Arcadia Fallen Review | TheXboxHub

In case you’re a fan of a visible novel and personal an Xbox, you’ll most likely know that the system has been starved of them of late. It’s a dry spell that’s lasted just a few months, with solely the odd fringe sport to maintain us topped up. However, as they are saying about buses, you solely have to attend so lengthy and some come without delay. In current weeks, now we have had Animal Lover, Twice Reborn: A Vampire Visible Novel and Arcadia Fallen. In case you’re a fan of urgent A to learn the subsequent chatbox, then you definitely’re in luck. 

We shuffled Arcadia Fallen to the entrance of the visible novel evaluate queue as a result of it’s, with out a shadow of a doubt, the perfect of the bunch. It’s a healthful bear-hug of a sport, and we wished to anticipate the selection that visible novel followers should make: of all the video games out lately, select Arcadia Fallen. You gained’t remorse it. 

It’s the story of the ‘Alchemist’, who you’ll get to customize and title yourselves. We created Bumflump, a male alchemist with an Elvis-like quiff, and he was prepared to save lots of the world. You begin as a novice within the commerce, apprenticed to Elizabeth, who owns a store within the Anemone Valley: a country city in the course of nowhere. 

It doesn’t take lengthy for issues to go to pot. You might be attacked in a side-alley and left for lifeless, however a curious nature spirit close by involves your help. She’s referred to as Mime, and the one means for her to save lots of you is to own you: one thing which creates a everlasting hyperlink between you and her. You might be doomed to be collectively without end, so it’s fortunate that she’s good firm. 

There’s no time for how-do-you-dos because the attacker, together with extra of the townsfolk, encompass your alchemy store with pitchforks and firebrands. So, you sloop in by way of a backdoor and attempt to assist Elizabeth. It appears the townsfolk have been possessed by demons, ghosts of the lifeless, and are being rabble-roused by your attacker, Ronan. However with Mime and your new-found magical means – in addition to a necklace that Elizabeth had given you – you’ll be able to cease the store from being completely razed. The alchemical workbench is destroyed, however everyone seems to be alive. 

Clearly one thing is up within the Anemone Valley. Demons are overseas, and so they appear to be related to each a close-by forest, which has died and gone Tim Burton-esque in current weeks, and a mine, owned by the native money-grabbing bigwig. You are feeling the heat of heroism rise in your chest, so that you set off on an journey to rid the city of demons, sever your connection to Mime, and make just a few bob to revive the alchemist’s store. 

That is all executed over a collection of days, and with the usage of a sport map. Extra so than most visible novels, Arcadia Fallen provides you a deal of company over what you’re doing. You may journey to a rising checklist of areas within the Anemone Valley to see what could be there. It’s by no means notably sprawling, and Arcadia Fallen does tighten the reins often, not letting you journey to areas as a result of it doesn’t really feel there’s sufficient of worth. However having management over the circulate of occasions is best than we’re used to, and it provides Arcadia Fallen the free define of an RPG. 

In these areas, you’ll start to assemble a fellowship. An enormous roll name of characters be a part of you, from the officious demon hunter Victoria to the louche magician Michael. They’re all romanceable – give or take a younger boy referred to as Kim – so you can also make your advances on any of them (or none of them) if you happen to fancy. However largely you’re forging robust platonic relationships over a collection of days and in-game hours, attending to know them and constructing real affection for them.

We obtained some thick Vital Position vibes from the characters. That’s not solely as a result of they’re voice-acted nicely (however not exhaustively: some dialogue is only textual content), however as a result of the crew is as unlikely and disparate as any D&D group. Characters have deep and related backstories, and so they all have chemistry, each unhealthy and good, with the opposite characters. Whereas there isn’t any actual fight in Arcadia Fallen, it felt like we had been on an elaborate roleplaying marketing campaign. 

The dialogue is spotless, really easy to learn and calm down into. There aren’t any mistranslations, dry patches or errors: it’s only a comforting fantasy novel that occurs to have some button prompts. Better of all are the dialogue choices, that are applied completely. Commonly, you get supplied three dialogue selections, and they’re helpfully annotated. There’s no unintentional selecting of a unfavourable possibility as a result of it was written poorly: the dialogue is evident, and comes with useful ‘Decided’, ‘Joking’, ‘Sarcastic’ tags, which make it abundantly clear what the results shall be. Pivotal moments additionally pause the motion and have a summarised intention behind them. It’s a visible novel that each visible novel-maker ought to play.

Reassuringly, and having picked some fairly far-out dialogue choices, there isn’t actually a unhealthy dialogue selection. The opposite characters accommodate you, and the writers helpfully discover the perfect intentions in all the things you say. It’s barely too manipulative, although, and roleplayers who prefer to be mischievous or downright evil will discover themselves rail-roaded into one thing like a paragon. We’d additionally say that, whereas there are many selections, we by no means obtained the sense that they had been diverging a lot. The dialog tributaries circulate again into the principle river, and you’re feeling such as you’re being pressured in a single route. It’s not the tip of the world, however some would possibly see by means of it.

We must also notice the alchemy minigames which crop up often. These offer you potions which are wanted for core story moments – and the odd get-out-of-jail-free playing cards within the narrative too – and so they make up the non-novel gameplay of Arcadia Valley. You might be mainly spinning the three disks of a Venn diagram to create recipes, and it’s all extra fiddly than it must be. Highlighting the suitable ingredient or disk is awkward, and we didn’t fairly have sufficient time or wherewithal to understand some further mechanics that had been tossed in throughout the last moments.

Whereas the story doesn’t go to fully sudden locations – you’re disparate heroes who will come collectively and save the city (and world), in any case – it does so with big heat and overflowing likeability. We’re not ashamed to say that we’d play a sequel if it was out tomorrow. The bonds you type with Kaidan, Ana and the others are so robust that you simply really feel a want to spend extra time with them. When you’ve got a visible novel-loving pal, get them to play it too: it’d imply sufficient cash modifications arms that we get that sequel. 

Arcadia Fallen is a visible novel that captures the camaraderie and derring-do of a D&D marketing campaign with buddies. You are feeling like you’re a part of a fellowship, and you’ve got simply as a lot selection and enter in what occurs. And like the perfect D&D campaigns, you hope the band stays collectively for one or two adventures extra.  

You should buy Arcadia Fallen from the Xbox Retailer