The Arc the Lad series makes its jump to the PlayStation 2 this year, and I got a chance to test out Arc the Lad: Twilight of Spirits this morning in Sony's general area. With Working Designs noticeably absent from the conference, it was left to Sony to fill the void for the fourth game in the series, and Spirits was squeezed uncomfortably close to Final Fantasy X-2 and Castlevania: Lament of Innoncence.

It turned out not to matter, as the playable demo showcased the typical strengths of the Arc series. This was especially evident in the battle system, which showcased some decent animations for special attacks, and allowed for an incredibly free range of movement (similar to the recent Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter). For a fairly low-key RPG, the small portions of voice-acting weren't too particularly grating - a definite plus.

As for the graphics, they could use improvement. The hardware of the PlayStation 2 is capable of so much more than what Spirits was showing at the conference. Perhaps if the rest of the gameplay elements are executed correctly, it won't matter much in the long run. It was a good first impression for the conference, nevertheless.