Arcus Odyssey

"Odysseus' Odyssey was better"

Arcus Odyssey (or Arcus Spirits as it was known in Japan) just barely makes it into the RPG category. The game plays more like an action title than anything else, but it contains enough role-playing elements to retain claims to this genre also. The best way to think about this one is like a Gauntlet game ported to the SNES: lots of creature killing, item collecting, and level-up type improvements. Nothing about this game is stellar, but if you and a friend want a decent way to waste the afternoon then Arcus Odyssey may be for you.

STORY: 5/10

(As taken from the opening credits of the game with minor alterations)

A long time ago, a sorceress named Castomira lived in a place called Arcus, and she plotted to destroy the whole world. She planned to use her dark magic to remake the world according to her own design. Castomira conquered many lands, and brought chaos to the lives of innocent people everywhere. Many brave warriors died trying to stop her, but only one person had the courage and strength to confront the sorceress...

A good princess, called "Leaty," rose up to stop the wicked sorceress. Leaty commanded the magical powers of light, and brought these forces to bear on Casomira. They clashed in the most powerful battle ever recorded in ancient history.

After days of fighting, Leaty was victorious, and Casomira was confined to the Dark World. In order to seal Casomira's fate, Leaty forged a magical sword that would bind Casomira forever. This sword came to be called "The Power of Leaty." It has been guarded for centuries by the kings of Arcus, and has become a symbol of peace for the people. Now that peace is threatened again, as the power of Leaty has been stolen by the followers of the wicked Sorceress, Casomira grows stronger...

I don't think that I need to outline the player's role in this, but I will do so anyway. Your job is to stop Casomira and aid Leaty. The game's plot is so average anyway that I wasn't much fazed by the lack of expansion on it. There is very little dialogue and/or narration that occurs between the beginning and the end of Arcus Odyssey. In the game's defense, though, the speeches given by the final boss are very worthwhile thoughts on the subjects of hatred and evil. At any rate, most people don't play games like this for the story anyway.

GAMEPLAY: 6/10

Although Arcus Odyssey has some RPG elements, it plays more like a straight-up action title than anything else. In fact, this game really feels like an SNES port of the Gauntlet series. Up to 2 players choose from 4 different characters to fight through the game with and then are put right into the thick of the action. Each hero has a different type of attack which can range from fast moving arrows to close range sword swipes. As players progress through the dungeons they will find numerous chests which contain an assortment of special items and health boosts. The aspect that somewhat cheapens the gameplay, though, is that players who die may restart at the beginning of the level as many times as they like. There are no continues or lives to speak of and people may play with as little skill and tact as they like.

RPG-wise, there isn't very much holding it to this genre. In some dungeons there are people that players can talk to, and each player has a small inventory for the various items one can find. Characters can also “level-up” at every 10,000 points by getting another health bar added to their meter. This, along with the few spells that each character can cast, is what gives Arcus Odyssey its thin layer of role-playing aspect.

What gives this game some of its slightly higher than average flavor is that there are some choices that players can make along the way that will tailor the gameplay to their own style. At certain points a players may recruit an additional character to help them through the rest of the dungeon. This helper is not controllable, but he or she will attack along with the playable character. The choice of which NPC to pick, though, is completely up to the gamer. Additionally, players may design their character based on the power-ups that they choose along the way to the end.

The main problem with this game is that it is fairly one-dimensional. The hacking and slashing of monsters is fun at first, but there is very little gameplay variety to break up the monotony of attacking monsters. There is no puzzle solving and very little exploration required to master each dungeon, and bosses can often be beaten with a single spell. Also, the collision detection for the game is much less than perfect, and projectiles that were meant to be stopped by a shield will often come through anyway.

CONTROL: 6/10

The control problems follow along with the gameplay's shoddy collision detection. It isn't difficult to navigate your character through the various corridors and walkways of each new area, but sometimes it can be difficult to properly fight the enemies within them. I found more than once that my attacks which appear to have been on target were registered as misses and shots that were supposed to be defended were not. This isn't that much of a problem when you realize that most attacks can simply be dodged, but I don't want to be given a shield option if it isn't going to work.

GRAPHICS: 6/10

The graphics are about what one can expect of an early 90's SNES title. Most of the sprite animations consisted of about 2 frames, but the general idea behind what each shape was supposed to be was well conveyed. Everything lacked the vibrant and sharp qualities that many other SNES games were displaying at this time. However, the opening credits of the game contain a fairly well drawn cut-scene which was able to pique my interest.

SOUND: 5/10

My score in this category indicates my feeling on the sound in this game pretty well. I was completely unimpressed with everything that I heard, but I wasn't annoyed by any of it. Sound effects for attacks and magic were appropriate but lackluster, and background music was fitting without being intrusive. However, I will not be running out to the store any time soon to pick up the soundtrack to Arcus Odyssey.

Recap:

So, what we have here is a slightly better than average action game with enough RPG elements to make it interesting. What is fun about it lies in the fact that it is a 2 player game. This gives it a slight amount of replay value, although I can't really see myself playing through it again. If you are looking for a new action game then I guess it is worth checking out, but otherwise I would leave this one on the shelf. Game time maxed out at around 5-6 hours.

STORY: 5/10
GAMEPLAY: 6/10
CONTROL: 6/10
GRAPHICS: 6/10
SOUND: 5/10

TOTAL: 6/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 04/27/05