Artifact Adventure Gaiden

Its actually a fun retro style action rpg. There's one problem with this game and its the reason I'm giving it a thumbs down. There is no controller or keymapping config and the default controls are horrendous. They want you to walk with the right keys, jump with the space, use different attacks with the M<> buttons (I have no idea the reasoning behind that), and its just a really big pain. I don't get it, it makes no sense, but that's why I'm giving this a negative.

I suggest if a game wants you to play it in an incredibly uncomfortable way you thumb it down, because it shows lack of any kind of awareness or care for the consumer. This configuration is terrible its awful and they give you no other option. And don't even bother making the suggestion on the forum games forum is dead and inactive. The publishers are putting out a game with an incredibly unconveniant and awkward control system and they don't want to change it. Reason enough for a negative review from me.

I don't know how I haven't written a review of this by now, but this is an excellent game that invokes memeories of the old "tales of" RPG series back when it was in its prime. The side scrolling combat is a joy and the broken combinations of powers and weapons can give you a true feeling of accomplishment if you know how to break them. I wont delve into the graphics or anything of the sort, because that is to taste and I like the oldschool gameboy look.

As for the story it is interesting enough and there is a time skip mechanic that makes the game feel like it actually has stakes as a result of your actions, for 10$ you cant go wrong.

Hello Friends,

Today I will review the game Artifact Adventure Gaiden. This is actually a sequel to a game called Artifact Adventure. Although the original game was more challenging, I found this game to be more fun than the original game in the series. There is some difficulty on how vague the quests are, but this method is to emulate older games styles. One thing really good about this game is depending on your choices for the quests actually changes the ending of the game. There are many choices that affect how the ending will be, so choosing choices in this game actually effects the game and it's towns. Anyways, here is my PROS and CONS list:

PROS:

- Classic game style with monotone screens. You can change from green monotone to grey if you do not like the green type of screens.
- Music in the style of retro games.
- Lots of quests.
- Choices matters. It changes the ending.
- Multiple endings.
- Many characterts to pick up to adventure with.
- New game plus mode where enemies actually get stronger.
- Side scrolling fighting like old legend of zelda games.

CONS:

- The information about elixers usage is not really explained. I figured out just having them in your inventory is how they are used. They also stack when you collect them.
- Not everyone likes the retro style games.
- Game was made in unity, and like rpg maker, some people consider games made with the unity by indie developers as garbage games.

Do i recommend it? Yes, if you like retro style games. If you do enjoy this game, check out the other games in the series sold on steam. The mutliple endings makes the game replayble to see how the endings change. Also, the fact the game gets harder in new game plus mode adds replayability too. If you do not like retro style games, avoid this one like the plague.

I mean, I both do, and yet don't recommend this game. On the one hand, it is a decent RPG with an excellent DMG vibe. On the other, it feels sort of like Half Minute Hero with the combat. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but to me it is. I like Bump Combat, love Ys. I love the OG FFL games and still play through them regularly, super nice having those on my Switch.

I am giving it a thumbs up, because everything is fine, I just personally do not intend to finish the game or the DX version, basically leaving this same review on both.

Shame really, had I played this several years ago, I likely would have absorbed it.

It's not you, it's me.

Really fun gameplay that manages to feel unique even though its mostly just a mash up of a few classic genres. Interestingly, the game begins with a forecast of doom, and asks the player to engage with this doomed world, making many consequential pseudo-ethical decisions along the way, some of which are particular to any given playthrough. This gimmick, combined with the occasional reference to some sort of universal architecture give the player the feeling of uncovering a larger ongoing mystery... But unfortunately the game's ending is its weakest point, where most of the intrigue generated throughout the game falls through. There is no satisfying final reveal, only a mess of disjointed, arbitrary outcomes that suggest nothing cohesive. The result is on one hand what feels like a complete narrative failure, while on the other an eerie mirror of our own uncertainties and fears about the future.

I was very surprised with how this little game hooked me, the choice mechanics work very well.

