Arcadia Fallen

I can't say it's any one major complaint that keeps me from recommending this game. It's a series of smaller gripes that ultimately added up and made me decide that this game was unsalvageable. For the most part, the spelling and grammar is okay, but it really needs to be said that "eheh" and "ahah" don't need to be shoved into [i]every single dialogue box.[/i] Nor are they used correctly when they do show up. "ahah" is treated like a nervous tic, when my brain translates that as laughter. It makes it come off like the cast is laughing at horribly inappropriate moments all the time. And because they're both crammed into every single conversation, it makes the whole cast look like they're constantly fidgety and on edge, which is not what I should be thinking about: 1. A trained knight whose one and only course of action is brandishing steel at everybody, 2. A street-savvy chaos mage who does nothing but talk crap at all times, 3. A misanthropic, downright sociopathic academy student who would just as quickly let the world burn, 4. A stranger in a strange land who is curious about his new surroundings, or 5. The main protagonist, who I have not been playing as particularly scared or cowardly. I have to wonder what the purpose of the romance subplot is, because the romanceable characters are a person I don't like (Victoria), people who piss me off (Ann, Michael), and someone who I've known for like five minutes by the time the question of romance is finally posed (Kaidan). The question is likewise only ever asked once and then never again, and any other instances of romance prior to that point are meaningless flirting, so... what's the point? If it adds nothing of worth to the story, why is it [i]there?[/i] Just for the sake of saying there's romance? Having something exist just to say it does is not good storytelling. When romance is present in a game, I expect for it to play some kind of a role in the plot. A different game I've played, Royal Order, is centered around a potentially messy romance involving the main protagonist, who belongs to a group of people that are currently waging war, and one of three royal heirs of the nations the protagonist's people are warring against. In that instance, the romance makes sense, it adds drama and tension to the story. In this game... it does nothing. It's just there. For no good reason. And none of the characters are worth the trouble in the first place. The insistence of both Arcadia Fallen games on hyping up the demon hunters as being some kind of a big deal, when the demon hunters are routinely shown to be incompetent, outright useless, or simply not present, is baffling to me. Particularly, the insistence on hyping up the demon slayer [i]characters[/i], who have, without fail, had the most obnoxious personalities (Victoria in this game is a borderline thug who routinely complains about deviating from the mission for any reason when she's not busy holding anybody who breathes at swordpoint, and Elias in AF2 is a whiny little pisspot who does nothing but sulk and complain about everybody's life choices, especially if said life choices include fighting for one's self) perplexes me, because surely the devs recognize that these characters are edgy morons who suck, right? Like, I'm not genuinely expected to think they're anything but a drain on my patience, am I? I'm not going to list everything that annoyed me, because I'd be here all night. These are just a handful of the things that ended up making me think that this game had too many rough edges, compared to its relatively more polished sequel. It's a shame, because I enjoyed the second game, even if Elias can kindly fall off a cliff for what he's worth. I was hoping that the first had the same measure of charm to it, but it just... doesn't capture me the same way.

this is a super fun fantasy visual novels for all enjoyers of the genre. it's witty, thoughtful, and just like any good fantasy, comments on and parallels our real world. for anyone who wants them, here are my pros and cons. pros: - the character arcs are great. it's so interesting to see them grow as people, and it's a lot more rewarding that we get the choice to influence their pathways and their choices, just as real people influence each other. - it has the perfect amount of choices for a visual novel. you can actually establish a personality, opinions, and relationships. - the story is super fun and entertaining, and though stuff like magic and alchemy are common in fantasy stories, it doesn't feel overused or like something that's already been done - the voice acting!! i love it cons: - i don't really have anything overtly negative to say about the game, but i will say that if you want a visual novel with more detailed romance, this isn't it. the romances are cute, but very superficial and are not really any different from your relationships with any other characters in the game. if you want a game with more romance, i'd suggest the following: a date with death, obscura, scarlet hollow, andromeda six, and i was a teenage exocolonist. overall, this is a super fun playthrough, and due to how many choices you get to influence so many different aspects of the game, it definitely has a great replay value.

Вже давненько пройшла цю гру. Довго збиралася з думками й за цей час навіть встигла пройти другу частину. Не буду багато писати чи детально розповідати про сюжет і механіки. Якщо ця гра вже є у вашому списку бажаного або ви випадково натрапили на неї, і при цьому любите візуальні новели — це саме те, що вам потрібно. У ній прекрасно все: від самого сюжету й до візуалу. Тож навіть не вагайтеся - купуйте. Така ж думка в мене і про другу частину.

