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Arcadian Atlas

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Arcadian Atlas
Developer(s)Twin Otter Studios
Publisher(s)Serenity Forge
Designer(s)Taylor Bair, Becca Bair
Programmer(s)Paddy Otterness
Artist(s)Becca Bair
Composer(s)Moritz P.G. Katz
EngineUnity[1]
Platform(s)
Release
  • Windows, macOS, Linux
  • July 27, 2023
  • PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
  • November 30, 2023
Genre(s)Tactical role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Arcadian Atlas is a tactical role-playing video game developed by Twin Otter Studios and published in 2023 by Serenity Forge. The game features 2D pixel art graphics inspired by games of the '90s like Chrono Trigger, Breath of Fire, and Suikoden and gameplay wise by Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics.[2]

Gameplay

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Players engage in turn-based, tactical combat on a grid. They can control up to five characters in combat. Four character classes are initially available, but a total of ten are unlockable. Each class has a skill tree, and characters can change their class. Doing so causes them to stop progressing in their previous class, limiting their progression to the new one. Newly recruited characters can be customized and have the same amount of skill as other characters in the party.[3]

Plot

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After poisoning the king of Arcadia, power-hungry Queen Venezia declares Princesses Lucretia and Annalise illegitimate and seizes power. After Lucretia confronts Venezia, she is exiled and flees. Players control two soldiers, Vashti and Desmond, who have been ordered to escort Annalise to a monastery and soon start navigating the royal intrigue.

Development

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Twin Otter Studios was founded by siblings Taylor and Becca Bair from Texas.[2] They were inspired by classical turn-base RPG's and used RPG Maker MV as a base to create a homage.[4] Taylor did the story and animation work, Becca did the pixel art, Paddy Otterness did the programming, and Moritz P.G. Katz was composer on the soundtrack and sound effects. They crowdfunded Arcadian Atlas through Kickstarter in 2016. It was only halfway funded until its last two days, when it reached its goal of $90K on May 8, 2016.[4] During the initial development of the game, Becca took freelance work for additional money.[5] Arcadian Atlas' development was included in the 2016 documentary Surviving Indie.[6]

Soon after the kickstarter campaign ended the engine was switched to Unity.[1] The development was halted by covid pandemic and continued after Twin Otter Studios secured a publishing deal with Serenity Forge.[7] Arcadian Atlas was aiming at the 2022 release[8] but it was eventually pushed to the summer of 2023.[9]

Release

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Arcadian Atlas was featured at Gamescom 2021 with a trailer specifying the release date.[8] A new trailer was released in the summer of 2022.[9]

Serenity Forge released for Linux, macOS, and Windows on July 27, 2023.[10] Digital edition soundtrack was released along with the game[11] with vinyl edition to be available at a later date in 2024.[12]

Ports to the PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch were released on November 30, 2023.[13]

Reception

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Arcadian Atlas received mixed reviews on Metacritic.[14]

RPGamer recommended it to fans of turn-based tactical RPGs and indie games. They said the combat is easy but praised the game's focus on narrative.[3]

RPGFan called it "a solid, concise SRPG crafted with a lot of heart".[15]

RPGSite said it is "mediocre yet competent" and said it fails to effectively capitalize on its ideas. They criticized the story, the camera's fixed perspective, and what they felt was imbalanced combat, though they said fans of the genre may enjoy Arcadian Atlas if they are willing to forgive some issues in a new developer's first game.[18]

MMORPG reviewer said that "If you’re looking for a good strategy game that you can play on modern platforms, I’d still give Arcadian Atlas a pass."[19]

PC Gamer stated that "Arcadian Atlas doesn't bring anything revolutionary to bear, but the combat, the story, and especially the music all reach a high bar that make it worth paying attention to."[20]

References

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  1. ^ a b Kivel, Katelyn (July 23, 2023). "Interview: How Arcadian Atlas Charts Its Own Course in the TRPG Renaissance". Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Cheong, Ian (April 13, 2016). "Arcadian Atlas Interview With Twin Otter Studios' Becca Bair". Gameranx. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Prewitt, Jared (July 29, 2023). "Arcadian Atlas Review". RPGamer. Archived from the original on November 30, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Fenlon, Wes (May 19, 2016). "How Arcadian Atlas plans to bring the strategy JRPG to PC". PC Gamer. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  5. ^ Stafford, Patrick (June 3, 2016). "Solo Indie Game Development – Not for Faint of Heart". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  6. ^ Priestman, Chris (December 22, 2016). "New documentary focuses on the struggle of making independent games". Kill Screen. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  7. ^ Sheehan, Gavin (August 7, 2023). "Arcadian Atlas Interview: Chatting With Twin Otter's Taylor Bair". bleedingcool.com. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Arcadian Atlas - Official Release Date Trailer - gamescom 2021". youtube.com. August 26, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Arcadian Atlas - Gameplay Trailer". youtube.com. June 15, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
  10. ^ Romano, Sal (June 28, 2023). "Arcadian Atlas launches July 27 for PC, later in 2023 for consoles". Gematsu. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  11. ^ "Arcadian Atlas: Original Soundtrack". July 27, 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  12. ^ "Arcadian Atlas - 2xLP Vinyl Soundtrack". Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  13. ^ Romano, Sal (November 21, 2023). "Arcadian Atlas coming to PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch on November 30". Gematsu. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  14. ^ a b "Arcadian Atlas (PC)". Metacritic. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  15. ^ a b Chandran, Neal (July 27, 2023). "Arcadian Atlas". RPGFan. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  16. ^ Musgrave, Shaun (December 12, 2023). "SwitchArcade Round-Up: Reviews Featuring 'Snakebird Complete', Plus Today's New Releases and Sales". TouchArcade. Archived from the original on December 17, 2023.
  17. ^ Rudek, Jordan (November 30, 2023). "Arcadian Atlas (Switch) Review". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on January 17, 2024.
  18. ^ Torres, Josh (July 27, 2023). "Arcadian Atlas Review". RPGSite. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  19. ^ Shively, Nick (July 27, 2023). "Arcadian Atlas Review - Lite Tactics". Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  20. ^ Smith, Nova (July 31, 2023). "Jazzy storybook tactics RPG Arcadian Atlas welds Hamlet to Final Fantasy Tactics". PC Gamer. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
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