla, Bethany (November 21, 2008).
"Luminous Arc 2 Review"
.
GameSpot
. Retrieved
July 24,
2017
.
- ^
Bratcher, Eric (November 24, 2008).
"Luminous Arc 2 review"
.
GamesRadar
. Retrieved
July 24,
2017
.
- ^
Valentino, Nick (November 24, 2008).
"Luminous Arc 2 - NDS - Review"
. GameZone.
Archived
from the original on December 20, 2008
. Retrieved
July 24,
2017
.
- ^
Bozon, Mark (November 19, 2008).
"Luminous Arc 2 Review"
.
IGN
. Retrieved
July 23,
2017
.
- ^
"Review: Luminous Arc 2".
Nintendo Gamer
. December 2009. p. 69.
- ^
Newton, James (December 1, 2009).
"Review: Luminous Arc 2 (DS)"
.
Nintendo Life
. Retrieved
July 24,
2017
.
- ^
"Luminous Arc 2".
Nintendo Power
. Vol. 236. December 25, 2008. p. 88.
- ^
Jones, James (December 20, 2008).
"Luminous Arc 2"
. Nintendo World Report
. Retrieved
July 24,
2017
.
- ^
Jenkins, David (May 22, 2008).
"Monster Hunter 2nd G Passes 2 Million At Top Of Japanese Charts"
.
Gamasutra
. Archived from
the original
on June 15, 2008
. Retrieved
April 15,
2009
.
External links
[
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]