It’s games like this that make me want to quit gaming. Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits is not terrible enough to quit over, but it’s not very good either, so I just keep plodding along and getting more and more annoyed and depressed. According the game clock I’m 22 hours and 58 minutes in. It feels more like 58 hours and 22 minutes. And I think my PS2 can sense my mood, because a few minutes ago when I tried to turn it on, it basically said “Not tonight, I have a headache.” I’ll coax it back to life eventually. For now, though, I’m going to take the opportunity to put this game in hiatus.
What is Arc the Lad doing wrong? Two things. First, the characters are pissing me off. Their decisions are stupid and they are annoying. Darc’s team is still superior to Kharg’s, but Darc himself is a washout. He says one thing, does another, then tries to justify what he does without admitting his true motives. For example he spares traitors and tries to play it off like they’re necessary to his ambitions, but actually he just likes having them around and is too chicken to kill anyone any more.
Example two, he just let the same villain escape for the 3rd time in a row. And that even though the villain himself warned him not to. And if Darc was really serious about unifying the Deimos and killing all humans, why not start with Lilia? Darc is just a mass of contradictions, and not in a compelling way either. Right now I even prefer Kharg to him. At least Kharg is actually serious about being a goody two-shoes.
Second thing wrong, the story is just going round in circles. Darc’s team had just invaded the enemy’s headquarters when I stopped, so maybe something major was finally going to happen, but I won’t hold my breath. Encounter after encounter with the Dilzweld army. The Dilzweld army succeeds in their evil plans regardless. Darc says one thing and does another. Kharg and co. bore the crap out of me. Lilia gets kidnapped. Lilia gets rescued. Lilia gets kidnapped. Lilia gets rescued. On and on it goes. What’s worse, the few moments of manufactured drama never amount to anything. Here’s a major reveal! Gasp! Shock! Horror! And then everything’s back to normal and it’s all business as usual.
I checked a spoiler-free walkthrough and it looks like I’m about two-thirds of the way through the game. If I was almost done I’d just push through, but as it is I’m definitely taking a break. I’m going to try the Territoire demo I’ve been planning to play for like 2 years, and then I’ll start Conception. I hope there isn’t too much talking in it, because I just want some mindless dungeon-crawling right now.
Are you still planning on quitting gaming by the end of 2014, like you mentionned in a former post? If so, I would definitely miss your posts.^^
I might have to move that to End of 2015 ^^;;. My backlog is HUGE.