Entry tags:
COMPLETE: Arcade Spirits
This came as an extremely high recommendation from ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
xyzzysqrl. She played it, adored it, and pushed it on me. She bought it for me as a birthday present, and then periodically leaned on me with "Hey I know you have a lot of games in your backlog to get around to actually playing someday buuuuut *sad puppymog eyes*" reminders afterward. She believed in and fought for this game like it was your player character's in-game hopes and dreams (more on that in a bit.) Because I knew it meant so much to her, I promised I'd cut Arcade Spirits in line and play that one next as thanks for saving our otherwise-doomed efforts to get this whole CD-i thing off the ground. (Seriously, it is thanks to Xyzzy's work connecting us to her "Hey I found this CD-i in my closet and I'm looking to sell" friend that we now have the only footage of Lost Sheep on the entire Internet. That is important and something I will likely never forget. That's the kind of huge game-changing favor that gets an "If this works I will play Arcade Spirits to show how grateful I am" promise.)
You can read her review here and probably should. It covers a lot of very important details better than I could.
So, Arcade Spirits. Here we are, after all this, with what is... *eyes calendar* probably the last game in Game Year 2019 unless some 15-minute thing sneaks in. Xyzzy pushed this. Was it worth it? Did it live up to her hype?
Yes. Absolutely, emphatically yes. Honestly, her getting me to play this was a favor almost as big as the CD-i thing.
It is the semi-future year 20XX, and you are a mess. Advanced holographic life coach cell phone apps exist, but so does the same old human condition of day jobs and rent payments grinding you down. You're a hard-luck sort whose family has always had to do what they could to get by, such that you refer to it as a "family curse" in all seriousness as you go from uninspiring minimum wage gig to uninspiring minimum wage gig. You can't have nice things. If you do, that's just the universe taunting you and getting your hopes up just to dash them later. Having expectations only hurts you. You're here to settle. It's what you've always done, what your parents have always done.
Depressed and between jobs (again), you find yourself in your latest attempt: a small local mom-and-pop arcade, itself struggling to keep afloat. In this game's universe, the game crash of 1983 never happened, and arcades have continued to be a major industry. Working in an arcade is hideously risky, not because arcades are dead, but because they're so alive that the industry is fiercely competitive and cutthroat. The game itself compares arcades to the restaurant industry, where everyone wants to be a world-famous five-star establishment but getting off the ground is an entirely different story. This is Ratatouille but with video games, up to and including an Anton Ego-like Evil All-Powerful Critic who becomes a problem later on.
This is a story about hopes and dreams, about when to have them and when to settle, about what's worth fighting for. It's about getting by versus seeking fulfillment and happiness. The arcade is more than a job; it's a family, and everyone there is there because they truly believe in something. What about you?
Unique to the VN genre, Arcade Spirits doesn't force you into routes or romance options. You can certainly date your choice of supporting cast in this game, or you can not do that--Just Friends (and Family) is valid, too. You're here to help out at the arcade, after all. You can do your job, or you can try to find your "why" and/or possibly find love along the way. You can forge your personality with responses ranging from "hot-blooded Super Robot Wars protagonist" to "Care Bear" to "Dad-joking goofball" to "Vulcan", and attract or repel other personality types accordingly. What kind of person are you and what do you want out of this story? What kind of person are you and what do you want out of your life? There are no wrong answers, just risks and rewards to consider.
And boy oh boy, do the risks hurt. The thing about depression is that sometimes it's a protective shell because opening your heart hurts. Getting your hopes up hurts. This game can easily bring you to tears, both the "happy moving" kind and the "everything comes crashing down" kind. (Heck, the one time I legitimately cried was a happy moving regroup-and-rebuild scene after everything came crashing down.) But with that pain comes... well, life. That "why" you were looking for, and maybe (hopefully?) an end to the family curse.
Side note: This game uses one set of androgynous-looking player character artwork plus your choice of He/She/They pronouns, rather than attempting to draw distinctly "male" or "female" player character bodies. You have options for hair color, skin tone, etc. but you will end up with either a somewhat feminine-looking man, a somewhat masculine-looking woman, or the best non-binary #bodygoals representation ever. It may take a bit of getting used to at first, but it should be fine once you adjust. Honestly, if you're the type of person for whom that sort of concession is a serious objection, then there's a good chance this game isn't for you anyway.
xyzzysqrl. She played it, adored it, and pushed it on me. She bought it for me as a birthday present, and then periodically leaned on me with "Hey I know you have a lot of games in your backlog to get around to actually playing someday buuuuut *sad puppymog eyes*" reminders afterward. She believed in and fought for this game like it was your player character's in-game hopes and dreams (more on that in a bit.) Because I knew it meant so much to her, I promised I'd cut Arcade Spirits in line and play that one next as thanks for saving our otherwise-doomed efforts to get this whole CD-i thing off the ground. (Seriously, it is thanks to Xyzzy's work connecting us to her "Hey I found this CD-i in my closet and I'm looking to sell" friend that we now have the only footage of Lost Sheep on the entire Internet. That is important and something I will likely never forget. That's the kind of huge game-changing favor that gets an "If this works I will play Arcade Spirits to show how grateful I am" promise.)You can read her review here and probably should. It covers a lot of very important details better than I could.
