ArcaniA: Our PS4 videos

Driftwood
Saturday, May 16, 2015 | 12:40 PM
9 comments

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We all keep complaining about the constant releases of HD ports from last gen, but here is a title that could almost be qualified as retro. ArcaniA: The Complete Tale is indeed the complete version of ArcaniA: Gothic 4, originally released back in 2010 on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. 5 years, that seems to justify a reedition a bit more than usual, though we wonder what Nordic Games were thinking when deciding to release it a week before the return of a certain Geralt of Rivia. To discover our four gameplay videos and read our impressions, you know what to do.

Impressions

To say that the weight of years can be felt when playing ArcaniA: The Complete Tale is quite an understatement. Visually dated despited detailed environments, this German RPG carries the scars of a low budget game which also had to deal with the technical constaints of old gen systems. By choosing not to lock the frame rate at 30 fps, the developers in charge of the port haven't been able to deliver a fully enjoyable experience technically speaking. It's made even worse by the fact that the characters' animations are just as stiff as they were in 2010. Needless to say that it doesn't compare well with CD Projekt Red's latest game, even though the latter does suffer from frame drops too. Content wise, this version of ArcaniA includes the extension Fall of Setarrif which came out in 2013, adding to the adevtnure good longetivity. The story will take you on a quest for vengence in which you'll have to accomplish many quests to gain experience and power, as in all good RPGs. In 2010, ArcaniA was clearly not a must-have, so it is no wonder it's still not one today. That being said, it's quite honorable from Nordic Games to want to give players an alternative, although it will most probably remain invisible for most people. It should however find its audience considering the lack of role playing games on the new consoles and its cheap price.