A short and breezy classical JRPG, with heavy emphasis on the "classic"- Ara Fell's dominant feel is that of professionalism- sometimes to its benefit, sometimes to its detriment. While it's indeed a solidly built game that's visually and mechanically polished, what lies within is played so safely, and built upon such well trodden ground that it's difficult to really find anything to say about it at all besides "it's enjoyable".
Chances are that if you've played one or two of the big name classics from the SNES era, or if you're familiar with the most stock tropes for story, characters, and mechanics, you've already played Ara Fell without knowing it. That's not to say that it's outright bad for any particular reason- what's here is more akin to "JRPG comfort food" that's going to tick all the boxes, but really doesn't take a bold enough step in any one direction to stand out or be deeply satisfying.
There are certainly some things here that are more unique- the setting comes with a nice package of in-universe explanation for geology, culture, food/water, and other such things on the floating islands, as well as a somewhat different approach to the in game economy, focusing more on exploration and resource gathering to craft items and upgrade gear rather than just purchasing it (though the option is still available).
But really, Ara Fell doesn't get a whole lot of use out of either, and for the most part its easy to forget that there's anything much different from a standard, linear progression and medieval-toned setting you'd find in any old game. The story feels rather disconnected from the nature of the setting outside of its broadest strokes- it's a stock plot that could happen anywhere, to almost any fantasy setting, which is kind of a waste of what could be a unique hook. Even though there's some depth to how it all works, it still ends up feeling more like set dressing.
Crafting wise, materials are gated in such a way that it mostly still feels like a linear progression of obtaining new gear- so while you have somewhat of a free range to explore, you can't really ever DO much with that free range- it feels a little tacked on, despite the fact that the loop of resource acquisition and exploration is satisfying in of itself. Not to mention that the game is easy enough that item crafting is almost an afterthought entirely- I think over the 15 hour runtime I used maybe 3 or 4 items, tops.
A big part of this is that unlike the majority of RPGs, HP and MP are refilled to max after every encounter in Ara Fell- in effect, one of the main points of differentiation in the game is also one of its greatest weaknesses, as it so deeply undercuts a large part of its gameplay loop. While its fun at first to be able to go all out in every encounter, and it helps the early game feel punchier, it eventually flattens everything out to constantly running the same optimal loops in combat.
In the end there's no real dynamism, strategy, or resource management outside of a handful of boss fights. You just kind of do the exact same thing in every fight, over and over, and every now and then get to upgrade a skill or a piece of gear along a (mostly) linear path. It feels strangely at odds with a crafting system that would otherwise provide some opportunity for tight resourcing- managing between your items, gear, and stats- and would have been engaging. But instead it's all sort of shaved off, played safe, not taking those risks that could've been rewarding.
Really, the narrative plays out in much the same way- it feels rather flat, linear, and expected. The characters are fairly weak, and kind of just play out some standard archetypal roles without much extra fanfare. All the seemingly "legally required" JRPG beats are in there- a throwaway romance, double and triple crossing baddies, a jailbreak subplot, the evil regent poisoning the king, characters holding the idiot ball so a boss/plot point can happen, etc. The main plot arc itself even revolves around the same "collect the macguffins to save the world" thing everyone's heard before.
So while there's certainly enough wiggle room in the setting and with the basic lore that something more interesting could have been done, once again, it's all played safe- go for the stock plot, stay on the path, look pretty, be polished. If you're at all familiar with the genre, you'll pretty much guess everything that happens well before it makes the expected move. If you're looking for the meat-and-potatoes RPG experience with some management and character building, or some challenging puzzles or fights, this really isn't it- but if you're looking for a unique story or memorable characters, or a world to dig into, this... also isn't it?
...Which kind of leaves it in a weird place for me- because it's still a fine game. It's visually appealing- probably the best use of the REFMAP tiles I've personally seen, along with nice custom assets. It's mechanically sound, even if it doesn't do anything particularly special. It's competently written, even if it's entirely stock under the surface. It's honestly still an impressive feat for a small team- it's just the kind of thing that feels so average that it hurts.
It's one of the few times I've finished a game and felt almost nothing about it besides "I wonder what I'm playing next?". It's something that I can't really say I'd recommend to people OR tell people to stay away from- for better or worse it's just "a game".
(Since I have to pick yes or no on Steam, though, it errs on the side of "sure")
