Customer Rating: 
Summary: Lumninous Gaming!
Comment: After playing Luminous Arc 1, I knew this game had to be added to my collection. With the added elements of the additional battles you can play in order to level up, and the even more intense graphics, you truly feel that you're inside an anime episode. Atlus is an amazing company--any game of theirs is one you should own.
As for this edition, with the music and the art book, I'm even more impressed with the final product. The art for each character, as well as some panels from the previous game are beautiful, and so vivid.
I love this game--and anyone who might enjoy an RPG, and a turn based RPG at that, will love this game.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Not a Bad Follow Up
Comment: Pros:
+Some good art
+Good music
+Well written story
+Simplistic Gameplay that anyone can pick up on
+Fast paced battles
Cons:
-Graphically doesn't look much different from a GBA game
-Very easy game
-It does little to separate itself from the first game or to really try to stand out in the genre. This is a con that is subjective, however
Last year, the first Luminous Arc dropped down. It wasn't really anything special--especially if you were a veteran of the SRPG--but at it at least had merits. Anyone who was just starting out with the genre, however, may have found it a nice introduction. On the whole, Luminous Arc wasn't the greatest title, but it was far from being a bad game. It was just a bare bones basic SRPG. The same could be said for Luminous Arc 2. Overall it is a better game, but it doesn't do much to really go above and beyond the first game. In short, if you didn't like the first game, there's no real reason to think you'd like the second one.
Things don't pick off from where the first game left off. A trend that isn't really new in the SRPG realm. Nonetheless, the storyline of Luminous Arc 2 uses many stylistic things from the first game. There are usually character portraits facing one another and speaking through facial expressions. For the most part the story is well written, but it suffers from the same thing as the first. That being there is quite a bit of exposition. The other thing the story suffers from is the imbalance in voice acting; another flaw from the first game. There will be moments when you'll hear voices and then abruptly, the voice acting stops and then abruptly continues again. The story itself isn't bad, but you might find you want it to be better. There's a good sense of humor abound, and the writing itself isn't bad either. Not to mention you'll like most of the characters. While the story is by no means bad, it is a little weak and predictable. The characters make it work but you definitely won't find yourself blown away.
Gameplay wise, Luminous Arc 2 is, once again, not all that different from the first one. You move your characters around and perform attacks, usually taking turns. Characters also have special abilities and flash drives (which are fancier flashier abilities) they can use in battle as well. Nothing about Luminous Arc 2's mechanics are difficult at all. The game is easy to pick up and play. Unfortunately, it isn't too difficult either. Veteran gamers will find themselves getting through the game with no problems whatsoever.
Simplistic gameplay aside, Luminous Arc is not so stellar in production. The anime inspired art is pretty neat and most of the maps look good, but for the most part, Luminous Arc continues to look like a late GBA game. The battle animations for the spells and flash drives in particular are horrible. You might get a kick out of the art style but other than that you won't get a kick out of the visuals. The music is pretty good, though, as are some of the voices. The voice acting isn't always the strongest but for the most part it's a lot better than its predecessor.
In the end, Luminous Arc 2 is a good game, but like the first one only throws in the most basic of basic things. If you are expecting something innovative you won't get it with Luminous Arc 2. Yet for what it's worth, it is an inviting game for those who've yet to really experience the SRPG. Likewise you don't need to know anything about the first game to jump in. Unfortunately, if you didn't find the first game to be all that great you probably won't think the second one is all that great either.
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