I have to admit, I cringed a little when I discovered Arkadian Warriors is an RPG. Possibly my least favourite genre, really only tickling my fancy when Zelda is incorporated in the title. Complex menu’s and stats galore frighten me…….

Well, my concerns need never had of existed. Arkadian Warriors is old school Hack ‘n Slash RPG. You won’t find any of that turn based nonsense here.

To very briefly go over the story; There’s this bad snake dude called Gorgon and he is Lord of the Underworld. From what I gathered, he has plans to rise to the surface and take over Akadia. You get to play as a Swordsman, an Archer or a Sorcerer and it is your job to stop Gorgon’s evil schemes. The main hub of the game is Arkadia, a small town within it, to be precise. The town isn’t brimming with folks, you’ll maybe see ten different people. There’s one solitary shop which you’ll do all of your shopping and selling. To obtain quests, you just have to speak with one of the locals. This will open up a portal to the Underworld, and you’re off.

The dungeons in the Underworld is where all the action is going to happen. Goblins, scorpions and spiders galore will reek havoc on your attempts to restore order. Combat with said beastie’s depends on which of the trades you have chosen to play with. Although, I guess it really doesn’t, each only requires you to hammer the A button and maybe lock-on with the left trigger. Swordsman is by far the easiest option, with archer surely coming at medium. The Sorcerer is very difficult to get to grips with. I hadn’t the chance to level up a lot using said sorcerer, but I’m sure it must (read; has got to) get easier. Navigating said dungeons is fairly straight forward, like I mentioned earlier, this is old school. Some gates require a key, red, blue and green are your options here. 90% of the actual quests are basically the same. You’ll be asked to catch, kill or smash a said number of things or beast’s. It all sounds very simple and linier, this is because - it is, and by no means is it a bad thing.

The first couple of dungeons did prove tricky for me, and I could have very well of made the mistake of judging it right there and then. I didn’t do that and I reaped the rewards. After you start levelling up, and purchasing new weapons and armour things get a little more interesting. Sure, the concept is exactly the same, but I started to get into my character - Man, I wanted that little dude to look all the jazz and be a bad *** mothercrusher! I later ventured back, to the very first dungeon and replayed the first quest all levelled up - it was unbelievably easy. One swipe kills and combos a plenty. Loaded myself up with health packs, too.

As well as your health you have a special meter, this breaks away from the norm and has you pressing B to activate it. My favourite was the limited invincibility. You also have a yellow gauge, which when full transforms you into a giant beast, able to take down bigger foes with ease. Once again, all you’ll need to know is; hammer A. You’ll occasionally come across bosses, which still only require the A button, but later on they get really sodding hard, especially as you’ll have just been through a dungeon - of which most of them, are pretty damn big. It’s not all killing, mind. You’ve gotta keep collecting money because without better weaponry you’re going to struggle as the game progress’s. My personal favourite part of the game is the secret rooms. Finding these secret rooms should be on everyone‘s priority list. I’m not going to spoil what’s in them, it really doesn’t matter - just finding them is entertaining, and fairly simple due to the glorious map. The map only appears as you go (like Castlevania) and it’s a personal necessity of mine to make sure my end of level stat screen reads; Dungeon Explored 100%.

Visually Arkadian Warriors is good. It’s by no means fancy, but it doesn’t try to be. Everything it sets out to do, it does well. The dungeons are well lit, the characters move smoothly and are well animated and the scenery is all very clean and crisp. Destroyable items are repeated often, but they never look out of place. It all looks very very nice.

20 dungeons, which you’ll be able to play thorough with the three different trades, should last a while. All quests have leader boards which adds even more scope. Akadian Warriors also features local and online co-op.

I really like the tiny little things, like how occasionally when a big beast is one hit away from death, it’ll make a pathetic run for it. You’ll have to run after it to finish it off, and maybe you do have to see it, but I had to laugh when a giant warthog made a sharp exit, little legs scurrying underneath him. I like the secret rooms and the levelling up. Buying and selling - it’s all good stuff.

I’m struggling to come up with things I dislike about Arkadian Warriors, I’m sure the basic combat will put off many, but for me, it’s all part of it’s charm. The lack of complex story telling may upset big RPG fans, but again, for me it’s part of it’s charm. There’s no voice acting, just a few written dialogues which explain all you really need to know. Simple things like being turned into a frog, are slightly irritating but not enough to scar you for life.

I enjoyed Arkadian Warriors, it‘s simple and to the point. I would compare it to Gauntlet before Final Fantasy - which for me personally - is great!