Arcanbreak

It's a strange feeling, being first to review a Steam title. Arcanbreak is a fantastical thriller and adventure game about abuse of power. It's a short adventure that'll take about 1-2 hours of your time to fully complete. PROS: [list] [*]The atmosphere is dreary. The dark lighting and ominous music provokes the sense that something dark is brewing in town, and that's one motivator to keep on the case. [*]The character designs are nice enough. There's a Kingdom Hearts meets Bloodborne aesthetic here, which I'm all for. [spoiler]Comrade Alexandria is a hardened fighter.[/spoiler] Little movements, like the way characters will bob their heads around every here and then as a lookout, are nice touches. The banter takes a dark, but quirky approach, and it's nice to read. Arun and Quila make neat protagonists. [*]Descriptions are brief and easy to understand. This game's tasks are to fantastical investigation what Among Us's duties are to a technician's job: short and satisfying to pull off. It's not Umineko, but it doesn't need to be. [*]The game loads quickly, despite its size. [/list] NEUTRAL [list] [*]When the game shows, it shows nicely. But it can sometimes -tell you- something interesting is happening instead of displaying it, which may or may not work. [*]The overall graphics are fine. Nothing to write home about. [*]Could benefit from one or two more save files, and some graphics optimization. The ~2gb file size won't kill most computers, but is hard to justify. [*]The game has a loooot of lore, particularly about the local legends and the faith structures. It's nice to see represented in-universe when you do. [/list] CONS: [list] [*]U.I. can be somewhat frustrating. Navigating to inspect an object vs. activating it takes a hover that may sometimes shift off. The controls require you to press F1, which you can miss in the introduction if you blink. [*]The writing suffers plot holes. [spoiler]The game, at one point, requires the synthesis of a highly noxious compound. He dunks on himself with it. I refuse to believe a High Inquisitor would read an alchemical formula, see 'NOXIOUS COMPOUND, WEAR A FACEMASK IDIOT,' then proceed to -not- do that before Cosby'ing himself. There are a few moments like this in Arcanbreak, and they can take you out of the plot.[/spoiler] [*]On the ending: [spoiler]You aren't really protagonists. A job title like 'Inquisitor' might well imply that. However, the game's structure doesn't benefit the lore it sets up, and you may feel that it's moved *too* fast for its plot threads to conclude in a satisfying manner. Characters come and go. Worldbuilding is introduced and broken down before (or after) we get to see why it'd matter. We don't know enough about our Inquisitor duties, or Alexandria's pro-magic faction, to really support a side. It's confusing, and if I had to describe it, it'd be a parallel to Star Wars: Rogue One if it were actually released before A New Hope. You get a big important task for a huge world, but instead of concluding a story audiences already know, it presents a plot that remains to be seen. The way it's presented suggests there's multiple directions the plot could go, though I'd argue this should be expanded - even if there's a clear ending[/spoiler] [*]There's some minor tonal dissonance in sprites used. Some characters would benefit from some variances in expression; [spoiler]I'm not sure I'd have a smug face after getting clonked by magic.[/spoiler] [/list] OVERALL: Arcanbreak's positives often contend with its flaws. I don't know if I would pay more than the current sale price for it (5.39). It's a fun romp, but will leave you wanting. I'll keep an eye on what this dev's working on in the future, since it seems the main writer has a team and a thread set up for Aura.

[h1][i]An ~1h long prologue to a promising upcoming game set in a fantasy world influenced by magic powers.[/i][/h1] [h1]Setting:[/h1] [b][i]Arun and Quila are two inquisitors on errand involving murder investigation. This is a prologue to the actual game which purpose is to introduce us to game's setting and premise while getting the hang of Arcanbreak's mechanics.[/i][/b] [h1]Featurings:[/h1] The point & click gameplay involves switching characters competent in different skills while exploring the location. The design reminds of RPG maker games and is presented in pleasant to the eyes pixel graphics. While examining the area you can interact with objects and craft potions as well as get clues about the mystery that is hidden behind the slaughter. A voiced introduction and written dialogues are included creating a story rich little game. [h1]Personal considerations:[/h1] I really enjoyed the graphic part of this prologue and am looking forward to experience the world of the upcoming game. It is nice that this game provides the possibility of collecting pieces of the background story and the performance of magic's technique - the stated points managed to set up a more enjoyable type of gameplay than it would've been with the possibility of simply collecting and using various objects without combining them. [h1]Overall:[/h1] Recommended to public enjoying detective story based games. Not recommended if you are looking for a more than 1h long gameplay. [code]To find out and discover interesting VNs, indie games and more navigate through my Curator Page! 🩷 [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44707415-Gyepi-Types/][b]Gyepi Types[/b][/url] 🩷[/code]

