A Slick, Premium, Rhythm Game

2018/03/01

Review of Arcaea, a game by lowiro for Android and iOS.

I want to like Arcaea. I really do. On so many accounts, it’s a great music rhythm game. Its mechanic is simple, but a pleasure to play. It has the most pleasant-looking UI in all of mobile gaming, with a strong consistent aesthetic. It has an excellent artcore/electronica music library. A shame that most of that library is locked behind steep paywalls. Paywalls, plural.

As music rhythm games go, Arcaea doesn’t diverge much from the usual formula. It uses the basic “notes fall down to the bottom” sequence but added a 3rd dimension to it: sliding notes are located “above” the usual scale, allowing multiple notes to not just be side-by-side, but also top-and-bottom. This new mechanic becomes more apparent in harder maps, where the floating “arcs” can play alongside the single-beat notes below. The result is something that fits the nature of its artcore music: multiple contrasting beats playing on top of (or, well, “under”) flowing melodies.

But obviously, we all know what makes a rhythm game appealing isn’t its gameplay mechanic as much as its visual. During gameplay Arcaea has a smooth unadorned interface; none of the wild visual effect that defined Voez or Lanota. The background changes depending on the song, and some maps might twitch and tilt a bit, but that’s pretty much it. It’s mostly very clean; the arcs are all the flair it needs.

It’s this cleanliness, however, where Arcaea’s visual style shines. It’s a measured kind of clean. It’s the clean of frosted glass so carefully crafted and polished it looks effortless. Somehow the smooth visual interface also plays well into its lore: songs are shards of memories. Behind the glass, you can almost make out a scenery of a sort. The clean interface is also accentuated by Arcaea’s sharply-drawn characters who accompany you as you go through the menus.

Enough about the good things. Let’s talk the bad. Paywalls. And for that matter, horrible F2P influences.

Arcaea is free to play with a decent repertoire of free songs, but so few of it is playable at the start. Maps of higher difficulty have to be unlocked using in-game currency you accrue as you play; for your first time playing, this isn’t too bad. A lot of the songs, however, have to first be unlocked by playing through its online-only “World Mode”. While in this mode, you earn “steps” towards a new reward when you play a song you already have. Earn enough steps, and you’ll unlock either a new song, character, or more in-game currency. And did I mention the amount of time you can play is limited by a stamina system?

Oddly, I don’t mind the stamina system as much. I don’t usually play games for hours, so the stamina system is a decent way to pace out my gaming time. Or at least that was my impression at the beginning. The number of plays I have to do to earn those “steps” are obscene. I feel obligated to open the game every hour or so and play the songs I’ve already played again and again.

That’s not a good sign.

A piece of music becomes annoying after you’ve listened to it a dozen or so times. That, and the small pool of songs you start with are obviously meant so you’ll be compelled premium song packs. They’re a pricey bunch, with each pack of only 5 songs costing $5. A decent experience with the game, then, will cost you $30 or so.

That’s not an unreasonable amount to pay, but it just makes me lament again why there are so few mobile games that are upfront about their price. Arcaea is a high-quality game and it holds that fact firmly. Games in the F2P market usually ends up being predatory in its attempt to appeal to the free players. They drain you of either your time or money by dangling its virtual rewards just out of reach. I can see that Arcaea is trying to avoid that, and I honestly want to support it, but wrapping what is basically its entry price around the same predatory tactics is a bit disturbing.

You know what I would like? A clear “what you see is a demo” signpost, followed by an option to buy “the full game” in one go. Bam. Sure, there might be less people buying the game, but the game would be more highly-regarded. It also does mean less people would unknowingly fall into the life-sucking hole that is the F2P market.

Arcaea is an excellent premium rhythm game, masquerading as a free game. I still think it’s worth a play even if you’re not planning to pay. At the very least you get a taste of its fantastic interface and unique arc gameplay; at the end of the day you can uninstall it and move on to other rhythm games. If you do have the cash, however, and if you like this sort of music, then I can suggest no better music game for your mobile devices.

Except, of course Cytus II. I don’t even know what it’ll be like but if it’s as good as the first game, then that’s probably a better place to spend your cash.