Sunrider: Mask of Arcadius Review (Visual Novel/Strategy Game Hybrid)

 
This review was originally published on Fuwanovel Forums on June 8th 2018

Sunrider: Mask of Arcadius is one of the best-known and probably most appreciated western visual novels. Developed by Love in Space and published for free by Sekai Project in July 2014, it was downloaded on Steam by around 600 thousand players and spawned a successful franchise, with its commercial sequel, Liberation Day and dating sim spin-off, Sunrider Academy, both reaching impressive sale numbers and mostly positive feedback from the community.

            What’s interesting, Mask of Arcadius is also a hybrid title, possibly more ambitious and refined with its strategy game elements than “pure” visual novel segments. Most likely, it is exactly that part of the game that gave it a much broader appeal than that of typical VNs and made its spectacular success on Steam possible. Does it, however, still have a similar entertainment value for dedicated VN readers, on a much more saturated, diverse market, as it had in 2014?

For the most part, the game only offers an illusion of choice but does a good job of getting the player emotionally involved

 

Sunrider’s story starts with a typical space opera setting: in a galaxy on brink of a total war, a neutral world of Cera is attacked without provocation by PACT, an expansive faction seemingly set on dominating all humanity. Quickly overwhelmed and terrorized by the PACTs flagship destroying the planet’s capital city, Cera’s military and government fall apart, but the most advanced warship in their fleet, Sunrider, miraculously escapes the carnage. As Kayto Shields, the young captain of Cera’s sole surviving battleship, you go on a quest to defeat PACT and liberate your world, facing many hardships and moral dilemmas on the way.

            The overarching plot and the way game builds its setting are among its best elements – the feeling of despair and fighting against overwhelming odds are nearly always present, while issues of galactic politics and tough choices that come with the merciless war takes a heavy toll on Shields and his closest allies. While some moral choices in the game feel forced and even morally “right” options don't necessarily save the protagonist from going through some nightmare-fuel scenarios and blaming himself for everything bad that happens to the universe, for the most part, the game succeeds in building tension and immersing you in this brutal scenario of galactic conflict.

The main cast of Sunrider feels pretty standard and the first game doesn’t have enough story content to develop them deeply – Ava, protagonist’s first officer and childhood friend, is more or less the sole exception

 

Fewer good things can be said about the Sunrider’s crew – that is, protagonist's quasi-harem, which, is not only filled with pretty boring stock characters, but also isn’t even romanceable until late in the second game. While most girls have some secrets and additional depth, most of them are simply either annoying or boring, not really fitting into the general climate of the story. The main exception is Ava, the ship’s overly-strict fist officer, who is also the captain’s childhood friend and while she never lets her personal feelings get in the way of the mission, definitely cares deeply about him. The emotional dynamic and interactions between the two were definitely my favourite thing about the main cast.

            Still, between-mission cutscenes and dating-sim-style conversations with the crew, as mentioned before, are only part of the game. Its second component (and for many definitely its core content) is a turn-based strategy, in which you lead the Sunrider and its squadron of mecha into a classic, hex-based tactical combat. With a roster of unique units, all of which have their own skills and functions in battle, decent enemy and mission variety and versatile upgrade system, it’s definitely much more than a minigame – especially if you play on any difficulty other than “Visual Novel mode”, making it possible to blast through most battles and focus on exploring the story. Even on “casual” level, you’ll need to utilize your team’s capabilities well and choose your upgrades wisely to succeed. On higher difficulties, it becomes a challenge even for experienced players and can provide you with many hours of demanding, deep gameplay.  

The strategy game elements in this game aren’t a tacked-on bonus feature – they offer deep, demanding gameplay, that should satisfy even more experienced players

 

All this is accompanied by decent production qualities. The artstyle is fairly generic, especially in VN segments and CGs connected to them, but works well enough, while space battle segments are really nice to look at, with pretty intricate sprites and visual effects. Also, unlike the story segments, battles have voice acting, with the cast (each girl piloting their own mecha and Ava at the helm of the Sunrider) reacting to your orders. Once again, I can’t say I’ve enjoyed the girls other than Ava (might be a completely subjective thing), but the execution of the lines was solid, both with them and the male voices of mercenary and allied ships you can hire later in the game. The music probably was there, but it definitely wasn’t memorable enough to catch my attention (which I’m usually embarrassed to admit, but if it’s like that after two playthroughs, I don’t even feel compelled to check the soundtrack).

            In the end though, Sunrider: Mask of Arcadius is a very solid, enjoyable game, for a free product still as impressive today as it was four years ago. If you’re not completely allergic to hybrid VNs and don’t get mad at cliff-hanger ending and lack of conclusive romance arcs, you should definitely play it and seriously consider looking into its sequel, Liberation Day, which gives a worthy conclusion to this story. That game is, however, a story for another post.

Final score: 4/5

Pros:
+ Great “space opera” climate and setting
+ Deep, compelling battle system
+ Well-paced, engaging storyline
 
Cons: 
- Some borderline-annoying, stock characters
- Mostly meaningless choices and forced moral dilemmas

 

VNDB page
Download Sunrider: Mark of Arcadius for free