Arcane Waters
- November 14, 2022
- Black Mammoth Games
- 17h median play time
Get on Steam"Arcane Waters" is a nautical action-adventure game that takes players on a journey through treacherous seas filled with mythical creatures and ancient curses. As captain of your ship, you must navigate the waters, battle enemies, and solve puzzles to uncover the truth behind a mysterious artifact. Featuring a dynamic weather system, day and night cycles, and a variety of customizable ships, "Arcane Waters" offers a vast open world to explore.
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Reviews
- The game has a charming art style and engaging ship combat, making it a fun experience overall.
- The developers are responsive to player feedback and actively work on updates and bug fixes, showing a commitment to improving the game.
- The community is friendly and supportive, creating a welcoming environment for new players.
- The game suffers from a lack of content and direction, leading to repetitive gameplay and a grindy experience.
- There are significant server issues and lag, which can detract from the overall enjoyment of the game.
- The tutorial is poorly designed, leaving players confused about how to progress and utilize game mechanics effectively.
- grinding32 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is heavily centered around farming, which players find both relaxing and tedious, often leading to repetitive gameplay. While farming is the primary method for earning gold and offers a cathartic experience, many players express frustration with its slow pace and the imbalance between farming and other activities like exploration and combat. Overall, the game appeals to those who enjoy a grindy, old-school RPG feel, but improvements in farming mechanics and balance are desired.
“This can get boring after grinding each over and over again.”
“I played for 17 hours grinding potatoes so I can get a bigger boat... I'm pretty much at the end game.”
“The farming to being a pirate ratio is not so fun; I find myself logging in and spending my time farming potatoes and carrots instead of exploring and fighting and looting and being a general pirate.”
- gameplay17 mentions
- 41 % positive mentions
- 41 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The gameplay is described as cozy and engaging, particularly for fans of 2D MMOs and RPGs, offering a diverse range of activities such as exploration, ship mechanics, farming, and crafting. While players appreciate the fun mechanics and community support, some express concerns about the limited utility abilities, lack of boss mechanics, and controller support issues. Overall, the game shows promise with its foundational gameplay loop, despite some early access bugs and missing features.
“If you've ever been a fan of 2D MMOs and/or RPGs, this is certainly worth the money. You'll get some decent gameplay hours even in its current state, and there's plenty more content coming in steadily.”
“Fun ship gameplay exploring different biomes and on-land battles.”
“Enjoying this game so far; the exploration and ship mechanics are my favorite aspect of the game.”
“There is only one utility ability/heal in the game right now and the bosses don't have mechanics you have to play around too often.”
“But as of right now there are several mechanics that just don't exist; there is a level system for crafting, farming, and the like.”
“Disappointing, from what I've seen in my short time playing and interacting with other players, the game mechanics are worse than a 2005 flash game somehow.”
- story10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The story aspect of the game is criticized for its lack of clarity and guidance, leaving players feeling lost as they navigate quests with minimal explanations. Many users report frustration with unimplemented quest items and bugs that hinder progress, while others appreciate the exploration and farming elements that allow for personal customization and completion tracking. Overall, the narrative experience is seen as needing improvement in terms of quest structure and functionality.
“Explore, quest, and solve puzzles…”
“Finding quest items is tricky at first; there are no real quest markers, which is really cool. You kind of need to learn the zones/areas and what drops what.”
“Farming and exploring are both nice aspects of the game where you can set up, decorate, and manage your own farm. If you enjoy 100% completion, there are trackers in towns to see how many quests in the area you've completed, along with exploring the map to fill it out.”
“You just kind of get thrown out into the world taking quests with no explanation as to how you should ascertain some of the items.”
“It gives you some quests that have some information in your log, and others that you just have to kind of figure out, and it's frustrating.”
“There are quest items that don't do anything because they're not implemented, and there are quests you can't finish because the final part in the same tile hasn't been implemented.”
- graphics10 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The game's graphics are praised for their simplified, nostalgic pixel art style, which many players find charming and effective. The cheerful aesthetics and well-polished visuals contribute to a delightful experience, although some feel that the repetitive combat mechanics detract from the overall enjoyment. Overall, the graphics successfully blend various genres while maintaining a cute and engaging appearance.
“I am personally a fan of the simplified graphics and aesthetics of the game in general.”
“Simple yet effective pixel graphics.”
“Nostalgic pixel graphics with many different genres mixed in, giving it potential in so many directions.”
“Right now it's a delightful mix of Stardew and Sid Meier's Pirates, with well-done classic sprite graphics.”
“I really like the art style and what I've played so far, but the experience thing is really irritating.”
- replayability3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- -33 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game offers some replayability through its voyages across three playable islands, but players note that the puzzle maps lack replay value, limiting overall replayability.
“As of today, three islands are playable.”
“As of today, only three islands are playable.”
“The most replayable parts of those islands are the voyages.”
“There is zero replay value for puzzle maps.”
- stability3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, users report that the game's stability is lacking, with a smooth initial experience overshadowed by numerous bugs and issues in later stages. The user interface struggles with visibility, animations are inconsistent, and the PvP mode is described as a confusing and buggy mess, indicating a need for further testing and refinement.
“I'd have expected the initial experience to be smooth, with the later stages a little buggy due to lack of testing.”
“Very fun, very buggy.”
“The UI is really struggling with visibility, animations are rough around the edges, and PvP was just an incomprehensible, buggy mess with missing features.”
- music1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Users highlight the music during ship battles as a standout feature, expressing enthusiasm for its quality and anticipating more musical experiences in the game.
“The ship battles and music are my favorite part so far, and there is so much more to come.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect is primarily driven by social media advertising, as users discover the game through platforms like Instagram, leading them to add it to their wish lists.
