2003's Arc The Lad: Twilight Spirits is a fairly decent game with a solid turn-based combat system, so I was a little shocked when Namco announced that it would be publishing the PS2 action RPG Arc The Lad: End of Darkness. My biggest concern was that the game's developer, Cattle Call, wouldn't be able to implement a solid battle engine and that the game would subsequently fall flat onto its face, and unfortunately my concern has been proven to be correct. However, End of Darkness' gameplay isn't the only thing wrong with this disappointingly average title.

In End of Darkness you play as an exorcist named Edda, a young man with a mysterious past who eventually unlocks his true potential as the game's story stumbles onward. That was really the first strike against End of Darkness. The narrative is just too drawn out and it took me what seemed like forever just to get past the initial cut scenes, though I've certainly been down this road before. End of Darkness' plot is simply too generic, the type of stuff we've all seen in some previous RPGs. We've got a strange old book, an even stranger girl, a young man living on an island, and of course, airships aplenty. In fact, unless you're an Arc The Lad fan this game will probably look exactly like several titles on the market and those games are better than this one.

Even if a game's story is less than stellar I'll forgive the developers if the combat is solid, but again, Cattle Call came up short in this area as well. Electing to go the Champions: Return to Arms route, all of the fighting occurs in real time, so you can just run up to a monster and start swinging, which originally seemed like an excellent idea until I realized that someone's sucked the fun from it. Striking moves are unimpressive and the game just lacks the fluidity found in other titles. Plus, blocking and evading attacks is a huge chore that most times results in monsters getting in cheap hits. When facing the larger creatures I repeatedly tried to strike and then run away, but my efforts were always in vain. I would manage to hit the beast, but as soon as I turned to run it would clobber me across the back. I do like being able to pick up certain cards (fans will definitely love the Character Cards, as they feature various people from the series) to cast spells, but that didn't improve my opinion of the game.

It's also not cool that I had to do excessive backtracking. End of Darkness was built around a formula that forces the player (if they dare continue) to visit towns, accept stupid missions, and then return to accept another once that quest is completed. To make matters worse, the game's not exactly pretty to look at, so I wasn't thrilled to see the same old boring environments. The character designs are decent, but things look very first/second generation. At this stage in the PS2's lifecycle I expect better than this.

To its credit, Arc the Lad has a wonderful soundtrack that'll greet you the moment the title screen appears on your television. In fact, it's good to the point where I wanted to keep playing just to see what I'd hear next.

Lastly, the game features online play (broadband only) for up to eight people complete with USB support, and you can either battle against those seven warriors and bash their brains in or join three companions and complete various missions. None of this stuff is especially exciting since you'll still need to use the combat system to kill things, but these options add replay value.

Arc the Lad: End of Darkness isn't a bad game and I'm sure fans of the classic series will find something to love about it, but as a casual fan this title did almost nothing for me, especially since it has joined the PS2 action RPG party which, quite frankly, is comprised of better videogames. Destined for the bargain bin, this is one Namco title you should pass up.