Saturday, December 9, 2023

Beaten: Arkadian Warriors (360)

 So I needed a break from the endless fun of The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, and I was looking for something simple, fun, and quick to beat. At the same time, Microsoft announced that the Xbox 360 store was going to close next year. This lead me to a search of XBox 360 digital-only games that were going to go away once the store closes.

Arkadian Warriors was on that list so I checked it out. It was released to the Xbox Live service in December of 2007 and got mediocre reviews, but it was exactly what I was looking for in a game.

It’s a top down dungeon hack and slash with randomly generated dungeons, three classes to play, lots of loot and levelling, and a mere 19 quests start-to-finish. There is a central hub in the form of a small town where the player receives quests, and starting one opens a portal to the randomly generated dungeon level.

Once there, the top-down action starts right away, as nearby monsters attack as soon as they see the player. However, it’s one of those top-down games where you can usually see the enemies sitting there until you get close enough to activate them, allowing the player to strategically and meticulously pick them apart.

Getting kills raises a bar that when filled allows the player to activate a beast mode and transform into a giant, rampaging form for a short period, tearing through enemies quickly. It’s definitely a fun part of the game.

There is loot to get, levels to raise and all that, but no grinding to do. If the player explores each level and kills every monster, they should level accordingly to keep up with the game’s difficulty. 

There is a co-op mode but I didn’t try it. The graphics are crisp but simple and met my expectations for a 2007 game. In spite of all of the reviews, Arkadian Warriors was the exact kind of fun I was looking for at the time I was looking for it. I’d certainly recommend picking it up before the Xbox 360 store closes next year.

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