Video Game Review: Arcadia Fallen

Developer / Publisher: Galdra Studios

Genre: Visual Novel

Reviewed On: Nintendo Switch

Also Available On: PC

Sometimes it can be difficult to have a great relationship with visual novels. While a good chunk of them have great stories to tell, many don’t seem to have meaningful choices. If they are meaningful, they don’t always seem to follow a fair set of rules, leading to unintended consequences. Of course, if there are too many or too few choices, the gameplay itself can suffer due to the way that visual novels tend to work. Still, every now and again, a visual novel comes along that excellently balances decision making with sitting back and enjoying a story. Arcadia Fallen is one of these games.

Players create and play as a young alchemist who works in little shop. After some unfortunate events, the protagonist is suddenly bonded with a spirit, which is heavily frowned upon in the town that is fearful of magic. This illegal spirit gets the protagonist swept up into a conflict between the humans around them and magic. It’s a fairly straightforward story, but that isn’t exactly where Arcadia Fallen shines.

Arcadia Fallen‘s strength isn’t in the creativity of the story, but how it is told. There are many themes that you wouldn’t expect in a visual novel, with the biggest one being inclusivity. The diverse cast is wonderful, and there are quite a few relationships for the player to build. These can be both romantic or platonic, and what’s even more exciting is how LGBTQ+ friendly Arcadia Fallen is. This blended in with themes of combating prejudice and opening one’s mind all comes together to create a delightful narrative.

There are plenty of decisions and branching paths in Arcadia Fallen. Many of them affect relationships, but they also affect the game’s endings too. While it doesn’t feel like there are too many negative choices to be made, a good chunk of them at least feel impactful. If players are looking for awful consequences, they might not see too many. Arcadia Fallen is full of good vibes despite the setting and art style, and there aren’t too many calls that will damage what the game is going for.

There is more to this visual novel than just making decisions though. Sure, it’s just as wordy as you would expect, but there are also puzzles to be solved. Puzzles can be solved by rotating things around, and matching symbols correctly. The minigame is fairly simple, though there are a few variations throughout Arcadia Fallen that might stump players for a little bit. Outside of the visual novel and puzzle portions, there isn’t much more to Arcadia Fallen.

For visual novel fans though, that will be enough. The characters in Arcadia Fallen are a delight and easy for the player to bond with. It’s a diverse cast that embraces the game’s message. The dialogue isn’t the strongest in the genre, but it is still at least believable. There is also some voice acting to round out the presentation, but all of the dialogue isn’t fully voiced. This is disappointing since the voice cast is solid, but it is forgivable. Fans of the genre will likely be comfortable just reading everything the game has to offer, but some may lament the lack of a fully voiced game.

The art in Arcadia Fallen is rather simple but still stylized. Bold lines and striking colors give the game personality. Anyone who likes the aesthetics of something like The World Ends With You blended with fantasy will enjoy Arcadia Fallen‘s palette. All of the characters have well-drawn facial expressions that effectively capture the emotions they are feeling. The presentation is rounded out with a nice soundtrack of hummable tunes that don’t overstay their welcome.

If there are any flaws in Arcadia Fallen, it’s in that it feels very difficult to actually make mistakes. Of course, if this is a flaw can only be determined by the player, but there isn’t a challenge or sense of urgency throughout the experience. The biggest stressor in Arcadia Fallen is actually just in the puzzles. I mentioned before that the game is full of positive vibes, and while that is nice, some players will want just a little more.

Arcadia Fallen is a delightful change of pace from other visual novels. While I was left wanting just a little more, my experience with this positive game was simply enjoyable. Anyone who wants to see positive diversity in a visual novel will likely be intoxicated by what Arcadia Fallen has to offer.