Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark

 PC
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 49 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 35 out of 49
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 49
  3. Negative: 10 out of 49

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  1. pawnperspective
    Aug 11, 2020
    5
    I’m a huge fan of Tactics-style games, Final Fantasy Tactics being, as it is to many, my favorite of the genre. Along comes Fell Seal claiming, like many games do, to be somewhat of a “spiritual successor” to FFT. I’ll admit, it does mechanically feel a lot like the beloved game of old. Unfortunately there’s too many flaws to really make it worth my time.

    Let me start off by saying that    I’m a huge fan of Tactics-style games, Final Fantasy Tactics being, as it is to many, my favorite of the genre. Along comes Fell Seal claiming, like many games do, to be somewhat of a “spiritual successor” to FFT. I’ll admit, it does mechanically feel a lot like the beloved game of old. Unfortunately there’s too many flaws to really make it worth my time.

    Let me start off by saying that Fell Seal controls beautifully. It provides all the percentages, stats, and information a Final Fantasy Tactics junky could want. Characters level up, earn points to upgrade skills, can equip various skill just as you would in FFT, and can unlock and change classes using a very familar system. Main characters have special classes, while recruited characters can run the gamut and master every class. There’s even a way to customize the look of each new recruit you hire.

    Like I stated before, that’s where the similarity ends. Unfortunately, Fell Seal suffers from a boring, repetitive, and predictable storyline. The sprites, while colorful, just aren’t very attractive and lack depth on animation. The character portraits are just…ugly. What makes the sprites look even duller is that each stage is beautifully illustrated in stark contrast to the dull portraits and stiff character animations. As far as the game’s sound goes, it has great music but the sound effects sound a bit too soft. Not at all immersive.

    I’ve seen a lot of people out there who really enjoy this game. I just can count myself among them. As much as I really wanted to get into it there were just too many barriers keeping me from really enjoying myself. It lacks a sense of self. A soul, if you will. It doesn’t set itself apart in any way, shape, or form, and I need a bit more than just a solid mechanical structure to spend my time on when there’s so many other interesting Tactics games out there.    … Expand
  2. marc5477
    Apr 27, 2020
    3
    So boring.... FF was not nearly this bad. Battles take far too long because enemies purposely turtle once you are about mid game. Many maps have multiple healers and classes able to resurrect and since there is practically unlimited mana, you have a boring cycle of endless healing, rebirths, and revives.

    And to top it off, endless barriers and total damage avoidance (too easy to get),    So boring.... FF was not nearly this bad. Battles take far too long because enemies purposely turtle once you are about mid game. Many maps have multiple healers and classes able to resurrect and since there is practically unlimited mana, you have a boring cycle of endless healing, rebirths, and revives.

    And to top it off, endless barriers and total damage avoidance (too easy to get), screen wide debuffs (turtling), bugged mana shields that negate attacks even when they barely have any energy left, automatic resurrections (class skills and items), etc etc. I had this one map where I literally killed the same unit about 6 or 7 times because it auto resurrects and even when it didnt autoressurct, a different unit kept resurrecting it... the map literally took an hour and it was just a trash map, not even part of the story or anything.

    Finally I got to the point that I just couldnt stand it and mind you I love tactical games... but I couldnt enjoy this game. I then turned off the game and I dreaded the idea of even thinking about turning it on again so I uninstalled and deleted the saves.

    Aside from the horrible gameplay outlined above, if only the game did something new, or had a good story i probably would have given it more time but it really doesnt. The story is just kind of meh and the characters are pretty one sided as far as I played (about 25 hours in). I just didnt care about any of them and frankly, this game improved on nothing gameplay wise compared to 20 year old games which begs the question of why bother? Just play the originals.

    Disclaimer: I played it on default settings. I think there is a setting which cripples the AI but you need to start the game over to change them and it still doesnt change the fact that the game feels very old and tired.

    A few things they can do to improve the game drastically. No mana regen or slow regen and apply cool downs on skills and abilities that slow down progress especially those lame class skills.

    No more huge area dispels or make them harder to cast requiring significantly more mana. Seriously that is just broken. It takes a bunch of casting to get buffs, and only 1 spell to lose them all and it doesnt change the outcome, it just slows things down.

