We’ve seen countless times that games with relatively simple graphical profiles still manage to create emotional and resonant narratives. Celeste, Axiom Verge, and more recently Animal Well not only achieve a lot with very little, but the limited aesthetic detail almost becomes a strength.
Arco, like the examples above, doesn’t have much in the way of actual graphical detail to boast about. It barely has an 8-bit style (though the specific terminology escapes me), and while the contrasting colors are enhanced and the slightly isometric perspective frames beautiful, stunning environments, it’s again about saying a lot with very little.
Arco is divided into several different game forms that together create a fairly ambitious western story about revenge, faith and man’s unfailing capacity for destruction. The game consists of three distinct narratives, each set in a western fictional world heavily inspired by South America. Thick moustaches, ponchos, invading humans slaughtering the fauna and harvesting the flora, and gruesome tales of burning cities peppered with supernatural desires. It’s the typical western atmosphere, but with the unpredictability of the fictional, and although the dialogues are developed in writing through text bubbles, in true RPG style you shape your own path through the conversations, and partly thanks to this you create your own narrative touch.
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In more practical terms, you move around an open point-and-click world (where each point is its own little slide) in a slightly isometric 2D perspective from a high angle. This is where you talk to others, buy supplies, and take on side quests that often lead to some sort of confrontation. This is where Arco switches gears and presents its battles in a fairly free-form turn-based format. You can see what each enemy will do next turn, and you can choose whether to move or use an ability. The whole dance then becomes about finding a balance between avoiding enemy fire and adopting a more aggressive strategy. There’s a relatively rudimentary skill tree that gradually gives access to new skills, and there’s even the option to build up relatively easily, as your talent points can be spread across several different locations.
The combat system is of course a bit rigid, there’s a combat state and then there’s everything else, and while these gunfights can be frenetic, exciting and intense, this rather linear relationship between the game’s components is a bit inhibiting. Especially considering that Arc isn’t a short game as such.
No, what really sets Arco apart from the crowd of indie games is the resonant narrative. The game makes the player invest in these ephemeral characters who live in a world of infinite natural beauty that is then ruined time and time again by greed, revenge, and the like. While the dialogues are relatively short, they are believable at all times. As with Celeste, it’s still impressive how little it goes beyond these blurry outlines of the character and what he’s telling you as a player to make you feel immensely involved, and that from the first moment and lasts until the credits roll.
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Neither the plain graphics nor the classic (or cliche, depending on how tolerant you are) are a hindrance to Arco, quite the opposite. This game is beautiful to look at, runs like a dream, and exudes a unique personality whether you’re staring out over the digital prairie or defeating three enemies in the most Western way possible. That’s not to say the game doesn’t stumble here and there. Aiming to present an odyssey of sorts, a journey for each of the three characters that make up the anthology, there are little diversions to reinforce the idea of player freedom and opportunity, but it almost always rings hollow. There’s a fishing minigame, side quests that you almost always forget about, and shops that almost always “just” sell food and drink that give health points or the in-game equivalent of mana or action points. These half-baked systems aren’t inherently flawed, but they feel like unnecessary fat around a much more entertaining core.
But make no mistake: Arco is well worth your time, and along with Thank Goodness You’re Here from a few weeks ago, proves that publisher Panic really has a flair for unique indie experiences. What’s more, this game was apparently developed by just a few people, proving that great games can be made within a much tighter scope. Keep it within reach, excuse the redundancy.
