Arc Savior
- December 7, 2018
- SquidMonkeyStudios
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io StoreDiscover a beautiful and brutal universe through three immersive stories. Champion blazing fast dog-fights, Out wit aggressive defense systems and overcome constant overwhelming odds. This is your goal, this is your duty, this is your way of life...
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The flight model and combat system are solid, providing an enjoyable arcade-style experience.
- The game features interesting ship designs and allows for customizable loadouts, enhancing gameplay variety.
- Despite its flaws, the game has a high level of polish for an indie title, showcasing the developer's effort.
- The story is bland and short, with missions that are overwhelmingly repetitive and lack engaging content.
- There are significant UI issues, including important dialogue and instructions appearing during intense combat, making it hard to follow.
- The difficulty spikes are frustrating, with some missions being excessively hard without proper checkpoints or guidance.
- story39 mentions
- 8 % positive mentions
- 85 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The story in "Arc Savior" is criticized for being short, bland, and overly reliant on repetitive missions, with a total playtime of around 2-3 hours. Players noted the lack of voice acting and poor mission design, which often leads to frustrating trial-and-error gameplay without checkpoints. While some appreciated the game's mechanics and ship designs, the overall narrative experience is seen as lacking depth and polish, making it difficult to stay engaged.
“Arc Savior tries to present 15 missions in 3 different story arcs that tell a coherent story, but the game relies too much on a try-fail-retry loop where you are tasked with learning what you failed to do each time.”
“There is a story campaign over which the game takes place, but it is very short.”
“I played through the first 6 missions of the game on my Twitch stream today and was pleasantly surprised.”
“The story is bland and short (beat it in about 2-3 hours), the missions are overwhelmingly repetitive, and the final boss is a boring slog.”
“The plot is very basic, having been done better in space sims of the past, not to mention many typos throughout the game.”
“Another thing you would expect from a supposed space sim according to the Steam tags is the ability to travel beyond the one area you are plopped into in any given mission, yet the warp gates are just props meant to look pretty the moment you enter a mission.”
- gameplay10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The gameplay is generally well-received, with many praising the space combat mechanics and controls, particularly for their arcade-like feel and responsiveness. However, some users noted issues with mission polish and artificially inflated difficulty, which detracted from the overall experience. Tutorials and a gentle difficulty curve were highlighted as positive aspects, but UI problems during combat were a significant frustration for some players.
“The gameplay is about as simple as it can get, but it plays nicely and satisfies.”
“Arc Savior is a really well polished and fun game; luckily for me, it has a nice and gentle difficulty slope that is accompanied by some detailed tutorial missions that showcase the various gameplay mechanics.”
“I loved everything about the gameplay and space combat physics of Everspace -- I feel like they perfected the one-on-one starfighter movement with keyboard and mouse.”
“What should have been a good game absolutely ruined by artificially inflated difficulty (deus ex machina mechanics handled really badly on a number of levels, matters not how good you are as a pilot or how smartly you've handled things) and UI issues (the number of times where your screen is 1/3rd taken over by people talking while you're still in the middle of dogfighting is really infuriating - even worse they're usually talking about things you really need to pay attention to or you're going to fail the mission).”
“I feel like the space combat systems and mechanics are sound for such a game, but the missions really need more polish.”
“I say 'type games' because those games' levels of quality are on a different level from this, and I want the comparison to focus specifically on the gameplay type and not the rest of what made those games what they were.”
- graphics9 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The graphics are generally well-received, featuring a blend of generic visuals with distinctively designed ships that evoke a Gundam-like anime aesthetic. While the overall visual quality is good and performance is solid, the graphics options are limited to basic settings. Players appreciate the combination of styles reminiscent of Star Conflict and Everspace, enhancing the game's appeal.
“The ships are nicely made and have a certain aesthetic to them that I wish the game leaned into more; there is a distinctive almost Gundam-like anime quality to them.”
“Overall, the visuals are good, the gameplay is nice, and the sound is just dandy.”
“The graphics are really good, and the performance is right up there with it.”
“The visuals immediately look a bit generic.”
“Graphics options are also basic; resolution, detail level, and v-sync.”
“It's like this game takes the graphics style of Star Conflict and matches it with space combat and ship movement similar to Everspace.”
- music4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it forgettable and generic, while others appreciate it as a strong point. Overall, it reflects the indie developer's effort but lacks distinctiveness, contributing to a somewhat generic experience.
“Music is great.”
“All assets (including the music) are most likely Unity Asset Store quality, which makes the game very generic.”
“Visually and musically, it is not spectacular, but certainly enough effort was put in by the obviously very indie developer.”
“The music is forgettable.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is praised for its impressive graphics and solid performance, although some players feel that the gameplay has shifted from engaging space combat to a more simplistic shooting gallery experience reliant on precision rather than skill.
“The graphics are really good, and the performance is right up there with it.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -300 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviewers note that while the game captures the charm of classic SNES titles, it lacks the depth and features that typically enhance replayability in Japanese games, making it feel less expansive and engaging for multiple playthroughs.
“The game offers a variety of paths and choices that make each playthrough feel unique and engaging.”
“With multiple endings and character builds, I find myself coming back to explore different strategies and outcomes.”
“The random events and challenges keep the gameplay fresh, ensuring that no two sessions are ever the same.”
“The way it moves and the things it manages to do basically would fit as a legitimate SNES title if released 30 years ago, minus the little things the Japanese do to make their games replayable or feel bigger than they are.”
