Arc of Alchemist

In sum, Arc of Alchemist is not worth your time.

Idea Factory's latest release stretches the limits of what can be called a playable videogame.

Arc of Alchemist is a short, boring game that is as dry as the desert it takes place in.

At only ten hours long, Arc of Alchemist won't waste much of your time. This wasteland has seen better days and couldn't come as recommended to any but the most ardent of Idea Factory fans.

Arc of Alchemist is a flawed, but fun experience.

Arc of Alchemist is not a good RPG, it lacks some basic fundamentals that make RPG’s fun. The main story is reasonably interesting but you feel very little for the characters. The combat is fun in parts but held back by poor controls whilst the graphical issues are not something you should really experience in this day and age. If you love RPG’s then you may get a few hours of satisfaction but for the experienced role player Arc of Alchemist isn’t something for your bucket list.

Arc of Alchemist is a catastrophic disaster on Switch. The game dips and climbs in framerate constantly, the visuals are so downgraded that it can be difficult to even make out key aspects, and the experience is overall miserable. There is a decent enough action RPG buried under all of this, but the abysmal performance should have never been accepted for release, and I’m outright ashamed they thought this port was in a good state to release, and haven’t fixed it since.

If you are thinking about getting Arc of Alchemist, here is a bit of advice about playing it: Don’t.

At the end of the day, Arc of Alchemist delivers a decent gaming experience. The characters' personalities are fun, and their antics are worthy spectacles. The building mechanics are a fun respite from the otherwise ho-hum aspects of the game. Those who are interested in the genre may find this to be worth their time, but the music, art, and significant chunks of the gameplay are too blasé to talk up.

Arc of Alchemist feels so very dated, it could easily be confused for an early Idea Factory title getting its remaster on Switch… without anything actually remastered. Unremarkable and uninspired, it's a quintessential mindless dungeon-crawling RPG, with no real hook to set it apart. There are a million games out there that do exactly what Arc of Alchemist does, but better in every way.