Arc the Lad

Arc the Lad
Logo from the Arc the Lad video games
Genres	Role-playing video game
Developers	Sony Computer Entertainment, G-Craft, Cattle Call
Publishers	Sony Computer Entertainment, Working Designs
Composers	Keiichi Oku

Arc the Lad
Promotional image distributed by Bee Train
アークザラッド (Ākuzaraddo)
Genre	Action, Fantasy, Science fiction
Anime television series
Directed by	Itsuro Kawasaki
Written by	Akemi Omode
Music by	Michiru Oshima
Studio	Bee Train
Licensed by	NA ADV Films
Original network	WOWOW
English network	NA Anime Network
Original run	April 5, 1999 – October 11, 1999
Episodes	26 (List of episodes)
Manga
Arc the Lad 2
Written by	Kaoru Fujinaga
Published by	Enix
Magazine	Monthly Shōnen Gyaguou
Original run	June 1997 – April 1999
Volumes	4
Manga
Arc the Lad 2 Honoo no Eruku
Written by	Hideaki Nishikawa
Published by	Enix
Magazine	Monthly Shōnen Gangan
Original run	1998 – 2001
Volumes	10
Light novel
Arc the Lad 2 Honoo no Eruku Sevenfold Stories
Written by	Hideaki Nishikawa
Published by	Enix
Magazine	Monthly Gangan Wing
Published	August 2000

Arc the Lad (アークザラッド, Ākuzaraddo^?) is a series of role-playing video games that were released for the PlayStation and PlayStation 2. Several of the games were published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEI) in Japan. The games were never released outside Japan until Arc the Lad Collection was released by Working Designs in 2002. An anime television series based on Arc the Lad II was also made. The game series started with tactical RPGs but branched out to other genres with Arc the Lad: End of Darkness, which still features RPG elements. Each of the games also feature recurring characters, such as the main character, Arc, who appears in several of the 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. Arc, the lead, is a boy from the small town of Touvil who is fated to fight corruption. Characters like Kukuru, Iga, Poco, Tosh, and Chongara also make future appearances.

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. This game continues to use the tactics style battles, featuring much more complex statistics than its predecessor, a more interactive world map and a longer game length. A new feature are the guilds, which allow the player to take jobs as side quests. The characters of Arc the Lad reappear alongside new ones. Elc, a young hunter, joins the fight against the corrupt government. He and his fellow hunter Shu meet up with several other characters involved in the mess, including Arc and his friends, and bring Andel and his followers down.