During our wanderings through South Hall, Elliot and I found Arc the Lad: End of Darkness at the far back of Namco's booth. A friendly booth attendant helped us get into the online component of the game, although we did not try any of the offline gameplay.

Online mode is similar to that in Phantasy Star Online. Players can choose a character type and join others in mission instances. Elliot and I teamed up with a couple other people and took on a few missions. There's not much chat ability, but the missions are simple enough that it is not needed.

Battles are in real-time action. There is no tactical grid; characters can move freely around the field, attack, use magic, or execute special abilities. The characters' animations are quite awkward and a little slow at times, unfortunately. The missions weren't extremely exciting. The real excitement was teaming up with others and working together. Sticking together was very important. Anyone who tried to kill something on their own usually died.

I wish I could have seen the offline main game because that is the core of the title. However, the online mission instances were somewhat interesting, although obviously not enough to completely justify the game. If the offline mode is any indication, the full version has some potential to be a good Arc the Lad title.

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