Leknaat
08-04-2004, 03:33 PM
Way back in 1992, a company by the name of HAL published and developed an obscure RPG by the name of Arcana. It was in first person with good graphics and a superb soundtrack.
The game itself is rather on the shortside with only five chapters and only one dugeon in each chapter. It can literally be beaten in a day of you're experienced with the game or genre at all. If not, the dungeons can actually prove to be a challenge. The further you progress in the story the bigger and longer the dungeons are and you may end up returning to town to heal and replenish items. There is a map in each dungeon for easy navigation.
Being an older RPG battles are random and happen quite often so be prepared. Even though the game came out in 1992 each character has their own unique battle animations. While they might not be cutting edge they are still pleasant to watch.
The story will definately not leave you on the edge of your seat and there isnt much character development going on here. It still manages to be interesting enough to keep you playing. You take on the roll of Rooks, the last of a long line of Card Masters who can summon elemental spirits. You are later joined by Salah; a princess in hiding, Axs; umm he's a dwarf with a big axe, Teefa; who is Salah's sister and a powerful sorceress, and Darwin; a warrior elf. Plus the four elemental card spirits Rooks can summon during battle.
As I mentioned ealier the soundtrack is superb and really brings out some of the best sound the SNES has to offer. Too bad there's not more tracks due to the shortness of the game.
Overall Arcana is a good game with solid gameplay but it's not the best SNES rpg ever created. Still, if you're looking for a short RPG to kill some time that won't take forever to beat then you should definately seek this one out.
The game itself is rather on the shortside with only five chapters and only one dugeon in each chapter. It can literally be beaten in a day of you're experienced with the game or genre at all. If not, the dungeons can actually prove to be a challenge. The further you progress in the story the bigger and longer the dungeons are and you may end up returning to town to heal and replenish items. There is a map in each dungeon for easy navigation.
Being an older RPG battles are random and happen quite often so be prepared. Even though the game came out in 1992 each character has their own unique battle animations. While they might not be cutting edge they are still pleasant to watch.
The story will definately not leave you on the edge of your seat and there isnt much character development going on here. It still manages to be interesting enough to keep you playing. You take on the roll of Rooks, the last of a long line of Card Masters who can summon elemental spirits. You are later joined by Salah; a princess in hiding, Axs; umm he's a dwarf with a big axe, Teefa; who is Salah's sister and a powerful sorceress, and Darwin; a warrior elf. Plus the four elemental card spirits Rooks can summon during battle.
As I mentioned ealier the soundtrack is superb and really brings out some of the best sound the SNES has to offer. Too bad there's not more tracks due to the shortness of the game.
Overall Arcana is a good game with solid gameplay but it's not the best SNES rpg ever created. Still, if you're looking for a short RPG to kill some time that won't take forever to beat then you should definately seek this one out.