Arcadian Atlas is a Wonderful Tactical RPG

I’ve been trying to get into this game for a while. There have been a lot of starts and stops, but I wanted to finish it. I like this Tactical Role-Playing Game (TRPG) style because it feels like you’re playing a tabletop RPG.

Arcadian Atlas, a game that could’ve easily competed with the likes of Vandal Hearts, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Tactics Ogre in the late 1990s, stands out for its unique gameplay and captivating story. Comparing it to Vandal Hearts, I found both games to have compelling narratives and distinct gameplay, each with its own visual charm.

It is a visually stunning TRPG with gameplay that keeps you hooked. The story, while fascinating, could use some improvement. Despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game and appreciate the effort put into creating such an engaging experience.

TLDR: It is a very good Tactical RPG but has issues with Gameplay and Plot.

Narrative

It does this annoying thing where we get the state of things and then flash back two years to see how it all started. What caused all of this was a plot to poison the King. Venezia allegedly wanted to kill the king so she could rule and sideline the legitimate heirs. It isn’t a complex story at first, but it is familiar enough for a twist ending.

As the plot thickens, we discover that the situation is more intricate than we initially thought. The involvement of a feared general, Wulff or Beowulff, in the plot to assassinate the king, adds a layer of complexity to the narrative. I’m eagerly awaiting the revelations that will unfold.

One thing that was odd to me was that the king has two heirs. In this world, it doesn’t seem to matter what the gender of an heir is. The Queen declared the two princesses, Lucretia and Annalise, illegitimate. I’m not sure how she did this unilaterally, but I guess it was the law.

As the war grinds on, the Queen stops trusting people. She turns on Desmond despite Wulff defending him. It is interesting to see this happen.

There are other kingdoms in this world, but they don’t play much of a role early on. You do visit those countries, but they don’t take an active role initially.

Our heroes are on opposite sides of a war. The cutscenes teach us more about Vashti and Desmond’s relationship. This is a heartwarming part of this story and a welcome reprieve from the darker tone of the game.

Vashti is fighting for Princess Lucretia, and Desmond is fighting for Venezia. There is also the character Eda. She has a secret that has marked her for death. She goes to great lengths to protect her family and others. The Queen destroys her village, driving her further to Princess Lucretia.

Princess Annalise is a strange part of this story. She goes into exile along with a mage named Fenner. The two of them start experimenting with magic, and it will be interesting to see how this plays into the plot in the future.

Everyone in this game sucks. The only good people seem to be Desmond, Vashti, Annalise, Fennic, and Eda. I’m not even sure how good they are. In some ways, it does reflect how way changes people, but it paints a bleak world for the player.

Interestingly, magic and mages have been outlawed in this world. However, the military employs magic and mages. I find contradictions like this to be extremely interesting. You hear about this early on when you’re bringing the younger princess into exile for some reason.

The Atlas appears to be a magic card game using tarot cards. These cards are connected to each of our main characters. Annalise and Fennic are messing with it. It allegedly has the power to change the world. However, it is incomplete, as one of the cards goes missing early on in the game.

Shit goes sideways when Fennic gets killed. Annalise kills the Queen, wounds Wulff, and sends Desmond and Vashti running. It is a crazy twist where Annalise loses it and uses her powers to get revenge on everyone. Annalise starts using the Atlas to summon monsters into the world.

The things created by the Atlas, or the people who have magic, are drawn to Desmond for reasons. They seem to be chasing Lucretia, Eda, and or Annalise. Things changed a lot. Now you’re fighting against Eda and Lucretia, who are gathering the Atlas. Annalise is cursed and wanders around with Fennic’s corpse. Things have gotten weird.

Wulff is still alive, Lucretia is the Queen, and Eda is trying to hunt down Wulff and these monsters so Lucretia can have the cards to the Atlas. Monsters are everywhere, and our heroes are outlaws, I think. It is an interesting setup, but It seems like we went on a long, confusing path to get here.

It is revealed that all of the main characters are involved with the Atlas. We find this out after Wulff is executed and Eda rejoins your party. Lucretia is a bad person. She has done a lot of terrible things in a quest for power. It seems like everything is coming to a head at the capital city, where I hope things get explained.

Annalise is the final boss. She brings Fennic back to life, revives Wulff, and brings another giant monster to fight. You have allies in this fight, but they don’t do much.

The game just ends. I can’t call it a happy ending; it is just an ending. You don’t get closure on what happens to Eda, Lucretia, or Annalise. I wouldn’t say I like it that much. We close out with Vashti and Desmond living by the sea. Desmond has gone blind and is going to die. Vashti reads him a story as he passes away.

I like the story overall, but that ending is a gut punch. So many things are left unanswered, and the two people I wanted to see happy don’t end on a happy note. You can argue that they spent their final moments together, but I would’ve liked it more if the game ended happily. I hope there is a sequel.

Edit: There is a post-credit sequence. It picks up a year after the events of the game. A revolt has happened as Lucretia is no longer in power. She kills Annalise and then commits suicide. Eda lives in her village, Vashti has a child, and their magic raccoon man is still alive. So, it does end happily.

