Arco Steam Charts & Stats

Arco is a charming RPG with a lot of good going for it, but the combat seems so half baked that it really stopped being enjoyable half way thru. The combat is turn based but its also not. The "ghost" system is interesting at first as it gives a tangible consequence for your in game actions, but they are not fun in practice. I play turn based games because I like to take my time, I like to plan my actions and play these games like a puzzle game while also dealing with the real world. The ghosts can move independently of the timeline and they will force you into choices and positions that you might not have wanted. Maybe that sounds good to you but I find it to be the antithesis of the genre. You also can't pause during combat which makes the whole ghost thing extra stupid. This isn't dark souls, this isn't online, this is a single player turn based game that thinks its an action game.

great game, lots of lines, serious story

Incredibly atmospheric RPG with a fantastic combat system. Usually I try to avoid fights in RPGs but here I took every chance to try new things because it's so fun. On top of that the characters and the story are great and the soundtrack is probably worth the purchase alone. Definitely deserves more popularity.

I had to come here immediately after finishing the game to write a review. Arco is a brilliantly creative work in every facet. The gameplay intertwines so well with the story both in and out of combat. The open(ish) world is littered with secrets and paths that you can only get by asking the right questions to the right people, having the right tools, and so forth - but it's not overdone, so it feels like there's a lot of delightful little puzzles rather than it being a source of frustration. Each character has their own demons, and their decisions influence combat by adding manifestations of guilt that interfere with your turn. The story is a unique one, too, as far as the western genre goes; our protagonists are not cowboys or tycoons staking a dubious claim to new lands, but rather indigenous peoples attempting to come to terms with the new state of the world. Lastly, I am a complete sucker for original vocal songs in games and this game has a few that hit at the perfect moments. Arco's greatest flaw is that it feels too short. You don't get to enjoy your characters at maximum power for long enough, and you want to explore more of every branch of the story. In an era of video games enticing you to log in every single day, it is wonderful to play something that you wish had stayed longer.

Spent 2 hours in the demo so my play time shows much lower than it currently is. This game is fantastic. Combat is fun, strategic, and quick. Highly recommend any and everybody to at least check out the demo.

Nothing looks and sounds like this game, so beautiful.

Banger soundtrack, very memorable story. Unique gameplay that keeps evolving on itself and pushing you to try new things. One of my faves of 2024

I hate giving indie games negative reviews, especially because I liked the demo, but I have to be honest with myself. I'm not feeling this one gameplay-wise. Don't get me wrong, the game's other aspects are good, but you should read the positive reviews to hear about that. The mixture of real-time and turn-based combat just makes me want completely real-time combat. Most combat encounters felt unrewarding or restrictive. To avoid taking damage, I spent many encounters running away to regain 'magia' (mana) and then sent ranged attacks. Facing multiple enemies was tough because the magia system slows the pace of your attacks, and every attack comes at the cost of defensive moves you could have cast. The worst example of this feeling was in Act 2 when I fought two enemies with shields in a small room. Attacks that go above/around their shields take too long to cast safely, and fast moves don't pierce their shields. They also had a charge attack that re-targets you, meaning that you can't dodge right in front of them, because they can still adjust their angle one more time and keep charging. The player, on the other hand, can only move rapidly in a straight line or slowly in a curved one. I could not gain distance and 'wait out' their charge because the room was basically the size of my hand on my monitor. Also, there is no refunding your skill tree, so consumables were my only other option to get past this. Not every fight in the game was this bad, but this encounter summarized my complaints well.

I really like this game. The art, the music, the story, the combat… all of it was outstanding. If you’re considering playing this game at all, do yourself a favor and pick it up. Addendum: this is the first rpg that after finishing it the first time, I immediately started from the beginning and beat it again. This might be the perfect game for exactly me. My only wish is that it was longer. And it plays seamlessly on the steam deck 👍

I'm going to be honest. I am an absolute sucker for games that explore cultures I'm not familiar with. Arco was always going to be at least a bit of a hit with me, just by virtue of showing me something I don't usually get to see. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3497013937 Arco is an action-adventure RPG. Set in an alternate (but not too alternate) fantasy version of the old west, Arco follows a series of indigenous protagonists as they embark on quests, battle monsters, and confront the changing reality of their world. And I love it. Unabashedly, unashamedly, I love it. The very first quest of the game follows an indigenous child named Teco. He and his family have journeyed from their homeland to repeat the pilgrimages their ancestors have always traditionally made. However, once they arrive at their sacred tree, they find it's been occupied by colonisers, making it impossible for them to get there. Throughout the quest, the player is shown how Teco and his family have adapted to the colonisation of their land, how they've maintained their traditions, and how what we understand to be the inevitability of colonisation is not inevitable. If anything, we're presented with a world in which the past continues to live alongside the future, and where identity remains deeply meaningful, even as the world seeks to destroy it. This is a game about colonialism that not only takes the perspective of the colonised, but ensures their voices and perspectives resonate. This isn't a horror game or a tragedy. This is an adventure in a changing, fantastic world, and I cannot express enough how much I love it for that. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3497014165 Where the game truly excels, however, is in how the message of its story resonates in its mechanics. Arco's combat system is a turn-based tactical system, with players having a variety of abilities and items that they can use to defeat enemies. Each character's abilities are different, giving each storyline a very different feel and strategy, ensuring that the combats never feel stale. However, it's the game's guilt system that makes the combat truly interesting and unique. Throughout the story sections of the game, the player is confronted with decisions. Depending on the choices they make, their character may feel more or less guilt. Rather than being solely a character-informing feature, though, guilt manifests in combat, with malevolent spirits hounding the player throughout combat, forcing them to take actions they might not otherwise have done, or to move more quickly than is necessarily wise. Trauma itself becomes a mechanic in Arco. It's highly effective, both at making the player consider their actions more carefully, and at reinforcing the overall story. This is a game where the past informs the future, where time and consequences blend together, and where we are the product of the decisions we've made. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3497013719 Arco is unlike any RPG I've played, both in terms of its setting, and in how it works the setting into the very mechanics of the game. It is a gorgeous, glorious testament to the power of storytelling and what video games can be as narrative tools. Most importantly, though, it is an example of reframing the story. This is an indigenous story, framing indigenous peoples as the arbiters of their own destinies within a changing world. It reclaims the western for those too often framed as the faceless villains, and it's wonderful for it. [quote] If you enjoyed this review, check out [url=https://www.jannekeparrish.com/game/] more of my reviews [/url] and [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44626948-Loons/] my curator page. [/url] Thanks for reading! [/quote]