It's a little known fact that all of us have a ceremonial Happy Dance of Fun and Joyous Glee that we do in unison whenever we hear a game has gone gold. After all, that magical golden disc has been approved by Sony, then approved by the publisher, and then probably approved by the people that made the game, all before it's ever approved by you or me.

Actually, that's all lies. Well, not the approvals part, since we're still pretty sure that still happens, but the Happy Dance is less an free-wheeling cavalcade of frenzied dancing and more just a light jig. A hootenanny if you will. Still, it's cause for the happy, since the latest Arc the Lad marks a departure of sorts for the series, which will finally move to full real-time combat.

Even more impressive is that the game has gone online, offering the unique opportunity to play though a normally offline-style single-player adventure with friends either sitting next to you or across the country in tasty multiplayer fashion. It's a shift to a more action/adventure style of play, but the actual core of the game hasn't changed all that much from a storyline standpoint.

Set five years after Twilight of the Spirits, the game switches gears yet again to focus on a young warrior named Edda and the events that are set into motion after crossing the path of Kirika, a person so mysterious even we don't know what their deal is (because we don't keep up on these things, you see).

"Arc The Lad: End of Darkness reinvents this distinguished RPG series with real-time combat, online gameplay and a massive collection of playable characters," boasted Jeff Lujan, Namco Hometek's Business Unit Director. "With an unprecedented amount of content to fight, acquire and explore, the game offers a complete role-playing experience to both seasoned warriors and new recruits eager to join the quest."

And look! To accompany this announcement, we have new screens! Screens, people, screeeeens!