Arcadia: The Crystal Wars

Arcadia: The Crystal Wars

Arcadia: The Crystal Wars is an open-world, squad-based fusion of role playing and strategy, combining traditional RPG elements such as character skills, talents, quests, dungeons, and raids with strategic base-building, farming, and crafting. Explore the world of Arcadia in non-linear fashion as a single character, or recruit up to 20 characters and dive into the rich storyline while taking an active part in shaping the outcome of the Crystal Wars.

Features:

  • Dive into the Quest Driven Story

    Arcadia also offers a rich story that you can dive into at any time. The unique, hand written quests will take you from city to city, meeting unique characters, exploring dungeons and raids to retrieve artifacts, and helping to guide the outcome of the Crystal Wars as you see fit. Will you fight alongside Tech Commander Kyber, to rid the world of the Crystal’s corruption? Or will you seek out the Etir, to understand the Crystal at its' source? The choices you make will decide the fate of Arcadia.

  • Explore an Open World

    Looking for a non-linear experience? Then Arcadia is your sandbox. Just because the factions are engaged in the Crystal War, does not mean that you have to. Would you rather be a lone adventurer, seeking the challenges of dungeons and raids? Or a trader, developing trade routes and settlements and only using combat as a means to defend yourself? You have the freedom to make up your own story.

  • Unlock Powerful Magic or Advanced Technology

    As you explore Arcadia, you will undoubtedly encounter the power of the Crystal. Using special techniques, the power of the Crystal can either be consumed directly by your characters to unlock powerful magic or be harnessed and used as a power source to power advanced technology. Whichever you choose, your characters will gain new abilities as well as physically change. The more power they acquire, the greater the physical transformation.

  • Character Customization

    Each character within your faction has a set of skills related to Combat, Crafting, and Labor. It’s up to you how to train them and what talents they acquire. Do you want a solder, capable of wielding heavy armor into battle during war but also able to craft the finest armor in the game? Or how about a farmer, wearing light armor yet when combat calls wields the most power magic to heal your allies and decimate your enemies? The choice is yours

  • Unique Character Races

    Arcadia offers four unique character races that you can create and recruit into your faction. While each race has strengths and weaknesses in terms of starting skill level and rate of experience gain, the ultimate path of each character you control is completely up to you. Has a powerful Rhingar, who has trained with one handed weapons and shields to defend her allies, offered to join your faction but you need a armorsmith? So be it, recruit her and take advantage of her racial bonus in Armor Crafting, while also being capable of defending your settlements from attack.

  • Develop Settlements

    Whether you control one character or twenty, you’ll want to consider developing settlements to fuel your adventures. Perhaps you only need a single base camp, with a place to rest and to cook food? Or maybe you are ready to take an active role in the Crystal Wars and want multiple strategic base locations where you have farms to feed your troops and forges to craft armor and weapons.

  • Explore Dungeons and Raids

    It’s been said that great riches and power can be found in the most difficult of locations. Arcadia is no exception. Take up to five of your characters as you dive into one of five dungeons, each with unique enemy types and scripted boss fights or brave it all and take up to 10 of your characters to fight in one of five raids.


Read More: Best City Builder Strategy RPG Games.


Arcadia: The Crystal Wars on Steam

Skyclimbers

Skyclimbers


Read More: Best City Builder Early Access Games.


Skyclimbers on Steam

Mutiny Island

Mutiny Island

This game could be so much better. I have warped to grey screen death countless times. I camped while being attacked by a skeleton, woke up on Davy Jones' ship surrounded by the undead, and glitched to the starting warp. Jumped through many stone walls diagonally, and fought tigers from vantage point because of it. In my short time with this piece i have seen so many classic mishaps that that in itself is making me appreciate it more.

It’s $8, buggy as hell and absolutely wonderful.

Real player with 16.5 hrs in game


Read More: Best City Builder Pirates Games.


I received a copy of this game to Let’s Play it and I loved it quite a bit. This is a really fun open-world game with a lot of stuff to explore and experiment around with!

