Arcade Spirits

This game made me so mad that I went and bought a bunch of other dating sims to wash the taste from my mouth.

I hate that I didn't like it!! I'm a queer person who loves dating sims and rpgs and will play absolute garbage but this one filled me with such immeasurable disappointment that I couldn't even brush it off as "whatever".

All the characters are super shallow and many of them fall into really gross stereotypes. The autistic girl is super childish, the indian girl is super aggressive, and the fat guy is on the verge of death. The latter really, really got me because there's so few fat guys or bears in VNs and this is another one in the dark halls of "poorly written afterthought bear LI".

Hey why does the only fat character have a heart attack? Why is his romance constantly plagued about how he's going to die? Why does he look exactly like the OTHER boring fat guy in Dream Daddy? Why did the 2nd game not include a fat guy at all?

I wish I could still return this game.

What would have happened if console gaming never took off and arcades were still the only way to game?

Probably not this. But it's fun anyway! It's silly. It's colorful. It's a lot of fun for a good price.

Oh man, I found this game via an interview by DarkTeaTime's interview with Stefan Gagne about games that offer features and options for Asexual gamers and honestly don't tend to do a ton of graphic novel like games, but decided on a whim to give this one a try and it was exactly what I needed.
Despite not playing many text/choice based games like this, the ones that I have tried in the past often felt a bit isolating because I couldn't relate to the narration whatsoever, so I constantly would have to imagine everything I did from the perspective of someone who thought more like the narration to get any direction I wanted to go but this game felt like it might've been reading my mind half the time to the point where I actually had to stop a few times and laugh in surprise at being able to say exactly what I would've wanted to in real life.
It was incredibly refreshing and helped immensely with immersion for me and so I had the most fun I think I've ever had playing one of these games. It even managed to squeeze a few tears out of me, which I need to be quite focused and immersed in something to do.

My critiques? At most they're just my own biases, like how I found Naomi's voice offputting and her lipstick color just felt super out of character and jarring (but she still won me over as a character and still considered her as a romance option for a good portion of the game. irl we'd definitely be close friends.) but that's about it really. Great game. Refreshing characters with very real feeling takes on the situations in the game. I might just have to play another round.

Step on me QueenBee

Will eventually replay this with Gavin or Percy, but the game kinda long and I hope to have forgotten the narrative in the sea of time before I pick this back up again. Hopefully the romances are different enough--I'll keep you updated.

Such a fun and sweet story with choices that matter!

I really loved this game, the characters and story were relatable and endearing. The dialogue was funny and emotional and there are many different routes you can take. I had trouble choosing who to pursue because I liked them all! Eventually I played through all the romances/endings, and it was worth it for me. Extra points for having queer romances and the ability to use they/them pronouns. Can't wait to buy New Challengers!

The start of a very impressive studios very impressive catalogue, while a little lower quality then their other titles (this one being the first, its expected) it still have the fun quirks and characters that make the others what they are.

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i really like it so far

At first wasn't interest in the game but later decided to play the game again and got in to it, Teo is my favorite, need a second version of this game that's not the new challengers, like a version of your future with the characters, would love to see more Teo, the game needed more romantic and pictures, It's a good game

What a wonderful game! 10/10. One of the best visual novels I've ever played. The romance options are great, the story is great, the setting is great... In fact, what are you doing reading this review? Go buy it!

It's meh.

Very lovable characters, if I didn't have a type (one that fitted Percy too well lmao) I wouldn't have know for who to go for

Enjoyable stories. Each of the taught me simple but powerful sides we might face. Like the art and the music.
I invite you to give it a try and explore any possible option. There are 8 routes and your options vary the story but the result is the same.

I had played an insanely slow and boring 2.5 hours of this at first, then cast it aside for weeks with no intentions of ever picking it up again. As soon as I did though the story *finally* had something interesting happen and I was able to start making advances to date someone.

The story moves through about the time frame of a year, broken up in 8 chapters, so each chapter is like months after the last one. This isn't like you meet someone and right away start dating- the game wants you to build friendships first. Which is fine, just be prepared to be in the friendzone with light flirting til maybe 5 hrs in when I finally got to go on my first date with Teo. The story had some twists, your choices do truly matter! And it was awesome I was allowed the option to choose to physically punch the bad guy when he deserved it.

Didn't expect to finish this, definitely will not be going back and playing again a bunch just to get the rest of the romancing achievements. it's a 7/10 and I'm *mildly* glad I did come back to it and finish the story line.

FYI there's no nudity, but there are bathing suits on a beach for one chapter. In my play through of successfully romancing someone, you experience nothing more than kissing, hand holding, "i love yous" and nice flirting and emotional support.

Small complaint about your character design: I'm all for androgyny, but my character was so gender-neutral it was a little immersion breaking for me. There should have been 3 body types/looks to choose from, not 3 hair styles. The baggy hoodie ensemble your character wears the whole time kinda sucks too. It always makes you look out of place compared to the rest of the characters. It makes you look sloppy despite being at an interview, at work, or going to an important business meeting about the future of the arcade. These are silly cosmetic things, yes, I know, but they can make the difference between me really feeling like I was part of the game or just going through it.

If you're a fan of slow burn VN's where your choices matter and you can PG level date someone while trying to become a better person- this might be worth your while.

W GAME

beach episode had me giggling and kicking my feet frfr

I adore visual novels/dating sims, so I was really looking forward to trying this one as it looked quite cute, but I have to say that it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment.

The story itself is okay — it's nothing special and rather cliché, though its cosy feel-good vibes can still be enjoyed if you don't expect high quality storytelling. I did like the addition of Iris, which gave the whole story a gamified feeling that fit the theme nicely. Then there's the rest of the cast, which is quite diverse and fun to get to know, except once you do they all turn out to be a bit shallow and one-dimensional.

Finally, the romance options feel a bit abrupt in that you're telling each other "I love you" a single scene later. It feels like the game is missing a lot of fluff, with too much focus on the main narrative (which, as I said before, isn't the greatest either) and expecting the player to fill in all the rest. But I'm a romantic! I want to see all that unncesseray fluffy goodness, even if it's with a cheap cutout version of my avatar that doesn't seem to fit the rest of the game's aesthetic! That's what I'm here for! But alas. (To be fair I've only finished the Percy romance at this point, so maybe other routes get more of that stuff?)

As for technical details, the game worked fine-ish on my Steamdeck. Every now and again it froze and occasionally I even had to restart the game. Plus you kinda have to figure out for yourself how to work around the text insert parts of the game. Other than that, the game's performance was fine.

TLDR: It's definitely worth the buck I got it for during a sale, but I don't recommend paying full price for this.

The game aesthetic is cute, the art is beautiful and the story is fun. I enjoyed the IRIS and the way it tracks your personality and your relationships with all the characters. The music was cool and the voice acting excellent. I had fun playing it but I felt like the romance aspect was too small. You barely get a chance to flirt with the characters, most interactions are purely platonic until you make a choice and focus on one person only. It's a good visual novel but it lacks in the dating sim aspect. I would probably get it on sale.

Eh. Not for me. Characters are pretty one-dimensional and the tone is all together kind of corny. The only LI that isn't syrupy-sweet is kind of a boring square.

Arcade Spirits is super charming visual novel with lots of heart, letting you guide your character's personality and build up a bunch of friendships while wading through the unending chaos of arcade management.