Gameplay

I like the gameplay a lot. Arcadian Atlas reminds me of Tactics Ogre in terms of story. There aren’t as many classes in the game, which means the combat isn’t as deep. For an indie game, it is excellent, and I would love to see what the developers could do with more time and money.

During the game, you alternate between Desmond and Vashti. This lets you see the story from two different perspectives. You can also customize your units in various ways.

In battle, the standard action menu pops up. You can move, attack, and defend. It doesn’t look like you fight a lot of units at once, but this is okay. It does ramp up as the game goes on.

Units:

• Apothecary
• Cavalier
• Ranger
• Warmancer

Each class has a specialty, which is a nice way to add more classes. I like how the developers did this, as you can customize your party to your specifications. When you recruit new units, they are the same, or close to, the same level as your main characters. This is awesome!

However, characters don’t gain experience unless they’re in battle. Be careful not to recruit too many soldiers or dismiss lower-level units so you can have a stronger team. This is an element of the game that I like a lot.

You can promote your characters and customize them through a skill tree. This seems to become available around level 18. Here is a list of the promotions:

• Ronin (Promoted from Cavalier)
• Inquisitor (Promoted from Cavalier)
• Monk (Promoted from Apothecary)
• Shaman (Promoted from Apothecary)
• Sorcerer (Promoted from Warmancer)
• Druid (Promoted from Warmancer)
• Hunter (Promoted from Ranger)
• Reaver (Promoted from Ranger)

Two things happen when you promote a character. Their skill set changes, but they keep the skills from the previous class. You just need to work the character through a new skill tree as they level up. They also unequip all their equipment, some of which are incompatible with the new class. So, remember to get new weapons.

There might be two more classes that you can get promoted to. I have no idea what they are, but they might show up later.

There are monsters in the game. They look cool. In some cases, they look like creatures from other games, which I don’t have a problem with.

There are some dialogue options in the game. It’s great, and I like how that is done. You can also accept contracts in towns. These are usually battles.

There is perma death in the game. If a character dies, you have three turns to save them. Once those three turns end, the character is lost. This reminds me of some of the other TRPGs from the 1990s.

When you recruit a new character, they come in at the same level as your main character or one level below them. This helps out a lot when you run into an issue of having too many weak characters in reserve. It is a little frustrating at times.

You’re limited to 5 party members on average. This limits the number of soldiers you’re going to need. There is also no way to train your troops, so you have to have them in battles to gain experience. This led to several moments where I had to dismiss soldiers and recruit a new one.

Most of the missions play out in a similar fashion. You need to kill all the enemies. However, some missions require protecting a key character, killing a particular enemy, or dealing with a special condition.

There are no items in the game. This means you’re reliant on the healers to keep your units alive. This also means you don’t have items to revive your characters or replenish your skill points. Battles don’t go on too long, but having items in the game would’ve been nice.

Overall, I think the gameplay is pretty good. However, you have a very narrow margin for error on these missions. It feels like everything will fall apart at any minute if you pick the wrong party or enemy to attack first or if you don’t eliminate a unit fast enough. While the battles are small, things can go catastrophically wrong for you in a hurry.

Visuals

This is a beautiful game. I love the pixel art, the animations on the sprites, and the spells. It is one of the most beautiful retro-inspired games I’ve seen.

You can’t move the camera—at least, I haven’t found a way to. This creates a problem when something like a building or a tree is in the way. The developers tried to make obstacles transparent, but I don’t think it was done well. I would’ve liked to change the angle with the L and R buttons.

The developers conveyed a lot of emotion through the character sprites. This was harder to do in the 1990s, but it’s easier here. It adds to how gorgeous this game is. If you like looking at pixel graphics, this is the game for you.

Overall, I think the graphics and the music are very good. I really like how the game looks. It looks like a very good PS1 game—in a good way! It reminds me of Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre.

8/10. Arcadian Atlas has a lot going for it. The graphics are beautiful, the gameplay is good, and, for the most part, I like the story. Some odd things hold this game back. The battles felt like you either dominated the enemy or got crushed.

Pros

• Great Graphics
• Good Story
• Decent Gameplay

Cons

• Small and Short battles
• No items
• No way to train troops
• Visibility issues

Conclusion

I liked most of this game. Arcadian Atlas has some great things in it, but there are some things that are odd or don’t quite work for me. I liked the story for the most part; the gameplay was a little hit-and-miss, and it felt smaller than it was.

You can only use an average of five soldiers in your party; the maps feel smaller than they are, and there are some issues with visibility during battles. Character motivations also change on a dime. Some things that sound like they would matter don’t get brought up again. I like the game, but there are some strange things that don’t make too much sense at times.

Arcadian Atlas is a game that I think deserves a sequel. There are a lot of questions that don’t get answered. One thing I kept forgetting to do was to read the rumors at the tavern. They fill in the gaps in the story, but if you don’t remember they exist, you’re going to miss things.

I like this game. It looks great, has decent gameplay, and, despite its flaws, has a good story. I would recommend it to someone looking for a Tactical RPG like Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre, or Saiyuki: The Journey West.