Arc the Lad: TotS is an enjoyable strat-RPG based on the long-running Arc the Lad anime series/game series.
The story starts you off in a small but peaceful and happy human village by the name of Yawbell… your initial character goes by the name of Kharg, the price of the town. Son of the beloved Queen Nifilia… you are a 17 year old with attitude… and a sword, good mix right?
Once your training is complete you get to experience all the wonders of small-town post-apocalyptic Earth life… you can explore the town, talk to people, shop, see the sights… the usual stuff… you soon start taking missions of small stature like clearing monsters or checking out rumors… along the way you get introduced to your first party member; Paulette who is the daughter of the town's guard captain… from there, your adventure unfolds…
Later down the line, you pick up the second main character; Darc, a half-Deimos… after a rather depressing intro to his story, you start off to find out he's enslaved by an evil and greedy toad-woman who is keeping him enslaved by a magic choke-collar… you soon meet up with his first party member; Delma, an Orcon girl with a mighty fighting spirit.
The basic synapses is that Darc and Kharg wish to save the world by annihilating the other race… but somewhere down the life realize that might not be the best way to bring peace the planet… both their stories intertwine with one another but play out in chapters that begin and end with a cut scene..
The game plays out in a turn-based attack system… involving some strategy… but it's not quite a strat-RPG… it's more similar to turn-based or action… either way, it's very simple and enjoyable.
You chose a party out of your member bank, equip them with accessories and weapon parts, add to their skill lists and you can even equip an airship or feed giant monster called a "Pyron" and during battle, you can use them to attack.
The fights themselves can get pretty tiresome and they happen very frequently because of all the back-tracking and side-quests… but it's good to get your levels up I suppose… though the Arena matches are much more efficient for that…
The total amount of playable characters is over 10 including two secret ones and a few temporary ones. The amount of special moves and magic is practically mind-blowing… the downside is it takes a substantial amount of time and effort to unlock it all…
The graphics in the game are very well done… the cut-scenes are even better. The landscapes of the villages and various locations are nicely detailed and somewhat inter-active… the battle animations are crisp and impressive and the character and mosnster designs are enjoyable and believable.
The in-game sounds are a tough call… the voice-overs seem only half done… most of the time they only appear at the cut-scenes and battles but periodically they are randomly thrown into bits of dialog… unfortunately, the battle dialog; while witty and smart, gets old fast… the voice actors themselves seem all too familiar… it's the same voice actors you hear in everything else now a days… not sure that hurts the game… but some of them can get on your nerves… and that does hurt the game…
The music is fairly well done, it tends to fit the situation well. It's mostly a mix of hard rock and classical melodies....
The game has a somewhat low replay value… the story is great but there's only 1 ending… even though there are 2 points where you can pick a path… and it does have a new game+ for those who beat it… but it doesn't seem worth all the effort… at least to me…
As for weather to rent or buy; I'd suggest buying it because of it's bargain-bin price-tag. I'd bet you'd find it for under $10. I personally spent an ungodly amount of hours playing it… but the clock stopped at 99:59 so I'm not sure how many exactly… but I did all the side-quests and extra tasks… and arena items and whatever else was optional.
I'd recommend this game to fans of the series, anyone who enjoys RPGs and anyone who loves a good inspiring tale.