Notice: This blog was written WAAAAAY back in December of 2010, and while the game itself hasn't

changed m ch !Wh" wo ld it#$, m" e%&erience has changed ' ite a bit since then( )'ll be rewriting this blog in the f t re, b t when will that be is an"one's g ess( *11+1,+201./er/iew of Arc 0
)ntrod ction of the ./er/iew Welcome to my overview of Arcuz...or, rather, a word that could better fit the title than Overview. It was initially review, but it was gonna be WAY more than ust a review, so I changed it to Overview. I!ll let you figure out which is o"inion and which is fact. #hances are, there!s going to be stuff that I!m gonna forget, since there!s so much to cover. I!ll go over various as"ects of the game, as well as give out a few ti"s and concerns every now and then. Well, anyhow, here is my Overview of one of my "ersonal favorite $lash %ames& Arcuz& 'ehind the (ar). )ntrod ction to Arc 0

Arcuz *Official name& Arcuz& 'ehind the (ar)+ is an Action ,-% develo"ed."resented by $unnaut. It veins itself similar to (iablo and /elda *though I would say (iablo and (emon!s 0ouls1 I!ll e2"lain later+. 3here are, as far as I )now, five cha"ters in this game. It!s also a web browser game, so that means it!s free to "lay *which is good, as always+. 3here are many different versions of Arcuz, though many don!t have the full version. 4owever, the 5ewgrounds version says that agame.com has the full version. 0o if you want to "lay Arcuz, "lay it in Agame. 4ere are the controls. You can move with either the WA0( or the (irection )eys. You can attac) with the 6 button, and 6um" with 7. Although I go with the WA0( set8u", it "robably de"ends on whether you!re right8handed or left8handed. 'y now, you!re "robably want me to get into the meaty8gritty. 0o instead of doing it li)e most other reviews, I!ll give you a tour. 9i)e I said, calling this a review ust isn!t right, for some reason. 1en 2creen and related as&ects When you first "lay Arcuz, you get to "ic) a language. 3here are : languages in all, and if ;nglish isn!t your native language, than you can "ic) any one of the si2 other languages. 3hen, you get ta)en to the main menu screen. You can "lay the game, chec) out your achievements, if you have any, get hel" *I thin) it teaches the controls, or something+, or read the credits. If you choose to "lay the game, you come to this screen.

9et!s go over the o"tions. 3he continue o"tion let!s you continue a "reviously saved game, if one is available. 5ew %ame creates a new file, though I!m not sure if it overwrites the saved game if there already is one. 3he main <enu obviously ta)es you bac) to the main menu. 5ow the arena is basically an endurance minigame. 3here are four different arenas, de"ending on what level your character is. You have to be at least level = in order to even >ualify, though. You can try to get as high of a score as you can to com"ete with other "layers that also challenged the arena. If memory is correct, the arena has a time limit, and I thin) there are ways to increase it, but my memory is fuzzy when it comes to the arena. 0o let!s move on. When "o start off the game You!ll be thrust into a village called Arcuz, and the first cha"ter begins, which is basically a tutorial. 3al) to Wayne and he!ll give what!s basically the story. A long time ago, Arcuz was attac)ed by the devil 0syba. 4owever, heroes have sealed him in a cave that!s rumored to be near the village of Arcuz. 9ater on, the landlord, /ac), loc)ed himself in his mansion, and monsters start to attac) the village again. <ost of the villagers left Arcuz, and only a few stayed behind, ho"ing to see the calm after the storm. It can be forgettable, but try not to as I have sometimes. 3he "eo"le that you!ll see are Wayne, who is the chief of the village1 0usan, who is the witch of the town and sells "otions1 %ran, who is the blac)smith of Arcuz and sells e>ui"ment1 -aul, a retired )night who will eventually store your items for you1 #hung, who is a merchant that sells e2"ensive, but worthy items1 Anna, a little girl whose "arents haven!t came bac) since1 and 7imura, who...I don!t )now how to describe him, honestly. 9et!s loo) at the ?ser Interface.

