Arcadian Days

I initially stumbled upon a reddit post from the solo dev of this game asking for advice regarding his low wishlist-to-sale conversion rate after releasing his early access version, and thought the game looked interesting. Based on the advice of folks in that thread, he lowered the price, and it sounded like a good deal to me, so I figured it couldn't hurt to support the dev. I'm no stranger to early access releases, so I was prepared for a few bugs and potentially being sparse on content, but even so, unfortunately I Cannot recommend this game in the state it's currently in. The environments are fairly pretty, but I feel Making it pretty has taken priority over making it Work, and certain things that I would consider important foundations to build off of have been left as after thoughts instead. The menus are fairly minimalist, and the controls for them are a bit all over the place. You move around with WASD, but as soon as you speak with Papa or Mama, you have to use the directional buttons to select other options. You can't use the mouse or WASD to navigate these options, so you have to swap the hand for one of those over to choose what to say. There also isn't a way to back out of a conversation once started. Tab opens your inventory, but I have No idea how to switch which item In your inventory is highlighted. Maybe that's a skill issue, but, I couldn't figure it out. If you hit ESC to pause the game, you have to use the mouse to select Continue, or the P key to unpause. Generally, one would expect to be able to unpause with the same key used to pause (P can also be used to pause, but. Escape should Always be able to exit menus IMO. It's in the name). The settings menu is not accessible while In game, you have to exit back to the main menu if you want to make any adjustments. I didn't personally have any issues with running the game at max settings, but your milage may vary, dependign on your rig, and it seems it would be quite annoying to find what settings work best for you when you have to fully go back to the main menu rather than adjusting in game. As far as gameplay goes, I started to have issues basically as soon as I loaded in. Nothing major, but right near the start, there are a few patches of grass that have collision which I really don't see a reason for, a theme throughout the rest of my playthrough. Just a bit further in, after some properly placed fencing, there is other fencing of the same type that hovers a couple feet away from where it clearly should've been interlaced with the next posts over. This is the Starting area of the game, a place you'd expect to have the most playtesting and thought put in to it, so even if these admittedly minor issues aren't That big of a deal, it didn't start me off with a great impression for the rest of the game. In the next area that I imagine will become the main hub for the rest of the game, in the house, you're left to roam a bit more freely, and very quickly continued to encounter collision issues, such as walking over rocks that left me floating several feet above the ground instead of down their slope. It's a decently sized area to run around in over all, and has invisible walls on most sides to keep you in, but I did manage to find a gap in the walls and run off the edge of the map. That one's kinda my fault, I knew what I was doing there, but I was curious if there was any sort of failsafe in case you fell below the map. There isn't, you just keep falling forever until you reload. Speaking of loading saves, there is only one save file, so every time you save, you're locked in. This became an issue for me, as I had a major gamebreaking glitch about 50 minutes in. I just returned from.. "Ult Planes"? Something like that? I was back in the house, next to Mama. She clearly implied the intended next move was to go to sleep. I remember when I First got to the house I had a bed that upon interacting with had said "I just woke up, I'm not tired" or something like that, but. The whole bed was missing, and there was no interactive option where it should've been, or on the Other bed (Which I assume must be Mama and Papa's, but it hardly seems big enough for two people. But I digress). Also, I could see Mama still standing outside by the garden in Addition to sitting in the bedroom. Same deal with papa, you could literally see him sitting by his desk And outside at the same time. I ran around for a bit (Unable to leave the house, as there was an invisible wall on the porch), reloaded the save I had unfortunately already made Right there, closed and opened the game, but it seemed the only way to progress would be to start a new save. Also, There was a dog in the opening scene, but I haven't seen him since. Bit strange that. I had initially planned to put in a Few hours before leaving a review, but, frankly, I think I've seen enough to make my decision here. The dev Does seem genuinely passionate about the game and I Wanted to be able to recommend it, but I just don't feel that, even as an Early Access title, it was ready for the public. I'm not refunding, I look forward to see where this game goes, and think it might become a fun and relaxing experience Eventually, but there are just too many problems with it as is that make it frustrating instead.

Arcadia is a sparsely populated, mountainous region located in the central part of the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece. It is known for its rural landscapes and pastoral scenery. As such, the term “Aracadian” has come to be used poetically to refer to unspoiled landscapes and living in harmony with nature. This perfectly describes the world you step into when you begin Arcadian Days. This game is a peaceful experience that centers on a family living on a small farm surrounded by beautiful countryside. You control a child who lives with his mother and father, assisting with chores, and exploring the area. The environment is quite detailed, and you have the sense of stepping back into a different time and place… a time where life was simpler and revolved around hard work and self-sufficiency. You will also have a peek at a rural culture that feels eastern-European and is crafted in loving detail. Arcadian Days is in early-access and the developer is actively engaged in expanding and improving the content and the performance. I’ve seen a noticeable difference in just the last few weeks. Currently, the game world is very large with limited things to do. Prepare to do a lot of traversing across large (albeit beautiful) spaces as you search for task items. Although the landscape is broken into several ‘maps,’ it is still easy to feel a bit lost as you cover so much ground (over hills, through the woods, down a path). The game can be manually saved to a single slot by finding a statue and interacting with it. There were enough statues scattered about that this was not a hardship. Steam achievements are not supported at this time. There are still some kinks to work out such as dialog trees that do not change when errands are complete and some invisible walls that can be disconcerting. For now, the biggest shortcoming is that it will take some time to flesh out the content to keep the player exploring with purpose. I would recommend this game if you enjoy quiet adventures and don’t mind the early access process. I think Arcadian Days has potential, and, at this time, the developer seems to be committed to moving the game forward. [quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]Follow [b]IndieGems[/b] if you enjoyed this review and want to see more like it.[/url][/quote]

