I like to go off the beaten path when reviewing games. I’m the sort who actively combs the new release calendar curious about the releases that never had the marketing muscle of the Call of Duty: Black Ops’s and the Bulletstorms of gaming. When you turn over rocks sometimes you stumble across hitherto unnoticed gems like Ninjatown or de Blob. Other times you simply come across dead spiders and quickly put the rocks back down, which brings us to Lord of Arcana. I certainly hope Lord of Arcana enjoys its brief time in the spotlight because this mercilessly dull and tiresome game will be long forgotten when it fades from the recent release listings.
Lord of Arcana starts off with a traditional if forgettable character creation system: name, gender, hair style, voice, and so forth. Your mighty hero is then thrust into a series of climactic battles. Your finely honed swordplay, immense magical prowess and unmatched valor allow you to destroy opponent after opponent before you culminate in a titanic final battle where finally…you immediately get teleported to a new area with all of your powers taken away. Apparently you have just sacrificed your past life including weapons and skills to prove yourself as a successor to an ancient king.
