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RWBY: Arrowfell Review (Transfer eShop)


RWBY: Arrowfell Review - Screenshot 1 out of 5
Taken on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

About a decade ago, Rooster Teeth debuted a new animated series called RWBY, has gone on to create a fairly successful media franchise. However—apart from a rather unfortunate hack and slash game that was bombed—RWBY’s sole representation in video games includes several mobile games and cameos. In an effort to change this, a new project called RWBY: Arrowfell announced in 2020, led by WayForward and Arc System Works. Now, almost two years have passed, the game has finally been released and, well… that’s alright. Those waiting for the RWBY series to finally get their hands on a great video game adaptation will have to keep waiting, but RWBY: Arrowfell is still a decent game, if anything short.

RWBY: Arrowfell is set in the seventh episode of the anime, shortly after Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang become officially licensed female hunters. While completing missions while trying to make a name for themselves, they soon stumble across a mysterious military technology that seems to attract the Grimms and become caught up in a broader conspiracy as they navigate the world. check its origin. It’s not a particularly compelling story, but it provides enough motivation to keep you engaged, highlighted in part by the fully voiced cutscenes at the main story beats that mimic the style of the story. animation of the show. Those of you who don’t have a background in RWBY can sometimes get a bit lost in terms of how the different characters and organizations are related to each other, but the story is kept simple enough that things aren’t too confusing.

RWBY: Arrowfell Review - Screenshot 2 out of 5
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

RWBY: Arrowfell is an action platformer that pretty much reminds us of Shantae game, but the gimmick here is that you can swap between any of the four main girls at will. Each of them has distinct weapons and special skills, the latter of which are also used to solve simple environmental puzzles. For example, Ruby has a dash that makes her temporarily invincible in combat and can also be used to cross gaps that other girls can’t. Blake, on the other hand, can summon an attacking shadow clone when she does and can also be used to weigh down door opener switches.

While we appreciated that each girl felt different enough from the next, we also felt that there was a mechanic missing here to encourage the team to use it more often. Once you’ve picked a party member with a weapon that suits your playstyle, there’s really no point in moving on to others other than variety purposes. This then has the effect of reducing the remaining three party members to ‘keys’ that you occasionally pull to unlock obstructions in the environment and then throw back into the drawer for later use. Having something like a combo system that prioritizes switching mid-battle or some enemies taking more damage from specific team members would be more helpful in this respect.

RWBY: Arrowfell Review - Screenshot 3 of 5
Taken on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

To give a sense of character growth, each girl can be improved through a series of skill points found or purchased around the world that can be invested in stats like damage and defense. defense when attacking melee. We admire the depth of effort found in the skills system, but find that it also encourages sticking with just one team member. It doesn’t take long to max out a party member’s stats, and doing so will give you a significant advantage over most enemies you encounter. Having a good reason to allocate your points and use the whole team would be welcome here, as doing so on your own will result in a self-imposed handicap.

The moment-by-moment gameplay follows a solid, if unremarkable, action platformer, as you run through frozen caves and futuristic cities killing the bad guys and completing a variety of fetch quests than for NPCs. Combat is fluid, but somewhat simplistic, and has a strange sense of balance. For example, using a ranged attack consumes part of your mana bar, and the bar also depletes when you take damage. If it is empty, you will lose a heart, and if you lose all your hearts, you will die. Putting ourselves to death just to fire a few shots was hardly worth it, so we found ourselves barely using ranged attacks.

Furthermore, every girl shares the same mana bar and heart tank, which means that switching will be discouraged as the girl you’ve invested the most skill points with will be able to recover mana. quantity much faster. Regardless of who you play, you’ll still find it satisfying to cut and jump through levels, but there’s a missing piece here that you feel desperately need.

RWBY: Arrowfell Review - Screenshot 4 out of 5
Taken on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

The level design in RWBY: Arrowfell follows a wide linear format reminiscent of Metroidvanias, but is a bit more limited in scope. Instead of one large, interconnected map, self-contained levels are unlocked and can be selected from the world map in any order you choose. Each level has several paths that radiate in both directions, and you can explore these paths to find chests containing skill points or important items needed to continue the story. The level design is okay, but seriously lacks the interesting stage hazards and obstacles to distinguish each level from the next. The lack of map functionality can make navigating some levels more tedious than necessary; no level is big enough for you to get completely lost our way, but there were a few times when we found ourselves going around a bit too much because we couldn’t find the single path needed to progress.

In case you haven’t gathered enough information yet, RWBY: Arrowfell is the kind of game where all the pieces fit, but just can’t put them together as best as possible—it’s like an athlete. who was leading in a track event tripped a few yards before the finish line and lost all momentum. You’re given four characters with distinct playstyles and abilities, but that’s not a good reason to actually use all of them. You have melee and ranged options in combat, but you will be punished if you use one of them too much. The stages are stocked full of goodies and meant to be explored, but you’re not given a map to navigate.

RWBY: Arrowfell has a lot of good features, the problem is that nearly all of them come with some kind of qualifier or warning. It’s certainly not a bad game, but it’s frustrating to see how some simple tweaks and tweaks to some game systems can lead to a significantly more enjoyable experience.

RWBY: Arrowfell Review - Screenshot 5 out of 5
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

From a presentation standpoint, RWBY: Arrowfell does a good job of tweaking the anime’s visual style. Everything seems to be running on some version of the 2.5D WayForward tool used in projects like Ducktales: Remake and Shantae: Half-God Hero, looks good in motion. Although mainly 3D models are used, the type of sketching shown in this art style makes many characters and enemies look 2D. The only drawback here is that we didn’t record any instances of framerates rising above 30FPS, while some of the busier sequences got a bit choppy when it dropped below that. Furthermore, the environment design is sometimes a bit similar—you can only run through so many caves and snow-covered tundra before they start to blend together.

Inference

RWBY: Arrowfell is a good enough game, but it’s also something you might have discovered on Newgrounds when Flash games were popular. Elements like shallow combat and a settled skill point system don’t feel right, and the repetitive environments and bland level design tend to get tiresome as the campaign goes on. We’d give this game a light recommendation if you’re a big fan of Wayforward’s other work in 2D action games and are looking for something like it, but even then, you may want to wait for a discount here. There are certainly many, much Worse games RWBY: Arrowfell will be found on the Switch eShop, but we think your time and money should be spent on better games.

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