Arc of Alchemist (Nintendo Switch) Review

In this world, a group of adventurers led by Quinn Bravesford are on a quest to find a MacGuffin called 'The Great Power' that can undo the dehydration of the world. Delving into caves and through colossal deserts in hopes of tracking down a clue towards this holy grail, she and her chibi companions are not the only ones tracking down this great power, as there are more dangers than the inhabitants of the wasteland, since a rival country has dispatched an entire army to capture this Great Power.

There's little more to say about the story, as it hits its rather unsurprising conclusion very quickly. Despite being an Idea Factory, dungeon-crawling style JRPG, this clocks in at around 12 hours or so to complete. The actual gameplay is all based around some basic, mindless, hack-and-slash dungeon-crawling. A single leader is controlled, with two selectable party members to accompany them. This little party delves into the sandy remnants of civilisation, clashing with huge mutated creatures and shambling mechanicals.

The combat is limited to one of two different attacks, depending on the type of weapon equipped, it's a dull and shallow combat system that offers nothing really of note. It's a common issue with these type of games, but it's something most games in this genre are self-aware around, and add something to help the combat stand out. The only thing Arc of Alchemist tries to innovate with, is a system entitled LunaGears. These are limited use abilities that can be used outside of combat to overcome simple obstacles in the environment. Shooting fire to light lamps, building blocks to jump over walls, using wind to stop sandstorms.

Between the simple combat and the exploration, fitting with the dungeon-crawling element of the game, there are a huge of items collect upon each expedition. This is quite necessary, as no currency is found, and these items are necessary to sell to make money and purchase upgrades. The team level up naturally through gameplay, but the real improvements come from purchasing upgrades back at base. Here the characters base stats can all be improved for a fee, as can some passive abilities like regaining health on attacks or ability to survive fatal blows. It's not just characters that can be improved back at base. The base itself can be enhanced, creating new buildings or enhancing existing ones, unlocking new equipment and unlockables.

Sadly, these elements feel stale right out of the box. The standard gameplay loop of heading into the world to collect items, to return, to level up, to repeat, just feels dull. With nothing to set it apart from the oceans of other games in the exact same ilk out there. Hell, even Idea Factory's other older titles do most of the things this does, but better. In fact, this could easily be confused for a rerelease of a PS2 title, considering the dated mechanics, and also the questionable presentation.

The graphical design is aiming for the cute chibi style, but it misses the mark. Looking low-quality and just plain ugly. The characters look like background NPCs, and the strange emphasis on some body parts with this style just looks… weird. There's a bigger issue with the game than the presentation though, and that's the performance. The frame rate regularly drops through the floor, and the game constantly suffers from stutters and freezing.