Arcane Raise

About

In "Arcane Raise," players step into the shoes of a novice sorcerer, embarking on a journey to understand and master the arcane arts. Explore an open world filled with mythical creatures, ancient ruins, and powerful artifacts while honing your skills in combat and magical abilities. With a heavy emphasis on character progression and world-building, this immersive RPG offers a rich and engaging experience for magic enthusiasts and adventurers alike.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

46%

Audience ScoreBased on 147 reviews

music3 positive mentions

gameplay4 negative mentions

The game provides a deep black background for Steam profiles, which many players appreciate.
It's an easy way to unlock all achievements quickly, making it appealing for achievement hunters.
The game is inexpensive, offering some entertainment value for the price.

The game feels rushed and unfinished, lacking depth, story, and character development.
Gameplay is repetitive and clunky, with numerous bugs and poor mechanics.
Most assets are default RPG Maker content, leading to a lack of creativity and originality.

gameplay
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
65%
20%
The gameplay has been widely criticized for its repetitiveness, lack of depth, and poorly implemented mechanics, leading to a disappointing experience for players expecting quality RPG elements. Many reviewers noted the tutorial introduces features that are not present in the actual game, and the overall design feels rushed, with a focus on monetization rather than engaging gameplay. While some nostalgia for turn-based mechanics exists, the game ultimately fails to deliver a compelling or original experience.
- “The gameplay is okay with some major nostalgia vibes from the turn-based RPG mechanics and the high-resolution opponents in the battles.”
- “The tutorial is fun, and the gameplay is simple enough.”
- “Basically, since I can sum up the entire game easily: after a tutorial featuring mechanics that don't actually exist in the game, you are dumped in town, with a glitchy-appearance NPC you can talk to in order to fight the final boss at any point, shops selling all of the items in the game, and four portals to one-map dungeons full of obnoxiously high-rate random encounters and treasure chests full of potions and gold.”
- “Gameplay-wise, it's repetitive with little to no depth, and the mechanics feel half-baked.”
- “Definitely a disappointment if you're expecting quality RPG gameplay.”
- “Rampant yet useless monetization options, incompatible DLC, gameplay focused solely on RPG Maker's built-in combat systems and endless grinding, and a tutorial that provides instructions on functions not even used in the game!”
story
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
31%
50%
The game's story is virtually non-existent, with players noting a lack of narrative, character development, and lore. The tutorial introduces mechanics and characters that do not appear in the main game, leading to a disjointed experience devoid of meaningful plot or progression. Overall, the focus seems to be more on monetization than on delivering a cohesive story.
- “Interesting premise without a storyline, but it needed a hunchback of great written dialogue.”
- “Story is non-existent; there is no character depth.”
- “After your extreme tutorial experience, you are spammed by a thousand achievements, then you come back to the game with no plot explanation or context.”
- “No story, no lore, no background story.”
- “After your extreme tutorial experience, you are spammed by a thousand achievements, then you come back to the game, again with no plot explanation or context. You just move ahead and beat your enemies until you win the game, only to realize there was no story nor character development.”
- “Story is non-existent, and there is a lack of character depth.”
graphics
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
30%
40%
The graphics in the game have been widely criticized for their rough pixel art and lack of creativity, with many reviewers noting that they appear to be derived from default RPG Maker assets, indicating minimal effort in design. While some appreciated the sound design, the overall aesthetic and mapping were deemed poor, contributing to a sense of low quality and a focus on monetization over gameplay.
- “The artwork and sound design were actually pretty good.”
- “Sure, there are problems like abilities not being described, items not working, and the game crashing due to missing graphical assets.”
- “Much more effort went into devising obscure forms of monetization for this game than the game, which has no original assets, almost no story, a bare minimum of mechanics, and is less than an hour long when using the 'booster pack.'”
- “The pixel art is rough and lacks creativity, while the overall aesthetic looks like minimal effort was put into it.”
- “All of it is part of the default RPG Maker assets; there are no original sounds or graphics, and the mapping is horrendous.”
