Arcania – The Complete Tale
Developer: Black Forest Games
Publisher: Nordic Games
Genre: Action RPG
Release Date: 07/30/2013
I’ll admit. I have a soft spot for Euro RPGs. They tend to be simple but well told linear stories with a large world to explore, but very little to see or do in said world, so the fun is in seeing the sites rather than searching out every nook and cranny for things to kill. NPCs are populous, but you can only interact with the ones that are quest related so they are there for scenery. The graphics tend to be a bit outdated – usually a generation or two behind. So why do I like them? Because they’re generally fun action RPGs at a budget price and they’re good for mindless entertainment, although nothing I’d play more than once. Sometimes we see a really good experience come from these like Russia’s Pathologic or Deck 13’s Venetica, but often times they’re so similar and yet so different to Western RPGs that North American gamers (and reviewers) don’t get the genre because it rarely makes it stateside, and when it does it’s almost always exclusively for the PC.
Well, not Arcania. It originally came out a few years ago for the PC and 360…and didn’t do all that well stateside. Dreamcatcher Games, the publisher of Arcania has since been folded in to another gaming conglomerate and so Nordic Games (usually a Euro only publisher) has taken up the reigns to bring The Complete Tale stateside so that players can get the core game and the full length expansion all at once for an extremely low price ($29.99 for the PS3, $19.99 for the 360). That price tag is pretty tempting, especially if you’re a fan of the Gothic series, but Arcania is far less a Gothic game than it is a second rate third person Diablo clone. It’s not very well done in any respect save for voice acting and the soundtrack and ranged combat (especially magic) is so overpowered that even on the highest difficulty you won’t have a challenge (I never died from combat. Having the ground disappear under me due to coding problems however…). However there is something inherently enjoyable about exploring the world and seeing what little there is to do in such a large setting that you’ll manage to have fun with the game for a while before you really the game is eighty percent walking and twenty percent content. In the end, it took me twenty-five hours to beat the core game and explore every nook and cranny of the world and while there was something that kept me playing, I honestly can’t say what it was or even why as the game, while not the worst title I’ve played this year, is a far cry from being an enjoyable experience. Let’s see why.
(more…)
Shadowrun Returns
Dragon’s Crown
Neo*Geo X Mega Pack Volume 1