0 to Z of Playstation 1 Games - Arc the Lad: Monster Game with Casino Game

   

Arc the Lad: Monster Game with Casino Game also known as Arc Arena: Monster Tournament, was developed by UNiT and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the Playstation 1 and released exclusively in Japan on the 31^st of July 1997. The game is a spin off of the Arc the Lad series and is the third Arc the Lad game released.

The game is an expansion for the second game in the Arc the Lad series, using the players save file the games users the players monsters and allows the player to compete in a tournament with his monsters, visit shops, trade items as well as a collection of casino mini games. The game uses Arc the Lad II's turn based tactical system for the arena battles the game also has RPG elements.

Team battles are the first main game mode available with two variations on offer the 3 team battle is first this mode only allows the player to use captured monsters, while the 5 team battle allows the player to use anyone in your active roster to participate in the battle.

The battle is usually controlled by the AI so no strategic decisions are needed, what dictates the outcome of the battle is the type of characters chosen, their equipment and abilities. So the players goal is to assemble and equip the strongest possible team. As the game progresses the player is able to unlock human and summon monsters, these can be controlled by the player these characters are usually weaker than the rest however they do have a more diverse options available.

Tournament battles are the next mode the player is able to select the number of teams, this mode the player controls their team members the aim is to survive as many opposing teams as possible using only what you can carry into battle. Limited supplies are not the players only concern as you progress past each opposing team the difficulty gradually increases making your initial party choice incredibly important.

The final mode to choose from is a 1p v 2p mode which allows two players to pit their save file monsters against each other. If both players have human characters and summons enabled then any character will be selectable, if however one or both players have not have the option enabled, or have not completed the three team battles then selection will be limited to captured monsters only. The two players are also able to make a wager on the match either putting up an item, monster or just play for pride

The games story is tied to the character Lieza from Arc the Lad II, who has the ability to command monsters, information on an actual story has been impossible to find I’m assuming it is some kind of quest to become the greatest monster trainer.

Critic reviews for this game are next to impossible to find so we head over to GameFAQs for their user data, starting with the average user score which currently sits at 3.42/5 from a total of 25 user ratings. With a clear majority rating this game between a 3.5/5 and a 4/5 with 14 of the 25 rating the game between these two scores.

A good number of rating between 2.5/5 and 3/5 with a small number of users being very generous with their game rating scoring the game at a 4.5/5 or a full 5/5, one user however found this game abysmal rating the game at just a 0.5/5.

Moving on to the game difficulty next, where we find a total of 12 users rating this category, with a huge split in favour of the game having just the right difficulty level with 83.33 rating it as just right. A small number just 16.67% found the game on the tough side.

Finally on to the games lifespan only six users have rated this category, however we have a very nice spread of time spent with this game. With each of the six users giving this game a different length of time spent with it, the minimum time spent with the game is currently at 4 hours, with a steady climb of one user spending 8 and 12 hours with the game.

From here the playtime with this game takes a considerable jump up with the next user spending 40 hours with the game, another big jump to the next user who spent 60 hours with the game while the final user spend an incredible 80 hours playing Arc the Lad: Monster Game with Casino Game. Averaging out that comes to around a 35.7 hours lifespan for the game.

This is the part of 0 to Z where is visit four online retailers and see what the availability of the title is, and what price you would be looking at if you wanted to pick this title up, the sites that I will be using for this are Amazon.com, eStarland.com, retrogames.co.uk and Gamedude.com I know the last one is very location specific, but from a podcast I listen to, I’ve heard they have a huge stock of older games, Ebay has now been dropped unless the game is unavailable at other retailers.

So lets get down to business with Gamedude who do not sell this game individually, they do have it part of the Arc the Lad collection which I have covered recently. So we move onto Retrogames.co.uk who don’t stock this title, so moving quickly on to eStarland.com and like Gamedude they do stock this game as part of the Arc the Lad Collection but not individually.

Finally we move on to Amazon.com who have a pretty decent supply of the game available with prices for a good or very good complete copy of the game starting from around the $15 mark with the game shipping from Japan several of the copies come with free shipping as well.

If you are looking for a like new copy of the game you are out of look with very good quality the best you can currently get for a used copy, there are a decent amount of new copies currently available with all bar one coming with free shipping. However there is a significant price hike from the used market to the new market, with prices starting at $105.62 with prices reaching a high of $111.78.

Written by

P J Gibbon