    No more team wide dispells without being proper position. Same as above. You just spend 2 rounds to get them debuffed, and one single spells removes all debuffs from all of them regardless of position. Again, this just slows everything down and does not save them in any way.    … Expand
  3. night4
    May 3, 2019
    9
    A game heavily inspired by Final Fantasy Tactics, but still original in every way. The music, art, and classes are fantastic. The combat is fun and satisfying. The story is surprisingly well done.

    It could maybe use slightly better animations for some spells/abilities and a few other minor tweaks, but overall, it's amazing.
  4. SamBarilov
    May 9, 2019
    9
    A slow-paced tactical RPG with many Final Fantasy Tactic's-like features. Great artwork, really beautiful game. The songs are very well executed despite being a bit repetitive. The writing and story-telling is GREAT, such a breath of fresh air. A really good game.
  5. Dominia7
    Jan 21, 2019
    10
    Great game so far if you like tactics games... Great Story, Art, and music! Did you love Tactics Ogre/FFT? You will love this.
  6. Kcon
    Dec 3, 2019
    9
    This game feels like a homage to Final Fantasy Tactics, though it could have taken a bit more from FFTA or Disgaea.

    Its a very good game, but not quite perfect.

    If you like FFT or Tactics Ogre, play this game!
  7. Wolfenstein51
    Dec 22, 2019
    10
    An excellent tactics game. Very happy with my purchase. Had that Final Fantasy Tactics vibe, but it does its own thing very well.
  8. auditbadger
    Dec 21, 2019
    10
    I think that this is truly a unique game and I would recommend that if you are a fan of this type of genre then I think you should give this game a try.
  9. Angelxd22
    Dec 12, 2019
    9
    If your a fan of final fantasy tactics or tactics orge,i highly recommend you play this.
  10. TheGameIsALie
    May 12, 2019
    7
    Sendo um amante de RPGs, eu particularmente gostei da criação da 6 Eyes Studio, uma vez que como todo bom jogo do mesmo gênero, apresenta seu próprio sistema de combate e uma história bem elaborada. Se você aprecia uma boa história e gosta do estilo de jogo proporcionado pelos RPGs, Fell Seal será uma ótima adição à sua biblioteca de jogos.
  11. Versalador
    Oct 28, 2019
    10
    if is like Tactics Ogre GBA.... this game is perfect... but i dont no yet..

    Quero muito um jogo igual tactis Ogre a muito tempo, mas nunca acho, espero que esse seja o caso de supri a falta de um jogo como aquele, alias, ele foi tão caro que custou a falência da empresa, mas até hoje é considerado o melhor tactis já feito, e é um jogo de GBA.
  12. Greystryke
    Mar 28, 2020
    9
    This game is a love letter to Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre, and it makes no effort to hide it. It even improves on those games in few areas. For example, the game employs the same job system (and a near-identical job wheel), except there are more jobs to gain and there are built-in safeguards to prevent you from cheesing unlimited job points during battles. Even the levelingThis game is a love letter to Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre, and it makes no effort to hide it. It even improves on those games in few areas. For example, the game employs the same job system (and a near-identical job wheel), except there are more jobs to gain and there are built-in safeguards to prevent you from cheesing unlimited job points during battles. Even the leveling system is the same: You get a varying amount of XP after each action in battle, and gain ranks in 100 XP increments (the way your XP is displayed in your character tile is also identical to Tactics). The game is enhanced by a political storyline that starts innocently enough and slowly builds tension throughout its entirety. New characters are introduced in different scenarious over time until their story reaches their full course, upon which their motives for joining your team solidify and you finally add them to your roster for keepsies. Docking the game a point because the battle action animations could be a bit better, but if you like turn-based tactics-style RPGs, this is the game we've been waiting almost 25 years for -- a spiritual successor to FFT and TO.… Expand
  13. Mandulum
    Jun 20, 2019
    8
    Favorite Thing:
    Least Favorite Thing: I normally only do one but I feel the need to list 3 things I hated in a game I otherwise really enjoyed. 1) No saving during battles and some of them last an hour or more! Try doing a tournament in one sitting, it sucks. 2) The XP trickle to benched teammates quickly results in them becoming useless. 3) Injuries are just a time waster and force you    Favorite Thing:
    Least Favorite Thing: I normally only do one but I feel the need to list 3 things I hated in a game I otherwise really enjoyed. 1) No saving during battles and some of them last an hour or more! Try doing a tournament in one sitting, it sucks. 2) The XP trickle to benched teammates quickly results in them becoming useless. 3) Injuries are just a time waster and force you to find the lowest difficulty battle.

