Arcana

"Perhaps the best 1st-person RPG on a console"

When people bring up the best 16-bit RPGs, Arcana doesn't usually enter the conversation. Arcana was released by Hal in 1992. Before Hal became known for making Kirby and the smash hit Super Smash Bros., they used to develop a larger variety of games. This great RPG didn't get nearly as much recognition as it deserved, but it's an example of a dungeon crawler done right. Be forewarned: Arcana is a very traditional RPG, and some are bound to find it tedious. You will fight tons of battles and navigate huge areas, so this is not for everyone.

Fashioned somewhat after Shining in the Darkness (SITD) on the Genesis, Arcana will have you going through many floors of labyrinths. Our hero, Rooks, will be in a group of up to 3 characters through a huge dungeon. The battle system for Arcana is traditional turn-based, with the usual fight,magic, item, and defend commands. However, Rooks can cast additional spells by using elemental cards. The number of cards used can affect the strength of an elemental spell. Also, adding a 4th character to the group is an elemental spirit. These spirits restore health and MP as your party walks.

Arcana features SITD-esque towns. You navigate areas like a slideshow. I liked this approach in Shining, and I liked it here. There is never any mystery as to who you could talk with, and towns are short affairs that serve as a small break from the dungeon. There is only one townsperson who can even be conversed with. When characters move to a dungeon, a brief scene of the overworld map is shown, with no actual control of the situation. I wish other RPGs would opt for a more streamlined approach, as it eliminates scavenger hunts.

The heart of Arcana is the dungeons. You will go through huge areas split up in floors. However, Arcana encourages exploration. A helpful automap will keep you from getting lost as you scour the area for treasure. Also, there aren't dungeons that have one single enormous room. The floors vary in size, from intimidating to very narrow and linear. Also, there are no traps or pits. This keeps the areas from becoming masochistic. Unfortunately, I would've liked the automaps to be scrollable. The map shows you a big enough section, but it would be nice to move the window around and get a whole view. There is one particularly devious dungeon in the middle of the game where this could be annoying. But even that can be overcome with a reasonable amount of persistence and I found it to be more of an accomplishment than something painful. When it comes to combat, random encounters will surface often. The encounter rate in Arcana is fairly high, but the battles are very quick. Players and enemies act with concise animations. The speed of battles is necessary given the encounter rate. At times, the frequency of encounters can get bothersome. Fortunately, the elemental spirit in the party helps keep things fun. Because their hp and mp is restored with every step, and their will be multiple spirits to choose, you can usually rely on the spirit to cast devastating spells. Overall, the battles have a simple and addicting charm. What makes Arcana so fun is the fusion of manageable exploration and gaining levels as the battles pile on. Very simple and satisfying old-school gameplay.

On the story side, Arcana isn't extraordinary, but the story is somewhat interesting. Story is shown through cutscenes, where every character appears as a card. It's your basic "defeat the evil force" tale, but it wasn't quite bland.

One of Arcana's best attributes is avoiding some tedious traps of RPGs. The dungeons are manageable but also provide the fun of exploration. Because of the automap, getting lost is not such a concern. The battles, though frequent, don't linger on because the presence of the spirits encourages aggressiveness. Without the elemental spirits, battles could have turned into a press-fight-athon. There is also no leveling up if you are patient. Explore most of the dungeons and you'll have plenty of money and levels for buying better equipment and fighting enemies. The leveling up is built into the experience. Furthermore, Arcana is not a hundred hour epic. It should take around 15 hours, with very little variance. I appreciate this attribute, because the game gives you a full-fledged RPG experience without hogging all your gaming time. However, the save system could be a little better. Make sure to have a return ring or some spell to leave a dungeon, because saving can only be done in towns and if any non-spirit character dies, you lose everything since the last save. This only happened to me once in the whole game, but it was annoying nonetheless.

Arcana is a very visually pleasing game, especially for a 1992 SNES title. It has simple gameplay, and it's all the more beautiful for it. Although dungeon walls are all the same in a given floor, the dungeon scenery switches up. Some mazes are in a desert, some in a castle or an underground area. Enemies have smooth battle animations and are drawn colorfully. They even have animations as they wait for a turn. Every living thing or item is shown in a card form. Characters make a brief animation with their attacks. Spells have fancy and quick effects. Arcana's overall look is smooth and colorful.

Music is a strong category for Arcana. The dungeon music is great at setting an adventurous tone for the game. Almost every tune creates a profound and mysterious atmosphere. The music is very fitting overall. There's not much I can say to describe it, but it is a very worthy soundtrack, and it almost tells a story in itself. The music helps make the game very compelling.

Arcana is a fantastic RPG on the SNES and the most fun 1st person dungeon crawler I've ever played. With excellent graphics and music and addictive gameplay, it's a standout title. This game definitely shows the talent at Hal. It's a shame that since they've been bought by Nintendo, they've become the Kirby Factory. They're capable of making a variety of good games with a variety of settings. Arcana should cost around 10-15$, as it's not a holy grail title. If you like an oldschool dungeon crawler, you should give this gem a look.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/19/06