Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark

 PlayStation 4
User Score
6.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 40 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 40
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 40
  3. Negative: 12 out of 40

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  1. Jochristian
    May 16, 2019
    10
    Amazing old school feel if you loved Final fantasy tactics Stop reading and go buy this game you won’t be disappointed
  2. gqmasters3
    May 31, 2019
    9
    If you loved Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics, this game is for you; the developers do little to hide their admiration for those classics as there are several easter eggs in the game referencing them.
    I would put this game as better than FFT (too easy and plot was scrambled) but not quite as good as Tactics Ogre LUCT. The game has an adjustable difficulty which is great and all that    If you loved Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics, this game is for you; the developers do little to hide their admiration for those classics as there are several easter eggs in the game referencing them.
    I would put this game as better than FFT (too easy and plot was scrambled) but not quite as good as Tactics Ogre LUCT. The game has an adjustable difficulty which is great and all that is keeping it from being a 10 is the fact that its not Tactics Ogre and TO is a 10 and it would have been very nice if they let you take another 2 people into battle as the party size is too small for all the characters you can build. Solid 9-9.5/10 really. I'm not sure where the mega negative reviews came from...would love to know their reasoning...trolls?...and not the kind that live under a bridge and are weak against fire.    … Expand
  3. aligand
    Jun 4, 2019
    10
    This game is one of the best tactical RPGS I've played in recent years. The story and the Gameplay are excellent. I hope there will be a sequel.
  4. Talisker81
    Oct 6, 2019
    9
    If you liked Final Fantasy Tactics, you’ll like this. Not sure what else to tell you.
  5. egoBorder
    Jun 13, 2020
    2
    I don't want to be a contrarian here, but in all honesty what I thought would be a fun romp that would echo the heady days of Final Fantasy Tactics ended up being a nightmare journey of PTSD-inducing outdated game balance. Please imagine my dismay when I remembered that I had opted to play the game on the hardest difficulty. About midway through the story, I decided that I would do theI don't want to be a contrarian here, but in all honesty what I thought would be a fun romp that would echo the heady days of Final Fantasy Tactics ended up being a nightmare journey of PTSD-inducing outdated game balance. Please imagine my dismay when I remembered that I had opted to play the game on the hardest difficulty. About midway through the story, I decided that I would do the opposite for the rest of the game simply in order to finish the game. THIS DID NOT IMPROVE THE GAME.

    Let me explain: like FFT, the game chooses to keep small arenas and extremely simple A.I. Therefore the game feels shockingly simple after 25 years of evolution in the strategy genre. When I turned the difficulty down from Very Hard to Very Easy, it simply laid bare the repetitiveness of the game.

    I can only praise that this game almost perfectly replicates FFT, but unfortunately unless you have that very specific desire this will feel decidedly dated.    … Expand
  6. Funkymonk
    Sep 28, 2020
    8
    One of the best turn based strategy games of the last few years, the strategy is deep and well balanced. It's the type of game that really makes you think hard before every move but never relies on luck or too much grinding to succeed. Clever map design, interesting boss battles, side quests and secrets stop things getting repetitive. The plot won't win any awards but the characters areOne of the best turn based strategy games of the last few years, the strategy is deep and well balanced. It's the type of game that really makes you think hard before every move but never relies on luck or too much grinding to succeed. Clever map design, interesting boss battles, side quests and secrets stop things getting repetitive. The plot won't win any awards but the characters are likeable enough. As with a lot of tbs games ther's a lot to take in at the start and it can be a bit overwhelming, especially for tbs newcomers but overall a must play for tbs fans and a great first effort for a small independent game company like 6-eyes studio.… Expand
  7. Kakashi2
    Dec 13, 2020
    10
    I am absolutely astonished at the quality of this game while simultaneously hearing nothing about this game. FF tactics is one of my favorite games. It is clear that this game takes inspiration from that game. What I didn't anticipate was that this game would be a more refined version of what I love.

    Thank you developers, awesome job!
  8. LG_Fox_Brazil
    Feb 4, 2022
    8
    While Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark has a slow start and a story not as much engaging as it's inspirations, like Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, it does have an art style that is distinguishable, charming characters and a class system that makes it one of the most robust tactical role-playing games to date. Also, it's difficulty is very challenging. A must to anyWhile Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark has a slow start and a story not as much engaging as it's inspirations, like Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, it does have an art style that is distinguishable, charming characters and a class system that makes it one of the most robust tactical role-playing games to date. Also, it's difficulty is very challenging. A must to any fan of the genre… Expand
  9. PandaRock
    Dec 2, 2020
    9
    This might be my first video game review, but since this is a lesser known game from an indie developer, I feel compelled to spread the word about this is an AWESOME game that far surpassed my expectations. I'm a big tactical RPG fan and this game not only scratches that itch -- it's a great example of the genre. This is similar to Shining Force and Final Fantasy Tactics (and to aThis might be my first video game review, but since this is a lesser known game from an indie developer, I feel compelled to spread the word about this is an AWESOME game that far surpassed my expectations. I'm a big tactical RPG fan and this game not only scratches that itch -- it's a great example of the genre. This is similar to Shining Force and Final Fantasy Tactics (and to a slightly lesser extent Disgaea and to a lesser extent Divinity Original Sin) but has certainly learned what works and what doesn't since those original game came out decades ago. Honestly, it's the best TRPG I've played on the PS4 (and maybe PS3, I can't remember) other than Divinity OS I & II (and I'm not sure I'd consider XCOM a TRPG).

    The gameplay is pretty top notch. Most importantly, the game requires/rewards great strategy during it's complex and challenging fights, and complex and very diverse character creation system (plus great item/equipment selection and satisfying crafting). Sure, this game isn't as modern and revolutionary and enormous as Witcher 3 or even Divinity: Original Sin, but it completely nails what the amazing gameplay that is essential to a great tactical RPG.

