Arco
A Mesoamerican fantasy RPG that blends turn-based and real-time combat. Explore the world through three handcrafted stories forged in bloodshed, laced with magic, and united by revenge.
Arco is a rpg, turn-based strategy and action-adventure game
developed by Franek, Max Cahill, Bibiki and Fáyer
and published by Panic.
Released on August 15th 2024 is available on Windows and MacOS
in 7 languages: English, German, Japanese, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Simplified Chinese and Spanish - Latin America.
It has received 1,145 reviews of which 1,114 were positive and 31 were negative resulting in an impressive rating of 9.2 out of 10. 😍
The game is currently priced at 17.99€ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified Arco into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at Arco through various videos and screenshots.
Requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS *: Windows 7
- Processor: i3 2GHz
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: 1GB
- Storage: 1 GB available space
- VR Support: no
- Additional Notes: OpenGL 3.2
MacOS
- OS: macOS 11 Big Sur or newer
- Processor: Apple M1 or 64-bit Intel
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: Integrated Graphics
- Storage: 1 GB available space
Reviews
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
Honestly? This was at first a pity purchase after seeing an article praising this game, yet pointing out the poor numbers. However, this turned into something I didn't expect. I'd want to play this longer before I leave this review, but this game completely ripped my attention from my current Kingdom Come and Alan Wake playthrough, and I wanna get the word out. It's been a while since I encountered a pixel art indie game that doesn't detract from i's own artistic value by being a low count pixel art game, because the narration does more to add to the characters than any sort of "HD-2D" art style ever could. It's also been a while since I encountered an indie game that so skillfully blends a story driven approach, to a genuinely fun gameplay loop that takes advantages of all the items you find on your journey - whether they're acquired through exploration, or story beats. I'm deeply invested and I hope Arco gets more attention in the future. This is lovely original work that brings me back feelings I thought I'd lost regarding "tiny discoveries", like finding out about Firewatch and Undertale for the first time many years ago. -Post ending edit- Some feedback for the developer in regards to what needs work: UI requires a bit of rework - sometimes the game can't decide whether the player wants to make a move on the battlefield vs wanting to interact with the UI. Some distinction or way of understanding what works/what doesn't in regards to not pressing accidental buttons would be helpful. There are a few dialogue bugs which don't make sense in a "this character shouldn't be here" way. 11/28/2024 edit Came here to update that among all the games that I FINISHED this year (47 of them), this and Jumping Flash (PSX 1995) are my games of the year. This game is good. Get it.
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Arco Arco is a dynamic tactical RPG set in a beautiful pixelated world in which your choices shape the world and your characters. Story There are three different tales that you experience slowly throughout the game but all three stories follow the same goal: Taking revenge on the red company which has been ruining the peaceful world of Arco in many ways. All playable characters of Arco are different and come with somewhat unique gameplay styles. The story itself is straight forward but enjoyable. Is it predictable? Yeah, probably but all the choices you make as a player will have an impact on your character and potentially make the game harder or easier. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3320631588 Personal Note I was very excited to get my hands on Arco ever since I saw the first trailers and playing the demo of it earlier this year made me even more excited for it. Arco is a neat game and it took me about 12 hours to complete my first playthrough and I probably missed a few things considering that people on the steam forum talked about something that I wasn’t quite aware yet, also, looking at my achievements after finishing the game for the first time, leads me to believe that Arco could need two playthroughs to really see and experience everything it has to offer. The combat is one of the main gameplay loops this game has and it’s semi tactical and reminds me a lot of Super Hot. You can plan ahead your moves in a tactical manner but as soon as you move, everyone and everything is moving too which makes the combat very dynamic. Despite the combat being fluent it can be somewhat frustrating – let me explain: You can win most combat encounters by kiting the enemies around since you have to spend mana to attack but you regenerate it by moving around or waiting. Some of the characters have ranged attacks which makes the combat quite easy but some characters have melee attacks which makes the combat a bit harder because kiting without getting hit is a bit harder. This will get better later