Software:Luminous Arc (video game)

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Short description: 2007 tactical role-playing game
Luminous Arc
Developer(s)Imageepoch
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Ryoei Mikage
Masahiro Iwasa
Hikaru Nakano
Producer(s)Hideyuki Mizutani
Artist(s)Kaito Shibano
Writer(s)Maiko Shimura
Atsushi Komine
Composer(s)Akari Kaida
Kazumi Mitome
Shota Kageyama
Yasunori Mitsuda
SeriesLuminous Arc
Platform(s)Nintendo DS
Release
  • JP: February 8, 2007
  • NA: August 14, 2007
  • AU: October 18, 2007
  • EU: October 19, 2007
Genre(s)Tactical role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Lua error in Module:Lang/utilities at line 332: attempt to call field '_transl' (a nil value). is a tactical role-playing game developed by Imageepoch for the Nintendo DS, and the first in the Luminous Arc series. The game was released on February 8, 2007 in Japan, August 14, 2007 in North America, and October 18, 2007 in Australia by Atlus,[1][2] and in Europe the following day by Rising Star Games.

The game features voiced scenes, character designs by Kaito Shibano and music by Akari Kaida, Yasunori Mitsuda, and Mitsuda's studio, Procyon.[3] Along with the main gameplay, there is an online multiplayer battle option.

The game has a sequel, Luminous Arc 2, that was released in 2008. Luminous Arc 3: Eyes was released on December 10, 2009 in Japan.[4] The latest entry in the series, Luminous Arc Infinity, was released for the PlayStation Vita in Japan on August 6, 2015.

Gameplay

Luminous Arc is a tactical role-playing game and uses a battlefield grid viewed from an isometric perspective.[5] The top screen is used to display unit information while movement and attacks are determined on the lower screen. Left- and right-handed touch-screen controls and D-pad control schemes are available. One of the special traits is the Flash Drive Gauge, which, when filled, allows a character to use a special attack. Between battles, players can view short sequences featuring the game's mascot, Kopin, and intermission sequences that will allow the player to get to know the characters in the party better. The game also includes a multiplayer battle mode.

Special attacks

Each time a player character makes an action, his or her Flash Meter will increase. The player can then use Flash Points to perform powerful attacks, called Flash Drives that may also cause status ailments to enemies. Some enemies in Luminous Arc can also use Flash Drives.

It is important to note that, while normal attack skills can damage allies and healing skills can restore enemy HP, the effects of Flash Drives committed to their intended targets; for instance, it is impossible for a recovery Flash Drives to heal opponents.[6] Flash Drives can be learned via leveling up, but several are learned as the story progresses.

Synergy attacks are a combination attack that can be used when all characters involved have their Flash Points filled up and are close to each other. However, not all characters can perform Synergy attacks, as they are unlocked via story arcs that revolve around certain characters bonding.[6]

Intermissions

After each battle, the spoils of battle will be displayed on the screen, including gold, items, and Vitae. In addition, the player will be prompted to talk with one of the characters that took part in the battle. An Intermission scene occurs after the ensuing plot dialogue, in which the player can have a short conversation with the previously selected character. On the touch screen, a list of responses will appear with the chosen character's avatar on the top screen. If the choice was favorable, the main character, Alph, will develop a stronger bond with that character, which takes the form of evasion and hit rate bonuses if the two are placed next to each other in future battles.[7] If the character particularly likes the player's response, he or she may give Alph a useful item. However, the player is given a finite number of opportunities to talk to each character, after which it will be impossible to improve the bond.[8] If the player has made good choices throughout the various conversations with a character, there may be a special scene between Alph and that character featuring anime-style art and an additional voice-over. If you say the right thing, you could get an item from the person. As the bond between a character and Alph improve, the heart will continue to grow, and once the heart becomes blue, the character will no longer speak with Alph during Intermission.

There are also short cutscenes after every story battle featuring the game's mascot, Kopin. Though he claims that he will try to keep an eye on the characters and tell the story from his point of view,[9] the player actually learns more about Kopin's personality, philosophy, and possible love interests.

