Arcadia Fallen II – Review

Arcadia Fallen II, Galdra Studios

Arcadia Fallen II is a follow up to 2021’s hit Arcadia Fallen from Galdra Studios. This sequel, set in Scandinavian-inspired world of magic and mystery, delivers a polished visual novel that’s easy to jump into … even without playing the original.

Set seven years after the dramatic events in Anemone Valley, the political situation surrounding magic has reached a boiling point within the Empire. The story starts off innocuously enough, focusing on stressed-out senior students during exam season. The biggest social event of the season, the New Year’s Gala looms on the horizon. That is until a group of students uncovers a hidden secret within the academy, setting of a chain of events that quickly shifts their priorities.

While you spend most of the game within the Seven Winds Academy, there’s a strong sense that larger political forces are at play across the continent. Mages are treated as a kind of commodity, with their academic performance directly shaping their futures. Those who fail to meet expectations risk becoming dropouts and are pushed into labour roles in production facilities.

You play as one of these students, where academic performance determines your future career and placement. What begins as a standard magical school fantasy setup quickly expands into a larger conflict involving politics, dragons, sprits and demons.

Exploration & Progression

A majority of the game takes place within the Seven Winds Academy itself, primarily across its three floors. While the setting is somewhat contained, the game makes effective use of its space through a clear map system. Companions are spread throughout the academy and marked on the map, allowing you to easily find and interact with them between story segments. Side quests are also clearly indicated with “!” markers. Once you’ve spoken to everyone, the game prompts you to return to the main objective. This structure makes progression feel intuitive and ensures you don’t miss important character moments before advancing the story.

Seven Winds Academy Map — *The Seven Winds Academy … your home for the majority of the story.*

Throughout exploration, your companions will also engage in banter with one another directly on the main map screen. These small conversations add a lot of personality and give insight into how characters interact outside of main story sections. Once encountered, these interactions can be revisited later through the Extras menu from the main menu. This is a nice touch for players who want to revisit character moments.

The game also encourages light exploration through optional content. You can search for hidden cats scattered throughout the academy and take on small quests, like returning lost items to characters, which help connect you to the characters wandering the halls of the academy. These elements are entirely optional. Players are given the freedom to engage with the world at their own pace without feeling forced into completion.

The game runs about 11–13 hours spread across 12 chapters. There is a consistent loop of story progression, exploration, and optional interactions. Navigation is clear and intuitive, with strong visual cues indicating when you’re about to progress the main story, making it easy to experience everything without second-guessing your choices.

Character customization, while minimal, is quite flexible. You can adjust pronouns, appearance, voice, and clothing. You will further choose your magical aptitude: Tinker, Mender, or Illusionist along with a roommate. While these choices add flavour, they don’t heavily impact the story, which keeps the experience accessible. The ability to change certain customization options mid-playthrough is also a welcome quality-of-life feature.

Arcadia Fallen II Character Customization — *There can be no roleplaying without customization.*

Whether or not you’ve played the first game, you are further able to customize the story with some choices from the original Arcadia Fallen game. The game does not import a save from the original. You will notice a few cameos as well as a character that has been promoted to a primary companion in Arcadia Fallen II.

Characters, Romance & Choice

Relationship building is at the core of Arcadia Fallen II and this is where the game really excels. Between main story segments, you can check in with companions around the academy, building connections and learning more about them over time.

The writing does a strong job of pulling you into these relationships. I was fully invested in my companions and genuinely concerned about what would happen to them as the story progressed. The villains are especially well handled, with the main antagonist coming across as someone I truly disliked in a way that felt earned rather than forced.

Tonality for dailogue choice options is shown in Arcadia Fallen II — *A tonality system is employed for dialogue options somewhat akin to Mass Effect*.

The game also provides a useful companion menu, accessible through the start menu, where you can review each character’s story progression. This is a helpful feature for keeping track of relationships and recalling key moments, especially in a game that places so much emphasis on character interactions.

If you’re looking for a bit of romance, then this game has some on its menu for you. Romance is straightforward and easy to engage with. You simply choose the appropriate dialogue options when they appear. There are five romanceable characters, and importantly, there are no restrictions on who you can pursue. LGBTQ+ representation is handled very naturally, from inclusive character customization options to the ability to romance any character regardless of gender. It feels seamless rather than forced, which fits well within the game’s world. If friendship is more your thing this game has you covered in that department as well. Romance is strictly optional, definitely PG, and not a requirement.

Dialogue is supported by tone indicators, similar to Mass Effect, which clearly show the intent behind each choice (Curious, Angry, Joking, etc.). It’s a helpful system that makes conversations feel more intentional. The tone indicators can be customized from the menu and completely turned off if you find them distracting.

While the game clearly highlights “major” decisions, many of them feel more like they influence character reactions rather than meaningfully alter the story. In practice, there are no “wrong” choices, and no decisions will lock you out of content or significantly change the overall narrative path. In this way, the experience leans more toward a kinetic visual novel, where the story largely unfolds the same regardless of player input.

A major choice decision from Arcadia Fallen II — *Major plot and character development decisions are clearly highlighted.*

Even when revisiting and changing major choices, the resulting scenes often play out in nearly identical ways. While the game does a good job creating the illusion of choice, most players will end up with a very similar story regardless of the decisions they make.

Similarly, the magic discipline system feels underutilized. Discipline-specific dialogue options appear occasionally, but not often enough to feel impactful. Playing as a Mender, for example, rarely allowed for meaningful use of healing abilities in situations where it felt like an obvious fit.

Puzzles & Progression

Gameplay is supplemented by logic-based pipe puzzles that gradually increase in complexity. You rotate tiles to create paths, with later puzzles introducing additional mechanics like character-specific tiles and optional routes for bonus dialogue. A built-in hint system keeps things accessible without removing the challenge entirely.

An advanced pipe puzzle from Arcadia Fallen II — *Arcadia Fallen II’s pipeline puzzle mechanic.*

Audio and Visuals

A significant portion of the game’s Kickstarter funding went toward voice acting … and it shows. The voice cast itself is particularly impressive, featuring talents like Andrew Russell, Rhianna DeVries, Brenna Larsen, A.J. Beckles, and Erin Yvette. Their performances are consistently strong and emotionally convincing. The conversations are engaging enough that skipping dialogue never feels necessary.

Most of the dialogue is fully voiced (aside from the protagonist), and the quality is evident throughout.

That said, the romance scenes noticeably lack this same treatment. Many of these moments are text-only, which feels like a missed opportunity given how strong the voice acting is elsewhere. Extending those performances into the more personal, relationship-driven scenes would have added greater emotional weight.

Visually, the game features a cartoon-style art direction with bold line art and expressive character poses. While animations are limited, subtle pose transitions add personality to conversations. A few special scenes throughout the game use visual effects to add to its charm.

A group of companions standing together on an airship — *A cast of characters you will truly care about.*

Background music is subtle and not overbearing and suits the scenes that it’s tailored to. While music is a core discipline of the Illusionist mage line, one haunting solo featured in the game, was exceptionally well done and was reminiscent of a scene from The Hunger Games.

Final Thoughts

Arcadia Fallen II is an exceptional visual novel that excels in presentation and character-driven storytelling. While its choice systems and roleplaying elements don’t fully reach their potential, its excellent voice acting, clear structure, and exceptional cast make it an easy recommendation, especially for players looking for a more relaxed, story-focused experience. Don’t hesitate to dive right into this game, even if you’ve never experienced the original.