Artificial Dream in Arcadia is a game I was nominally aware of (though had totally forgotten) for a while, and it wasn't until I happened upon Marsh's review and kind suggestion only a minute in to drop what you're doing and play the game if you had any interest that I finally bit the bullet and gave this game a shot.

I've been a Touhou fan for quite a long time now (though I don't often visit many of the fangames, usually leaving it at Pokemon ROM hacks and the like), and some form of MegaTen fan for less time than that- IV being my first foray into SMT proper- but I never played any of the original games- as such, I was interested in getting to see some of that in ADiA, along a familiar setting and cast of characters.

There are many others who can speak to the quality of the gameplay itself and do a deeper mechanical analysis, but for my part- outside of a particular dungeon and a couple of bad usages of maps on my part, the overall progression was very smooth, and the dungeon sizes made for nice digestible chunks to do one at a time. I think at times the hijack minigame could become a little tedious, but mostly only early on, and either way it's just about the perfect idea for how to blend Touhou gameplay in a game style otherwise lacking it. Seeing which patterns were chosen for the different characters was a fun time, and seeing how some characters who usually aren't late game sorts of characters were buffed here to compensate. Being able to switch out to RNG based recruitment is a nice bonus for those who aren't into it too.

Visually this game aces the test. From the retro-virtual console style (with customizable background colors and scanlines!), to the wonderfully detailed pixel art character portraits and battle sprites, the game is dripping with love. The dungeon designs were also extremely varied, so visual interest was a constant while going from place to place- special shoutout to the Umineko portrait reference in the SDM. Speaking of references, the game is dripping with those as well, which was a fun little game to play on the side. Very in theme.
The music is also a solid blend of recognizable Touhou themes and atmospheric dungeon feel- oppressive areas both look and sound it, and waking up to silence in the outside world is a nice stark touch.. The sound font fits perfectly with the visual aesthetic as well.

Additionally, I think ADiA does Gensokyo right. It's difficult to fully put into words as it's intrinsically very vibes based, but I think it's the combination of the atmosphere this style of game brings with it, and generally being restrained with characterization and the world.


Overall, what I learned was that retro-dungeon crawlers probably aren't my favorite style of games, but in spite of that the sheer passion and quality of the creative work on display way more than makes up for it, to the point that I would easily recommend anyone who has even a sliver of interest in either Touhou or MegaTen to put this high on the list.