Vitae

Throughout the adventure, the player will obtain magical items called Vitae. According to the game's lore, Vitae obtain their magical properties from the ancient power of Rune, the same power used by the Witches to fuel their magic.[10] In order to make use of a piece of Vitae, it must first be appraised at the workshop in the Witch Village. Once this has been accomplished, the Vitae can be used to add elemental and status effects to weapons.[10] In addition, it is possible to ask other characters about what they know about Vitae. This will allow the player to learn the best combinations for developing items with different strengths.

Multiplayer battles

Using the Wi-Fi option, players can choose to either battle against an anonymous and random opponent, or against a player whose friend code has been registered. Items are won for each game played against a random opponent, with more being earned if the player is victorious. Players can also play locally via the DS' wireless connection.

Plot

Luminous Arc takes place in the world of Shtraberl. The land is in a medieval-like era, where the Luminous Church rules over the lands. The Luminous Church which worships their God Zehaal is the only form of government the land has.

According to the scriptures known as The Book of Mena of the Luminous Church, thousands of years ago Witches and Dragons fought all across the world to be the superior race. In the process: The air was stale, the earth barren. The seas raged and the sun vanished. The world fell into darkness. This disaster was known as Aldheld.

The scriptures go on to continue that the saints prayed upon the barren land and eventually the God Zehaal replied to their prayers in beginning the Advent. Zehaal then defeated both the Dragons and Witches and cleansed the world.

It was then that Zehaal supposedly blessed the world and named it Shtraberl. Afterwards he endowed the saints with knowledge and went into a deep slumber. The saints then went on to create the Luminous Church.

The actual game begins with the Garden Children, a group of people raised as an elite force for the Luminous Church. In the beginning of the game the Garden Children are called to a town to be given their first orders by the Church. They are ordered to hunt for Witches which have been spotted in Canal.

As the game progresses, the Garden Children discover that the Witches are not as evil as they had been taught. They then, through the witches discover that the God of the Luminous Church, Zehaal, is trying to resurrect himself to consume the world.

After joining forces, the garden Children and the witches fight past members of the Luminous Church as well as vassals of Zehaal. They spend the game fighting against the Luminous Church and their sinister attempts to defeat them. Near the end of the game the group goes through a portal to the world's center to confront Zehaal.

They then battle Zehaal and his true form, The Wings Of Doom. After injuring the Wings Of Doom he retreats to lick his wounds, and Lucia the Dawn witch decides to use a powerful yet self-destructive magic to finish him forever. Alph then stays with her to ensure she does not die in the attack, and together they defeat Zehaal once and for all.

In the aftermath of the final battle, Canal is restored to a peaceful state. A stable form of government is formed and the Witches are accepted into society as heroes rather than deviants.

Development

The game was developed by Marvelous Interactive and "rookie development studio" imageepoch.[3] The game's music was produced, mixed, and mastered by famed sound designer and composer Yasunori Mitsuda. He, along with Akari Kaida, Kazumi Mitome, and Shota Kageyama, composed the music for the game.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic70/100[11]
Review scores
PublicationScore
EGM5.83/10[12]
Eurogamer6/10[13]
Famitsu28/40[14]
Game Informer6/10[15]
GameProStarStarStar[16]
GameSpot7.5/10[17]
GameSpyStarStarStar[18]
GameZone7.6/10[19]
IGN7.5/10[20]
Nintendo Power8/10[21]

Luminous Arc received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[11] Honest Gamers said, "I realised that it was exactly because Luminous Arc refused to take itself seriously that it was so much fun."[22]

However, 1UP.com rated the game as "average", calling it a "Final Fantasy Tactics Advance clone" because of its similar gameplay and overall feel. While not impressed with the DS's touch screen capabilities used in the game, the editor wrote that "the game's biggest attraction, in theory, is wireless multiplayer, either locally or online".[23] GamePro said, "It's a decent enough game but it isn't the grand strategy RPG experience that we've all been waiting for."[16]

Japanese publication Famitsu gave the game a score of one eight, two sevens, and one six for a total of 28 out of 40.[14] Luminous Arc sold 25,676 copies during its debut week in Japan.[24]

