Archvale

 Switch
Archvale Image
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User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 7 Ratings

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  • Summary: Take up your weapon in this RPG bullet-hell world and embark on a journey to defeat the evil forces of the Undying guardians and reunite the world with the fabled Archvale. A malicious and cruel king once ruled the land and terrorized all who faced him. He along with the fabled arch toTake up your weapon in this RPG bullet-hell world and embark on a journey to defeat the evil forces of the Undying guardians and reunite the world with the fabled Archvale. A malicious and cruel king once ruled the land and terrorized all who faced him. He along with the fabled arch to Archvale have become the fodder for ghost stories and passed down myths. All that remains of him are the Undying; beings whom the king cursed with immortality to live out their eternity in his prisons.

    You and you alone can defeat the Undying and rid the world from the dark shadow the king has left. Journey across diverse regions, looting and crafting your way to better weapons and equipment. Through these upgrades you will be able to succeed against the host of enemies that await you and stand between you and the truth about the said-to-be-mythic arch to Archvale.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. Nintendo Life
    Dec 2, 2021
    90
    Archvale is a triumphant bullet-hell/RPG genre mashup. Although you could argue its similarity to one or two recent releases, it trumps the competition with incredibly slick combat, simple and satisfying progression, and varied environments and enemies. The difficulty ramps up heavily as you progress to the later levels, so the inability to change difficulty on-the-fly may prove a bit of an issue for some players. Push through, however, and you’ll find Archvale to be one of the most satisfying twin-stick games available right now.
  2. Switch Player
    May 16, 2022
    80
    Archvale is an engrossing title that you never really stop thinking about. It’s got everything a soulslike or Zelda fan could need, but twists the gameplay just enough to keep it feeling fresh, even when you’re grinding out levels to take on a boss.

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 7
  3. Negative: 2 out of 7
  1. Nikopro245
    Jun 18, 2022
    10
    Very addictive and great gameplay…set in beautifully pixelated Zelda-sqe world. A game that is very hard to put down
  2. colplayz5
    Jan 17, 2022
    9
    This is game is just straight up fun. It’s set in a colorful world where you just get to explore, not told what to do. The constant progressThis is game is just straight up fun. It’s set in a colorful world where you just get to explore, not told what to do. The constant progress you make in this game is addicting. The weapons and armor are all fun to get, and acquiring materials is made easy because you’ll just get a ton of them as you play. The main gameplay is solid, and I enjoyed learning how to deal with new enemies and bosses. The dungeons are all well designed, and for the most part, the bosses are too. Unfortunately the game does have a pretty brain dead final boss and a boring and confusing ending, which is my only real gripe about the game. I seriously recommend this to anyone looking for something new to try. For the price-point, it’s an amazing deal.… Expand
  4. NindieSpotlight
    Dec 16, 2021
    9
    This is just one of those titles that’s hard to describe in a way that gives it justice, a sort of retro-looking twin-stick slasher/shooterThis is just one of those titles that’s hard to describe in a way that gives it justice, a sort of retro-looking twin-stick slasher/shooter adventure that has some RPG elements, and will involve you needing to periodically do some intense dodging. See, I told you it was tough, I think it’s one of those games that’s easier to describe simply watching it. Your gear is vital to your success, whether purchased or crafted, and the meandering layout of the map will definitely have you regularly warping back and forth between points as you go since it isn’t unusual to find yourself heavily outclassed at the end of a given path or within a dungeon. At times I do wish the game did a better job at providing some guidance, as early on I found myself wondering what I was supposed to be doing or where I was supposed to go, but once you accept there’s not going to be much direction you just roll with it. While perhaps the experience could use some polish to bring it all together a bit more, the reasonably-low price of admission does fit well with its no-frills approach, delivering satisfying twin-stick combat where you can use some pretty diverse and powerful weapons, and generally maintaining a tough-but-fair degree of challenge throughout. A nice change of pace and bit of fun marrying some classic adventure elements with more rigorous and intense shooter-like combat.

    https://www.nindiespotlight.com/2021/12/mini-reviews-december-1st-edition.html    … Expand
  5. Tspeed
    Jul 29, 2023
    9
    Great game. I’m over roguelikes and was looking for a bullet hell where you can actually complete sections and make progress, and this gameGreat game. I’m over roguelikes and was looking for a bullet hell where you can actually complete sections and make progress, and this game does that well.… Expand
  6. TheLinkgirl
    Oct 19, 2022
    6
    While I find Archvale to be a generally good game, I feel that it is lacking in some areas. The gameplay is pretty enjoyable, but can becomeWhile I find Archvale to be a generally good game, I feel that it is lacking in some areas. The gameplay is pretty enjoyable, but can become repetitive since it feels like there isn't a need to change weapons; when you find a new strongest weapon, you generally use only it until you find something stronger. Outside of that the game is mostly fun, but simply not memorable. It would be better if there was really anything to latch on to as a particularly special point, but that never happened for me.… Expand
  7. Ashjaszczur
    Jan 3, 2022
    4
    What a gem of a game we have here with Archvale, the look and feel are just so charming and satisfying and the sound design is just asWhat a gem of a game we have here with Archvale, the look and feel are just so charming and satisfying and the sound design is just as brilliant. Some areas are really challenging but this doesn’t matter due to how quick your character can walk and dash through screens to reach a more bearable stage, the story isn’t too deep but it suits the vibe perfectly with light humour and quick dialogue from npc’s the amount of weapon choices here is unreal and you really can decide which direction and style you wish to play the game. Hopefully there will be a few quality of life improvements made to the game in the near future re menus and items being useless and worthless when unwanted but other than these small issues I would say it’s a perfect game. I completed it in under nine hours and I’m about to start another run through tomorrow.… Expand
  8. scorpagion
    Dec 19, 2021
    3
    There's almost a great game here but some annoying bugs, lack of attention to detail and balance issues prevent it from being reallyThere's almost a great game here but some annoying bugs, lack of attention to detail and balance issues prevent it from being really enjoyable. It's common to encounter a new area and for the difficulty to suddenly spike from a 3 to a 10. Then you find a single item, maybe a helmet with great defense or a powerful weapon, and the difficulty is back down to 3 again. It's rare for the game to hit a difficulty that would be considered a fair challenge, it's frequently swinging between far too easy and frustratingly hard. One minute you discover a new area and you're dead in a few hits, then you come back an hour later and you're a bullet sponge. You'll frequently encounter new weapons in the game but it's rare for a new weapon to be viable, mostly you'll be spending time with one or two weapons and neglecting everything else you find until the next viable weapon comes along. One thing that particularly annoyed me is that items which are found in limited quantities can just vanish. Maybe you'll need to use a particular sword to craft a new sword later on, but when you found that sword it was trash so you threw it away. Too bad, you'll never be able to craft the decent sword. Or you might encounter an upgrade in the game and your inventory is full, well you better not leave that screen without picking up the upgrade or it'll be gone for good. I played the game for about 10 hours and the game fully crashed at least five times. I really want to like this but I think the developers needed a few more months to tweak the balance and fix bugs. The graphics are cute and there's some fun bullet patterns and ideas here, but it all falls flat.… Expand