    To my surprise, despite the lack of cinematic cutscenes, voice acting, and epic scope, the story is very good. There are twists and turns and several layers of story that peel back as you progress. I was actually interested in what was going to happen next. Additionally, the dialogue is surprisingly (for me) good.

    The graphics aren't anything to write home about, in my opinion, but they are charming and more than do the job. My biggest gripe, which isn't even big, is that it would've been nicer to incorporate better VFX/animations for some of the spells/special skills. Regardless, the graphics work very well for the game and I enjoyed how they brought me back to some of those old school games like Shining Force and FF Tactics.

    In all, I wasn't expecting much from a tiny studio I'd never heard of with no track record I knew of and for the $15 I spent, but this was a reallllly great game, and it's certainly a must buy for all fans of TRPGs. I will 100% buy their next RPG game and really look forward to whatever it is. Bravo!    … Expand
  10. RatchetClank111
    Aug 9, 2022
    7
    For the price along with the DLC including I'm giving it a 7/10, but if I paid full price for all would probably give a 6/10.

    I think that the main issues that hamper this game come down to core mechanics and story. Although nothing terrible, the AI can be annoying at times when in some battles they obviously get the way better positioning while all your units get placed in one corner    For the price along with the DLC including I'm giving it a 7/10, but if I paid full price for all would probably give a 6/10.

    I think that the main issues that hamper this game come down to core mechanics and story. Although nothing terrible, the AI can be annoying at times when in some battles they obviously get the way better positioning while all your units get placed in one corner of the map. The mechanic for the injury penalty is annoying at best, and a waste time overall, as you can just go back to the first area so you can get your unit back at full stats, as your unit has to wait a battle to "heal". just a dumb mechanic but thankfully you can turn that off. Fights also can really drag on for awhile as the enemy easily can also revive units at times or heal, or just runs to the corner of the map, so the battle can drag on. At first I had it at the standard difficulty which was fair, but there's some crazy difficulty spikes for one of the boss fights and then the last 20% of the game it gets difficult. Also, as some may of stated, they turned down the difficulty just to finish the game and move on. Honestly, I feel the same way as towards the end it just gets really repetitive facing the same types of enemies at the end.

    That also ties in with the story, the story at first is somewhat interesting, but then it really just gets dumb, and what I mean by that is that the text/tone is really dumbed down like it's just basic dialogue and just doesn't really go into any depth to explain stuff and goes into only limited backgrounds for some of the characters. Towards the end they just do a bunch of lore dump, but I think some of that should of just been stated at the beginning of the game. Also the big surprises aren't really that surprising and would of just made sense if the arbiters were also aware of what the group of immortals know too. Also, if the main character gets along with the Kawas so well, wouldn't have they told her the information already that was surprising. I got the bad ending for the game, but after reading up what the good ending was, I actually prefer the bad ending as it's more interesting and that storyline could of easily lead to a direct sequel. I doubt there's going to be a sequel at this point since it's been many years already, but you never know. Overall, the story is just good enough to keep you playing the game, but there's several things I would of changed, including making better party banter/dialogue between characters and enemies, as there's even a dumb scene where the main character is like we got to get to the next place, when the enemy learns they are arbiters they are like oh nvm just pass, then our main character Kyrie STUPIDLY states no u all bad we still going to battle, then after that battle, they stupidly state that oh yeah that was a waste of time and slowed us down............ IF THE ENEMY WAS GOING TO LET YOU PASS JUST PASS THROUGH THEN AND THEN COME BACK LATER, was honestly so stupid dialogue/scene.

    Other complaints were that the portraits for the characters don't really match the rest of the design style of the game, and the music although good is repetitive.

    Gameplay goes easily 30+hours, but I don't see much replay value. Game gets somewhat simple after awhile and difficulty spikes are put in to make it annoying. AT least the DLC helps somewhat with leveling up characters, and adds some flavor to the game

    Decent game but only get this on sale    … Expand
  11. bergcamp1001
    Jan 10, 2023
    0
    This fuсking game is fuсking mess. I hate how long it is without any reason, by the end it just keep torturing you with bosses, mobs, stupid fuсking grinding and stupid fuсking plot. I lost so many hours here for nothing. i wish all developers will die in hell. I hope this will be tortured all their lives.
    WORST GAME    This fuсking game is fuсking mess. I hate how long it is without any reason, by the end it just keep torturing you with bosses, mobs, stupid fuсking grinding and stupid fuсking plot. I lost so many hours here for nothing. i wish all developers will die in hell. I hope this will be tortured all their lives.
    WORST GAME EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

14
#14 Best PS4 Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. GameCritics
    Jul 8, 2019
    85
    Even with a somewhat steep learning curve and a frustrating final sequence, I enjoyed Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark. Solid design and wonderful storytelling more than made up for the annoyance and grind.
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  2. Video Chums
    May 25, 2019
    86
    As a fan of retro turn-based strategy RPGs, I'm very impressed with Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark as it really hits the nail on the head while also offering plenty of cool innovations to the classic genre. If you enjoy these kinds of games, you definitely need to play this epic SRPG.
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  3. DarkStation
    May 20, 2019
    80
    Gorgeous hand-drawn art fits perfectly the game. The colors are vibrant and the sprites are extremely expressive and detailed. However, the animation and battle effects look really stiff and rough. The worst are the spells effects, as they look more like animated stickers playing over the target than real devastating magical effects. But this is just a small nitpick and doesn’t affect the overall experience. Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark may lack polish and grace but it remarkably pulled off a rewarding gameplay loop that will keep you coming back to it for hours. Pick it up if you’d like to experience a well-made tactical RPG reminiscent of the golden age of the genre.
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