"arc the lad" was developed by g-craft and published by scei in japan on june 30, 1995. the game features tactical role-playing game battle elements, which would become a staple for the series. "arc the lad" introduces several characters that appear in all three games in the collection. arc, the lead, is a boy from the small town of touvil who is fated to fight corruption. characters like kukuru, iga, poco, tosh, and chongara also make future appearances.