Over the last fifty years, we have been in a technology golden era. This statement is easily evident when we look at how rapidly technology especially electronics has evolved. Need a good example? Look at your cell phones or video game systems.
If you were born in the 80s or 90s, you have seen video games go from 2D side-scrolling adventures to 3D worlds that could hold all of the games from prior generations in it.
Despite technology evolving and graphics drastically improving, some gamers would prefer playing games that remind them of when they were younger. This has led some developers to create games to appeal to that demographic. Recent examples of this are Trinity Trigger, Infernax, and Arcadian Atlas.
Now if you aren’t into indie games or niche games, then you might not have heard of these three titles; this is especially true if you didn’t go to PAX East or follow our coverage of the event. If you haven’t, then we recommend checking them out. For this preview we’re covering Arcadian Atlas:
Arcadian Atlas Preview
When it comes to older games, I have a personal preference for strategy games and adventure games. Growing up I played Pokemon, Dragon Quest, Golden Sun, Yugioh: Capsule Monster Coliseum, and Dragon Warrior.
These games all featured turn-based combat and took place in fantasy worlds. The idea of going back to the middle ages seemed like a fun idea. Looking back, it is better to live in this day and age than go through all their chaos, but one can dream.
Arcadian Atlas is a 2D isometric tactical role-playing game currently in development by Twin Otter Studios; Serenity Forge will publish the game when it is closer to launch. Arcadian Atlas was heavily inspired by games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Fantasy Emblem.
The developers of the game want to make players choose between difficult decisions. Do you kill the trickster or do you bring him along with you in the hopes that he is a valuable ally? According to the developers, the game will offer a variety of these decision opportunities and create different paths for the player to experience.
For fans of turn-based strategy games, Arcadian Atlas follows the classic model to a T. As you enter combat, the player is able to choose what units they want to utilize in each battle. Once in combat, you are able to see the turn order allowing you to pick who you focus on and where you want to move your units.
For the demo, we played through two different combat scenarios. The first fight was the group taking on a group of barbarians after a trickster cause some of their allies to die in a magic cave. This fight would cause some of our allies to go down, but thankfully, they did not die permanently.
This fight also gave us two new allies. Once the fight was complete, we were able to head into town. Sadly, this town was more problematic than helpful with the rivaling faction already in the town. Upon hearing that the princess was with your party, they demand she is handed over leading to a fight.
Thoughts
If you are a fan of 2D isometric tactical RPGs, then you should enjoy Arcadian Atlas. The game took a little bit to get used to not because of the combat system, but because we have grown so accustomed to being able to rotate a camera in order to see enemies.
The combat within the game was rather smooth with NPCs not taking forever to make their move. Thankfully, the game’s dialog was not intruding and gave players a good sense of the game’s world. It will be interesting to see how the choices the player makes alter the game’s story once it releases.
After playing through the demo, we look forward to when Twin Otter Studios releases the full game. The game was previously scheduled to be released this summer for Windows PC iOS, Mac, and Linux, but the Steam page now says coming soon.
