''Arcus Odyssey'' is an action game video game developed by

Wolf Team , formerly known as , was a Japanese video game development company founded in 1986. The company was renamed in 2003 when Telenet Japan sold part of its stake and made Namco the majority shareholder. Namco Tales Studio was originally the primary d ...

and released by

Renovation Products was a Japanese video game and software developer founded in October 1983 by Kazuyuki Fukushima. The company had several video game divisions including: Wolf Team, Laser Soft, Reno, Renovation Products, Riot, Commseed, and Telenet Jr. Telenet J ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

for the

Sega Mega Drive/Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

and

X68000 The is a home computer created by Sharp Corporation. It was first released in 1987 and sold only in Japan. The initial model has a 10 MHz Motorola 68000 CPU, 1 MB of RAM, and lacks a hard drive. The final model was released in 1993 wi ...

and in 1993 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game features an

isometric perspective Isometric video game graphics are graphics employed in video games and pixel art that use a parallel projection, but which angle the viewpoint to reveal facets of the environment that would otherwise not be visible from a top-down perspective o ...

and

cooperative gameplay Cooperative game may refer to: * Cooperative board game, board games in which players work together to achieve a common goal * Cooperative game theory, in game theory, a game with competition between groups of players and the possibility of cooperat ...

, as well hack and slash gameplay. It tells the story of four heroes trying to thwart the return of an evil sorceress. ''Arcus Odyssey'' is part of the ''Arcus'' franchise, which also included ''Arcus'' in 1988, '' Arcus II: Silent Symphony'' in 1989, and ''Arcus III'' in 1991. A North American version for the SNES was planned, but it was cancelled following Sega's acquisition of Renovation Products (American publisher for Wolf Team and

Telenet Telenet was an American commercial packet-switched network which went into service in 1975. It was the first FCC-licensed public data network in the United States. Various commercial and government interests paid monthly fees for dedicated lines ...

games). It was released only in Japan with the title ''Arcus Spirits'', and was also planned to be released in Europe by

Loriciels Loriciel (also sometimes Loriciels) was a French video game developing company that was active from 1983 to the early 1990s. The name is a combination of ''logiciel'', the French word for software, and ''Oric'' which was the first computer they ...

Gameplay

In ''Arcus Odyssey'', the player takes on the role of one of four different characters, and proceeds through each level in order. The players are able to move, attack, defend using a projectile-blocking shield, and use a variety of offensive, defensive, and recovery items and magic, all of which can be found in chests scattered throughout the levels. Some levels require the players to accomplish sub-quests in order to proceed, such as extinguishing a fire blocking the door to the next level; other levels give the player an ally. The game primarily has an isometric view, although the player's characters can move freely in eight directions. After defeating most bosses, players receive a power boost; this boost either gives them more health or more power.

Plot

Hundreds of years ago, the powerful dark sorceress Castomira sought to destroy the land of Arcus and remake it into a place of chaos and darkness. The only person powerful enough to stop her was Princess Leaty, a good sorceress and the granddaughter to the legendary King of Light. Leaty challenged Castomira and the two fought for days on end, but the powers of the light eventually overwhelmed the witch, who was banished to the Dark World for all eternity. Foreseeing the possible return of Castomira, Leaty created a magical sword known as "The Power of Leaty" and trusted its safekeeping with the King of Arcus. Now, a millennium later, Castomira's followers have stolen the Sword in order to revive their mistress as the power of darkness grows stronger by the day. Only the powers of four brave heroes can prevent a second coming of Castomira and return peace to Arcus. They are: Jedda Chef the swordsman, Diana Fireya the archer; Erin Gashuna the warrior-maiden; and Bead Shia the mage. At the end of the game, the players are given a choice between either using the sword to defeat Castomira or helping the witch regain her power.

Reception

''Arcus Odyssey'' received mostly mixed reviews. David Upchurch of ''

ACE An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

'' scored it 863/1000, writing: "To put it simply, ''Arcus Oddysey'' is one of the finest examples of the arcade adventure genre to appear on the Megadrive." '' Dragon'' gave the game 4 out of 5 stars and commented: "A few gamers might not enjoy having to explore twisted caves in order to attain to the next higher level; hackers would probably prefer to blow everything to bits. Although this product is not entirely original, Renovation is offering consumers quite a successful game in ''Arcus Odyssey''." German magazine ''Video Games'' gave it 63%. ''

Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The m ...

'' gave the SNES version a 7 out of 10, commenting that it "has an interesting perspective and enough characters to keep things interesting." '' GamePro'' criticized the lack of improvements from the Genesis version, describing the graphics as "small and crowded" with little detail or variety. They concluded "If you're looking for an interesting game with little to offer but average graphics and better-than-average music, then this is for you. True RPG fans, though, may want to ... hold out for meatier titles."

References

{{Reflist

External links

''Arcus Odyssey''
at MobyGames
''Arcus Odyssey''
at GameFAQs 1991 video games Action role-playing video games Adventure games Cooperative video games Fantasy video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Role-playing video games Sega Genesis games X68000 games Super Nintendo Entertainment System games Telenet Japan games Video games about witchcraft Video games developed in Japan Video games featuring female protagonists Video games scored by Motoi Sakuraba Video games with alternate endings Virtual Studio games Wolf Team games