Don't be misled by the old school colorless graphics, it is actually a simple story but what you can do ends up pretty deep. You'll have to make many simple decisions that will actually end up changing the world and then the ending. Battle system is pretty basic and repetitive, reminding somewhat to the controversial Zelda 2 but the amount of customisation you can do before the battle make it up for it.

Different weapons type, equipment, accessories, active and passive skill allow you to make the battles more involved and more to your liking. Do you want to evade enemies while casting spells? Do you want to be a tank and face rush into everything? Do you want to be agile with hit and run? There is a surprisingly high amount of equipment and abilities.

It is open world and it has a new game + so don't worry about missing something, trying other battle strategies or wanting to try other choices. The first run will take a while after that you'll have a bunch of equipment and abilities to try in your next run.

If the graphics and lack of color are bothering you, there is the DX version available that is pretty much the same game.

Let me give you the first impressions, because I did not play beyond that.
I get some generic cutscene, then traditional JRPG style, talking with the king blabla
After he stops spamming me with generic bs, I get control of the player and the game starts.
If I talk to him again, there is no more adventuring, he insists its the end or sth, so I assume final area travel? No idea, but I didn't bother to do it, since he insisted there is no going back, just like NG+ in other games do.

Ok, whatever, I go down to fight some monsters and levelup, but the castle is actually big and I have to talk with like 20 NPCs and choose 3 of which I want in my party. Pretty boring, not a great start. Bonus for the potion guy consuming all potions. Too many fucking choices for the start of a game, when I want to just play the game!!

I get outside, and get to fight some enemies, and I have no equipment or skill or anything. I just attack by touching enemies, so deep, wow. This proceeds to continue for like 100 seconds where I camp the corner and win pretty much.

And after I insta-uninstall I type this negative review. Why?
1. 0 controller support. My controller wasn't detected wtf.
2. No Tutorial (I didn't even know the controls, or how to open the equipment screen)
3. Overwhelming the player with choices, when he doesn't even know how combat works (e.g. you can go to the city/village before your first fight!)

I honestly don't doubt this game could be good, but not great. Combat looks interesting, combining what you see in the video with heavy JRPG stat elements. Fixing the above issues I mentioned should make it fun for perhaps a mobile game or something.

10$ for this is retarded, go get undertale or something with the same price. Or for free, go get Chrono Trigger on an emulator, to experience the best JRPG

You are the chosen one, and in three years time you will save the world or else. Choose your companions wisely and shape their future, as well as everyone else in the world. Shape the future! Save the world! Experience glorious GAMEBOY action!

Artifact Adventure Gaiden and its predecessor, Artifact Adventure, are so alike in general that you could skip one of them if you've already played the other.

Both of them show off a well-crafted open world where your choices matter, which is their main appeal in my opinion. But while AA features a more strategic turn-based combat, AAG encounters rely on frenetic, mindless, real time action fighting hordes. It's less rewarding, given that your chances to win depend more heavily on equipping your best items (that are very evident), and less on your approach to each battle. Your party members won't affect combat that much, either. I'm not a fan as you can tell; it was an unexpected turn for me, but I think many people will find it enjoyable. The most loud difference is the color scheme, which is just a matter of taste. It is worth of mentioning that the game options offer several schemes to choose from.

All in all, I'd recommend trying out the one you think that better suits you. If you want more, you can have a look at the other, or at Gaiden DX, too. The prices are reasonable, and heavy discounts are pretty frequent.

Much like Artifact Adventure this game is extremely fun. The gameplay is a little different from the previous but its still completely worth it.

This game seems very likable, but it has controller issues which are known since years and won't get fixed, and not even a controller selection/key rebinding option is available to work around this problems. (different driver, 3rd party tools, etc. don't help)

If you like old school JRPGs, you will probably like this game.

The combat itself is pretty fun and you can easily spend most of the time in the game grinding. Most of the quests are fairly boring however. The music is passable but nothing special, especially compared to old NES or Gameboy titles.

The game is completely open ended which kinda ruins exploration for me a bit because you feel like there's no reason to explore any particular place besides fulfilling standard RPG quests.

Extremely disappointing versus the first installment, which was a great retro JRPG experience.