@. 3his dis"lays your health and s)ill bar. 3he health bar is in red and indicates how much 4- you have. If it hits zero, then you!re good as dead unless you have an auto8revive buff on you, which I!ll get to later. Your s)ill bar shows how much 0- you have. If you don!t have enough, you won!t be able to use your s)ills, which, again, I!ll go over with later. A. 3hese buttons show all about you. 3he character screen shows your stats. 3he 0)ill menu shows all the available s)ills and what you can.have learn*ed+. 3he Inventory menu shows you what e>ui"ment you!re wearing, and what items you have in your inventory. 3he Buests button dis"lays all the >uests you!ve done. 3he ones with a chec) are finished, and the ones that don!t are the ones you!ll "robably want to do sooner or later. 3he <a" button shows a ma" of the entire are you!re in. 4it the ma" button again and it!ll show the entire overworld. And finally, the menu screen shows you o"tions of what you can do. You can also use hot)eys to dis"lay these menus. 3hey are #, C, ', 5, <, and comma *,+. D. 3hese are the "otions you!ve assigned to. 3hey can be >uic)ly consumed by the means of the @, A, and D )eys. If you have another "otion that!s e2actly li)e the "otion you!ve ust consumed, then that "otion will ta)e its "lace. 9et!s say you hit @ to drin) a small red "otion. If you have at least one in your inventory, then that 0,- will ta)e the "lace of the "reviously consumed "otion. 'ut if you have something li)e a <edium red -otion, it won!t re"lace it. E. 3his shows what s)ills you have. 3he left one can be used by the I )ey, and the right one with 9. You can switch between two sets of s)ills with the B button. 5ote that every time you first o"en u" the game, this bar is em"ty, so you!ll have to fill it every time you...for a lac) of better "hrase, log in. It!s a minor issue, but it can get a bit annoying. F. 3his is the e2"erience bar, which shows you how much e2"erience you need in order to level u". G. And finally, not a ?I feature, but this is the save circle. Why am I showing itH It is one of the

only two ways to save your game. 3he other one is by 0ave and >uit and bac) to the menu. While we!re at it, let!s o"en u" the menu.

3he #ontinue o"tion let!s you go bac) to the game. 3he 0ave I Buit o"tion let!s you save the game *the other way to save+ and >uit. 3he 4el" o"tion e2"lains the controls. 3he >uality one changes the >uality of the gra"hics, by the way. I haven!t noticed much difference when I messed with it, though. 3he 0word with a s"ea)er behind it controls the volume. 5ote that this includes 'O34 the 0$J and the '%<.

3ombat: O)ay, you!re "robably thin)ing1 Where!s the battle stuffHK Well, here it is. You attac) with the 68 7ey, and you!re "robably thin)ing Is that your only attac)H Well, not really1 you do have s"ecial s)ills to use. 4owever, you really don!t have much. 3here isn!t any classes, li)e there!s warrior, or archer, or mage, nothing. All you have is a melee wea"on to use. 3here are, however, three wea"on classes you can s"ecialize in& 3he 'lade, the 0word, and the A2e. 4owever, they!re all melee wea"ons, and I really don!t )now much difference between them, e2ce"t I!d "robably assume that the blade is faster, wea)er, the a2e is strong but slow, and the sword is li)e the middle. I!m not really so sure. Anyhow, this may ma)e you thin) that the combat as"ect is a button masher, and it can be in the early levels. ;ven when you start to get s)ills that do actual damage *around level F+, you "robably won!t have enough 0- to consistently do them. 'esides, the 0)ills have cooldowns, so you can!t use them again until a set timer runs out. 4owever, the button8mashing a""roach later on is going to get you )illed. 3his is where it becomes less li)e (iablo and more li)e (emon!s 0ouls1 you have to attac) in other ways. You can um", and de"ending on the timing of your attac), you can attac) while in mid8air, or dive down, )noc)ing enemies bac). 3here!s this one s)ill where it increase your movement s"eed. 4owever, I!ve discovered that it also increases your A33A#7 s"eed. 0o if a little s"eed in attac)ing is what!s needed, then use this s)ill. 2kills: 0)ills are s"ecial moves you can use, at the cost of a certain amount of 0-, to do whatever the s)ill does. 9et!s o"en u" the s)ill screen and see what!s in store.

