Aarklash: Legacy

About

"Aarklash: Legacy" is a tactical adventure game set in a land of constant conflict between the forces of Light, Destiny, and Darkness. As a mercenary squad wrongly accused, you'll fight for survival and uncover dark secrets on an epic quest. Control four characters, battling across diverse lands with your actions determining Aarklash's fate, inspired by the Confrontation figurines universe.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

78%

Audience ScoreBased on 352 reviews

story63 positive mentions

grinding15 negative mentions

Unique strategy RPG that allows for tactical battles with a real-time with pause combat system, making combat engaging and strategic.
The game features a variety of characters with distinct skills and abilities, allowing for diverse team compositions and strategies.
Good graphics and art design, creating an immersive atmosphere that enhances the gameplay experience.

The story is linear and lacks depth, with minimal character development and a predictable plot.
Puzzles can be tedious and disrupt the flow of gameplay, often feeling unnecessary or overly simplistic.
Limited equipment options and a lack of visual customization for characters can make the loot system feel underwhelming.

story
192 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
59%
8%
The story in the game is generally viewed as linear and lacking depth, with many reviewers noting that it serves primarily as a backdrop for the combat rather than a compelling narrative. While some elements, such as unique character backgrounds and voice acting, are appreciated, the overall plot is often described as generic, unengaging, and sometimes tedious, leading to a mixed reception regarding its execution and memorability. Despite its shortcomings, a few players found the story intriguing at the outset, though it tends to lose momentum as the game progresses.
- “I enjoyed the voice acting, as cheesy as it can be, and the story was compelling.”
- “The story was a pretty unique one in that you aren't a typical 'good guy' but you belong to a group that is sort of in a grey area.”
- “The story, atmosphere, and voice acting is a little flat but okay.”
- “The hook is strong, but the story quickly loses steam after a few areas, and excluding unique enemies and set pieces, there are not a lot of memorable story events.”
- “Basically, some developers had an idea for combat and hastily scrawled a story around it.”
- “The story is probably the weakest point.”
gameplay
132 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
69%
5%
The gameplay is generally praised for its solid mechanics, combining real-time action with a pause feature that allows for strategic planning, reminiscent of classic CRPGs like Dragon Age and Baldur's Gate. While some players find the combat engaging and the character management rewarding, others criticize the linearity and simplicity of the gameplay, noting that it can become tedious and lacks depth in RPG elements. Overall, the game is recommended for its tactical combat and user-friendly interface, though it may not satisfy those seeking a rich narrative or complex mechanics.
- “The gameplay is solid, with a good mix of real-time action and strategic pause mechanics that allow for thoughtful planning during battles.”
- “The real-time tactical gameplay may be paused for strategy and intelligent action queuing at any time, akin to Bioware's Mass Effect or Dragon Age series.”
- “Aarklash Legacy is a really good group control game, reminiscent of the days of Baldur's Gate or Dragon Age gameplay-wise.”
- “The gameplay is mostly played in real time, but the pause mechanic allows you to break from the mayhem in the fight to plan out your next wave of attacks and precisely move your group members around the battlefield.”
- “Gameplay itself is fairly linear; you progress from area to area, clearing preset encounters and solving an occasional puzzle.”
- “The mechanics are clunky, and Dragon Age: Origins plays better, has better UI, better camera, and better graphical displays of what's happening on the battlefield.”
graphics
76 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
49%
46%
5%
The graphics of the game have received widespread praise for their quality, artistic style, and stability, especially considering it is an indie title. Many reviewers highlight the beautiful character designs, vibrant colors, and impressive visual effects, although some note minor performance issues and a lack of optimization during intense gameplay. Overall, the visuals contribute significantly to the game's immersive experience, making it a standout feature for players.
- “The artwork and character design is very pretty.”
- “The graphics work alone is worth that.”
- “The game has an absolutely gorgeous art style and character design.”
- “Outside of core gameplay and graphics; this game is exceptionally bad.”
- “My complaints on the game are the constant frame skips when a lot of enemies appear due to lack of optimization for the graphics and the simple options menu.”
- “The only bright side is sympathetic graphics and overall high production value (for an indie game), but who cares if gameplay is so poor and the game is boring and unexciting.”
grinding
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews highlight that the grinding aspect of the game is largely viewed as tedious, with many players finding the lengthy boss encounters and complex mechanics to be repetitive and boring over time. While some appreciate the challenge and tactical elements, others feel that the lack of traditional grinding and leveling opportunities can lead to frustration, especially on harder difficulties. Overall, the execution of these mechanics detracts from the enjoyment for many players, despite some finding fun in the game's unique approach.
- “The bosses are long, tedious raid-like events which will probably need to be done multiple times to figure out.”
- “Essentially - great ideas with tedious execution that just gets boring a couple of hours in.”
- “The harder difficulty levels are extraordinarily tedious and resemble the kind of grind in an MMO.”
music
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
36%
21%
The music in the game is generally described as average and simplistic, serving its purpose without being intrusive. While some reviewers appreciated the atmospheric soundtracks and orchestrated pieces, others found the music to be forgettable and inconsequential, with a few noting that it complements the gameplay well. Overall, the sound design is considered decent but not particularly memorable.
