Take up your weapon in this RPG bullet-hell world and embark on a journey to right wrongs from long ago. Only you can defeat the evil forces of the Undying guardians and reunite the world with the fabled Archvale.
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fajna gierka, taka przytulna, gra jak jest sie chorym i nie wychodzi z domu to w 2 wieczory sie przejdzie. latwa i latwe osiagniecia, brak wyzwania.
I just noticed I never ported this review from a couple years back to backloggd. As I guessed at the end, I did not remember much about the game! Anyway, on to the original review.
Archvale is what it says on the tin -- a bullet hell RPG. Basically, take some twin stick gameplay like Enter the Gungeon or Nuclear Throne and wrap it in 2D Zelda-esque room exploration, and that's your game.
The combat is solid. Enemy attack patterns are hectic but rarely feel unfair. There's enough variety in the weapons and build options -- achieved through weapon, armor, and Paper Mario style badge system -- to keep you entertained for the 10 hour runtime. I wasn't a fan of the badge shrines that required you to dodge increasingly difficult bullet patterns without getting hit. The ones late in the game are fairly difficult, but not required, so I just skipped them. I also didn't care much for the platforming portions in the dungeons, since the dodge feels just a bit finnicky on a controller, but they weren't so prevalent to really bother me.
I think the game missed the mark in terms of exploration. You're free to go to zones out of order, which made for some really fun runs of trying to survive long enough to get to a later game town and unlock powerful equipment early. Unfortunately, there's not much in the way of interaction with the environments. There are no hidden areas to look for or puzzles in the dungeons or even bits of lore scattered about, so you just kinda go from screen to screen killing (and very occasionally platforming).
The pixel art and music are well enough done, though nothing was particularly memorable.
All in all, Archvale was an experience I was happy enough to have. I probably won't remember much about it in a year, but it was an enjoyable enough 10 hours.
Archvale is what it says on the tin -- a bullet hell RPG. Basically, take some twin stick gameplay like Enter the Gungeon or Nuclear Throne and wrap it in 2D Zelda-esque room exploration, and that's your game.
The combat is solid. Enemy attack patterns are hectic but rarely feel unfair. There's enough variety in the weapons and build options -- achieved through weapon, armor, and Paper Mario style badge system -- to keep you entertained for the 10 hour runtime. I wasn't a fan of the badge shrines that required you to dodge increasingly difficult bullet patterns without getting hit. The ones late in the game are fairly difficult, but not required, so I just skipped them. I also didn't care much for the platforming portions in the dungeons, since the dodge feels just a bit finnicky on a controller, but they weren't so prevalent to really bother me.
I think the game missed the mark in terms of exploration. You're free to go to zones out of order, which made for some really fun runs of trying to survive long enough to get to a later game town and unlock powerful equipment early. Unfortunately, there's not much in the way of interaction with the environments. There are no hidden areas to look for or puzzles in the dungeons or even bits of lore scattered about, so you just kinda go from screen to screen killing (and very occasionally platforming).
The pixel art and music are well enough done, though nothing was particularly memorable.
All in all, Archvale was an experience I was happy enough to have. I probably won't remember much about it in a year, but it was an enjoyable enough 10 hours.
This is a great game for someone who wants intense bullet hell action without the daunting prospect of permadeath like in a roguelike thrown on top. It doesn't touch something like Enter the Gungeon in terms of difficulty, but it does offer a similar challenge in terms of dense bullet hell combat with the confidence that you're not going to lose much progress given there's always a save point close by. The only thing you lose when you die anyway is half the money you're holding but the save points double as teleporters that allow you to quickly teleport to a town and store your money so there isn't even really the fear of losing that, it all depends on how much you want to push your luck.
The environment and enemy variety was a big strength and is what kept me engaged right to the end and the decent amount of item variety encouraged me to explore every room.
I felt the progression was on point, I felt I was always challenged but not impossibly so, with your build dictating just how hard that challenge will be. There's also mini challenges in some rooms that are just dodging 3 rounds of attacks without getting hit. Some of these were brutal but worth doing in my opinion as not only do they give you badges (which give you passives) but hone your skills at dodging attacks. You'll definitely need every advantage you can get for the final boss in both skill and build.
The environment and enemy variety was a big strength and is what kept me engaged right to the end and the decent amount of item variety encouraged me to explore every room.
I felt the progression was on point, I felt I was always challenged but not impossibly so, with your build dictating just how hard that challenge will be. There's also mini challenges in some rooms that are just dodging 3 rounds of attacks without getting hit. Some of these were brutal but worth doing in my opinion as not only do they give you badges (which give you passives) but hone your skills at dodging attacks. You'll definitely need every advantage you can get for the final boss in both skill and build.
Beni çok sıktı. Sürükleyiciliği yok.
Xbox achievements complete
Archvale was my first bullet hell. And oh boy, what a wild ride it was.
The premise is simple. You are a child with the ability to kill the undying, and you must reassemble the Arch. Fight your way through rooms of enemies, dungeons, and bosses to eventually reach your objective. You get three classes of weapon to choose from, though I stuck to magic almost exclusively.
Here are the pros:
- The game is honestly pretty accessible to people who haven't played a bullet hell before. (like me!)
- The world is vibrant, with unique enemies in each area and different vibes throughout.
- Upgrades are not unbearably grindy to get. If you clean each room out of useful resources on your way through areas, by the time you reach the town of the area, you'll have enough to upgrade your armour and buy health upgrades and badges.
- The soundtrack is great - most of the area themes absolutely slap.
The cons:
- The trials. Most of the trials are fine. They're not too hard, you can dodge the orbs easy enough. Then you get to some that just spit tons of them at you with no rhyme or reason and before you know it, you've touched one and have to start over. These were easily the most exasperating part of the game for me, and I'm not usually someone who has to step away from my system in frustration.
My overall opinion of Archvale is that it's a solid little bullet hell, well-designed for the most part, with a few balance issues here and there. 4/5 stars.
The premise is simple. You are a child with the ability to kill the undying, and you must reassemble the Arch. Fight your way through rooms of enemies, dungeons, and bosses to eventually reach your objective. You get three classes of weapon to choose from, though I stuck to magic almost exclusively.
Here are the pros:
- The game is honestly pretty accessible to people who haven't played a bullet hell before. (like me!)
- The world is vibrant, with unique enemies in each area and different vibes throughout.
- Upgrades are not unbearably grindy to get. If you clean each room out of useful resources on your way through areas, by the time you reach the town of the area, you'll have enough to upgrade your armour and buy health upgrades and badges.
- The soundtrack is great - most of the area themes absolutely slap.
The cons:
- The trials. Most of the trials are fine. They're not too hard, you can dodge the orbs easy enough. Then you get to some that just spit tons of them at you with no rhyme or reason and before you know it, you've touched one and have to start over. These were easily the most exasperating part of the game for me, and I'm not usually someone who has to step away from my system in frustration.
My overall opinion of Archvale is that it's a solid little bullet hell, well-designed for the most part, with a few balance issues here and there. 4/5 stars.