Arabel

Extremely cool concept and art direction, akin to [i]Nier[/i] with a hint of [i]Flower[/i], a combination that somehow works better than you might expect. Unfortunately, there's little more than a proof of concept here; a bit more polish and a lot more development would make for a particularly novel game. It is, however, very cheap, takes no more than an hour to complete, and not too terribly janky, so I still kind of recommend it, anyway, if only to experience what could be, or could have been.

Pros: - A really nice and unique art style - Great animations overall, though a bit more polishing would’ve made them even better - The music fits the art style well and adds a lot to the immersion - I really liked the monster and character designs - The sound effect for the ranged attack (RMB) is satisfying - Thanks to the short playtime, the game doesn’t feel repetitive Cons: The game could’ve used more overall polishing - I couldn’t find options to adjust sound volume or mouse sensitivity (might’ve missed it, but it made things a bit harder since I prefer lower sensitivity) - Some map boundaries felt intrusive — invisible walls in places where it felt like you should be able to move a bit further - After falling off the edge post–final boss, I respawned outside the arena and couldn’t re-enter due to invisible walls (I did manage to find a workaround, though) Combat is decent but a bit rough: - Ranged attack only works when aiming at nearby objects/enemies, which felt limiting - Melee feels slightly clunky, but it got the job done Overall: I’d say it’s definitely worth picking up. It’s a short experience, but I enjoyed my time with it. With a bit more polish, it could…

good short game with nice music and great visual artstyle. the combat and parkour are okay, the same with the story. but overall nice and fun game.

Arabel is an independent action-adventure game created by developer Amaury Hyde and published by Amaury Hyde in collaboration with Plug In Digital. Designed largely as a solo development project, the game reflects a highly personal creative vision that blends exploration, light puzzle-solving, and action combat within a mysterious dark-fantasy environment. Rather than presenting a large open world or complex RPG systems, the experience focuses on guiding players through a compact but atmospheric journey that emphasizes mood, environmental storytelling, and encounters with strange creatures that inhabit an unfamiliar dimension. The story centers on a knight named Arabel who finds herself trapped in a surreal realm known as the Abyss. This strange world is filled with ancient ruins, unusual landscapes, and hostile guardians that stand between Arabel and her escape. Unlike many narrative-driven games that rely heavily on dialogue and exposition, Arabel communicates much of its story through environmental clues and visual atmosphere. As players travel through the various areas of the Abyss, they gradually begin to piece together the nature of this mysterious world and the forces that …

Arabel is a sort of experimental game, running for about an hour, wearing its inspirations on its sleeve rather proudly. There's very minimal story to it, said story is also pretty much inconsequential to everything going on. The highlight of the game is most probably its extremely atmospheric world design complemented with a wonderful soundtrack. Tha said, the movement also deserves some recognition, jank aside, the lost knight controls fairly well. The rail grinding, floating and air dashing go a long way ensuring the game feels smooth. The combat on the other hand is a bit messy. There's a shooting element that provides enemy downtime to go in and do some damage, but the actual combat feels a bit too floaty and weighted at the same time. Boss fights (or at least the few that are in the game) boil down to getting the enemy to go down and hoping that the player is positioned properly for the special attack to actually hit. There doesn't seem to be a penalty for dying either, so the combat is more of a showpiece than anything. The biggest issue the game has is its iffy controller support. There is some and it feels great to play with, but the camera sensitivity is so high that…

good short game with passion poured into the whole thing very nice love the concept would love to see more of the world of arabel it was creative and unique. two big thumbs up from Quentin T