Real player with 13.8 hrs in game

Mutiny Island on Steam

Isolated Life

Isolated Life

Don’t buy or install it, the owner says you can build underwater and that is because they have not made the water act like water and they have not bothered to do any more work on it since adding it to Steam. It’s a dead end money making scam game.

I have given it months to show some sign of work being done and that’s been zilch, nothing, no effort at all.

Real player with 1.8 hrs in game

BORING! And trapped in the boat now..ZZZZ

Real player with 1.3 hrs in game

Isolated Life on Steam

Alek - The Lost Kingdom

Alek - The Lost Kingdom

Updated opinion from edit is at the bottom.

Great Concept, I have played 11 hours in and I still want to play. However, the game just crashes now and it’s because of a bugged out Hunter. He doesn’t hunt unless you interact and close the menu, if you make him quit the game crashes. I lost 10 minutes of progress which turned out to be a lot of stuff being done in that time span. It’s fustrating to have an incompetent NPC that carries a heavy liability to cause crashes.

I sent a couple of the crashes not sure if the Dev received them. With this problem I am held back from progression in the game. It won’t matter if I do another save because the bug can just happen again.

Real player with 23.3 hrs in game

Here I am back for another game review!

Today I’m covering elements of Alek - The Lost Kingdom.

This is a charming little adventurer simulator that centers around Alek (the PC). In this game you build up and manage village settlements, ward off attacks, and help develop a land. Now mind this game IS only in Early Access at the time of this review. That being said it has a lot to offer. Now I know some of you are going to look at my play time and say “But Relmara! That’s hardly enough for a fair review!” The only reason I haven’t logged more time in this game is because of a nasty bug that kept me from loading an old game and starting a new one. Here is where I have to say I am thoroughly impressed. Dev. Blackmeyers has been VERY hands on with us early access player when regarding bugs. I know that working out such issues is laboriously hard. I have never had a dev. respond so expediently to an issue. It’s very heartening to know that we have someone so invested in their player base working to helm the game.

Real player with 12.9 hrs in game

Alek - The Lost Kingdom on Steam

Unlimited World 1

Unlimited World 1

Unlimited World 1 is a game in which you can do anything you want! Fly to new planets, play the story mode, do racings with your friends or angainst a AI, cook, dance, roleplay, or just maybe try the sandbox mode in which you can destroy everything and craft everything many else!

Unlimited World 1 on Steam

Aground

Aground

[DEMO CONTENT] One year ago, I came across a very interesting-looking web game called “Aground” and I was fascinated by the idea of playing a game reminiscent of “Minecraft” or “Terraria” directly in my browser. It starts like every other survival game: gather resources, build a shelter, upgrade your equipment and improve your efficiency.

But, the demo for the game had a lot of content to offer, so much so, that it felt like a fully fledged out game! I was really mesmerised when I later on found out that you could build advanced industrial gear, like guns or battery-powered equipment! After a while, I also discovered that there was a magic portion to the game and that it had an island and quest line dedicated to just that, which gave me access to enchanted equipment and unique materials. For a demo, the game has an unbelievably vast amount of content to offer, more than in any other demo I’ve ever seen before, you surely won’t regret giving it a try! ;^)

Real player with 327.3 hrs in game

I love this game so much especially since I think it’s an indie game by three people and it’s only $10 as of when I bought it. I’ve already spent 30 hours playing and I’ve restarted a few times because I wanted to optimize my approach. What really got me was the free game on various flash sites and the playable demo which alone is around 7-10 hours depending on gameplay style.

I love the story so far, the graphics appeal to me since I’m an old school gamer (think late 80s, early 90s) where gameplay is much more important than flashy graphics wanting 160 fps. There is a story in it as well which is nice, but doesn’t take away from the game if you’re the sort who doesn’t like reading much, but it’s actually a pretty neat story. One thing I’d like to have the cutscenes as a replayable option in the menu when you unlock them. The music adds to the game and has atmosphere to it.

Real player with 118.8 hrs in game

Aground on Steam

AstronTycoon2: Ritual

AstronTycoon2: Ritual

I am playing the game for a while now and really enjoy it. At the first glance there were a lot of things going on so it took a while to understand villagers behaviour.