We need Chinese!! 一直很想玩这款游戏，具体时间已经记不清了，但我记得是在日文本地化推出前就在关注了…结果等到二代推出也没等到中文……

Arcadia Fallen is a fantasy VN with some light puzzle mechanics. Great characters, funny, cute, endering, but still well written and engrossing storyline and with nice artwork. The music is only passable, but that's a minor gripe as a whole. Your choices also effect the story and your compainions fate, that's always nice and I feal I got probably as an ideal ending for everyone that the story allowed. Will definitly check out the recently released sequel even if it's an entirely new story, I would like to see more of my alchemist and her band of merry heroic misfits, but a entirely new story in the same world works too. Excellent debut title from this dev.

This is a nice little 7/10 game. There's nothing here that's incredible or revolutionary, but there's also nothing that falls completely flat either. If you like the demo, you'll like the full game. Just make sure to save in the demo before you leave the mines, so that you'll have a save ready for the full game.

Pleasant but inessential. The story and characters are simple, the length is on the shorter side at about five and a half hours, but the tone and the worldbuilding kept me engaged throughout, and I came away glad I spent the time with it. A soft recommend if you can grab it on sale. This is for the kind of person looking for something low-key, even cozy, more interested in spending time with a colourful (if shallow) cast and poking around the edges of a magical world than in being gripped by anything especially deep. If you're after characters you can genuinely care about on an emotional level, or a world you can actually get lost in, it's going to feel thin. The whole thing is small in scope, and you need to come in with that expectation already in place or you're going to be disappointed. The cast is built on cleanly drawn personality differences. You've got Victoria, the knight, who holds fiercely to the rule of law. Michael, the outcast, who stands opposed to that same law. Ann, the student mage, who resents the non-magical and dreams of teaching at the academy. Kaidan, the stranger from a faraway culture that the game itself doesn't fully explore. Each one has room to grow against their initial type depending on how you interact with them, but most of them don't reveal much below the surface. The two that worked best for me were Michael and Kaidan, mostly because their very nature pulls in the broader worldbuilding. The whole thing takes place in a small town, and those two characters keep gesturing toward something bigger and stranger sitting just outside the frame, which is tantalizing, and also a little frustrating because the game never quite lets you get there. The core narrative isn't exactly low stakes, but the cast helps keep it fairly light. The ending felt abrupt to me, and I think that mostly comes down to one specific design choice. The alchemy puzzles (which are pretty simplistic) had been used throughout the game to give weight to the more narratively charged moments by making you perform something instead of just reading text. The climax doesn't have one. I don't know why that decision was made, but it stands out in a way that takes some of the air out of the ending. The dialogue tone system is a fun roleplay device, and even if it's hard to tell how much it actually changes anything mechanically, the agency it gives you over your character's voice makes the conversations more enjoyable than they'd be otherwise. The romance, at least on Michael's route, is shallow, quick paced and doesn't really feel earned. I think that's the nature of the game and its scope. There are some cute lines, but anyone going in expecting a meaningful relationship arc isn't going to find one. Ultimately it's a fine but shallow visual novel. With the right expectations I imagine most going into this will come out enjoying it, but it lacks anything that demands you experience it. What I will say in its favour is that it really made me want to check out its sequel. They laid a lot of interesting groundwork and I'm keen to explore this world further.

I am not even halfway through but already super addicted! Everything is super polished, I highly recommend this game. The opening scene music was extremely cheesy but the animation was impressive. I guess it set a good tone for what they were trying to achieve. It's a great game overall! Going to finish this one and then buy and play the sequel.

As someone who played the second game first, I was pretty curious to see how the first game compared. I do think both games have abrupt endings, but they more than earn the emotional climaxes they set up. The worldbuilding, art, and music that I liked in the second game is just as strong here, and so are the characters. Beyond just having interesting backstories or serving as loredumps, you actually feel like you want to get to know these people. You feel bad when they do, and you're happy when they succeed. The foundations that Arcadia Fallen built were strong, and I really appreciated seeing the strengths of this game return in its sequel. I can't wait to see what the developers cook up next!

So very underrated, it is a fantastic story and choice based game that deserves way more popularity, being almost fully voice acted with amazing art and an engaging story with little to no flaws; I have already bought and WILL be playing the sequel. Please more people need to support these devs