Arc the Lad: End of Darkness is an action-adventure game for the PlayStation 2 that marks a departure from previous series entries. Players assume the role of a hunter engaging in real-time combat against enemies while pursuing a storyline common to role-playing games. The game features an overhead camera, allowing for dynamic perspectives, and emphasizes magic usage, with a quickly replenishing magic meter. Players collect cards to enhance abilities and navigate various quests throughout the game world.
SCE takes the Arc the Lad series away from its roots and into an Online-playable action-adventure game. Players become a hunter who must travel the world and take on jobs, usually revolving around taking out enemies in real time using magic and special abilities. Collect cards from battle and events and equip them to gain new skills, all the while following an RPG-like storyline. You view the action from overhead, with a camera zooming in and out depending on the intensity of the action and occasionally switching to other angles for dramatic effect. You attack enemies in real time, tapping X once for a simple attack and repeatedly for a combo. You can also guard against attack, dash at an enemy, and press a button to run about the play field faster. The game places heavy emphasis on magic use, with the magic meter recovering automatically and quickly following each spell.