Developer: Tasto Alpha Co.
Publisher: Shueisha Games
Platform: PC, Switch
Tested on: Switch
Arcana of Paradise: The Tower – Review
Roguelike deckbuilding games have been rising in popularity for years. The combination of trying over and over to reach further into an ever-changing dungeon and the challenge of optimizing a deck of cards has proven to be a match made in heaven. Now Arcana of Paradise: The Tower tries to put an original twist on this formula to stand out from the crowd.
Story
The story of Arcana of Paradise: The Tower is one of mystery and intrigue. You take control of a group of children that are stuck at the top of a mysterious tower. None of them know why they are there or what is beyond the tower. Each day two of them will enter the tower, encountering fearsome beasts and quirky adults, in hopes of bringing back enough food for all the children or even reaching the bottom of the tower in hopes of reaching the fabled paradise.
‘Why are the children on the tower?’ ‘Does paradise exist?’ ‘Who is the mysterious figure helping you along the way?’ These are some of the questions the game throws at you, offering answers inside the halls of the tower. Some answers might be given along the way, while more mysteries are revealed. This is one of the strongest parts of Arcana of Paradise: The Tower, as it introduces an interesting mystery that will have players wanting more. While there are some reveals about the mysterious tower, not all of them will be handed to the players on a silver platter, and you’ll be expected to fill in some gaps for yourself.
The children you will be playing with are a colorful bunch, each with their own personality and quirks. While none of them have deep character development or long interactions, all of them are established enough to get you invested. The same goes for the other figures you’ll encounter in the tower. Most characters are seen in different encounters, adding some personality and backstory to each of them.
Graphics
Arcana of Paradise: The Tower features a storybook-like art style. A lot of the characters, backgrounds, and cards look like they are pulled straight from a painting. This is a joy to look at and it adds a lot to the atmosphere of the mysterious story. Every element has a unique design and oozes personality.
Sound
While the game only has a handful of songs on its soundtrack, none of them become irritating or boring. The soundtrack fits the style of the game perfectly and is stuck in your head for days to come. Together with the beautiful graphics, the sound design creates an atmosphere that you will be immersed in from start to finish.
Gameplay
Arcana of Paradise: The Tower is a roguelike deck builder that trades in turn-based combat for a more active combat system. Players will take on the role of the children trying to reach the bottom of the tower to visit the fabled paradise.
Each day two children will be chosen to enter the tower, either to collect food for the commune or to try and push forward in the exploration. During each run you’ll encounter a bunch of enemies or other characters, all of these encounters being resolved with the cards in your deck. These cards consist of attack, magic, or support cards. Each child enters the tower with a handful of cards, while more of them can be collected throughout your playthrough. All of these cards can have multiple effects, depending on where you use them or how they are oriented.
During a battle, cards will be played to attack the enemy or support the children. Normal attacks can be used in combos and magical attacks can be combined to change their effect. Finding the right combinations and building your deck is one of the most interesting parts of the game. Not only do you need to pay attention to the specific rules of your cards, but you’ll also have to think about who you’re facing. Each enemy has a unique battle style that has a specific way of beating them, making the game much more manageable when using the right tactic(s). For example, you’ll encounter mages who absorb magical attacks or hanging enemies that will turn your cards upside down, rendering them useless.
Aside from the battles, there are character encounters. These resemble puzzles where you will use your cards to help out other people or get past obstacles. Trying to figure out some of these encounters can be difficult, but once you’ve got the knowledge, you can use it in subsequent descents. No feeling is as satisfying as completing a ton of battles and encounters because you built the right deck and know what to do. While solving these encounters and figuring out battles is where most of the fun lies, the variety is just too small towards the end of the game to keep on feeling special. This is especially true if you want all of the children to reach the end of the tower.
After each descent, you’ll get some points according to how well you’ve done, and these points can unlock new cards and encounters. Together with some free time at the top of the tower where you can interact with the children and restore all the facilities, you’ll be upgrading your deck and characters to make every run through the tower much more manageable.
Conclusion
Legends of Arcana: The Tower is a breath of fresh air in the dungeon crawler genre thanks to an interesting mystery, unique gameplay, and a great atmosphere. There was a lot of fun to be found in creating the perfect deck to make battles and encounters a lot easier. The game does require you to think about possible tactics, which does add some depth to the gameplay. We would have perhaps loved a bit more variety in some of the game’s encounters, as we noticed a fairly big lack of original encounters towards the end of the game. That being said, Legends of Arcana: The Tower is definitely a game worth checking out.
Arcana of Paradise: The Tower - Review,
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