[i]Arcanbreak[/i] is a point-and-click mystery game developed and published by Kisuarts. You take on the roles of two inquisitors: Arun (who specializes in herbalism and investigating dead bodies) and Quila (who specializes in lockpicking and getting through tight spaces). Basically, Arun is an alchemist type while Quila is more of a thief type. Arun and Quila have been tasked with investigating the murder of a guard, as the guard was following a suspicious person who is suspected of using voidstones (which is strictly prohibited). Their investigation leads them to finding out more about the murderer as well as a more underhanded plot that might just put the whole city in jeopardy. I'll end my story synopsis here to avoid spoilers and all that. As for the gameplay, [i]Arcanbreak[/i] is a point-and-click game, so you can play either as Arun or Quila. Since they have their own special set of skills, sometimes it's better to play as one or the other. You can switch between the two characters by clicking on their respective picture on the bottom right of the screen. Clicking on objects will lead you to learn more about them. While some simply provide lore about the world, others are useful for completing certain missions. For example, as Arun is an alchemist, he can craft certain potions. (Yes, there is a mini crafting system.) There are Steam achievements although at the time of this review, the achievements won't count towards a user's global total since the game is in "profile features limited." Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll get to my critique. [i]Arcanbreak[/i] caught my interest since I tend to like a good mystery that involves some investigation, and this game definitely has that. The story was intriguing, and it does start off with a bit of narration about the world. (You can skip it, though, if you just want to go straight into the game itself.) I like how there is a bigger plot involved beyond the murder of a guard, and the ending left me surprised. (Of course, I won't reveal what it is for spoiler purposes.) Arun and Quila have very different personalities and skill sets, but they complement each other well. As for the gameplay, the controls felt smooth, and I liked clicking on the items and reading up on the lore and such. Also, I liked the crafting system and following the notes I'd find, I didn't have trouble crafting the necessary items I needed to complete missions. In addition, I didn't have trouble getting all of the Steam achievements although I had to start a new game once since I missed an optional one. I should note, though, that there was no option to play the game in windowed mode, which was slightly annoying. As for the art, I liked the pixel style. It definitely leans more towards old school, but the sprites were well done and nothing appeared blurry. As for the soundtrack, there were just a few tracks, but they fit in well with the whole mystery, dark theme going on. You can sense this occult feeling, and the tracks are pretty much like that. Overall, would I recommend [i]Arcanbreak[/i]? If you like a good point-and-click adventure and enjoy a good mystery with dark elements,then I recommend giving this a try. It is free-to-play (albeit on the short side), so it's worth checking out. It took me about 1.5 hours to get through one playthrough although either you'll need to play through a second time or save at a certain point in the game to get all of the achievements. ^^ [quote]If you found this review helpful/useful, please check out [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44702020/]The Introverted Gamer[/url].[/quote]

[h1]A short and satisfying pilot episode of an adventure game from a developer with much potential[/h1] Arcanbreak is an enjoyable little game that introduces some clever point and click adventure design and teases a much larger world than what we get to play. One full playthrough of Arcanbreak took just over an hour of my afternoon, and I must say that I really wish for more. The developers impressed me with some clever puzzle design that I would love to see implemented in more point and click adventures. The game features two playable characters we can switch between, which is interesting and I’m sure it was a challenge to program, but I feel like it would have been better if characters were switched for us at specific moments in the plot. This is because the characters have different observations on things in the world, which could be really cool and engaging in a bigger, more realized game. Unfortunately, in Arcanbreak it felt like the female character, Quila, didn’t have many detective skills as she was designed for mobility – yet there wasn’t much demand for her talents. Heck, I would have missed out on my favorite moment of the game if I played through one scene of Arcanbreak as Quila instead of the more investigative Arun. My experience playing through Arcanbreak was a smooth one. I am happy to have invested the time into checking out this indie title; it was a fun time learning a bit about this world and experiencing the potential of the game’s developer, Kisuarts. There were lore books scattered throughout the main areas of the game that we could read to learn more about the magiks and mythologies of the world Kisuarts have created. They are working on a sequel game called “For Evelyn” that will continue the story of the world here. Whether For Evelyn is any longer than Arcanbreak is yet to be seen or announced. Arcanbreak is the sort of thing that could be taken as either a pilot entry to a new franchise, or as a self-contained product should For Evelyn not work out. Personally, I’d love to see Kisuarts working on more adventure games in this style, so I’d be very happy if they could pump out a whole series of these. I am absolutely looking forward to seeing what comes next from this team. In summary, Arcanbreak is a short (under two hours long) adventure game set in a fantasy world. There are [b]12 Steam achievements[/b] – all easily unlockable through two separate playthroughs if one pays close attention for collectibles. This review was also posted to my Steam curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/36100002-IndieSamAdonis-Reviews/]IndieSamAdonis Reviews.[/url] Please follow me there it really would help! I was sent a code for Arcanbreak through Curator Connect by the developer.

⌘ delicious pixel art, it's an additional pleasure to consider the environment ⌘ respectful attention to gameplay and lore details ⌘ average tasks and quite an interesting plot ⌘ 1 hour length

Excellent game and way to introduce us to the game world for the dev's other upcoming game. I had some issues with classic point and click 'pixel hunting' but overall, it was worth the price for good story, characters, and voice acting (Intro and outro of the game, at least)

A great and nice fantasy game, waiting for 'For Evelyn'!