I have been playing the pc port of Arcadian Records for a few days now.
Of course, I have been job-hunting as well but...that hasn't been as fruitful.
Still, I haven't lost all hope yet. I still have more than enough savings to cover a few more months of rent and groceries. As long as I don't buy any more extra items in-game I should be fine. At least, I hope. My rotten luck could strike again at not even a moment's notice.
I can only hope it doesn't do something crazy like get me kicked out of my apartment building or something. Ugh, just thinking about it is making my skin crawl.
Enough about that, though. For I help built myself quite the character.
The game Arcadian Records lets players pick from a variety of races including Human, Elves, Angels, Demons, and Dragons. Although, half of them are behind some kind of paywall. I freaking hate it when they do stuff like this in video games especially mobile games.
I had to spend $99.99 to even get the one I wanted but it was well worth it. I was able to make my character a member of the Dragon race.
Each race had specific advantages and disadvantages to them but I didn't really care about all of that when I made mine. I was going more for aesthetics and rarity. But I think I remember the racial advantage was starting with higher defense and the ability to fly. Don't know when the ability to fly would come in handy but the high defense was a huge plus.
"What else was there to know, again? Oh, right!"
The game's main objective was to eventually pick a country to help and when the time came, your character would lead them to victory against the others not to mention defeating the Evil Emperor as well.
'Evil Emperor? What is this, some generic manga or something? Well, they are common tropes for a reason. Don't fix what isn't broken, I suppose..."
I scrutinized the game's info page again. It says here that the World of Arcadia is brought into the throes of war when the once peaceful, but militant Empire of Bernam invaded its neighbor, the Kingdom of Dierdre. Now it has its sights on the Allied Federation of Kingdoms next. As you grow as a renowned warrior from a faraway land, you will be forced to pick aside. Will you join hands with one of the many Allied Kingdoms, or will you be forced to watch as your new home turn to ash?!
"Dang! This game sounds a lot more hardcore than when I worked on it."
I sifted through the review page as I saw many glowing reviews of the game.
"Wow, 9/10 IGN. Not bad."
I hadn't thought too deeply about my character when I made it but I saw that a lot of people chose to be human or Elven. There were a few big spenders who chose the Angel or Demon race but no dragons.
'Come on, everyone knows dragon is where it's at. Have no one seen Miss K********'s Dragon M**d?! Plebeians...'
I couldn't help but be disappointed in the lack of diversity in the player base but I could understand. Everyone wants to be what they're comfortable with and peer pressure is no joke! Well, that and those guys that want their character to show off their tastes in fashion.
I nodded my head in respect to those players.
"Wait, no! My heart yearns to be a dragon! If there are no dragon players in this game, I shall take it upon myself to become the dragon player! Ahem."
I kinda lost myself there but I'm back.
I decided to start up the game again. After the loading screen ended, I could finally play my character.
I spent at least two hours deciding everything from my facial features to deciding a name.
'Worth it!'
"Now let's see those stats!" I move my mouse over to a box in the corner which opened up a menu screen. The menu screen was labeled as such: [Back to Game], [Item Bag], [Character], [Quit].
I clicked the box that was labeled as [Character]. The screen that opened up next had shown my character and everything I had equipped. I could even see the stats of my clothes and armor I had equipped.
My character screen was divided into two separate screens depending on what form I was in at the time. One character screen and stats for my dragon form while I was shown something similar for my human form.
Currently, my stats as a human looked like this.
[Name]: Soren Armeyer [Race]: Human [True Race]: Dragon [Level]: 23 [True Level]: 53
[Attack]: 68 + 10
[Defense]: 114 + 24
[Speed]: 55 + 10
[Mana]: 500
[Exp]: 42 needed to Lvl up
[Skills]:
[Defensive Scales]: Level 3 [Fireball]: Level 2 [Dragon Transformation]: Level 5
[Fierce Strike]: Level 1 [Fly]: Level 1 [Fiery Strike]: Level 2 [Sword Skill]: Level 4
My stats as a dragon are even better.
[Name]: Soren Armeyer [Race}: Dragon [Level]: 53
[Attack]: 108
[Defense]: 154
[Speed]: 135
{Mana}: 500
[Exp}: 42 needed to Lvl up
[Skills}:
[Defensive Scales]: Level 3 [Fireball]: Level 2 [Human Transformation]: Level 5
[Fierce Strike]: Level 1 [Fly]: Level 1 [Fiery Strike]: Level 2 [Sword Skill]: Level 4
Though it does suck that I don't get the extra stat bonuses from wearing armor as a dragon. It does make sense, but I still don't like it.
