Arcadian Atlas Reviews
One of the few points of pleasure for me in each battle was the soundtrack. Instead of dramatic horns and violins, Arcadian Atlas’ jazz-infused soundtrack by composer Moritz P.G. Katz is dominated by saxophones and guitars. The standard combat music in particular is so oddly unexpected but catchy, I still found it playing inside my head days later. I wish I could say the rest of my time with the game felt as memorable.
Arcadian Atlas has some amazing character designs and character development. The gameplay can be a little unstable at times, but the story keeps you going with its creativity. With some great side characters like Eda and Poncho on your team and more down the road, nothing is impossible. It's a love letter to older tactical games, and does the genre justice.
There’s nuance in these stories—look to the attempts, successes, and failures of just about any other fantasy RPG—but Arcadian Atlas either doesn’t know that or doesn’t want to admit it in favor of simplistic moralizing. The moment to moment writing falters too, meaning that no matter where you look for growth or substance in the game’s story and characters, you’re bound to smack into walls of derivative tropes and bland archetypes. As much as it wants to resemble the classics, Arcadian Atlas can’t help but feel pared down and simple; in a word, it’s modern, born from a philosophy that subtracts more than it adds before dressing it up to appear otherwise. Yet despite its weaknesses, Arcadian Atlas is easy to pick up and breeze through, ensuring that its brand of tactics-lite gameplay will almost definitely be someone’s gateway into an infinitely more complex and rewarding genre, even if it struggles to conjure those strengths for itself.
Arcadian Atlas is a solid, concise SRPG crafted with a lot of heart.
While there are admirable aspects about Arcadian Atlas on a conceptual level, several usability issues and an imbalanced gameplay experience merely makes it mediocre.
It's probably not good that the most distinctive element of Arcadian Atlas is its jazzy soundtrack, but it's still a decent tactical RPG that provides enough challenge and intrigue to overcome a few missteps. Genre fans will get their money's worth.
Ultimately, Arcadian Atlas is an RPG with an exciting and dramatic story, strategic gameplay, and a fantastic soundtrack; though a lack of polish and quality of life features sometimes breaks the nostalgic illusion.
Arcadian Atlas had some solid concepts, the sprites in particular deserving serious commendation for being a highlight of the game that sprite fans will love. Unfortunately, from there the quality really slips; unreadable text, a lacklustre class and skill system, and disjointed art to name a few of the multiple little issues that drag the game down. there are too many little issues that drag the game down and prevent it being fun. The developers seem responsive and some of these issues may be addressed in future updates, but given that the game is being sold for a mid-range price, players should expect a better package.
Even aside from its technical and artistic weaknesses, there isn't an abundance of strength in its story pacing, even if a few beats do land fairly well. The activity you'll spend most of your time with, the turn-based battles, are pretty good but feature little in the way of variety. If you're a diehard tactics fan, Arcadian Atlas may be worth looking up on another platform if the performance is better there, but games like Triangle Strategy and Tactics Ogre Reborn are much stronger options if you've yet to play them.
Arcadian Atlas is the definition of a fine game. It isn't bad, and it isn't great; it's just perfectly passable. There are some solid moments and a nice hit of nostalgia for PS1-era RPGs, but that's about it. Other spiritual successors like Triangle Strategy and Fell Seal have proven that the genre can do a lot more on a lower budget, and Arcadian Atlas feels dated. If you're a fan of SRPGs, this might be worth a look, but it's mostly forgettable.
This homage to titans of the genre can be beautiful to behold, but it ultimately runs too short and too shallow to match the mightiness of its ancestors.
A pretty approachable modern-ish take on the classic tactical strategy RPGs of yesteryear with some soapy drama
As it stands in its current state, Arcadian Atlas is rather difficult to recommend. Despite its rather serviceable plot and great visuals, the game struggles a lot due to its rather mismatched battle classes, where ranged combat reigns superior to melee. With some quality-of-life improvements in its combat and navigation, this title might get the second chance it deserves.
“Arcadian Atlas” might not be the “Final Fantasy Tactics” inspired game if you’re looking at a gameplay perspective. But the Team at Twin Otters Studios more than delivers on the story and presentation front. An enjoyable, even if “short”, journey.
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Overall I have to say Arcadian Atlas is a pretty good game. The story is interesting, the graphics look great, the OST is one of the best I’ve heard in a long time and the combat is fun. I feel like the lore of the world could’ve been fleshed out a bit better, but this is only a minor gripe. There are a few balancing issues present here as well, but the developer is working on hotfixes that really will address most of what I encountered. Even though this is a quality release, I feel like it’s a bit pricey at $29.99, but when it’s on sale, fans of Strategy titles should pick this one up. While it’s not perfect, there is plenty here to love.
Arcadian Atlas is an example of a strategy game where improper balancing and design choices result in an "only okay" affair.
While it pays homage to tactical RPG classics of the ‘90s, Arcadian Atlas does little that is new.
I really enjoy the story, look, and feel of Arcadian Atlas. While its core gameplay isn’t breaking any new ground, and its UI is poorly designed, it could be a solid choice for those who are nostalgic for the 32-bit era of strategy RPGs. I quickly learned to work around most of my issues with it to the point where they were more minor annoyances than significant issues. Until its significant performance issues are ironed out though, it’s hard to recommend for even the biggest fans of the genre. The game underneath has its strengths, but it’s certainly not good enough to be worth putting up with them.
Fans of tactical turn-based RPGs will find familiarity with how the game plays through the customization of job classes and equipment loadouts. Its simplicity of gameplay and pacing of events through themes of treason and overcoming adversity emboldens the medieval story Arcadian Atlas tells.
Arcadian Atlas is an inoffensive SRPG that has some fun mechanics, giving a pared-down iteration of its contemporaries.