Arvoesine

By: Derek Yu

On: July 27th, 2010

Arvoesine is a new platform game from Alastair John Jack, the creator of the entertaining platformer RPGs Ainevoltas 2 and Final Vision. The game puts you in control of a little Roman soldier who can attack with a sword or spear, and has a shield to defend himself with. The goal of the game is to make your way through five short stages, fighting a boss at the end of each stage.

The full version costs $5, which may be surprising, considering the brevity of the game (even compared to some of Alastair’s previous freeware releases). However, it’s clear that Arvoesine is meant to be played repeatedly for high score, like a traditional arcade game. To this end, the game incorporates a simple scoring mechanic where the player receives extra points for defeating an enemy with his second or third sword swing (the third swing, a stab, offers the most points). It took me around 7 tries to win the first time, but timing your swings to achieve a high score increases the challenge dramatically. The player also receives bonus points for clearing a level in the shortest amount of time.

In a way, Arvoesine is like a “lite” arcade game – players that might be interested in the scoring mechanics of face-melting bullet hell shoot ’em ups and the like but would prefer a warm-up should give it a try (a one level demo is available for download). It’s certainly a very polished and fun platformer.

TIGdb: Entry for Arvoesine
Playthrough: Ortoslon (version 1.0)