a real witch reviews the arcana (aka that phone game based on tarot cards that keeps showing up on your explore page)
I’ve been seeing The Arcana all over Tumblr and Instagram for several months now, and since I am a Genuine Real Life Witch™️ and have been reading tarot for several years now, I thought it would be fun to play the game and review it both from a gamer perspective and a witch/tarot reader perspective.
Spoiler: I really, really like it.
Please note that I have done virtually no research into the developer or development history of this game. This review is based purely on my experience from my playthroughs.
The Arcana is a fantasy/romance visual novel created by Nix Hydra Games. A visual novel is an interactive, text-based story with static visuals, so it’s almost more like an interactive graphic novel than a video game. Honestly, visual novels remind me of those “Choose Your Own Adventure” books that were really popular in the 1980s and 1990s more than anything else.
(Note: I recently learned that a visual novel is NOT the same thing as a dating sim, although the two genres are similar and do sometimes overlap. Dating sims… simulate dating. That’s really all there is to them. Visual novels typically have a more plot-focused story, and may have other stuff going on besides the romance.)
The story of The Arcana follows the player character, a magician’s apprentice living in the fictional city-state of Vesuvia, who is enlisted to track down a suspected murderer. Where the story goes from there depends on which route you choose to play. There are currently six routes, each with a different love interest. Each route has its own unique story, although obviously there are some overlapping elements.
Like I mentioned, The Arcana is essentially an interactive novel, so I’m reviewing it the way I’d review a book. So, let’s just run down some of the typical book review questions, shall we?
Is the content good? Yes. It has gotta be difficult to juggle six parallel storylines and make all of them equally compelling, but this game pulls it off. There were parts that genuinely had me in suspense, other parts that had me giggling at my phone, and some parts that were (intentionally) frustrating. I’m really impressed with how each route is totally different from the others – not just in content, but even in tone. For example, Portia’s route comes across as much more lighthearted and fluffy, whereas Julian and Muriel both have a lot of angst in their respective stories. It’s really well done.
Are the characters well-rounded and realistic? Again, yes. Okay, “realistic” may be a bit of a stretch in some cases Vlastomil but all six of the main romanceable characters have fleshed out personalities that feel natural within the story world. The side characters in this game are also really interesting, although I do wish some of them had bigger roles in the story.
What about the technical stuff (dialogue, grammar, etc.)? For the most part, it’s pretty good. The dialogue flows naturally, and different characters have different speaking styles, which is a little thing that makes SUCH a big difference. I noticed a couple of typos, but nothing too crazy.
The gameplay was pretty good. The only real mechanic is choosing one of two or three dialogue options at certain points in the game. There are a couple of places in each route where these choices are timed, but other than that it’s a very stress-free gaming experience.
Another thing that impresses me from both a writing and a gameplay angle is the multiple ending mechanic. Your choices matter in this game. Each of the routes has an “upright” ending and a “reversed” ending. I’m not exactly sure which choices affect the ending you get, but I’ve only managed to get “upright” endings so far, and I didn’t have to do anything special to unlock them.
Sam the Witch/Tarot Reader’s Review
Honestly, I did not expect this game to be as accurate with its depiction of magick and the Tarot as it was.
Each character is based on one of the Major Arcana, and I feel like they did a really good job of matching their personalities to their cards. Nadia is based on the High Priestess so she’s very intuitive and intelligent but tends to be distant and hard to read, Julian is based on the Hanged Man so he feels the need to sacrifice himself for others (with lots of gallows humor along the way), Lucio is based on the Devil so he’s a fucking bitch all about power and excess, etc.
I reeeeaaalllyy like the use of “upright” and “reversed” endings instead of the typical good vs. bad endings – based on upright vs. reversed meanings of Tarot cards, of course. I also really love that the reversed endings aren’t 100% negative, just like how reversed cards in readings aren’t necessarily negative.
I don’t wanna spoil anything, but I also really like how the upright endings deal with the upright traits of that character’s Major Arcana card, while the reversed endings deal with the reversed traits of that card.
This game also includes some pretty realistic depictions of witchcraft and magick. Obviously because it’s a fantasy world there is fantasy magic involved, but astral travel is a major theme in pretty much every route, and the way it’s depicted in the game is very similar to my real life experiences with it.
There’s one character who is a kitchen witch and makes homemade enchanted food with magickal herbs, which made me feel warm and fuzzy because it reminded me of all the times I’ve used kitchen magick to make charmed food for myself and my loved ones.
Tarot readings are obviously a big deal within the story world, but there’s also a character who uses runestones! Which I think is neat!!
They mention some real-life magickal plants. Myrrh being used for protection comes up a lot, which, in case anyone was curious, is actually one of the common uses for myrrh in spellcraft.
They clearly did their research and honestly I’m thrilled.
Other Cool Stuff About This Game
It’s probably the most queer-inclusive video game I’ve ever played. Right off the bat, you’re given the choice to choose between he/him, she/her, or they/them pronouns for your character. The pronouns you pick do not affect the story in any way.
All six love interests are romanceable no matter what gender you play as. Which means this is canonically a universe in which everyone is queer. Hell yeah.
Two of the six current romanceable characters are women, and one is nonbinary. The routes for these characters are just as well written and romantic, with just as many wink-wink-nudge-nudge innuendos, as the men’s. There are also multiple nonbinary side characters.
Also! Racial and ethnic diversity in the main cast! And the main characters all have different body types, which is another nice touch.
This is nerdy as hell but I love how the different cultures and ethnic groups in the game are based on real-life cultures? It’s just one of those little things that makes my heart happy.
The art style is pretty as fuck.
In conclusion: I feel like this review is overwhelmingly positive but I just genuinely can’t think of any major criticisms of this game. It’s fun, it’s free, there was clearly a lot of thought put into it. I was really pleasantly surprised. Everybody go download it and play it. You’ll have a good time, and afterwards you’ll understand all the memes.
P.S. I know people are gonna ask so: I chose Julian for my first playthrough because he’s tall and goth and has messy hair and that’s honestly all I look for in a man. Now that I’ve played all six routes, Portia’s is probably my favorite because it’s so cute and wholesome and I just really want a soft bookworm girlfriend, please. Lucio’s route is a close second because after seeing him as an antagonist in everyone else’s routes it’s actually really interesting to see his story told from a sympathetic angle! But like I said, I’ve played all six routes.
