As I discussed last week, I've got this bundle of games that I've been going through and fortunately one of the first ones I picked up was "Arcade Spirits." This is a visual novel and a dating sim where you play as someone (completely customizable) who has had a string of bad luck and depression. Until they get a job working at an arcade that is. The job and the coworkers end up being exactly what they need, and you can choose to find romance along the way, or you can not! Either way.
What first drew me in when I popped the game open was the aesthetic. With a name like "Arcade Spirits," it does conjure up a specific vibe. The text boxes are neon, and the sound effects range from 8-bit to your in game phone yelling "Hey! Listen!" Many references to real life video games and pop culture. It's like Ready Player One but done right!
The best aspect of the game is probably the mechanics. It is basically a choose-your-own-adventure, but different personality traits are assigned to different responses. So the game is analyzing your choices as you go, and this impacts things like the final boss battle as well as what in-game characters you get along best with. It's a really cool idea for a visual novel, and makes it much more personal as well.
The story is wonderful, it's serious and hilarious and actually has themes in it?? A central idea is the balance of your dreams on one side, and the reality of the world in the other. Like one character says, "life is a series of trade offs" where you need to know when to compromise and when to stay true. And also, what you decide to compromise on is a better indicator of your character than whether or not you compromise. Which also speaks towards the game's mechanics. You have to choose which characters to spend time with, and what personality traits suit you best. You can't go for max stats for everything since you literally have to pick one!
Finally the characters are what really make the game. I think almost half of the ones you can romance are people of color, and since it's a dating sim, of course everyone's gay. There's even a character who's super endearing but unsure of her gender and who she is. Having unlocked all the endings, each of them are super compelling and very distinct. Having said that, I also found that the game did an excellent job of predicting who I would find most compelling through that personality analysis. I was primarily Kindly, and definitely matched the best with Naomi (basically the game version of me lol) and Percy (I want him to adopt me).
"Arcade Spirits" is pretty cheap on Steam, and I cannot recommend this enough. It is definitely one of the best visual novels that I have played, and I'm in a bit of a visual novel phase right now. Apparently there's a sequel in the works and I couldn't be more excited!
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