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
EngineRPG Maker[1]
Platform(s)
Release
  • WW: July 27, 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. It is inspired by Final Fantasy Tactics and has retro pixel art graphics.

Plot

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.

Gameplay

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.[2]

Development

Twin Otter Studios was founded by siblings Taylor and Becca Bair. They live in Texas.[3] They were inspired by Final Fantasy Tactics and used RPG Maker MV as a base to create a homage. 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.[1] During development, Becca took freelance work for additional money.[4] Arcadian Atlas' development was included in the 2016 documentary Surviving Indie.[5] Serenity Forge released for Linux, macOS, and Windows on July 27, 2023.[6] Ports to the PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch are planned to be released on November 30, 2023.[7]

Reception

Arcadian Atlas received mixed reviews on Metacritic.[8] 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.[2] RPGFan called it "a solid, concise SRPG crafted with a lot of heart".[9] 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.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 Fenlon, Wes (2016-05-19). "How Arcadian Atlas plans to bring the strategy JRPG to PC". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  2. 1 2 Prewitt, Jared (2023-07-29). "Arcadian Atlas Review". RPGamer. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  3. ↑ Cheong, Ian (2016-04-13). "Arcadian Atlas Interview With Twin Otter Studios' Becca Bair". Gameranx. Retrieved 2023-08-29.
  4. ↑ Stafford, Patrick (2016-06-03). "Solo Indie Game Development – Not for Faint of Heart". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  5. ↑ Priestman, Chris (2016-12-22). "New documentary focuses on the struggle of making independent games". Kill Screen. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  6. ↑ Romano, Sal (2023-06-28). "Arcadian Atlas launches July 27 for PC, later in 2023 for consoles". Gematsu. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  7. ↑ Romano, Sal (2023-11-21). "Arcadian Atlas coming to PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch on November 30". Gematsu. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
  8. ↑ "Arcadian Atlas (PC)". Metacritic. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  9. ↑ Chandran, Neal (2023-07-27). "Arcadian Atlas". RPGFan. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  10. ↑ Torres, Josh (2023-07-27). "Arcadian Atlas Review". RPGSite. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
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