Apple Arcade itself review
I almost called this a retrospective, but it just sounded weird even though it fit. I’m taking a look back at my experience as my free trial comes to a close.
…well, actually, my free trial came to an end a month ago, but I forgot to cancel it before it renewed for a paid month. Happens to us all, I’m sure. I can comfort myself with the knowledge that I certainly got $5 worth out of the whole experience.
It was an interesting experience that oddly was most useful in helping me belatedly experience the early years of smartphone gaming with free versions of old $1 and $2 games that came and went long before I had a Smartphone, let alone was interested in using it for gaming.
In general, I mostly regretted how shallow an experience I had with it. I sampled a lot of games, only playing through some short ones. I rarely stuck with even the ones I liked long enough to finish them. My worst regret of all? I never felt like I had the time to commit to Hironobu Sakaguchi’s Fantasian, so I ended up missing out on it entirely.
I seem to be bound by my conception of Apple Arcade as a rental service. While using it as a try-before-I-buy service for multiplatform titles or demonetized versions of iOS games, there are many other games, like the latest The Oregon Trail, that can only ever be rented. It’s just as well I never played Fantasian, as unlike all of Sakaguchi’s Final Fantasy titles, I’d have to pay $5 every month until I die to retain access to a copy. And that turns me off.
On a purely unrelated note, there’s a reason I don’t use Adobe software anymore.
And with that, the experiment draws to a close. Overall, it’s useable, but I can’t give it high marks. There’s too much pointless content between all the questionably useful “+” titles, demonetised versions of gacha games that retain the time-gated daily engagement and grind structure to indie games that had already been available on other platforms for years. There’s enough here to poke around in for a bit, but that’s it.
About The Author
Drew
Features Editor | Drew started behind the 8(bit)-ball in the video game world. He first became interested in anime by chance exposure on the Sci-Fi channel. Drew's the creative force behind blog-wide features, works the movie and food beats, and pioneered Damage Control’s entry into video, podcasts and streaming.