I also realized I can't enter new towns or cities in my dragon form. Or any other vastly populated area for that matter. 'Maybe it's due to my huge frame? But, I didn't think I looked that big on my screen.'
I continued to learn more about the game as I played more.
Recently, I've learned the name of the country my starter village is located in. The country is called [Rumeria], I think.
'Rumeria, huh? Definitely sounds like a fantasy country's name. What else was there to discover? Oh right, there was the town name as well. The starting village was called Oakwood Village. 'How rustic!'
It seems this game lets the player discover any new information about the game without giving them all the information. 'That's not a bad way to go about it, but what about us slower players? Well, I guess I could go on the forums and find out anything I need to know. Any more than that though, and I would probably get spoiled, so let's hold off on that thought for now. Anything else I should know?'
This game may contain suggestive themes and situations not suitable for those under a certain age without a parent or guardian present.
I looked around my room. 'Guess the coast's clear.' I start to laugh to myself for a longer time than I care to admit.
'I should probably strive to go out more after this.' I continue into the village and do as many quests as I could find. There was one quest where I had to find a cat for some little girl.
Easy, right? No, it was far from easy.
I had to race all across the village just to find it in the girl's room.
I shouted many obscenities at my screen that day.
'Maybe if they actually programmed her to go inside of her house then maybe this stupid quest wouldn't even need to exist...What am I doing with my life?'
Quest complete!
Level up!
New stat points are available! Where would you like to place them, brave adventurer?
"Easy! I'll just put them into my defense! Nothing wrong building up a strong defense."
New Skill Points are available! Where would like to place them, brave adventurer?
"Hmm. I kinda want to up my Sword Level but I could also use it on my attribute attacks. Decisions, decisions."
I looked at my screen for what seemed like forever until the idea hit me.
"Maybe I should put the points into my [Transformation] and [Fly] skills. That way I could at least have my dragon abilities maxed out first. Who knows when [Fly] may be actually useful?"
I decided to put one skill point into both skills thus raising them one level each.
'Not bad but I can do better.'
I have been playing for a while now, huh? Haa~ Off to bed, I go.
I save the game before jumping into bed.
'I didn't even change into my sleepwear yet but I'm far too lazy to do that now that I'm in bed...'
I fall asleep fairly easily these days.
Well, it's not like I have too many things to hang over my head now. Besides, my job situation and I have to worry about my savings running low soon.
'Wha-Where am I?' I start to get up from my bed but as I look around at my surroundings, I start to notice that everything is too different. My room is much barer than I recall and my computer was gone. Actually, everything I owned was missing. Even my bed was much different.
I got up from the bed and opened the door across from me. I quickly walk down a set of stairs unfamiliar to me and straight out of the door. What I saw around me startled me to my core.
All around me were rural cottages and people in rustic clothing. 'Where am I? Why is everyone wearing that old kind of clothing?' Everyone young and old looked like they had come out of a medieval setting.
'Was there a fair or something I didn't hear about?'
This was the only thing that could explain what was going on.
I ran around looking like a madman of sorts, I'm sure.
I could read the signs at least so that was cool, I guess.
"Oakwood Village." I read it aloud to myself but still couldn't believe what I was saying or seeing, for that matter.
'There is no way I ended up in Oakwood Village. That's from Arcadian Records. That's a location from a game! Not supposed to be real at all!'
I wracked my brain for a logical answer but couldn't find one.
"No freaking way! This can't be the same as one of those Isekai mangas. I mean yeah I was a fan and thought it sounded like a better deal than what I got back on Earth but still! I didn't think it would actually happen!"
That was when a huge gust of air had come and almost swept me off of my feet.
One of the people in the crowded street pointed up into the air. I followed her line of sight and looked into the air. It was there that I saw a large, flying lizard. But, anyone even a little knowledgeable about fantasy creatures would know what it was with one look.
"It's a dragon!" Everyone in the crowd ran for shelter except me as I didn't recall where I had just come from.
I soon found myself alone on the street as the majestic beast landed in front of me. Upon closer inspection, it was a dragon with dark blue scales. Its large wings were bigger than the average school bus.
I was drawn to it by some unknown force. As I stepped closer to it, I could see that it wanted to say something to me as well. 'Dragons can speak, right?'
I saw it open its mouth to speak but what came out wasn't what I had expected.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
'...Excuse me?'
Beep! Beep! Beep!
It was at that moment I woke up in my bed. My real bed this time.
I looked around still in a daze and unable to identify what was truly real anymore.
That's when I heard it again.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"You've gotta be kidding me..." I picked up my phone and turned off the alarm.
I decided to go back to sleep.