    Date Completed: 2019-06-18
    Playtime: 51h
    Enjoyment: 8/10
    Recommendation: If you like a good tactical RPG then go for it!    … Expand
  14. MindWanderer
    Apr 24, 2023
    10
    Final Fantasy Tactics was a contender for my favorite game of all time, and this spiritual successor might just be even better. It's clearly intended to be exactly that, as it takes nearly every mechanic and a good chunk of its aethetics directly from that game. But it also adds a ton of quality-of-life and balance features, such as visible class stat growth and an answer to item spam.Final Fantasy Tactics was a contender for my favorite game of all time, and this spiritual successor might just be even better. It's clearly intended to be exactly that, as it takes nearly every mechanic and a good chunk of its aethetics directly from that game. But it also adds a ton of quality-of-life and balance features, such as visible class stat growth and an answer to item spam. There are fine-grained difficulty options and a bunch of optional tutorials to make the game more approachable and/or challenging.

    It's not perfect. The classes still aren't balanced as well as they could be, you won't be able to unlock all the classes until you're nearly at the end of the game, and certain builds are still dominant (notably

    But it's still amazingly good. The plot is coherent and comprehensible, the characters are rich, and there aren't ridiculous unnecessary gimmicks like zodiac signs or laws. It's pretty much exactly what I was looking for, and I can't want to see what this studio has in store for us.    … Expand
  15. 3mcd
    Aug 7, 2020
    8
    Gran juego si te gustan los rpg tácticos
    La música, el arte y las clases son muy buenos. El combate es divertido.
    La historia está sorprendentemente bien hecha.
  16. FlavioJC
    Aug 15, 2020
    9
    One of the best tributes to Final Fantasy Tactics I've ever seen, but going further. Even if you've never played a style game before, it's an excellent introduction. Extremely mod-friendly, with the possibility of creating new classes, portraits, skills, etc.
    The graphics are 2d (scenarios and sprites resemble Final Fantasy Tactics Advance), but the art in general is beautiful. The story    One of the best tributes to Final Fantasy Tactics I've ever seen, but going further. Even if you've never played a style game before, it's an excellent introduction. Extremely mod-friendly, with the possibility of creating new classes, portraits, skills, etc.
    The graphics are 2d (scenarios and sprites resemble Final Fantasy Tactics Advance), but the art in general is beautiful. The story is simple but well arranged. The game is extremely light on the PC, running on almost any machine. The grind is flexible according to what you want from the game.    … Expand
  17. TADodger
    May 30, 2022
    2
    Deeply dull game. Not any fun. Elements hint at a good game that's lurking *FAR* behind what they released.

Awards & Rankings

49
#49 Best PC Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. PLAY! Zine
    Jul 8, 2019
    70
    Feel Seals is a turn-based RPG inspired by Final Fantasy Tactic, made by Final Fantasy Tactic fans and meant for Final Fantasy Tactic fans. Mix and match your skills, classes and abilities to create unique combos that will best suit your playing style.
    Read full review
  2. DarkZero
    Jun 3, 2019
    80
    Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark is an easy recommendation for anyone who loves playing Japanese tactical role-playing games. It has no shame in displaying its inspiration on its sleeve, mainly because it takes that inspiration and wears it proud, refining the gameplay with its own spin on it. With many difficulty options featured here that opens up the genre to many people, there really is no reason to not check out Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark, and with a lovely 32-bit throwback presentation, there is a tasty meal here that is full of heart and love for the genre.
    Read full review
  3. The Games Machine
    May 24, 2019
    80
    Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark is a nice tactical RPG with an accessible learning curve.
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