It’s a tight and clever turn-based combat game set in an evocative world.
“Bite-sized” is one of those terms that gets a bad rap. That might be because it brings to mind studying for GCSEs with the help of the Beeb, or because when applied to the food world it’s usually translated as: “a little less than you paid for.” But in games, bite-sized can be a great size. WarioWare is bite-sized: an entire interactive history presented in four seconds. Into the Breach is bite-sized, too: a dizzying well of strategy that you can sink your teeth into in the time it takes to send an email.
What about Arco? Arco is minigames. It takes these things seriously. Its art is minigames, where tiny pixelated heroes and villains can easily disappear behind a typical mouse pointer. It’s in the way this wonderful, weird western story unfolds, in the chewing fits of iMessage scrolling. It’s in the combat, where it puts you directly in the middle of complex feuds that can end themselves in just a few words. This is Into the Breach’s interpretation of minigames, and it’s great.
This is especially exciting because Arco’s early review code was pretty unstable. Now that we’ve had the chance to properly experience the game on PC and Switch, I’m happy to report that you can play without worrying about crashes. What a great game you’ll be playing.
Arco tells three interconnected stories set in a Latin American-style region that is under attack by money-hungry invaders. Players can move around a beautiful and rugged map, talk to people, find unexpected items, take on micro-side quests and engage in combat. Its storytelling is fast and tight, yet rich, building on grief and revenge in an elegant way.
Combat is the highlight, though. Arco uses a simultaneous turn-based system, meaning you and your enemy act privately, then both of you act at the same time. There’s no grid, but positioning is still key. You get an arrow sticking out from your character telling them where to move or aim. Enemy attacks are clearly marked, so it’s fun to figure out the rhythm in each encounter (especially when to stay still and recharge mana) and deploy each character’s special skills that can be unlocked with XP, or to make sure you rush in to attack (or teleport in some cases) before fighting them off to the perimeter.
Add in environmental hazards and enemies that vastly outnumber you in terms of firepower, and the short duration of each battle starts to make sense. You don’t want these things to last fifteen minutes, which probably explains why the bosses aren’t the highlight. Instead, you want a, well, one-shot approach: five minutes to try out a new strategy, either succeed and gain XP, or reload and try something different.
That’s all well and good, but the contrast here highlights a truly thoughtful work of art. As the story unfolds, Arco’s tiny characters and their tiny battles stir up huge emotions, and their story unfolds against a vast backdrop that relies on the small scale of the characters to make the mountains, mesas, and forests tower as they do. This land is in danger, and this land is completely overwhelming in its own way. Then, great, you can take it all in at your own pace and in your own time.
Arco audit code provided by Panic