- “The graphics were surprisingly good, along with the music.”
- “Solid music, generally good presentation.”
- “It has very pretty graphics, and cool music.”
- “Sound and music in general are okay although rather simplistic for the most part.”
- “Looks like Baldur's Gate, but voice acting is bad and so is the music.”
- “The musical score, while inoffensive, was also inconsequential.”
replayability
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
38%
38%
The game's replayability is primarily derived from using different characters and enhancing various abilities, but it only becomes significant after reaching about 30% of the game. Many players note that once completed, the game offers minimal replay value, with most replay opportunities limited to tackling higher difficulty levels or achieving missed objectives. Overall, while there are some avenues for replay, the consensus is that the game lacks substantial replayability, making it more suitable for those seeking a challenge rather than extensive replay options.
- “The replayability of the game primarily comes from using different characters or deciding to enhance different abilities.”
- “Overall, a pretty decent game that can be played in different ways with different teammates and skills, significantly changing the gameplay, on top of a difficulty level high enough to provide some replayability value.”
- “Each character has 4 basic abilities that can be leveled separately, and the choices are never easy, which leads to replayability.”
- “Unfortunately that means that the replayability only starts about 30% or so through the game once you have all 8 characters.”
- “Though I would suggest only picking it up on a decent sale as it has little to no replay value.”
- “After you have completed the game it offers little to no real replay value unless you wish to play at a different difficulty or if you missed an achievement that you would like to get.”
character development
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
Character development in the game is a mixed bag; while the character designs and artwork are praised for their uniqueness and beauty, the actual development mechanics are limited, featuring a minimal skill tree and basic stat enhancements through items. Players note a lack of customization options and depth in character progression, leading to a more linear experience despite enjoyable combat. Overall, the aesthetic appeal is strong, but the depth of character development falls short.
- “To me, an RPG absolutely requires character development.”
- “The story is decent, and the character design is a bit more unique than just another fantasy RPG game.”
- “The game has an absolutely gorgeous art style and character design.”
- “Character development is only 4 items with RNG stats and a tiering/affix system straight out of Diablo, plus a minimal skill tree.”
- “Overwrought character design, yet highly limited abilities.”
- “It's linear, and doesn't really have much character development (you do, however, level up skills (easy and free to respec) and find some items that just give you some basic stats), but the battles are pretty fun.”
optimization
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
14%
43%
Overall, the game's optimization is generally well-received, with smooth performance and minimal load times noted by many players. However, some users experienced frame rate issues during intense moments and pointed out a lack of depth in optimization options. While the graphics are impressive for an indie title, there are mixed feelings about the overall optimization experience.
- “The game runs smoothly, didn't notice any bugs, load times are minimal.”
- “It is a solid RPG with engaging mechanics; it seems perfectly optimized.”
- “And the game is decently optimized.”
- “The graphics are impressive for an indie game, but I found some performance issues.”
- “My complaints on the game are the constant frame skips when a lot of enemies appear due to lack of optimization for the graphics and the simple options menu.”
- “There's no real grinding, collecting, or optimization to be had here by the hardcore gamer.”
atmosphere
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
43%
The game's atmosphere is generally praised for its beauty, uniqueness, and immersive soundtracks, contributing to a fresh and engaging experience. However, some reviews note that while the graphics and overall atmosphere are decent, they could be improved, and the story may not fully captivate all players. Overall, the atmosphere is a strong point, enhancing the RPG elements despite some narrative shortcomings.
- “Still today (2020) the game's graphics are beautiful, the story is great, the UI is polished, and the lore and overall atmosphere are fresh, unique, and simply amazing.”
- “The writing and atmosphere were unique.”
- “Great atmosphere and novel setting.”
- “The story, atmosphere, and voice acting are a little flat but okay.”
- “I must say, the story couldn't really capture my interest, but I played it for its RPG elements and atmosphere.”
- “The graphics and atmosphere are okay.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability has been criticized for frequent glitches and crashes, leading to a frustrating experience for players. While some see potential in the game, the current performance issues significantly detract from its overall enjoyment.
- “Other strange glitches coming in and out of scenes.”
- “I'll still play the game, but right now, I'm giving it a thumbs down due to the buggy crashes.”
- “This game looks like it has a lot of potential, but it's buggy and plays like garbage.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by witty character banter and well-delivered voice acting, with many players finding the jokes and snide remarks to be genuinely amusing.
- “Character banter can be funny and amusing.”
- “The voice acting is good, and the jokes and snide remarks are humorous.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviewers highlight that the game evokes strong emotional connections, particularly through its well-developed characters that inspire genuine investment. The nostalgic combat experience further enhances the emotional engagement, making it a recommended title for players seeking depth in their gaming experience.
- “Most characters deserve genuine emotional investment.”