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> Review :: Arvale: Journey of Illusion, Rating 5 out of 5
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post Jan 20 2005, 02:18 PM
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PDAmill has just released Arvale, Journey of Illusion, a graphic adventure game for the PocketPC platform. Drawing from games like The Ledgend of Zelda and Everquest, Arvale, Journey of Illusion is a game that requires you to collect gold, experience points and items like weapons and potions in order to complete your quest to make the dark dragon sleep.

Here is what PDAmill says about Arvale, Journey of Illusion:

INTRODUCTION
Arvale: Journey of Illusion is an epic Role Playing Game, with over 20 hours of gameplay, six immense continents with 280 maps to explore, 200 different monsters to fight against, and over a hundred different items, weapons, and magic spells to use.

The current version is compatible with all current Pocket PCs and we're working on Palm OS and MS Smartphone vesions, which will be available later this year.

FEATURES
Engage in an Epic Story involving Dragons, Magic and the Fate of the World
Explore the vast World of Arvale by traveling to six different continents, packed with villages, castles, forests, deserts, swamps, snowfields, and many more locales
Talk with any of the Hundreds of colorful Non-player Characters you meet to learn about the world
Interact with tons of objects from treasure-filled chests and mysterious doors, to antique books and creepy coffins.
Fight against 200 different Monsters and Enemies
Rescue Fair Maidens, recover Lost Artifacts and Battle with Evil Villains
View intriguing Cutscenes that unveil the alluring story
Enjoy over 100 sound effects that accentuate battle hits and give ambiance to the environments.
Venture on a multitude of Side-Quests (for the Overachieving Heroes)
Vivid, Colorful Graphics, consisting of over 2000 Beautiful Graphical Elements
Listen to an Amazing original Musical Score with over 45 minutes in a total of 17 Soundtracks
Multiple Endings determined by your decisions in the game

REVIEWS
"If you're looking for the next, or your first RPG for your Pocket PC this is it. The game balances a good mix of story, humor, graphics and sound to make it a very polished, fun game." - read review by PDArcade

"With 20 hours of total playtime, Arvale stands to be quite a RPG phenom. I've played a little over four hours and been greatly impressed with the amount of thought that has gone into this game. ... PDAmill will be reigning supreme with Arvale." - read review by PocketNow

"PDAmill has done it again! ... Arvale:Jouney of Illusion is the best RPG game to come down the pike for the pocket pc in two years. " - read review by Boston Pocket PC

"Excellent graphics, easy gameplay, and some witty dialog and narration combine to form one of the best RPG experiences for the PocketPC that this reviewer has had to date." - read review by PocketGamer

"They combined a great storyline, graphics, and an easy to control interface into an awesome RPG game. It is also a great game to play for people who have never played an RPG game." - read review by PDA Buyers' Guide

"As far as PocketPC games go, Arvale, Journey of Illusion is among the best." - read review by MGN


Note: These screenshots were provided by PDAmill.

Your quest happens in Entoque, Stygia, Kytar, Soneros, Invyl and Melonchi. Here are overview maps of Entoque and Stygia:



This game is so intricate I hardly know where to begin. But lets take a look at how the game starts up. The main menu gives you several options. Of particular note is the SAVE option. Yes, a SAVE option. Why? Because the game takes at least twenty (20) hours to complete. I don't know about you but I can't look at my PocketPC for that long so a save option is just the ticket. Not to mention I am sure I can not finish the game in the least amount of time possible. The game also features an autosave. So when you leave a city or a region the game is automatically saved. And when you start the game up again you can resume, without ever having had to save the game. But my advice: save early and often. You never know when you will meet the business end of a spear for the last time!



If you ever played Zelda then this game will be easy to pick up. You start out as the king's gardener's son. But immediately you are summoned to an audience with the king. When you meet the king he tells you that you are fortold to be a great warrior and hero, and you have the responsibility of conquering the dark dragon by making him sleep. But why would the dark dragon be after you?



It seems that the dark dragon is upset that all the other dragons have been sharing magic with humans. He is mad that dragons are living with humans in harmony, and that together they are making the world a better place. In short, the dark dragon is selfish and doesn't get out much. So because he can't share, it's your job to send him to his room.



So the king has given you an assignment: defeat the dark dragon. To send you on your way you are told to go pick up some gold from the treasury. There you pick up 200 gold pieces to begin your quest. You can buy weapons, potions, etc with that money, or hold on to it. As you move about the castle you will run into a lot of people. Get into the habit early of talking to them. ALL of them. And you have choices in your responses, and your responses will dictate their willingness or lack thereof to help you in your quest. Here's a hint: be nice to people.



After you have completely checked out the castle, its time to head out. This is where the fun begins. At completely random points you will enter into a battle with a foe. Sometimes they are human, sometimes not. But each battle is a turn based fight. For each turn you select the weapon you wish to fight with. And that weapon should be based on it's best defense of the foe's weapon. For example, the sword is the best defense against the club. So if the enemy has a club, choose your sword. At the end of the fight, assuming you win, you will gain gold and experience points. Get enough experience points and you will be able to increase your strength, dexterity and knowledge. All key elements in your ability to defeat opponents.



As you move about the map you will run into new towns or areas such as caves. When you enter an area, you can move about it checking out the buildings and people, looking for weapons, potions and clues. Again talk to the people. ALL of the people. Some of the places you want to go are blocked, and require you to find some artifact or complete some steps before being allowed to pass. Your best bet for solving these puzzles is to talk to people; ALL of them.

So that is the general concept of how the game works. But this isn't a walkthru so no cheating here. You can see from the screenshots that a lot of time went into the design and detail of the game. And it shows as you play the game. Scene changes are very quick, and the detail is polished. Although playing a pre-release version I found no problems with any of the game. The interface is very intuitive and easy to navigate. The useage of weapons is well explained by the armorer if you take the time to listen. And if you haven't picked up on it yet, it is CRITICAL that you talk to the people you meet. They give you all of the clues you need to get through the game.

As far as PocketPC games go, Arvale, Journey of Illusion is among the best. I am not a big fan of quest type adventure games but I found myself being sucked in and unable to stop playing. I just had to accomplish that one next goal. PDAmill has designed a game that delivers awesome graphics, fluid game play, and an attraction that will be hard to walk away from. If you are looking for a game for your PocketPC, and adventure games interest you even if only slightly, you owe it to yourself to check out Arvale, Journey of Illusion. Trust me, you will not be sorry.

Here are additional screenshots of the game:



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