One player's opinion. Outstanding.
The collection includes:
Arc the Lad
Arc the Lad II
Arc the Lad III
Arc the Lad: Monster Arena
The collection starts off with Arc the Lad. This was my personal favorite in the series. I personally enjoyed the storyline a great deal, which was powerful, while being very short. It's possible to finish this entire game in 10 hours flat. This game features almost a "gameboard" style battle system. Tactics featured a similar battle system, but never seemed to grasp my intrigue. Arc the Lad DID. This battle system is innovative, and endlessly fun. The game features a 50 floor optional dungeon, which alone takes 1/3 of the game to finish. Throughout this, the battle system never once began to bore me, and it rewarded me in the end. While this first installment in the collection is short, it is not going to leave you empty-handed going into Arc the Lad II.
Perhaps the best part about Arc the Lad and Arc the Lad II is their compatibility with one another. After beating Arc the Lad, you can literally upload your characters and inventory, complete with level and weaponry, into your Arc the Lad II file. This is something that I found very interesting. You start out in Arc the Lad II with your main character being Elk, another youngster with big dreams, who develops tremendously throughout the story. Arc the Lad II has A LOT more storyline to it than the original, and you will uncover countless terrifying moments in your characters' pasts. All the while, you build up until the time that your Arc the Lad II team's fate coincides with your Arc the Lad team. As common goals become apparent, your characters join together to fight the greater evil. Cliche? Perhaps, but I wish more games would have had this capability. Finally, we move on to Arc the Lad III. Arc the Lad III is entirely different from the first two. You don't have any of the characters in the first two, and you can't upload them. It's almost an entirely different world, though you can find some common threads. III is enjoyable in the manner that it builds its storyline, and has a significant jump in quality of graphics. Arc the Lad III is an example of a classic RPG. Arc the Lad: Monster Arena, is a game without storyline. You can upload your characters from I and II, and compete in a never-ending array of challenges.
The sound in all 4 of the games is decent, but nothing spectacularly memorable. The gameplay is great. The value of this collection is amazing for the $50 price tag that I paid. The sheer addictiveness of the game is the huge factor for me. Arc the Lad has a HUGE gameplay replay value, and Arc the Lad II had a storyline replay value, as several parts of the story began to drift away from me as i was playing it. Bottom Line: Arc the Lad Collection is an outstanding example of RPG value; it has gameplay to love, characters to remember, and storyline to never forget.