Arcane Waters

About

Arcane Waters is a single player and multiplayer role playing game. It was developed by Black Mammoth Games and was released on November 14, 2022. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

"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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71%

Audience ScoreBased on 124 reviews

gameplay11 positive mentions

grinding38 negative mentions

The game has a charming art style and engaging ship combat mechanics, making it enjoyable for players who appreciate pixel graphics and naval battles.
The developers are responsive to player feedback and actively work on updates, showing a commitment to improving the game and its community.
The game offers a mix of farming, crafting, and exploration, providing a variety of gameplay experiences that can be enjoyed solo or with friends.

The game feels incomplete and lacks substantial content, leading to repetitive gameplay and a sense of emptiness after a short time.
There are significant server issues, including high latency and disconnections, which hinder the overall experience and make it difficult to play.
The combat system is clunky and unresponsive, particularly in land battles, which detracts from the enjoyment of the game.

grinding
38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
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 can be enjoyable in moderation, many players express frustration with its slow pace and the need for balance in mechanics. Overall, the game offers a mix of activities, but the emphasis on farming can detract from the exploration and combat elements that some players desire.
- “This can get boring after grinding each over and over again.”
- “Farming can be quite the grind, but if you have it open on another monitor while you do something else, it's tolerable.”
- “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.”
gameplay
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
41%
13%
Gameplay experiences vary significantly among users, with some praising the engaging mechanics, ship exploration, and puzzle-solving elements, while others criticize abrupt shifts in gameplay style and poor level design. Many players appreciate the cozy gameplay loop and community interactions, though concerns about functionality, controller support, and server issues persist, particularly for those with high ping. Overall, the game shows promise in its early access state, but it requires further refinement to enhance the overall experience.
- “Really great music, I love the details on the pixel art, ship gameplay is great, puzzles are the best, and tons of hidden content in the game.”
- “Fun ship gameplay exploring different biomes and on-land battles.”
- “30-40 hours of new gameplay of exploring and doing group voyages, puzzles, upgrading ships/gear, farming.”
- “Halfway through the game, the developers randomly decided they wanted to make an entirely different kind of game, so the gameplay just switches entirely and it's jarring as hell.”
- “Still very early access, so there's a lot to be desired in terms of gameplay and interactions.”
- “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.”
story
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
54%
23%
The story aspect of the game offers a mix of exploration and questing, allowing players to sail and discover new islands at their own pace. However, many users find the narrative progression slow, with quests often lacking clear guidance and some elements feeling incomplete due to early access limitations. While the absence of quest markers encourages exploration, it can lead to frustration when trying to locate items or complete tasks, compounded by bugs and unimplemented features.
- “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 like to 100% games, 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.”
- “Really slow start and quest rewards could be better as they feel like placeholders for now (early access, I guess).”
- “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.”
graphics
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
55%
27%
The graphics of the game are generally well-received, with many players appreciating the simplified and nostalgic pixel art style, which is described as cute and effective. The visuals are polished and contribute positively to the overall aesthetic, although some feel that the repetitive combat mechanics detract from the experience. Overall, the graphics enhance the game's charm and appeal across various genres.
- “I am personally a fan of the simplified graphics and aesthetics of the game in general.”
- “Graphics.”
- “Simple yet effective pixel graphics.”
- “Nostalgic pixel graphics with many different genres mixed in, giving it potential in so many directions.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
Players find the game moderately replayable, particularly due to the voyages across the three available islands. However, the puzzle maps are noted to have zero replay value, limiting overall replayability.
- “The most replayable parts of those islands are the voyages.”
- “As of today, three islands are playable.”
- “Most replayable parts of those islands are the voyages.”
- “Zero replay value for puzzle maps.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
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 being a little buggy due to lack of testing.”
- “Very fun, but 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.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music in the game is highly praised, with players noting its quality and how it enhances the overall experience, particularly during ship battles. The combination of great music and engaging gameplay elements, such as puzzles and hidden content, contributes to a captivating atmosphere.
- “The ship battles and music are my favorite part so far, and there is so much more to come.”
- “Really great music! I love the details in the pixel art, the ship gameplay is great, the puzzles are the best, and there are tons of hidden content in the game.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game appears to be effective in attracting interest, as evidenced by users discovering it through social media advertisements and subsequently adding it to their wish lists.