3here!s a total of AA s)ills, but really, you!re going to use less. $or one thing, there!s s)ills that corres"ond to each of the three wea"on classes, so you!re gonna ignore the other A sets of s)ills s"ecific to the ty"e of wea"on you!re not using. -lus, some of them aren!t really that useful. 3he number that a""ears on the bottom8right corner of each s)ill indicates the level of that s)ill. If it says <a2, then it!s been ma2ed out. 5ow how do you get ability "ointsH ;very time you level u", you get one. And certain >uests give you an additional A- as well. 3haracter: One thing that I haven!t mentioned yet are the stats. 9et!s o"en u" our character menu and chec) it out. @. 3his is your name. 3he default is Aaron. A. 3his shows your 4it -oints in numbers D. 3his shows your 0)ill -oints in numbers. E. I have no idea what this is for. F. 0ome enemies have magic effects1 this indicates the chance of you resisting that effect. G. 3his shows your e2"erience in numbers. :. 3his shows what level you currently are. =. When you level u" or com"lete certain >uests, you gain F "oints to "lace in your stats. L. 0trength indicates how much damage you can do. @M. Agility shows how much defense *there!s a s"elling error1 there!s su""osed to be an e+ you have against the enemies. 3his also shows the 0hield 'loc), showing what "ercentage chance you have of bloc)ing an attac). Agility for defenseH (oesn!t ma)e much sense. @@. #onstitution shows how much health.mana you have. @A. 9uc) shows you how li)ely you are to score a critical hit. 3he stats can also be increased by finding tomes. #ertain tomes increase certain stats. Also, there!s a "assive ability that can raise stats.

#ertain stats li)e defense are affected by what e>ui"ment you!re wearing. 9et!s chec) it out. 3his is the e>ui"ment.inventory screen. As you can see, the e>ui"ment area is fairly diverse. You got the wea"on, headgear, nec)lace, gloves, armor, shield, ring, bracelet, belt, and boots. ;ach "iece of e>ui"ment has a amount of slots for u"grades, which I!ll get to shortly. And then you have the inventory. 3here are AM slots, and you have D "oc)ets, ma)ing a total of GM items you can hold. 4owever, once you get to cha"ter D, -aul will store your items that you don!t wanna ta)e with on the go for you. 3here!s also the encumbrance, which is basically the weight of all the items you!re holding. If it reaches over the ma2imum ca"acity, your character will slow down until you reduce it. You can also sort the items by wea"on, crystal, or "otion, but I wouldn!t recommend it, es"ecially if you!re someone li)e me. $inally, it shows how much money you have. You!d have to be a money saver or sell a lot of "riceless stuff to have what I have right, which I!ll get to later. 3om&osition: You can also !u"grade! your e>ui"ment. %ive me a moment...No"ens u" screen shot and instructionsN

4ere!s the com"osition screen. (e"ending on the e>ui"ment, you can u"grade it from D to : or more times. ;ach u"grade has four levels. What do you use to com"oseH 3here are four )inds of crystals *Wind, ;arth, $ire, and Water+, and three stones *'lessing, 0oul, and 4oly+. 3here are three levels of each crystal, ma)ing a total of @A )inds of crystals. 4ere!s the general level of each u"grade& 9evel @& 0mall #rystal, 0mall #rystal, 0tone of 'lessing, and a "iece of e>ui"ment.

