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Arkadian Warriors Reviewby Chad Grischow
Pressing 'B' unleashes your special attack, while also draining some mana from your meter. The attack you unleash is determined by which unlocked attack you have equipped in your character's menu. Each character starts with just one special move and slowly upgrades it and unlocks many others. The more you use your special moves, the more effective they become. The soldier's 'charge' attack is a frustratingly weak head-butt at first, but eventually transforms into quite the powerhouse blast. The steady progression and unlocking of your special moves keeps even the most mundane dungeons exciting.
Through the course of the game, players will find the ability to equip stronger weapons and armor, both dropped at random by defeated enemies and purchased from the store in the city. Some weapons even include magic power, proving useful against certain types of enemies. The armor also has the occasional magic resistance ability, making it desirable to hold a couple different sets of each item and equipping the appropriate one based on the enemies you are battling in each specific level. This level of detail the developers put in ensures a deeper experience than gamers typically expect from an Arcade title.
While the dungeons can be a slice-and-dice good time, the same is not always true of the city. Shopping to upgrade your weapons and gear is not as simple as it should be. It would be nice to be able to see your current weapon's numbers when flipping through the inventory at the store. Instead, you must jump out of the 'buy' list, look at your own inventory, and jump back into the store to determine whether you really want to purchase something. It makes for a frustrating shopping experience. The weak shopping system and awkward city layout make for bland breaks between battles.
Though it does offer two-player co-op, which is where the game really shines, it feels like it should offer four, a la Gauntlet. Though most of the early quests are fast and simple, the game gets downright hard at about the halfway point, making co-op play nearly essential to completing the game with a smile on your face and controller intact. Some enemies are resistant to certain types of attacks, such as skeletons' resistance to piercing weapons, so playing through with two different classes of characters is a must. The game makes the team-up battles a little more difficult by forcing you to share the five lives available with your partner, and only awards one to share in the event you blow through them all and need to continue mid-level.
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