Indie Game Review: Arcade Spirits
Let me preface this review. Arcade Spirits isn’t the worst visual novel I’ve ever played.
That’s it that’s the preface.
So, to start, it is important for me to explain something. I am a black gay transman. So when I start talking about some of the negative things about this visual novel, that is the wheelhouse from which I am coming from.
Let’s get the biggest issue with the game out-of-the-way first so that I don’t have to stick it in the middle somewhere.
Hazma, a non-romanceable character in the game, is one of many questionable stereotypes and I was immediately displeased by his appearance. I couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t only incredibly unnecessary but it only got worse later on, when he offered to open up a family restaurant alongside the dream arcade the protagonist is trying to make.
He is also unsurprisingly accompanied by a stereotypical Indian accent. He also has an incredibly annoying quirk of clapping whenever addressing who I assume are people who work for him or you. I don’t know if this is another stereotype, but considering the rest of his character, it didn’t really help. I actually like Hazma and almost wish he’d been romanceable because, if one disregards his stereotyping, he is several times more interesting than the main cast.
Speaking of stereotypes, we have to talk about Mateo.
I did not romance him, so there are certain details I may be unaware of with his character. The ones you do get to experience are mostly harmless. However it does make me wonder if the Dev team consulted any POC during development.
There is a bigger reason I am asking this now, and we’ll get to that.
Mateo is a presumably Latinx character whose main character draw is being a dancer. One thing that stuck out to me is that he is one of the most sexualized characters in the game. No one is explicitly sexualized, but his character design and what is ostensibly the ‘beach episode’’ of the visual novel left me with some thoughts on the matter.
Teo doesn’t even cause a reaction. Seeing him is like eating a steak with no spice or salt. -Guil Bandini
I really don’t want to go through every single character because frankly they are all stereotypes, but I think it’s important to discuss one more to really explain why Arcade Spirits has some serious issues that should have been addressed far before it was stamped for publishing. One of the most egregious characters is Queenbee. I can’t even actually recall if she has a real name in fact, but that isn’t the real problem.
The problem is Queenbee is angry, aggressive and a lot of the time, incredibly ill-mannered.The rude black woman is a flaw I’ve seen to the point of ad nauseam and it has to stop. I was incredibly disappointed by her and her design the moment she showed up on-screen. I couldn’t believe it. Her design is incredibly lackluster and she feels more like she was painted brown instead of being designed from the get go to be black.
There are also problems with Gavin, the black male option, but like I said, I don’t want to list every single character.
The game also doesn’t feel very gay. I don’t know how I explain this without it sounding like I am stereotyping queer people like myself, but it feels like Arcade Spirits was created to please everyone and not really specifically made for the LGBTQ+ community. It could very easily be a stereotypical hetero romance visual novel and nothing significant would have changed.
Everyone is gay or straight for the main character regardless of gender and there is something I have always disliked about that.
Now, with all that out of the way. I should probably at least give my thoughts on the story. It is incredibly by-the-book. It isn’t bad, but it doesn’t do anything new. At no point was I really surprised by anything or excited to learn more. After a while, I was just clicking through dialogue to get to the next dialogue choice. Again, the story isn’t bad; it just doesn’t challenge any storytelling clichés.
It also suffers from “nostalgia is cool, right guys?” So retro, an aesthetic that I absolutely abhor, but that is a personal gripe I won’t actually hold against the game.
The music is good. I can’t say at any point I found issues with it outside of wishing there were a couple more tracks personalized to the characters. The music just didn’t feel like it was meant for them. It only serves as non invasive white noise, which is a little disappointing.
I don’t give scores on games because numbers are arbitrary, but upon checking to see what sort of reviews other people had given. I feel like I might have to with this particular game.
If I absolutely was forced to give this game a number out of ten, it would sit at a solid 4.5 to 5. It doesn’t do anything new, the art is fine but lackluster, it is full of stereotypes and I just wanted to get through it by the end. I could say a lot more about it, but I don’t want to turn this into a three thousand word take down piece. I am not that kind of reviewer.
Lastly, I did get this game for free. I obtained it through the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality on Itch, which everyone should check out before they run out of time. I say free, because the deal going on with the bundle is insanity.
The Bundle: https://itch.io/b/520/bundle-for-racial-justice-and-equality
Arcade Spirits Website: https://www.arcadespirits.com/
