Arco

Just finished ARCO. It's really a wonderful game The good: - Characters are very interesting, with diverse personalities and backgrounds. - The story is simple but engaging. There are a lot of choices to be made that can change how the chapters are played. Lots of great interactions between them. - The pixel art is simply outstanding. - The music is also really good and it matches perfectly the América Latina scenery. - Very fun combat system for the most part, though a bit repetitive for the last couple of hours. - Not too short but not too long either, just the perfect dosis. The bad: - This may be insignificant for many people, but I, as an argentinian, chose to play this game in spanish (I usually play games in english because of bad translations) because I thought it would just make a perfect fit. An it was sad to see that even a game set in this part of the world doesn't get a proper spanish translation. It is very poor, full of literal translated phrases and with some parts that weren't translated at all. Just consulting with one native spanish speaker would have made all the difference!

[h1]Could have been awesome, ends up only good[/h1] [b]It's a shame. With more polish and made by seasoned devs, this could have become a (niche) cult classic of the indie scene. Instead, it is only a good game, with very strong suits (mostly art direction), but sadly also many flaws (mostly game design). It still gets a thumbs up though, but it's a 7/10 instead of a 9/10.[/b] [h1]Awesome art direction[/h1] [b]I'm a sucker for "big pixels pixel-art", and this might be my favorite game in that artstyle (and probably why I got the game in the first place).[/b] Nothing particular about the characters, but oh my god the scenery... most of the sets could be wallpapers. I think I've screenshotted 90% of the game because of how beautiful it looks. [b]The music is also a big win.[/b] Not all music are awesome (for instance those used for the fights are just serviceable), but most background musics for exploration, and ESPECIALLY the tracks with vocals used for cutscenes are incredible. Without a doubt, these are the two things that I'll remember about Arco in years to come. [h1]Nice setting and writing[/h1] [b]To a lesser extent, the writing is also good. Fantasy Wild West is not the kind of setting we usually get in video games, and especially not when playing the locals instead of the usual cow-boys and desperados, so that's a welcome breath of fresh air.[/b] Though I must say something : the writing might take you off guard, and I don't mean only by plot twists. It's not everyday you see characters speaking with smileys outside of visual novels with smartphones, especially in a Wild West Fantasy game. I think it was cute and matched the vibe of some of the characters, but that might pull you out. But this put aside, the characters are endearing and the story is fine : nothing groundbreaking there, but it works perfectly and the pacing is done very well. Nothings drags on for too long and it almost feels too short, but well, it's a game made by 4 people. [h1]Several game design flaws[/h1] [b]Sadly, the game is not short of downsides, and all the ones that come to my mind are related to its game design.[/b] I wouldn't say the game is hard, at least if you explore everything and do every side content. You will have enough equipment and XP for everything. But I would definitely say the game can be tedious and borderline frustrating because of several game design flaws. You can absolutely be fine with them if you don't mind, but beware : you will fight a lot, and if the fights feels tedious to you, the game might feel long even if it's quite short. [h3]A lot of systems are opaques[/h3] For instance, what items do isn't clear (especially before you buy them), what shrines do isn't clear, statuses aren't always clear (why not explaining how armor works ?), fight order isn't always clear (when is that guy firing ? When is my arrow hitting ? Why is the machete hitting after that guy when his ranged attack should be slower ?), skills are unclear ("next turn" usually means "this turn")... some are by design, but some would just need some clarifications and/or polish. And for such a small game where you haven't an active community and wikis, well, that's a bummer. [h3]The whole skill system would benefit from an overhaul.[/h3] Besides their descriptions that are sometimes unclear, especially when fighting (I think the description changes in fights), my biggest problem is that you don't know what you will fight. So you build a skillset blindly, hoping for the best. Problem is : you can end up with a skillset that could be OP against a type of enemies, but completely inefficient for the ones you'll actually fight, and you can't reskill (and XP points, although not scarce, aren't plentiful enough to buy everything so you have a toolset to adapt to everything). It's a good thing the game isn't too hard, as I don't think you can get softlocked, but you can end up in situations where your skillset is completely irrelevant and inefficient against what you're up to. And there are definitely skills that feel useless, and others that are a must have/borderly broken. If you have trouble with the game, use and abuse healing skills by making the fights longer. Trust me. [h3]Ennemies' moveset is partially random instead of having a clear list of priorities[/h3] This is made obvious when you restart a fight and see the ennemies do a completely different opening turn. Now I know this is probably a matter of taste, and it might be a deliberate choice so you can't exploit ennemies' AI, but it can lead to situations where you get obliterated turn one, or have turns where you can't do sh*t, or have battles lost just because you never had an opening. Personnally, I just prefer tactical games with set behavior, like Into The Breach or Death Howl, but that's me. [h3]Ghosts : clever on paper, tedious in situation[/h3] The concept of ghosts is very clever and could be a nice idea... but it works only as long as you control one and only one character. Otherwise, it becomes tedious and almost unavoidable damage. But maybe it's only a problem if you're playing with a controller. [h3]So... much... fights...[/h3] This shouldn't be a downside, as it's a video game and you're probably here to PLAY. But as fights gets repetitive, especially near the end, it can become a lil' bit tedious. It's fine as long as you're doing side quests, fight new enemies and explore new locations, but when you just keep fighting the same type of guys again and again on similar maps... well, let's just say I was glad the game didn't drag on for another 3 hours. [h1]Conclusion : a good game nonetheless, but temper your expectations[/h1] [b]It's a good game, no doubt. Just note that you'll have to fight a lot, and with all the problems I mentioned, that might get in your way if you just want to progress the story and explore. For the price tag, I'd say the game is worth it. Maybe even full price, as it has a surprisingly high amount of side content (and some of it is well hidden) and even replay value : some choices changes important stuff and lock/unlocks content. Expect around 15 hours for a single playthrough with every side content done (I've missed some, and rushed a bit), and probably only half if you rush the game in a straight line.[/b]

Very distinctly funny dialogue. Great gameplay loop, lots of choices with different outcomes. Playing with different characters forces you to choose different playstyles, find OP strategies and I adored each one differently. The story. A game that can easily get you immersed, arco really has a personality of its own. 10/10