Luminous Arc 2 radiates to the U.S.
by Eric Caoili 
{ Jul 11th 2008 at 11:45AM }
Clearing up doubts on whether Image Epoch's bootytastic SRPG sequel, Luminous Arc 2: Will, would ever come stateside, Atlus has announced that it is localizing the game for this fall.Why would you want to buy a lower budget Final Fantasy Tactics Advance knock-off, especially when you could just get Song Summoner for the iPod instead, you ask? We have an easy answer for that: online multiplayer battles. Also, big butts.
Luminous Arc 2 will retail for $39.99, significantly higher than most other DS titles, but each copy will come in an oversized box containing a CD with selected songs from the soundtrack. Presumably, it's the same CD that was released with the SRPG's preorders in Japan.
Enjoy three video clips from the English-translated game after the break! Interestingly, the voices are still in Japanese; we wonder if Atlus will leave the Japanese audio track intact?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Symytry @ Jul 11th 2008 11:58AM
Actually, Mitsuda didn't compose a single track for this game, and only ever did one track for the first game as well. Yoko Shimomura, Akari Kaida, Yoshino Aoki, Shunsuke Tsuchiya are the composers for Luminous Arc 2.
source: http://vgmdb.net/db/albums.php?id=7785
Eric Caoili @ Jul 11th 2008 12:09PM
ah, you're right! marvelous has been very misleading about his involvement with the series!
Demotruk @ Jul 11th 2008 11:59AM
After FFTA2, I don't think I'll be buying another tactical rpg for a while. Because I know they will be nothing compared to A2.
deadlylife @ Jul 11th 2008 12:06PM
How is this series guys?
jsutcliffe @ Jul 11th 2008 12:32PM
I wasn't impressed with the first one. Maybe I was playing it wrong, but it felt like you needed to repeat each battle a couple of times just to level your guys up enough for the next one. The voice acting made me want to tear my eardrums out, too.
Very Metal @ Jul 11th 2008 12:58PM
I had fun with the first one; it is a dumbed down version of FFT, and the female characters are ridiculously proportioned, but the voice acting is cheesy enough to be amusing & the story is decent compared to FFTA2.
Phantom @ Jul 11th 2008 12:31PM
Hmm , I should get that Japanese coach thing , it would make it much easier to understand all of these jap devs .
And I could import square games like 5 months before they come out here . (Japan already has FFIV , and will prolly get FFXIII a year before us .
Kia @ Jul 11th 2008 1:25PM
You know, it's getting awfully irritating to hear you guys bitch about Luminous Arc every time an article gets posted about it. Low-budget? You call pretty ample--and decent--voice acting, a vocalized intro song, and an animated opening low budget?
Maybe if you'd stop fellating Final Fantasy Tactics--which, really, has a hell of a lot of flaws--you'd see that Luminous Arc is a damn fun little game and one of the most enjoyable RPGs on the DS in general.
Personally this is some of the best handheld news I've heard in awhile, especially seeing how it's been quiet on the DS front for awhile after this summer rush.
OhJustSomeRandomGuy @ Jul 11th 2008 1:57PM
Seriously, I don't get that. Atlus never said this was supposed to be the next Final Fantasy Tactics. In fact, I seem to remember them saying specifically that the original Final Fantasy Tactics was better.
The first one had good art, solid voice acting, good music, kept the Japanese anime intro with vocals, a really good cast of characters, AND Wi-fi multiplayer. What part of any of that is "low budget"?
Makoto99 @ Jul 11th 2008 8:50PM
Agreed. I enjoyed the original Luminous Arc a lot more than I enjoyed FFTA2 (which I've already stopped playing out of sheer boredom), and I'm guessing I'll have fun with the 2nd as well. As long as they have the over-the-top character personalities like they had in the first.
Plus, I can't stand the androgynous look of the characters in FFTA. LA's may be generic anime style, but its character designs were far more interesting to me.
I'll be getting it, that's for sure.
Alisha Karabinus @ Jul 14th 2008 7:58PM
Y'know, I'm looking at some of our past coverage on Luminous Arc 2, and our coverage on the first game, which was featured in our End of Year Best-of round-ups in '07, and I'm trying to figure out where we're "bitching" exactly. Mostly, we've said it's stunning, gorgeous, and we were desperately hoping for localization, as everyone on staff who played the first liked it... in fact, more than most reviewers who scored it.
I'm pretty sure that SE games probably do have a higher budget. That would account for the difference in advertising and scale. However, when we're pointing that out and saying that Luminous Arc 2 -still- manages to include features that FFTA2 doesn't, we're not exactly insulting Luminous Arc 2. In fact, I'd say that's more of a dig at FFTA2, which left out an important feature.
Let's try to see past the sarcasm and the snark and look at what's actually being written, people. You may not find it funny (hey, everyone has a different sense of humor), but let's not twist the words into something that isn't there.
Red @ Jul 11th 2008 2:07PM
Significantly higher than most other DS titles? I'd agree if Squeenix didn't have the extra ten bucks as a norm.
I can't say for sure, but when fall rolls around, if I feel like a TRPG...I might go Luminous Arc 2 instead of FFTA2. (Or just say screw it to both and get Disgaea DS.)
OtakuReborn @ Jul 11th 2008 2:10PM
I had a lot of fun with the first in the series. And while it may look like Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, the story is a hell of a lot better.
And I wouldn't call this a low-budget game either. Just because it's not Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (or A2) doesn't mean it's low budget. I wouldn't mind spending $40 on this, though I can't say the same for A2 (the story just seems really weak), and this is coming from a fan of the original Final Fantasy Tactics.
ojsinnerz @ Jul 11th 2008 8:15PM
Currently playing the Japanese version. I'm impressed on how much the game improved from the first. I'm playing this way more than I'm playing FFTA2, lol. It's much more faster paced, and much more balanced compared to the first game. Now, it's actually fun to play the game. Just hope the dubs are good, which isn't very likely....
ERacer22 @ Jul 11th 2008 6:25PM
I keep debating on whether to buy the first from Amazon. This news will probably push me over the edge. Plus, I'm a sucker for game soundtracks. I'll pick up a game sometimes just for the swag ... I wish the world ends with you came with a soundtrack. I could buy it from ITunes, but, I like still like CDs ... they are always DRM free ... oh wait, unless it has a Sony rootkit.
Anyway, glad to hear others like the first title. I enjoy SRPGs so I'll have to pick it up.