With so many games lined-up for me to play for the past few weeks, I’ve finally had a chance to spend a couple hours with Atlus’ Luminous Arc 2 that is set to release in the middle of next month. Luminous Arc 2 is the second installment of the Luminous Arc series for the Nintendo DS, and the game itself has been known to be one of the best strategy role-playing games. Playing the first one got me irritated due to some flaws. With Luminous Arc 2, the game has greatly improved, but in what aspects?

Since I am on an embargo for the full review of the game, I can only tell a few tidbits that make this game a lot better than the first one. The ability to control the characters with the control pad has finally been implemented in this game making it a lot easier, instead of using the stylus alone in the first game. When I played the first Luminous Arc game a few months ago, I was really annoyed by it because controlling with the stylus sucks!

The first time I popped the game in, I was surprised with the new interface during a cut scene. You now have the ability to skip the cut scenes, which will really help you along the way because cut scenes can be so long you would end up sleeping through it. One last thing I want to mention in this preview is that the game has an anime opening cut scene!

As for the game’s story, Luminous Arc 2’s main objective is eliminating the Witches that are threatening the kingdom. Of course you’ll meet a lot of characters that will aid you in the journey and full customization will come into play later in the game. I will deeply discuss the story when the embargo is lifted, but for now, we can’t say anything!

I am not really that far in the game so I really can’t say the game is the best, but from the point to where I’m at, Luminous Arc 2 is a huge improvement from the first title. The embargo for review won’t be lifted until the second week of November so for now, I will keep my mouth shut!

Stay tuned for the full review of the game in the coming weeks!