Arcade Spirits

Overall Arcade Spirits is well worth the price of admission for those seeking something a bit different but made with love to give the player a story to remember. It has a great soundtrack that matches the style of the neon glitz of the arcade and might just give you the feels.

What drew me to Arcade Spirits is the aesthetic and the story. The characters are cute and easy to like, and I love being able to track my status instead of guessing where I stand. Arcade Spirits has an enjoyable story and I will be playing it again until I’ve romanced everyone. It doesn’t really bring any innovation into dating sim world but it is one I can easily recommend.

Yet, for as flawed as the line-to-line writing of Arcade Spirits can be, I still found myself really enjoying the overall story of the game. Arcade Spirits already won a lot of points with me for being a relatively bite-sized adventure, but I also loved the cast of characters and the casual nature of the entire experience. Unfortunately, a lot of rough writing and dialogue in the game keeps me from truly loving it.

I really enjoyed Arcade Spirits, both as a narrative and for its romantic elements. I wasn’t convinced that I would pursue any romance, but the characters really drew me in and it really complimented the narrative. It tells a cohesive standalone story, using references to real world gaming and building its alternate future from there. As I said earlier in this review, visual novels live and die on the strength of their writing, and Arcade Spirits' greatest strength is its writing.