Arcaea Review - Noteworthy | (Nintendo Switch) I Dream of Indie

Arcaea is a rhythm game for the Nintendo Switch and SilentSigns is head over heels in love with it! Will she award Arcaea the Golden Indie Lamp of Approval? Find out in our full review of Arcaea on the Nintendo Switch! The game will be available as of May 18, 2021.
A review code was provided for the purpose of this review.
#Arcaea #Gaming
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[@IDreamofIndie]

Are you going to check this one out rhythm game fans? Thanks for watching as always ☺️

[@bagelbagelbagelbagelbagelbagel]

it's interesting to see a review of arcaea from a new player's perspective, and i'm glad that you liked it! this is a very nice review, thank you for taking the time to explore the game and letting us know your insights on it. you already pointed out lots of nice things here (the comment section did as well), but i wanna note some more: -one big difference between the mobile and switch is that everything on the switch can be played offline. on mobile, there's a big chunk of stuff that needs internet connection such as playing world mode. -yes, arcaea can be very complex especially for new players. the 3d gameplay aspect says it all, with the additional sky input layer to the floor notes layer, it's what sets this game apart from other rhythm games. it definitely takes time to get used to and when you get it, it becomes more fun. it also gives way for endless possibilities in gameplay, like in harder levels arcs can go up and down other than left and right, and you get to see wild things like spiral arcs. -the recollection gauge at the top left of the screen doesn't necessarily show your score (which is actually on the right). rather, it's like your energy bar that you have to keep filling as you play, as you need to maintain 70 and above to clear stuff. -another thing to note is that the story mode in switch has new illustrations that the mobile version doesn't have, although i'm not sure yet how much it gets. other than that i don't know what else to tell bcs the game is yet to come out on the 18th and yeah i don't have a switch so i won't be able to experience this for myself soon. again, thank you for this review, we appreciate it so much 😍

[@IDreamofIndie]

You are very welcome! I'm so glad that the game has a passionate fan base and that so many have already enjoyed it as much as I did. You did a great job pointing out the differences and explaining mechanics.

[@xdYama]

I’ve been playing this on mobile for a looong while. I’ve watched a few gameplay videos and i’d say the switch is vastly different. on arcaea mobile you have to buy songs and there are actually 219 songs on mobile. (Collaborations with other games can’t be carried to the switch) joy con gameplay is vastly different because cross-overs aren’t there anymore basically, with touch, when arcs cross over eachother, it gets stupidly fun and hectic, so i recommend you trying out touch in the higher levels! Coming from a somewhat good player (12.27 potential): This video covers the game very well and i agree with almost everything said.

[@IDreamofIndie]

Thanks so much for the kind words! I appreciate you sharing some information on the mobile version of the game. I'll have to check it out once my fingers heal 🙂

[@xdYama]

@@IDreamofIndie haha good luck!

[@xdYama]

@@IDreamofIndie oh and, i didn’t include everything. The mobile version has a way different world mode system where you have stamina, and when you buy a song pack it’s automatically unlocked with some exceptions. Also if you want to see someone beat the hell out of this game watch a “Tempestissimo Beyond 11 pure memory” video, hilariously hard

[@IDreamofIndie]

I definitely watched some folks playing some INCREDIBLY difficult looking songs while I was preparing this review. Nothing but respect/admiration for them because I don't think my brain or fingers would allow me to ever get that good 🤣

[@xdYama]

@@IDreamofIndie haha it is totally inhuman to me as well, even though i’m able to play 10+s with EX+ grade and some 11s with ex grade, i still can’t AA Tempestissimo

[@Rory_shi]

I've been playing the mobile version for a year now and I can assure that they're very different. Apart from the joycon mode, the songs can be unlocked through the World mode now. On mobile, you can buy whatever you want in any order. Gameplay wise, it still has the core of the game. P.S. I still wonder how much joycon players csn oush the boundaries of the game

[@IDreamofIndie]

It was really awesome how much could be unlocked without the need to pay! After trying both control methods I ended up preferring the joycon controls.

[@Rory_shi]

@@IDreamofIndie yup, but there are many songs that aren't on Switch.

[@IDreamofIndie]

@@Rory_shi that is a shame but perhaps they will release future packs!