Notes

References

  1. ↑ Spencer (June 26, 2007). "Luminous Arc nabs a release date". Siliconera. http://www.siliconera.com/2007/06/26/luminous-arc-nabs-a-release-date/. Retrieved June 26, 2007. 
  2. ↑ "Jack Frost's Atlus U.S.A. Newsletter Quarter 1 & 2 2007". Atlus. June 26, 2007. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070926225206/http://www.atlus.com/newsletter/AtlusNewsletter0407.html. Retrieved July 22, 2017. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Luminous Arc (Interview)". Nintendo Power 219: 74–76. September 2007. 
  4. ↑ Tanaka, John (August 5, 2009). "Luminous Arc 3 Announced". http://www.ign.com/articles/2009/08/05/luminous-arc-3-announced. Retrieved July 22, 2017. 
  5. ↑ Kemps, Heidi (June 7, 2007). "GameSpy: Luminous Arc (Preview)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on June 9, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070609182015/http://ds.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/luminous-arc-/794985p1.html. Retrieved July 22, 2017. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Atlus, ed (2007). Luminous Arc North American Instruction Manual. Atlus. p. 25. 
  7. ↑ Atlus, ed (2007). Luminous Arc North American Instruction Manual. Atlus. 
  8. ↑ Atlus, ed (2007). Luminous Arc North American Instruction manual. Atlus. p. 32. 
  9. ↑ Atlus, ed (2007). Luminous Arc North American Instruction Manual. Atlus. p. 33. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Atlus, ed (2007). Luminous Arc North American Instruction Manual. Atlus. pp. 34–35. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Luminous Arc for DS Reviews". https://www.metacritic.com/game/luminous-arc/critic-reviews/?platform=ds. Retrieved July 23, 2017. 
  12. ↑ EGM staff (September 2007). "Luminous Arc". Electronic Gaming Monthly (219): 100. 
  13. ↑ Lyon, James (October 23, 2007). "DS Roundup (Page 2)". http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/r_dsroundup_221007?page=2. Retrieved July 23, 2017. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Fassino, Justin (January 31, 2007). "News – Latest Famitsu scores – Virtua Fighter 5, Luminous Arc and more". GamesAreFun. Archived from the original on June 12, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110612135702/http://www.gamesarefun.com/news.php?newsid=7436. Retrieved July 23, 2017. 
  15. ↑ Biessener, Adam (September 2007). "Luminous Arc". Game Informer (173). Archived from the original on December 27, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081227005648/http://www.gameinformer.com/NR/exeres/98F3DC7D-958F-4001-A223-4C7CD6D85335.htm. Retrieved July 23, 2017. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 ILikePie (August 14, 2007). "Review: Luminous Arc". GamePro. Archived from the original on February 4, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080204173950/http://www.gamepro.com/nintendo/ds/games/reviews/129188.shtml. Retrieved July 23, 2017. 
  17. ↑ Massimilla, Bethany (August 24, 2007). "Luminous Arc Review". https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/luminous-arc-review/1900-6177594/. Retrieved July 23, 2017. 
  18. ↑ Kemps, Heidi (September 11, 2007). "GameSpy: Luminous Arc (Review)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on September 15, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070915103134/http://ds.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/luminous-arc-/819444p1.html. Retrieved July 23, 2017. 
  19. ↑ Platt, Dylan (September 6, 2007). "Luminous Arc - NDS - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on September 29, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080929120251/http://nds.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r30855.htm. Retrieved July 23, 2017. 
  20. ↑ Bozon, Mark (August 15, 2007). "Luminous Arc Review". http://www.ign.com/articles/2007/08/15/luminous-arc-review. Retrieved July 23, 2017. 
  21. ↑ "Luminous Arc (Review)". Nintendo Power 219: 86. September 2007. 
  22. ↑ Hartley, Gary (November 25, 2007). "Luminous Arc (DS) review". Honest Gamers. http://www.honestgamers.com/6512/ds/luminous-arc/review.html. Retrieved July 23, 2017. 
  23. ↑ "Luminous Arc DS Review Index, Luminous Arc Nintendo DS Reviews". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20070927191907/http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3161958. Retrieved 2008-08-20. 
  24. ↑ Jenkins, David (February 16, 2007). "Virtua Fighter For PS3 Grabs Top Spot In Japanese Charts". http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12792. Retrieved April 15, 2009. 
  • Official website
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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