Korean RPG developed by Gravity (makers of Ragnarok Online) and Sonnori and later published in Japan by Nihon Falcom. Predecessor to Ragnarok Online with interesting characters and world and combat system similar to Grandia. Arcturus is a Korean-made role-playing game in Japanese style, similar to Grandia II in visual presentation. The player can choose between two prologues chapters (either Elluard's or Sizz's), after which the two stories converge. There is no overworld in the game, and areas are interconnected. Battles take place in the same environment as exploration, and are turn-based. The player can navigate characters on the battle field and also take their speed rankings into account, as executions of attacks and other moves depends on them. Magic can be learned by certain characters and is divided into four elements: Water, Air, Earth, and Fire. Casting spells requires a certain amount of real time when in combat. Characters learn new spells by repeatedly using available ones in the correspondent category. Those who do not have access to magic can execute various special attacks with their own separate point gauges. In addition to HP, characters also have "barrier points", which are reduced first when enemies damage them.
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Arcturus (not to be confused with the UK-developed game with the same title) is what appears to be a role playing game, originally released in Korea in the year 2000 and reissued for Japan in 2003 (on my birthday!). It was developed by Sonnori and Gravity (yes, the Ragnarok Online people), and released in Japan by Falcom.
I've found little information on this game, but RPGamer lists it as being similar to Xenogears. I wish I could tell you if that is good or bad, but since I've never played Xenogears, you'll have to hope for the best. The graphics are VERY pretty for such an old game, though!
So what about Arcturus itself? It's more or less a very rough passion project. The game is extremely grindy and unbalanced to the point of being able to soft-lock yourself in the final dungeon if you fall under the threshold of being able to beat the enemies. At the same time, however, the "hit-and-run" style of combat is extremely addicting and just 'feels' right to play as you constantly make use of spells and knock-backs to control the flow of the fight. The OST is also quite good, featuring the work of the famous Korean VGM outfit SoundTeMP, whose exciting and avant-garde style gives the soundtrack a sense of novelty and variety. The cast of characters are mostly decent and the game does not tend to shy away from showing an uglier side of humanity, whether it's through the arrogant Elluard, the avaricious Maria or through grievous and difficult journey that the main character, Sizz, embarks on. Much of this 'ugliness' is tied in with Arcturus's extremely dark plot; the game's inspirations include the likes of Norwegian Black Metal and Neon Genesis Evangelion. The plot can occasionally be a convoluted mindfuck, even outright juvenile and edgy, but it isn't afraid to take on heavy topics and by the end of the journey I'd say you have a decent idea of what Kim wanted to express even if some of the individual beats failed to register. In sum, Arcturus is a flawed work but one brimming with passion, a canvas for some new and excellent ideas with a flawed execution perhaps owing to the sheer ambition of them. For better or worse, there really aren't many RPGs like it.