[@Rory_shi]

@@IDreamofIndie that is highly likely for sure in the form of DLCs. On mobile, packs mainly costs at around $4 to $6. The memory archive is a different story since they're individual purchases

[@elbert0p1kachu]

@@IDreamofIndie Just saying: Someone else with more experience in Arcaea was also sent a review copy. According to her video, she asked if there will be updates and "they said they were considering DLCs" Here's hoping :)

[@oku771]

I do find it interesting using joycons for arcs and buttons for notes, it changes things up a lot from the touch controls. I'm a massive Arcaea fan and im decently good player with a potential of 11.32 and cleared every song but 2 on the mobile version and im interested in seeing if issues such as arc drops still happen on the switch. Nice review though, it was great seeing someone new enjoying Arcaea just as much as i do . :)

[@IDreamofIndie]

Thanks Joe I'm happy to be a part of the community around this game everyone is so nice!

[@ReviXyOfficial]

While using joycons arcdrops dont exist (atleast from what i know). I also havent encountered one on touch so i think they may be gone idk tho.

[@SomaKitsune]

I'll definitely wishlist it for a sale. I love a good rhythm game. I recently got Cytus Alpha. I've loved that game since it was released on mobile about a decade ago. I like Voez too but not as much as Cytus.

[@IDreamofIndie]

This one is so much fun! It was worth the temporary hand pain 😆

[@mrcool9090]

Its intresting to see diffrent viewpoints on a game I like. I'm a pretty big fan of the mobile version (around 11 ish potential and I have passed one of the 11s) and I think another thing that's worth pointing out is how much you save from getting this instead of the mobile version. On Mobile each pack is 5 dollars, so all of the packs on switch would be ~50$, and then each song in the memory archive is 1$ each. (The payment philosophy for mobile is just 1 dollar per song is the most you would have to pay for a song) so add 35$ onto that and that would make about 80 dollars worth of content you are getting for half that

[@user-eh8ri1wv3j]

Collaboration packs will not be included in Switch version :(

[@mrcool9090]

@@user-eh8ri1wv3j I can understand why. Licensing probably only extended to mobile

[@IDreamofIndie]

I was really surprised just how many songs were available to be unlocked. They could have easily went down the road of greed but they didn't :)

[@peach5327]

This looks really fun! I'm not very good at rhythm games, but I still like them!

[@IDreamofIndie]

The game has difficulty options so you don't have to necessarily be great at it to have fun :)

[@xdYama]

Good luck soldier

[@FlowerAngelRave]

I’ve been enjoying quite a few rhythm games lately, so I’ve been very curious about this one too. It looks really well done, and I’m glad to hear the music is awesome and you enjoyed the game as well, and it seems like it would work out cheaper on Switch than mobile. I’ll have to pick this up when I get the chance. Thanks for another great review, and I hope your hand heals.

[@IDreamofIndie]

Lol I'll survive it was worth the pain!

[@ReviXyOfficial]

it's WAY cheaper then mobile i have every song there is on mobile and i payed probs double the price on switch. THO keep in mind that Mobile has 67 more song than switch for various reasons. (mostly liscensing and the game not being up to date)

[@amyyxxx31]

As an arcaea l player i saw some stuff u missed out but overall a good video! Finnaly someone knowing arcaea.

[@IDreamofIndie]

I'm glad you enjoyed it 🙂

[@tizurl]

Sth I don’t like on the switch version is no collab packs but it’s pretty cool nonetheless, it’s a steal as for the price of 8 packs you have >13 Also, edit, a tip for when you do play this again in off time, there is many partners and clears with easy mode partners do not count as clears for your player stats, you can see the type of clear by looking on the colour of the C (F and P have fixed colours, cuz if you don’t miss it means you could do it at any diff lol). If you go to pack selections you may see that it says less clears if you did on easy mode. Normal and hard do count edit 2: easy mode just means forgiving recollection rate, hard is unforgiving and normal is just a bit more difficult than normal, like 0.5 more/lost note, but those 0.5 can stack on difficult charts

[@idioticbosd7995]

There’s a lot more in the mobile version. Controls in mobile version is just the same with the touch option. However 90% of the game is just different - world mode in mobile version has stamina, 12 slots. You have to spend 2 stamina to progress. While in the switch version you just grind to your heart’s content. - most of the content in the mobile version is locked behind paywalls. While the switch version can have 75% of the content in the mobile version unlocked for only 30 dollars. The rest comes from collab content (not imported to the switch version) and the newest packs (esoteric order) - in the mobile version, the stories are only lines of text in a dimmed background of the story ui, sometimes it will be an entire cutscene - world extend does not exist in arcaea, I suppose. I wonder if the songs from that are in the free pack too (ie songs like black lotus by wa) Edit point: event world might not exist. Personally I don’t know. The event world in mobile version is used to hold every limited world maps, used to unlock event partners and world extent songs *BEYOND THIS IS SPOILERS FOR CONTENT THAT MAY BE RELATED TO THE MAIN STORY* - I am very uncertain about whether there is the difficulty “Beyond”. It is red and takes the 4th slot in the difficult settings. In the mobile version there are 7-9 songs with a beyond difficulty chart. One is tempestissimo which is the secret song (anomaly song) in the main story pack “Black Fate”. It is considered the hardest chart in the game. *BEYOND IS SPOILERS FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL, LIKE APRIL FOOLS* - now usually in April fools, arcaea has a special limited chart that breaks every boundary of arcaea. I’m wondering if there will be any of them appearing in the switch version. Guess that is off to next year to find out