Walkaround/menu controls are frustrating.
It frequently auto-detects a nearby person and makes you talk to them instead of searching the square you're facing.

The sound is very grating, and yes I know it's intentionally supposed to feel like a Game Boy game.

Combat is a slog.
Feels like a Diablo potion spam, but sometimes you just die out of nowhere anyways.

I'm not really getting the creator's vision.
Sometimes, the sequel changes too much versus the original...

AAG is a combination of Zelda 2, Final Fantasy, and the 2D tales games in a Gameboy Style done with a modern take. If this sentence excites you, then go and play it! Controls are fine, battles and exploration are fun. The choices you are allowed to make add some interesting changes to a playthrough starting with what companions you take with you. My only critique is that the consequences that happen from your choices are often not predictable and the game asks you to make choices based on the little information it gives you; you are then judged for your actions in a way. At any rate, AAG is worth the time invested.

This is an inventive game with lots of unique systems and good replayability. It has very little structure and from the very beginning, you're free to wander all over the entire world map. You can choose from a variety of companions and artifacts (skills), which allows from a good amount of character customization.

Very authentic feeling Retro-RPG with some modern convenience. Joust-like combat through semi-random encounters, interesting world to explore, and a variety of abilites to choose from. Definitely worth the low price.

Also; has several other color options if gameboy green is hard on your eyes.

My word I never would've thought that I'd love this game as much as I did. The gameboy design was very nostalgic for me as I grew up playing it. Adventuring throughout the world was fun and knowing that all your choices matter adds on to the experience. The questing was great although for your companion quest I wish they'd tell you who you had to see for the quests to continue but thats a minor complaint. The game has a ton of replayablility too so if thats your thing then awesome! Personally, I'd say when you start the game to either go for the traveler or the nobel. (I picked the nobel because he starts out giving you a crapton of money. Overall I recommend this game to anyone who loved playing the gameboy or people who are looking for a fun RPG to play!

Artifact Adventure Gaiden feels and plays like a classic JRPG. You assemble your team, each party member having a unique game-length quest and abilities. You embark on an open world, whose enemies scale to meet your level whenever you're out exploring. There are dozens of dungeons for you to find, secret quests to uncover, and the choices you make will directly change how the story pans out.

The combat is basic but fun, the powerups are cool, the armour looks awesome. If you're looking for a challenge I'd suggest playing on hard, I didn't grind at all and found myself overlevelled from about halfway through the game onwards. I did seek out as many quests and dungeons as I could though, so if you rush you might be underlevelled instead.

Overall I'd give it 4/5, I've been pretty much hooked from start to finish. From what I can tell there is a NG+ feature so you can assemble a new team but keep all your abilities and weapons which is nice.

Incredible, intricate, cool and fun. Artifact Adventures plays like nothing else. I'd been a fan of the series since the first one, which had traditional JRPG framings hiding a pretty intricate series of decisions and consequences, where choices matter. That's all still here, but this one brings action combat, which plays like an elastic, frantic game of Joust. Extremely fun so far. From what I've seen, there's also a pretty heavy amount of choice there, too. You could easily design your character as a nimble assassin, jumping and flying away to position yourself for a flurry of blows, a crit-focused berserker, a distance lancer or more. Diversity's further increased with artifacts, passives, skills and armor; each of which, I've seen, have a pretty big ability to change the way you approach things. It's an deep game.

Though, that doesn't mean the game is without its flaws though. Difficulty is a little screwed up at the moment, normal mode is incredibly easy while hard mode, due to some peculiar mechanical choices, is filled with instant deaths. Builds that focus on armor are a necessity to prevent these, though it's arguable there's a tuning problem with monsters instantly appearing in your hitbox and destroying you. The quest log could also use some work, a lot of descriptions seem unfinished and, especially with companion quests, it's very possible to forget what you're meant to do and get stuck. Furthermore, the music is worth muting. There's nothing good in it, it's tinny and generic.

These things kept in mind, I don't think anyone else makes games lik Artifact Adventure. The insane plurality of things this game does right and does new more than outdoes its flaws imo. Buy this shit.