- “Much more effort went into devising obscure forms of monetization for this game than the game itself, which has no original assets, almost no story, a bare minimum of mechanics, and is less than an hour long when using the 'booster pack.'”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
83%
Reviews indicate that the game's grinding mechanics are excessive and often feel necessary to progress, particularly for defeating the final boss. Many players find the grinding tedious and primarily beneficial for achievement farming, while the DLC is criticized for bypassing much of the grinding content, which constitutes the bulk of the gameplay. Overall, the grinding is seen as a major drawback, detracting from the overall experience.
- “Technically 1 hour, but the rest for me was grinding just to make the final boss easier.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “DLC skips most of the grinding content, which happens to be the entire game.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews indicate a significant lack of character development, with players noting the absence of a plot and meaningful progression. The game is criticized for offering a simplistic experience that focuses on repetitive gameplay rather than enriching character arcs or storytelling. Overall, players feel that the game fails to provide any depth in character development.
- “There's no plot, no character development, only 1 'town' to explore.”
- “After your extreme tutorial experience, you are spammed by a thousand achievements. Then you come back to the game, again with no plot explanation or context. You just move ahead and beat your enemies until you win the game, only to realize there was no story nor character development.”
- “[*] no character development.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
100%
The music in the game is largely derived from default assets and is similar to tracks found in other RPG Maker titles, lacking originality or distinctiveness. While the game features some interesting character names, the overall musical experience is considered unremarkable and uninspired.
- “The music in this game perfectly complements the gameplay, creating an immersive experience that keeps you engaged.”
- “The soundtrack is a delightful mix of catchy tunes that enhance the overall atmosphere of the game.”
- “Each track is thoughtfully composed, adding depth to the story and making every moment feel more impactful.”
- “Costing $2.99, all the graphics and music used in these games are part of the default assets that come with the engine. The franchise features multiple DLCs, some of them more expensive than the games themselves, that include additional characters, in-game money, and experience. It is worth mentioning that this 'additional content' can be generated with the engine in literal seconds.”
- “The music is copied from other RPG Maker games; nothing really eccentric or special, and oddly, it has cool character names.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
100%
The monetization in this game is criticized for being excessive and largely ineffective, featuring incompatible DLC, unnecessary cheat item packs, and tradeable items that lack originality and functionality. Reviewers note that more effort was put into creating monetization schemes than into developing meaningful gameplay or content, resulting in a shallow experience that feels exploitative.
- “The game features a variety of monetization options, including DLC characters and tradeable Steam marketplace items, but they feel more like an afterthought than a meaningful addition to the gameplay experience.”
- “There are numerous monetization strategies in place, such as cheat item packs and DLC, but they seem to overshadow the actual game content, which is minimal and lacks depth.”
- “While the game offers various monetization avenues, including obscure DLC and marketplace items, they do not enhance the overall experience and often detract from the core gameplay.”
- “Rampant yet useless monetization options, incompatible DLC, gameplay focused solely on RPGMaker's built-in combat systems and endless grinding, and a tutorial that provides instructions on functions not even used in the game!”
- “Much more effort went into devising obscure forms of monetization for this game (DLC characters! A Compile Heart-style cheat item pack! Tradeable Steam marketplace items that look to have been made from stock art which do absolutely nothing!) than the game, which has no original assets, almost no story, a bare minimum of mechanics (3 characters in fixed classes, all items available from the shop at the beginning of the game), and is less than an hour long when using the 'booster pack.'”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Overall, players report a stable experience with no game-ending glitches, allowing for extended playtime without interruptions.
- “I haven't run into any game-ending glitches, which would have made me put this game down well before the 90 minutes I put into it.”
- “The game crashes frequently, making it hard to enjoy the experience.”
- “I experienced several bugs that disrupted my gameplay and made it frustrating.”