Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers | Switch Review

The first Arcade Spirits title was a wonderful narrative experience, so it’s no surprise that I jumped on the sequel. Fiction Factory Games Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers is a wonderful successor that lives up to the highs of the original while also adding its own unique qualities to the mix. If you love visual novels, you simply have to check this title out. It’s a game made for gamers by individuals who love gaming as a whole.

The Future of Gaming

Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers takes place in the year 20XX. Your character is an avid player of a game called Fists of Discomfort 2 (FoD2) and dreams of becoming a pro gamer on the esports scene. The problem? You are basically a recluse who doesn’t have any friends after your bestie made a name for themselves and left you behind in the dust. Your goal is to gather together a group of FoD2 players into a team worthy of competition.

You download an illegal AI called Iris to your phone, who then instructs you to go to a business called Good Clean Fun. Upon arriving, you discover this strange establishment is a laundromat/arcade/pizza parlor teeming with unique individuals who all have their own distinct personalities and strengths. This lovable group of misfits agree to join you in forming a team to try to reach the heights of FoD2 stardom. Each character on your team is lovable (literally and figuratively), and I developed a soft spot for all of them.

The Beauty of Discovering Yourself

At the beginning of the game, you come across a character customization screen. While not extensive, it allows you to choose your skin tone, clothing, hairstyle/color, gender (nonbinary and agender are awesome additions), and pronouns. You can also come up with your own gamertag and avatar. I appreciated the inclusion of diversity options and applaud the team for their care in this matter.

The aforementioned AI Iris also informs you that you can pursue romance if you so wish. You can either go all in for your quest for love, start off with developing friendships before hopping into relationship options, or completely skip this aspect if you’d rather focus solely on the game’s narrative. 

Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers is friendly to series newcomers and you do not need to have any prior knowledge of the first game. If you did play the original, though, you’re rewarded with the appearance of a couple of familiar characters and some Easter eggs. You can also import your save to this entry if you’d like to (note: this feature was not available at the time for me to experience).

Learning the Ropes

Like the first Arcade Spirits, The New Challengers offers branching dialogue choices. You can choose to be brash, kind, funny, logical, or neutral, and each response has a corresponding icon to denote what it is. If you’re brave, you can choose to turn these icons off and pick which response feels the most natural or antithetical to you. Be careful, though. Your selections influence the story and your relationships with the rest of the characters, and could affect your outcome with the object of your affection if you choose to search for love.

A new aspect that I thoroughly enjoyed was the ability to play FoD2 in the game at certain points. It’s a fun, retro-inspired minigame that relies on a rock-paper-scissors mechanic, and made me feel more immersed in the universe. If this doesn’t tickle your fancy, though, you have the option to forgo playing and just advance the story instead.

All The Small Things

The graphics in Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers are colorful and crisp, and the attention to even the smallest of details is wonderful. The score is cheery and the sound effects conjured up memories of my own time spent in arcades. The voice acting is also top-notch, though it’s seldom used besides a few monologues and some exclamatory remarks sprinkled throughout. The only bug I encountered during my entire 7 hour playthrough was the inability to change my name between levels. This was patched on the day of release, however, and doesn’t pose an issue anymore.

The Final Verdict

Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers is a wonderful entry into the series and lives up to its predecessor’s delightful, emotional heights while also being friendly to newcomers. The ability to customize your character and their identity is a fantastic inclusion, and the care put into crafting an engaging love letter to gaming is exquisite. Each of your teammates feels like they could be a friend in real life, and have their own trials and tribulations that are extremely realistic. The branching dialogue options and the ability to romance any of your friends adds a high level of replayability. I could gush about this game for ages, but this should be at the top of your list if you’re looking for an exceptional visual novel to dive into.

 

 

This review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy of Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers provided by PQube for coverage purposes. It is also available on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC via Steam.