[@IDreamofIndie]

Awesome! Thanks so much for sharing your wealth of knowledge on the mobile version of the game!

[@ReviXyOfficial]

as owner and player off both i am here to confirm that -All songs released after Xeraphinite are not there. -World extend is gone yes. But all songs before CROSS†OVER are in the Arcaea pack -Event world does not exist yet. idk if it might? -Beyond world and diff is not there exept for Tempestissimo -Regarding the April fools stuff... someone asked that in ther AMA and they said they weren't sure themselves so we can only see.

[@lucarkirb]

Just a tip: If you are going to download the mobile version, I suggest using a tablet instead of a phone, playing on a phone is hard as there is not enough space for your fingers when doing arc cross-overs, or as the Arcaea community calls it: Cross hands. (because your fingers or hands would have to go over and/or under one another to complete a cross over arc note). Also, try to get four fingers instead of two ready if possible, because in the higher levels upward (that being present and future difficulties) are prone to having more than two notes at a time or, having some notes far apart from one another that it makes your hands travel slower. (Edit: I forgot to mention "two") Have fun playing Arcaea!

[@IDreamofIndie]

Thanks for the awesome tips!!

[@asian_attack_helicopter102]

True, playing on mobile is hard but tbh I've gotten used to it as a thumbs player, you've either just got to have a small enough screen or big enough hands. Only issue is when I'm tired and there's a crossover section and my thumbs go boink when trying lmao

[@drowningin]

I've played it on my phone which is small So ima try it on tablet. How do you play it? With the tablet sat down on a table looking down at it? I also love how it barely uses any battery I can play for an hour and it only uses 3% when that's how much I use if phone sits idle

[@lucarkirb]

@@drowningin You place the tablet down and use your index (and middle fingers) to hit the notes. (also get one of those rubber pads car accessory thing to prevent your iPad from moving when hitting arcs)

[@NekoShogun]

This game got put on my radar thanks to the DLC pack that just got released for Groove Coaster Wai Wai Party so I was wondering if I could us my pro controller to play and it seems like it. Also I know this game is gonna be right up my alley because you came across World.destruction(me) and my first reaction was "ooh! Mili!" Lol

[@IDreamofIndie]

Yes you can use the pro controller and it works great! :)

[@shrry2849]

I wonder if they will add some April Fools tracks in the Switch Version.

[@IDreamofIndie]

Haha not sure on that but would be fun!

[@xdYama]

@@IDreamofIndie i think why this person posted this comment is because there’s one april fools chart (obviously only available on april first) that has 2 notes and 3 arcs all at once, and the joycons can’t do 5 notes at the same time, so now there’s jokes about the 5th note being mind controlled xD

[@IDreamofIndie]

Haha wow that is funny!

[@chanming8804]

red and blue and green LETS GO!!

[@Powerisha]

I've been playing Arcaea on mobile for about 8 months now, and I can't wait to play it on the Switch. Yes, I am buying a Nintendo Switch just to play Arcaea on it. I love the game too much.

[@IDreamofIndie]

I love Arcaea it's worth the price of a switch alone :)

[@xdYama]

@@IDreamofIndie how are you doing on the game now? On future levels yet?

[@IDreamofIndie]

Still plugging away every spare moment climbing up those steps 😂

[@xdYama]

@@IDreamofIndie ah-ha, i’ve actually bought the switch version, and i love the joycon mode, and i’ve set some ex’es on some nines, good luck on climbing higher in the game!

[@IDreamofIndie]

Same! Joycon mode is super fun it's my preferred method of play :)

[@adriannaamato9833]

Already loaded it to my phone:)

[@IDreamofIndie]

Sweet enjoy!!

[@xdYama]

Good luck trooper

[@kingarcadian]

tanx 4 the rev

[@lun1t5u_]

i recommend trying out the original mobile version too

[@IDreamofIndie]

Plan on it after I unlock everything in the Switch version ☺️