9evel A& <edium #rystal, <edium #rystal, 0tone of 'lessing, and a "iece of e>ui"ment. 9evel D& 9arge #rystal, 9arge #rystal, 0tone of 0oul, and a "iece of e>ui"ment. 9evel E& 9arge #rystal, 9arge #rystal, 0tone of 4oly, and a "iece of e>ui"ment. If you!re trying to u"grade to level four, there!s a chance that if you fail, all of the attributes of that "iece of e>ui"ment will be gone, I thin). 0o be careful. 5ow where do you find these crystals and stonesH Well that!s the "roblem. Arcuz isn!t e2actly generous when it comes to treasure as a whole. You can find chests from either monsters or on the ground, but often, it can be em"ty, more so with the ones that are lying on the ground. ;ven so, what are the odds of the treasure being a crystal or stone, much less the one*s+ you needH 3o u"grade the amount of treasure actually a""earing from the chests, you need to u"grade the dro" rate on your e>ui"ment. 'ut how do you do itH Well, of course, you gotta have the right crystals and stones. 'ut you can!t u"grade it because you don!t have the right materialsK 'ut you can!t find it in the wild because your dro" rate isn!t what is desiredK 'ut you can!t "um" u" the dro" rate because you!re lac)ing the right materialsK 'ut you can!t find those materials because this game!s driving you frig8gin crazyKK It!s also worth mentioning that there are at least three )inds of chests. 3he ordinary ones are brown. 3he blue ones have a "iece of e>ui"ment that has an u"grade of some sort. And "ur"le ones have >uest items. I!ve seen gold chests before...wonder what they containH 3here!s another way to obtain the materials, and that is that 0usan sometimes sells certain crystals or stones in her sho". 'ut you have to go bac) and forth in and out of the village until 0usan sells the one you want. And she can sell more than one, but if it!s three or more and you!re in cha"ter E, it can cut off. (on!t get itH 4ere!s a screen shot for "roof&

Alright. 3his is an earlier screen shot. 'ut it shows what can ha""en. 0"ea)ing of which, notice the lac) of a descri"tion. 3hat!s one of the few ma4or "roblems of Arcuz. 3he "otions don!t tell you what they do. <ost are obvious, but there!s some that I had to loo) u", li)e the "otion of luc).

1onsters and 5e/eling 6&: ;very monster has levels in the odds. If you!re not a high enough level, when you enter an area, it!ll say #autionK, and the monster will have a HHH, thus, you won!t be able to )ill it. If you!re e2actly D levels lower than the monster, however, it!ll still warn you, but you!ll be able to )ill it. 5ow, each monster has a set e2"erience. If you go "ast their level, the amount of e2"erience will decrease until, when you!re high enough, they won!t give an" e2"erience at allK

4ere!s an e2am"le. I ust )illed a %oblin Warrior, and I leveled u". I )illed another one, and do you see the difference in the amount of e2"erience I gainH 3he difference can be drastic. 4owever, there is a way to "reserve the amount of e2"erience they!d give, even when you!re "ast their level. 3he "oison attribute, when in effect, will slowly sa" the enemy!s 4-. If the POISON )ills the enemy, and not your wea"on, you!ll get the same e2"erience. 9et!s say that the And goblin died by "oison, and not my blade. Instead of getting =@ e2"erience, you!d get @AA e2"erience li)e the last goblin you )illed. 3he monsters themselves are se"arated into different s>uares. When you leave the s>uare, and the monster*s+ haven!t been )illed yet, it recovers to full health. 4owever, if you )illed the monster*s+ and leave the s>uare, they stay dead unless you leave the area. 3he actual monsters, though...recolored monsters are common in ,-%s, and it!s often o)ay, as long as the variety of monsters outweigh the amount of recoloring there is. 'ut Arcuz...lemme count all the different )inds of monsters. We have the slime, the wolf, the hornet, the goblin, the centaur, the s)eleton, ghosts, and ogres. I!m sure there!s at least one more, but seriously, I must have encountered at least AM )inds of monsters, recoloring included, and that!s the best they could come u" withHK 0"ea)ing about monsters, my biggest, "ersonal issue with Arcuz, are the bosses. 3hey!re not even uni>ueK 3hey!re ust the same monster, e2ce"t that they don!t flinch when you attac) them *unless it!s a

