Visual novels are kind of a mixed bag. The story, setting and characters have to hold a player’s attention when there is no real game play on the screen. Will making choices and figuring out which of the characters you will try to get to know better keep you playing? If you are Fiction Factory Games, you create a story that is both engaging and funny, fill it with some fascinating characters, and set it in the wonderful world of a small arcade. This is Arcade Spirits, a visual novel/dating game that stands at the top of it’s genre.
You have just been laid off from your job and your roommate suggests you try a new app which will help you get your life on track. The app, called Iris, sends you to a interview at the Funplex, a small arcade run by an eccentric old woman named Francine. You meet your co workers, some of the players, and try to find out why your app has steered you to this job. The answer is that the Funplex is somewhere where people come if they are searching for something.
The setting is the near present day, but there is only one real difference from our timeline. The video game crash of 1983 never happened and arcades are still big business. Your co-workers range from Naomi, the tech wizard who keeps all the games in working order, to Gavin, the uptight number assistant manger. The regulars include Teo, a dance video game flirt, to QueenBee, a highly competitive gamer. You can decide if any of them strike your fancy and try to romance them.
Arcade Spirits tells you upfront that there are no wrong answers. Play the game and choose your answers based on what you would say. You can even skip any romance and just enjoy the story. The story has some great writing, being more real then just one genre. The characters all have a backstory, which range from funny to heartbreaking. You may not romance them all, but you will replay just to find out more about them.
The sound design is perfect. From the old retro sounds of arcade machines to the perfectly cast voice actors, everything sounds like you are right in the middle of a real arcade. The designs are beautiful to look at, not some unrealistic characters, but real people. The customization of your character gives you a few choices. You see your character interact with the others.
Arcade Spirits should be played by anyone who remembers the arcades of the past. Even if you don’t remember them, the writing will make you laugh and fight back tears. Visual novels might not be everyone’s’ game, but this one is almost perfect. It’s fun to return to a place where video games are still king.
9/10
Available on PC