Arcadian Atlas - Does it Deserve the Harsh Reviews

Arcadian Atlas has received mixed reviews since its release on Steam, but I thinks its still a good game if an imperfect one. In this video, I'll go over the myriad issues the game has, but then explain why I think its still a good game at its core.
Chapters:
0:00 What is Arcadian Atlas
0:44 Story Overview
1:18 Gameplay Overview
2:13 Why the Bad Reviews
5:09 Other Issues Not Mentioned in Most Reviews
7:24 How is It Still a Good Game
8:13 A Unique Story
9:25 Immersive Art
10:09 An Odd but Unique Music Style
11:38 Didn't Finish It!?
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[@sinisterdesign]

Huh. I definitely wasn't expecting to find out that this game has a smooth jazz soundtrack! Interesting choice they made there. I hope they can address the save file corruption issue soon.

[@89Games]

Yeah, I still think it was kind of a random fluke, but then again, based on steam achievements, I don't think many players got to where this happened to me so who knows.

[@89Games]

The soundtrack is pretty sweet though

[@rodmileski]

Unfortunately, there is a thread in steam that clearly shows that some of the "art" was actually traced over Tactics Ogre original work. In sum, the game isnt the worst, but is not the best it could be. The interactions with the devs also became a nuisance to the "community". The game as an whole experience (devs, ripoff, community) is bad. Shame, it had some potential.

[@feeamerie5011]

It’s a shame this has such fundamental issues - it looked like this could have a been a real hidden gem. I may get it on steam and see if it gets modded maybe?

[@89Games]

I was actually contacted by the developer after they saw this video. They are doing a post-mortem on the game to learn what they can from the project. So hopefully they'll take that and make something even better in the future.

[@FLIK510]

Save early, save often

[@89Games]

Yes indeed lol

[@OlDirtyLion]

I give the game a 7/10, the mechanics are darn near FFT/TOgre, only major marking is that the game is unfortunately short, along with a small soundtrack, ((which is really great btw)). If they added more side quests, and maybe a little more story, with some secret quests on the side ((like FFT's Deep Dungeoun quests)), this would be a solid game, but at the end of the day, this IS a nice a little love letter to FFT specifically. ((Not FFTA or A²)).

[@horaceturd5010]

I actually found this gayme to be really solid, very much in line with FF Tactics...music wasn't exceptional, plot was okay, but the gameplay was challenging and pretty deep.

[@flushfire]

"Does it Deserve the Harsh Reviews" Yes. Yes it does.

[@89Games]

Just a shame though, cause I think with a little more work and polish this could've been a lot better.

[@Cayden.1]

why does it deserve harsh reviews

[@flushfire]

​@@Cayden.1 It was a 2016 kickstarter that had a 2018 release date. During the delay the devs were not very good at communicating, rarely updated, but very active in social media posting about other games they're playing, or overseas trips. You can imagine the frustration of the backers at this. Initially criticism was silenced, users were getting banned, and the "face" of the devs even brought gender into the discussion. They went into social media to ask for positive reviews, and I would not be surprised if many of the positive media coverage the game got isn't because the game itself is good. I mean just take this video as an example, what are the positives mentioned? Good story, good art, good music. You'd think the game being talked about was a visual novel. And it's not like it's even factual, they're all subjective and many criticized the music. And he says none of the issues really mattered, but then mentioned in the end that he was hit with a save corruption that prevented him from finishing the game. Come on.

[@robotpanda77]

The story just looks lame to me. Some girl holding her hand up to everyone and fighting queens.

[@89Games]

It starts that way, but grows in complexity and even takes a dark turn. It is an indie though so it definitely isn't top tier, but as a shorter $20 dollar experience it isn't bad. I'm more interested to see if the devs can build on this and make a stronger game that will appeal to more players.

[@CarloGoiff666]

9:54 - I guess you never played final fantasy tactics because this game looks just like a ripoff of that classic game considered the best turn base tactics game of all time.

[@89Games]

I have, and I do realize that it is a derivative work for sure, but so many tactics games are due to how well done the games they emulate (FFT in this case). My comments and thoughts are meant to give credit where due as not all tactics games do all the things this one did while at the same time many of them do much more. All that said, it would be nice to see more Indies take more risks with new and unique systems, art, etc. Thanks for your thoughts! I'd like to see a modern remake of FFT akin to something like they did with Tactics Ogre.

[@CarloGoiff666]

@@89Games Not so unique style then don't you think? also crazy to think that in FFT you could rotate the camera and you can't in this game, that should be a given.

[@89Games]

@@CarloGoiff666 I felt like the overall darker tones gave it some uniqueness. I guess it might be more accurate to refer to its variation of an established style as what I liked rather than the style itself being unique.

[@OlDirtyLion]

@@CarloGoiff666 Eh, it's not that big of a problem, FFTA, and FFTA² didn't have a camera function. If anything, this is FFTA but units can die ((without jagds)) and no Laws.