Overview:
In this American Sammy joint, you take control of an elf named Christine in a quest to find the titular ring of Arkista which has been stolen by Shogun, a wizard of some sort who cast darkness upon the elven lands. Throughout the game you complete stages, 125 of them, all the while killing monsters and collecting keys.
Visuals:
This game seems to be inspired by the original Legend of Zelda in its top-down perspective and vibrant colors. The character herself is, like Link, an elf, though you would not know it if you just went off of her portrait in-game:
The world itself is a vibrant mix of worlds ranging from typical forests to strange volcano lands. After some outdoor levels you end up in a cave/castle sort of area where you have to solve more stages and, sometimes, defeat bosses.
Audio:
Personally, this is where I think Arkista’s Ring shines. The music varies heavily depending on the type of stage your in with all of the tunes being equally astounding. The songs do loop but not at a silly five second interval so it does take some time for them to become annoying.
Completion:
Jesus Christ this game is a pretty good game where it counts. The action is always happening and you’re constantly getting power-ups like more inventory slots or armor. It is also quite generous in giving the player plenty of opportunities to score extra lives and the continue system is terrific about starting you right where you left off.
As I was playing this game I was taking notes of my progress, like I always do, and it is just a giant mishmash of things that happened throughout the game. My first death was in stage 3 by a pack of dogs and then the second death was in stage 3 by a hole in the ground. These deaths can be attributed to learning the mechanics of the world as it wasn’t until stage 16. I ended up getting owned in stage 17 just due to the overwhelming enemies and pitfalls.
Throughout my play through I noted that there was just such a good feel to this game that it really made me want to play more of it but this game really did leave a good impression.