So, Arcade Spirits. Here we are, after all this, with what is... *eyes calendar* probably the last game in Game Year 2019 unless some 15-minute thing sneaks in. Xyzzy pushed this. Was it worth it? Did it live up to her hype?
Yes. Absolutely, emphatically yes. Honestly, her getting me to play this was a favor almost as big as the CD-i thing.
It is the semi-future year 20XX, and you are a mess. Advanced holographic life coach cell phone apps exist, but so does the same old human condition of day jobs and rent payments grinding you down. You're a hard-luck sort whose family has always had to do what they could to get by, such that you refer to it as a "family curse" in all seriousness as you go from uninspiring minimum wage gig to uninspiring minimum wage gig. You can't have nice things. If you do, that's just the universe taunting you and getting your hopes up just to dash them later. Having expectations only hurts you. You're here to settle. It's what you've always done, what your parents have always done.
Depressed and between jobs (again), you find yourself in your latest attempt: a small local mom-and-pop arcade, itself struggling to keep afloat. In this game's universe, the game crash of 1983 never happened, and arcades have continued to be a major industry. Working in an arcade is hideously risky, not because arcades are dead, but because they're so alive that the industry is fiercely competitive and cutthroat. The game itself compares arcades to the restaurant industry, where everyone wants to be a world-famous five-star establishment but getting off the ground is an entirely different story. This is Ratatouille but with video games, up to and including an Anton Ego-like Evil All-Powerful Critic who becomes a problem later on.
This is a story about hopes and dreams, about when to have them and when to settle, about what's worth fighting for. It's about getting by versus seeking fulfillment and happiness. The arcade is more than a job; it's a family, and everyone there is there because they truly believe in something. What about you?
Unique to the VN genre, Arcade Spirits doesn't force you into routes or romance options. You can certainly date your choice of supporting cast in this game, or you can not do that--Just Friends (and Family) is valid, too. You're here to help out at the arcade, after all. You can do your job, or you can try to find your "why" and/or possibly find love along the way. You can forge your personality with responses ranging from "hot-blooded Super Robot Wars protagonist" to "Care Bear" to "Dad-joking goofball" to "Vulcan", and attract or repel other personality types accordingly. What kind of person are you and what do you want out of this story? What kind of person are you and what do you want out of your life? There are no wrong answers, just risks and rewards to consider.
And boy oh boy, do the risks hurt. The thing about depression is that sometimes it's a protective shell because opening your heart hurts. Getting your hopes up hurts. This game can easily bring you to tears, both the "happy moving" kind and the "everything comes crashing down" kind. (Heck, the one time I legitimately cried was a happy moving regroup-and-rebuild scene after everything came crashing down.) But with that pain comes... well, life. That "why" you were looking for, and maybe (hopefully?) an end to the family curse.
Side note: This game uses one set of androgynous-looking player character artwork plus your choice of He/She/They pronouns, rather than attempting to draw distinctly "male" or "female" player character bodies. You have options for hair color, skin tone, etc. but you will end up with either a somewhat feminine-looking man, a somewhat masculine-looking woman, or the best non-binary #bodygoals representation ever. It may take a bit of getting used to at first, but it should be fine once you adjust. Honestly, if you're the type of person for whom that sort of concession is a serious objection, then there's a good chance this game isn't for you anyway.
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... Will move it higher up the wishlist! Thank you. *Thumbs up, salute*
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Apparently I will drag you guys into the new revolution of interactive fiction or else, or something.
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I for one welcome our reading-based overlords.
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Huh. I think![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
baxil also recommended that one heavily… now I'm intrigued.
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"Wonderful" is a perfect word for this game. The main story is an emotional rollercoaster and a half, for sure, but the world itself has a lot of ambience to it like that that's just... nice. This game was clearly made by someone who recalls and loves arcades and gaming in general without being a toxic Gamer (though the hypercompetitive git gud esports queen is one of the supporting cast archetypes, along with the dance game scene guy, two different varieties of 80s retro cabinet enthusiasts....) The people are what tie the building together, and the progression of getting to know and bond with the likeable cast and become a sort of arcade family is handled just about the best I've ever seen in any VN.
But the machines and sounds and lights and everything else in the building... well, they're part of it too. It's a lovely little world.
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*oofs, takes 'too real'*
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But as much as the game directly tackles the "being dead inside is good because being alive just makes it hurt more when the other shoe inevitably drops" mindset head-on (chipping away at it is pretty much your player character's entire personal arc), the game does so with an ultimately positive and hopeful message. It's the "I want it to hurt" speech from NITW. Sometimes dreams are worth it. Sometimes happiness--true happiness--is out there, even if you have to fight for it.