Game is very well balanced and have good pace. At the begining possibility to play on slow speed allowed me to absorb and admire nice nature and sun rises :)

Later on when making new buildings, harvesting or cutting wood I preferred max speed. At the later stage of the game, I just slightly changing villagers behaviour through economy interface and focusing mainly to build my own Stonehenge.

Real player with 80.4 hrs in game

I love this game. I found it pretty intuitive, got stuck a few times but I figured it out. The motto of this game is KISS, Keep it simple, stupid. It has a basic recipe that once learnt permeates the game and allows you to progress at a good rate. I didn’t get all the achievements on my first play through and I learnt so much about where I should place things that I absolutely have to try again and I want to start from the beginning because, it’s just that much fun to play!

I can understand why some gamers may be frustrated with the game however I believe that has more to do with the current culture of gaming more so than the game. What I mean is, people are used to games that are tedious and arduous in nature. This game is casual, it has simple mechanics that are straight forward. If you can’t maintain enough herbs, consider that every time they are watered, they grow. If you plant 100 plants then your workers have to water them to full and then chop them, it is inefficient. This is the first lesson of the game. If you cannot figure out that the management style is about efficiency, then you will not enjoy this game.

Real player with 61.8 hrs in game

AstronTycoon2: Ritual on Steam

Swire Future

Swire Future

Summary

This game is the first open-world cultivation RPG simulator I’m aware of; which in and of itself is wonderful.

However it’s at quite an early stage of development, which means it’s a very unpolished experience as of this review (22/10/2020).

Positives

  • Gorgeous character sprites which are fully interactive - e.g. limbs are actual limbs that move, can be controlled as well as removed; every item sprite of clothing and equipment is a specific inventory item that can be equipped, traded, crafted, improved or stolen from enemies

Real player with 6.0 hrs in game

Swire Future on Steam

Farthest Frontier

Farthest Frontier

Protect and guide your people as you forge a town from untamed wilderness at the edge of the known world. Harvest raw materials, hunt, fish and farm to sustain your advancing town. Produce craft items for villagers to trade, consume, equip and fight with as you battle for your survival against the elements and outside threats.

Key Features

  • Harvest, Grow, Craft - Harvest raw materials, forage for food, grow crops and craft dozens of items to consume, equip, trade and defend your town with. Over 60 items total.

  • Build and Advance - Construct 50 different buildings as you grow your town from a fledgling settlement to a bustling city. Your town center and housing will advance through multiple tiers as the prosperity and desirability of your town increases. Upgrade production buildings to increase efficiency and enable production of more advanced items.

  • Fend Off Would-Be Invaders - Progress from wood palisades to stone walls, build towers and barracks, recruit and equip soldiers in the defense of your town as rising prosperity attracts the attention of raiders seeking plunder.

  • Most Detailed Farming System Ever - Choose from a variety of crops with different characteristics and configure crop rotations to maintain soil fertility, avoid heat and frost damage, and prevent the accumulation of diseases. Cultivate your fields to improve them over time and provide the ideal growing conditions for your crops.

  • All Them Old-Timey Diseases! - Ensure your villagers have clean water to stop outbreaks of dysentery and cholera. Collect berries and plant greens to prevent scurvy. Make sure villagers are properly shoed and clothed to reduce chances of contracting tetanus and rabies. Perhaps most importantly, manage rodent populations by collecting waste, securely storing food and employing rat catchers to ward off the feared bubonic plague. Over a dozen exciting ailments and diseases to contract!

  • Environmental Interaction - Develop your economy based on which resources are locally abundant and produce items for trade to acquire that which you lack. Erect fencing to keep deer away from crop fields and stop bears from raiding food storage. Manage tree cover to prevent underground water supplies from drying up. Balance the need to clear land for agriculture around vital natural resources like wild growing medicinal plants and forage items.

Crate Entertainment is a small indie studio founded in 2008 and best known for the action-RPG Grim Dawn. Join the Crate community and help shape the future of development of our games and be among the first to receive news about Farthest Frontier by participating in polls and discussions on our forum.

Farthest Frontier on Steam