final blow of a combo+, and they have WAY more 4- than normal. 3he e2tra 4- is what I hate the most. $unnaut got carried away when they added the e2tra 4- to the bosses. It ta)es $O,;C;, to )ill them, and "lus, when you die, you have to start all over againKK Death: One last "art of Arcuz I should mention *unless there!s some that I forgot+ is what ha""ens when you die. 9et!s find out, shall weH

3here are two o"tions. If you choose ,eturn in the Cillage, you!ll a""ear bac) in the village with a "ortal leading to the beginning of the area you last died in. 3he catch is that you lose some e2"erience and gold. If you choose 0ave and Buit, you!ll save the game, and go bac) to the menu. 3here!s no "ortal, but I!m guessing that you don!t lose any e2"erience or gold. Or you could ust refresh the "age to start when you last saved, I guess. What ) like abo t this game: Alright, enough chit8chat about the features. 9et!s go over what I li)e about this game. 3he music is very fitting. 3hey may not be that memorable, but they get the ob done. 0ome of my favorites include the 0outh <ountain music, and %oethe %rass. 3he gra"hics are very colorful and a""ealing. 0ome of the art loo)s cut off *there!s one in the cave of %ino <ountain+, but that!s a minor com"laint. It!s damn addicting. I once "layed for I thin) D hours straight. Or that could be a bad thing. You decide. It can give a challenge. 0ometimes you may feel the game is being chea", but overall, it "unishes you later on if you!re rec)less, and rewards you for your "atience. 3he e>ui"ment you wear actually a""ears on you, which is a nice touch. ;tc.

Ti&s: 4ere are some of my "ersonal ti"s on "laying Arcuz. @. -um" u" your dro" rate "ercentage as soon as "ossible. You!ll need every bit of treasure and money you can get, since initially, the game isn!t that generous. 3ry not to bother going to @FO *level D+, let alone AMO *level E+, on one, single, "iece of e>ui"ment. Instead, s"read it among multi"le "ieces of e>ui"ment, so you don!t have to get higher level, more rare stones and crystals *large+. A. If there!s a monster that!s your level or higher, and if it!s )ic)ing your ass, try training on lower level ones. 3he reduced e2"erience, chances are, is going to "ut you off, so use "oison on your wea"on to ensure ma2imum e2"erience.

D. 3here!s u"grade attributes that heal you a small amount of 4- and 0- for every monster you )ill. If you can, "um" u" on those and )ill wea)er monsters *"articularly lv.@ slimes+ to slowly heal you u", saving money. 3rust me, it can really "ay off. E. 3here!s certain s)ills that you!ll want A0A-. One is the one that tem"orary increases your s"eed *both movement and attac)+. Another one is an auto8revive s"ell. It!s bloody e2"ensive, but it!s worth it. F. Once the button8mashing a""roach is getting you )illed, try using more cautious methods of attac)ing your enemies1 whether it!d be um" and attac) over and over, or hit and run tactics, try to thin) u" of stuff to not get )illed. 3losing 3omments: Arcuz& 'ehind the (ar) is one a""ealing game. 3here are some issues that can ta)e away the e2"erience if you let it, but ultimately you!ll have >uite a bit of fun with Arcuz. $rom what I!ve learned, the biggest decision is whether you value more& time or money, due to the dro" rate of actual treasure a""earing. 'ut whatever you choose, we all will meet at the end. 4ave fun ridding Arcuz of ;vilK Oh, and here!s the lin)& htt"&..www.agame.com.game.Arcuz.html