Pretty good idea of a game...but; The game isn't optimised at all, running at 20-30 fps on Ultra on a 4060 Ti but guess what, on Medium I had the same results. To be honest the gameplay trailer looks so much better than what I've seen in-game, where I don't have falling leaves or fog, or the crystal water I saw. It's just unplayable at this point. Played some 20 minutes and didn't have the patience to do it anymore. The first quest I did is go and get tomato seeds for Mama's garden, which I did, planted the seeds, and Mama has the same dialogue options so I am assuming I did not complete it, just moved on from there as I couldn't find a fix. Also, I found that there is no sound over the dialogue like in the trailer so all the conversations were like in a mute film. Maybe that's why I didn't hear any environment or fauna sounds either, just that classical music that has nothing to do with the theme of romanian countryside. Oh and the names for stuff? Miela? Tola? Bucaz? Ult and whatnot. Was better off using real names of people and places. And why the backpack? All I did is point and press E, didn't really found a use for it, you just go in and read a description about the item and that's that. Another thing I found annoying is the fact that when you want to look closer at an object, it just blurs and focuses on something else. You need to focus your sight elsewhere to sharpen the object that you want to look at closer. No offence to the dev and team that put this together, I think they did a great job up to this point but this game is far from being in early access. I will ask for a refund and maybe come back another day if things do change. Keep up the good work man.

Very cozy, beautiful looking game. Makes you want to visit Romania. Unfortunately, it used to work with UEVR but then they updated to Unreal Engine 5.7 and now it just crashes when using UEVR.

Games set in Romania are quite rare. From those that exist, very few concentrate on anything other than Dracula. Having said that, Arcadian Days comes with a new idea, and although implementation is still in its infancy, I can't help but express my happiness for the way things are presented in this game. From the get-go, you will understand that although we're talking about Romania, the setting within this title is a fictional one. This means that although it looks and feels like the Romanian landscape, we're actually sitting in Bucuria. This game's strong points are tied to the wonderful landscapes it portrays. The music completes the overall chill atmosphere. All aesthetical aspects fall into place exactly where they should. How do I know? I've traveled through Romania far and wide. That's how. I know my fellow countrymen will criticize that some representations are not true to their original counterparts, but didn't we say we were in a fictionalized version of Romania? Was GTA III's Liberty City a 100% accurate representation? I think not. Jumping from the overall feeling and look of the game, which, as I previously said, are on point, the downside at the moment for this title has to do with optimization. Now, when it comes to this, patience is a virtue. The game is in Early Access, and there is only one guy trying to fix everything, at least from what I understand. I am sure things will get better. Long story short, I highly encourage everybody touched by this game's atmosphere to visit Romania. Only then can you understand how on point this whole game experience is. For my fellow conationals, I think we should at least once in our life support a project that puts our country in a positive spotlight, instead of complaining about this and that. In hindsight, I don't regret any of the 5 or 6 hours spent in this game and am confident the hour count will rise in my case. The bottom line is Arcadian Days is an unpolished gem in the process of being polished. I recommend this game to anybody out there who wants to understand more about Romanian culture, but also to those who know what's up and simply want to reexperience something they once felt. Kudos to the developer for the effort put in promoting his roots!

Pros: I accidentally stumbled upon this game in beta and I was like 'Wait, what?!?'. After 20 years living abroad, it brought tears to my eyes. The setting is my childhood. The mountains, the forest, houses, crops, fences, clothing, even some words are from my beloved Romania from 40-45 years ago. I met my grandparents and my dog (without faces because symbolism, I suppose), I ran to the hills and I admired again the sunset and it felt amazing. It's calm and chill and all about the discovery and emotions. Not for all the dopamine addicts clicking heads nowadays, that's for sure, but an amazing atmosphere game. If you are over 40 and from Eastern Europe and living abroad, you will love this. I hope it gets some love, because the dev(s) did a very good job with it. Cons: The game needs more optimization, you have to set everything on low to make it playable, which is a shame, because it would look so beautiful in Ultra. You can not change anything on the fly and it doesn't have autosave, so you need find a savepoint, save, logout, change settings and log back in. I really hope it grows, there's so much potential. Don't refund, game is like 10-15 bucks, help this dev improve the game. Edit 1: After a month of hard work, the optimization is complete and now the game runs very smoothly, even on ultra! Controller option is in, options on pause are available and a lot of quality of life improvementshave been added. I cant wait to see where this is going next.

The game is obviously early release. It has a lot of potential. It's an exploring game, so nobody will hold your hand, you kind of have to figure it out by yourself. In a way, it's like you really are a child exploring the hills and surroundings. It's very peaceful and some people might find it 'boring', but this is the genre of the game. It's pretty authentic, in my opinion. It does lag at times at max settings, but playable. I have only played 45 minutes, but I will come back once I have experienced more. Tldr: beautiful game, authentic, exploring game, slow pace -- has lots of potential but still in early release phase. <3

Niewielka, całkiem przyjemna gra do zrelaksowania się. Jesteśmy sobie małym dzieckiem, które pomaga rodzicom w różnych pracach domowych, przeważnie musimy coś znaleźć lub przynieść. Grafika jest super, atmosfera - sielankowa. Gra jest ciągle w fazie rozwoju więc z czasem będzie pojawiać się więcej zadań do wykonania i miejsc do zwiedzenia.

Music on loop that can't be turn off...crap walkabout

I like this game. It's very slow and very peaceful. It's a good contrast for when I want something that isn't going to blast me with dopamine. What I would maybe like a bit more in later editions would be to be able to build or something. and maybe crops have some use like hunger idk. but it's great for early access and this is insanely good for a solo dev project. I've only played a bit so far so I'm looking forwards to playing longer when I have the time.