Arcadian Atlas Reviews
One of the few points of pleasure for me in each battle was the soundtrack. Instead of dramatic horns and violins, Arcadian Atlas’ jazz-infused soundtrack by composer Moritz P.G. Katz is dominated by saxophones and guitars. The standard combat music in particular is so oddly unexpected but catchy, I still found it playing inside my head days later. I wish I could say the rest of my time with the game felt as memorable.
Arcadian Atlas has some amazing character designs and character development. The gameplay can be a little unstable at times, but the story keeps you going with its creativity. With some great side characters like Eda and Poncho on your team and more down the road, nothing is impossible. It's a love letter to older tactical games, and does the genre justice.
There’s nuance in these stories—look to the attempts, successes, and failures of just about any other fantasy RPG—but Arcadian Atlas either doesn’t know that or doesn’t want to admit it in favor of simplistic moralizing. The moment to moment writing falters too, meaning that no matter where you look for growth or substance in the game’s story and characters, you’re bound to smack into walls of derivative tropes and bland archetypes. As much as it wants to resemble the classics, Arcadian Atlas can’t help but feel pared down and simple; in a word, it’s modern, born from a philosophy that subtracts more than it adds before dressing it up to appear otherwise. Yet despite its weaknesses, Arcadian Atlas is easy to pick up and breeze through, ensuring that its brand of tactics-lite gameplay will almost definitely be someone’s gateway into an infinitely more complex and rewarding genre, even if it struggles to conjure those strengths for itself.
Arcadian Atlas is a solid, concise SRPG crafted with a lot of heart.
While there are admirable aspects about Arcadian Atlas on a conceptual level, several usability issues and an imbalanced gameplay experience merely makes it mediocre.
Ultimately, Arcadian Atlas is an RPG with an exciting and dramatic story, strategic gameplay, and a fantastic soundtrack; though a lack of polish and quality of life features sometimes breaks the nostalgic illusion.
Arcadian Atlas is the definition of a fine game. It isn't bad, and it isn't great; it's just perfectly passable. There are some solid moments and a nice hit of nostalgia for PS1-era RPGs, but that's about it. Other spiritual successors like Triangle Strategy and Fell Seal have proven that the genre can do a lot more on a lower budget, and Arcadian Atlas feels dated. If you're a fan of SRPGs, this might be worth a look, but it's mostly forgettable.
This homage to titans of the genre can be beautiful to behold, but it ultimately runs too short and too shallow to match the mightiness of its ancestors.
As it stands in its current state, Arcadian Atlas is rather difficult to recommend. Despite its rather serviceable plot and great visuals, the game struggles a lot due to its rather mismatched battle classes, where ranged combat reigns superior to melee. With some quality-of-life improvements in its combat and navigation, this title might get the second chance it deserves.
“Arcadian Atlas” might not be the “Final Fantasy Tactics” inspired game if you’re looking at a gameplay perspective. But the Team at Twin Otters Studios more than delivers on the story and presentation front. An enjoyable, even if “short”, journey.
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Overall I have to say Arcadian Atlas is a pretty good game. The story is interesting, the graphics look great, the OST is one of the best I’ve heard in a long time and the combat is fun. I feel like the lore of the world could’ve been fleshed out a bit better, but this is only a minor gripe. There are a few balancing issues present here as well, but the developer is working on hotfixes that really will address most of what I encountered. Even though this is a quality release, I feel like it’s a bit pricey at $29.99, but when it’s on sale, fans of Strategy titles should pick this one up. While it’s not perfect, there is plenty here to love.
Arcadian Atlas is an example of a strategy game where improper balancing and design choices result in an "only okay" affair.
While it pays homage to tactical RPG classics of the ‘90s, Arcadian Atlas does little that is new.
I really enjoy the story, look, and feel of Arcadian Atlas. While its core gameplay isn’t breaking any new ground, and its UI is poorly designed, it could be a solid choice for those who are nostalgic for the 32-bit era of strategy RPGs. I quickly learned to work around most of my issues with it to the point where they were more minor annoyances than significant issues. Until its significant performance issues are ironed out though, it’s hard to recommend for even the biggest fans of the genre. The game underneath has its strengths, but it’s certainly not good enough to be worth putting up with them.
Fans of tactical turn-based RPGs will find familiarity with how the game plays through the customization of job classes and equipment loadouts. Its simplicity of gameplay and pacing of events through themes of treason and overcoming adversity emboldens the medieval story Arcadian Atlas tells.
Arcadian Atlas is an inoffensive SRPG that has some fun mechanics, giving a pared-down iteration of its contemporaries.
It’s smaller than its inspiration, a bit simpler in some ways, and I am very deliberately leaving out some of the places it goes simply on the basis that it’s worth seeing it for yourself. If you’re like me and have been looking for more FFT for the past two decades, this game will not sate your hunger completely, but it’ll be damn filling. You will walk away satisfied. That is high praise, and a testament to how good the game actually is. And I’m itching to play it again… and hopeful for an even better sequel one day, perhaps. So give this one a shot.
Arcadian Atlas successfully captures the essence of a bygone area in RPG gaming. Nostalgic but original, the game is reminiscent of classic titles but never strays away from doing its own thing. With a brilliant jazz score, beautiful and expressive visuals, and a compelling, dark story, Arcadian Atlas is a newfound classic that’s sure to appeal to nostalgic gamers and first-time RPG players alike.