on because the more experience points you get from combat, or other events that you will encounter while exploring in Arco , the more active and passive skills you will unlock. On the flipside, if you have more characters in your posse, you can move them individually during combat and you can combine some of the attacks with each other which leads to lethal outcomes most of the time. Another side of the combat is the little ghosts that start popping up here and there. Those ghosts are your manifested guilt that move during the tactical phase of the combat which makes it a bit more hectic since they attack you while the combat is paused. The idea of having such a mechanic is nice but there are situations in which having such a mechanic is more annoying than anything else, especially during Act 3. I’m not sure if you could commit to a complete evil playthrough of Arco because the manifested guilt might just overwhelm you eventually. What is combat without boss fights, eh? Well, fighting bosses are mostly just okay. They are nothing special and that’s fine. Some bosses take a few tries because of the length or because you messed up crucial things but you will be able to beat them eventually without sweating too much. The exploration portion of Arco is minimalistic but it works well. You move from map to map and most maps have some secret stashes that you can loot. The dialogue is good. The story is decent. The pixel graphics are pretty and the soundtrack is an absolute banger in it’s own way. Rating Pros [*] Nice story [*] Great pixel graphics and aesthetics [*] Awesome soundtrack [*] Fluid and dynamic combat [*] Combat with multiple characters feels good Cons [*] Combat can be frustrating [*] Boss fights are just okay Conclusion Is Arco worth to pick up? I would say so yes. You get at least 12 hours of content for 17,99€ which is a fair deal in my opinion, especially since you can play through it again because I’m sure you probably missed out on a few things in your first playthrough. The story of the game combined with the combat and the simplicity of the movement and exploration just makes this a very nice and special game. Arco is a little gem with a tiny number of flaws and I’m glad that I’ve played it. 8.7 / 10 “ The Sacred Tree appreciated the offering. ” – Unknown If you found this review helpful, feel free to visit my [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/38665896/]curator page. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3322984468
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I've seen the dev mention that this game, while well reviewed, has not sold well. What a sad state the industry is in when originality, polish, and good writing aren't rewarded. I played the demo for this (an incredibly generous demo in terms of content, and very polished too) a few weeks before release, and after i completed it, I would have pre-ordered the main game immediately had it been available to do so. Nonetheless, I made sure to purchase as soon as I saw it released, and I do not regret it for one moment. This is definitely one of those games which feels like it should have cost more once you start playing it. The story and world-building are rich, the characters are flawed and interesting, and the core gameplay mechanic is difficult, but not punishing (so far, I have been able to restart or abandon every fight). I want to engage with the world of Arco the way i haven't with a game for a long time. That is a big achievement with an art style as simple as this one (but also the art is incredible in its own special way). Although I'm sure nothing speaks as loudly as money when you are trying to run a business, I hope the devs wont stray too far from what makes Arco, for me at least, an instant classic, when it comes time for their next project. Un-creative companies can make games, but they cant make art.
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Fantastic game. Basically impossible to put down. A well-realized South American-inspired fantasy mythos unafraid to confront you with the horror of colonialism. Tight, challenging strategy gameplay. Works perfectly on controller or Deck. (I really really really wish hitting the Select button once didn’t restart your fight with no confirmation. I’ve lost so much progress to this. Disabled gamers may want to know that there’s a later mechanic that makes you take damage if you don’t make turn-based selections quickly enough.)
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Surprisingly deep RPG and combat elements. Many items have uses besides what you'd expect, in various encounters. I bought a tool without any obvious gameplay use and, lo and behold, it unlocked a secret. If you think something might come in handy, keep it. If you don't, but you don't need to use it right that moment, just hold onto it.
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Last Updates
| Steam data | 30 November 2024 01:04 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 18 January 2025 04:08 |
| Steam price | 22 January 2025 20:49 |
| Steam reviews | 21 January 2025 07:47 |
Online players
26
Developer
Franek,
Max Cahill,
Bibiki,
Fáyer
Publisher
Panic
Release
15 Aug 2024
Platforms