Arcane Arts: Sorcerer’s Quest

Among the several GameHouse games I’ve had the pleasure of playing so far, Arcane Arts series was probably one of my least favorite. However, its third installment, Sorcerer’s Quest, completely changed my mind about it, as it turned out to be one of the most entertaining games of the franchise, not only in regards to the story but also in regards to the core concept of the game.

In Arcane Arts, the magical coven is divided between those who practice Order magic (who cast spells based on formulas and logic) and those who are adepts of Chaos magic (who base their spellcasting on intuition and emotion). Because of the different nature of the magic they use, the relations between the two factions have always been tense. Erika (our protagonist) is caught in the middle of this conflict, at the brink of war. She is a student of the Order Academy whose dean is her grandmother, but also the daughter of the Chaos Extremists group led by her father. Additionally, she is proficient in both Order Magic, as well as in Chaos Magic, although she tries to hide her skill for the latter. The game starts with Erika being wrongfully accused of collaborating with her father and being a spy for the Chaos Extremists. She is thus imprisoned and sent to trial in the Court of Magic, but with the help of her friends, she manages to escape before the verdict is released so that she can freely focus on saving the arcane world.

The events from Arcane Arts: Sorcerer’s Quest then mostly follow Erika and her friends in their quest to acquire three special artifacts needed for a ritual presumed to prevent the impending war. To retrieve these relics, the team will visit various parallel dimensions… which coincidentally are places encountered in other recently released GameHouse games. In other words, Arcane Arts: Sorcerer’s Quest masterfully integrates crossover levels with Barbarous – Tavern Of Emyr, Elena’s Journal – Unfinished Expedition and the main characters from Primrose Lake and Undercover series also make small cameos in some cutscenes. As someone who experienced all these games, seeing them come to life as part of a different series was really joyful.

The gameplay is balanced a bit differently than most of the other games, although it maintains the same mechanics as usual. You will still play as different characters and fulfill customer orders, handing out the items or the dishes they require and in the end billing them. However, Arcane Arts: Sorcerer’s Quest levels feel more intense because of the increased number of customers and the size of their offers. A lot of these levels feel like rush hour, and I sometimes had a hard time keeping up with all requests and optimizing my movement. On the other hand, the levels seem to be a tad shorter than usual, and the level objectives also seem to require fewer steps.

Due to all the crossover content making up over a third of the game, Arcane Arts: Sorcerer’s Quest is a true delight for fans of SQRT3-developed GameHouse titles who already played their recent releases (from the past ~2 years). For those new to this universe, the characters you meet will still be interesting, but less flavorful than if you knew their backstories.