- Graphics
- Sound
- Interface
- Originality
Take one desperate human, one all-powerful demon, throw them into a deep dungeon, and nefarious deals will be made. In this case, a greedy man has promised a demon he will set him free in exchange for immortality. Meanwhile, evil is seeping out of the pits, and the villagers above are getting antsy. What’s a pixellated hero to do? Why, save the world, of course, in this free browser-based action RPG from Funnaut, Arcuz 2: Dungeons!
Arcuz 2 is a follow-up to the original Arcuz and sticks to a very similar sort of template. The dungeon crawling, action-oriented role playing game allows you to manage stats, gather loads of items, level up your character, and repeatedly dive into danger-soaked rooms to battle denizens of evil, all in the name of loot, gold, and experience points! In the center of town lays a staircase leading to untold horrors below. Equip your character by visiting various citizens, then go forth and slay thine enemy. You gain gold, experience, and sometimes treasure after combat, and the bigger the foe, the more tantalizing the reward. As you level up, you get skill points to spend on beefing up your stats and unlocking new abilities, and new game mechanics become available, such as enchanting items with the power of magic!
Things start off rather slowly, and the entire first chapter of the game is a series of fetch quests that serve as a tutorial of sorts. Bear with it, though, as after you complete those tasks, you’ll be ready to experience the real game. Arcuz 2 is fairly open-ended in design, and you can take requests from villagers as you please, or just go battle some spiders and wolves. Combat is satisfying and not too chaotic, a notable achievement for an action RPG. There’s also a good variety of items and weapons to find, equip, and enchant, so you’ll always be motivated to head out and grab some more loot, just to see if you can pick up something rare!
Arcuz 2 is a gorgeous game, and it goes to great pains to resemble a 16-bit era RPG. It also adopts the difficulty curve of a retro game, as after gaining a dozen or so levels, everything suddenly gets more challenging. To compensate, you’ll need to make trips solely focused on killing enemies and gaining gold, a task you may or may not be up to. Despite the mindless XP grinding, Arcuz 2 presents an interesting world to explore filled with satisfying combat and great RPG action!
Play Arcuz 2: Dungeons!
