Developer: Sonnori, Gravity
Publisher: Wizard Soft (Korea), Nihon Falcom (Japan)
Director: Kim Seyong, Nam Youngsik
Scenario Writer: Kim Seyong, Kim Hakkyu
Soundtrack: Sound Team TeMP
Character designer: Roh Yongkyun, Park Junhyuk
Genre: Turn Based RPG with a Grandia-style combat system
Progression: You can enjoy the prologue scenarios in the order you prefer, after that the game continues with a very sandbox-feeling first chapter with lots of optional contents before the game changes its tune, becoming far more linear until the end (aside from some optional areas)
Country: Republic of Korea
Platform: PC
Release Date: 17\2\2000
Status: Completed on 17\7\2018 thanks to Helly's fan translation patch, despite lots of issues and a rather long hyatus due to bugs and crashes in the game's final stretch
Back in the '90s and early '00s, South Korea developed its own lineup of single player RPGs, inspired by contemporary JRPGs but also rich in their own flavor thanks to Korea's cultural differences and to its market's proclivity toward PC gaming. Series like Sonnori's Astonishia Story and SoftMax's War of Genesis and Magna Carta are just the tip of the iceberg in a veritable treasure trove of interesting RPGs that, aside from a handful of ports and console-centered titles, unfortunately never had a chance to be experienced outside Korea and, sometimes, Japan.
Nowadays, with South Korea being firmly entrenched in MMORPG and smartphone development for the last two decades, the chances to see those series localized, or revitalized through new single player entries, are unfortunately slim to none. Korean RPGs as a whole also remained mostly untouched by western publishers, maybe because a lot of them happened to be PC exclusives and, until Carpe Fulgur and XSEED did their magic on Steam a decade ago with localizations such as Recettear and the Nihon Falcom lineup, most people thought there wasn't a market for Eastern RPGs on PC, not to mention the few Korean RPGs that happened to be localized on consoles, like Magna Carta Tears of Blood on PS2, Magna Carta 2 on X360 or Astonishia Story and Crimsongem Saga on PSP, failed to make a splash.
All of this means fan translators are left as the only realistic hope to glimpse at a lineup that still has a number of surprises for hobbyists. Thankfully, one of those generous individuals, by the name of Helly, stepped up to the challenge and, in mid 2017, gave us an English patch for one of the most interesting Korean RPGs, Arcturus: Curse and Loss of Divinity. Developed in 2001 by Sonnori and Gravity, better known for its MMORPG Ragnarok Online, Arcturus was later localized in Japan by Nihon Falcom, which at the time was one of the most relevant non-adult Japanese PC publishers, itself developing mostly on that platform until they started moving to PSP with the ports of the Sora no Kiseki\Trails in the Sky trilogy and, then, with Zero no Kiseki.
Now, Arcturus was a game I had been interested in for almost two decades: teased in the west when a localization seemed possible around 2000, and then mercilessly left behind, the mix between its haunting opening, which I watched dozens of times over the years, longing to finally experience the game hidden behind it, its positively awesome spriteworks, Grandia-style combat and multiple scenarios immediately filled me with curiosity, and then happiness when its translation was picked up by Mirror Moon, the English fan translation team known for working on Type Moon visual novels, even if unfortunately that attempt went nowhere.
Regardless of my own personal fascination with Arcturus, though, Helly's work was a very welcome development because it is widely recognized as one of the greatest and most influential Korean RPGs ever developed, and the only one among the ones considered as “classics” to be localized in English so far (unlike the War of Genesis series, especially the War of Genesis 3 duology and its spinoff Rhapsody of Zephyr, with its retelling of Alexandre Dumas' Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, just to name some) unless you count the PSP remake of Astonishia Story, which has some historical relevance due to the original being a precursor of sorts, or the botched Android localization of War of Genesis 3’s first scenario.
Co-developed by Sonnori and Gravity, and directed by legendary Korean developers Kim Seyong and Kim Hakkyu, which later would end up spearheading Korean MMORPG development with Ragnarok Online and, after leaving Gravity, Tree of Life, Arcturus was obviously a labor of love for its team, probably way too ambitious for the resources they had. The game features a huge scope, an intricate story that mixes politics, adventure, war, religion and romance and a lot of dramatic tonal shifts that manage to gradually change a rather light-hearted shounen romp to a grim, brutal, sometimes even endearingly edgy, dark fantasy epic without losing too much of its identity. This isn’t even mentioning a funny and fast-paced battle turn based system reminiscent of Game Arts’ Grandia, with battles happening directly where they were triggered, a relevant positional element and a novel feature in BP, barrier points that one has to deplete before damaging the enemies' HPs. There's also a huge continent to explore, filled with many interesting cities and dungeons linked by a web of roads and connective areas (think Legend of Heroes, Growlanser I-IV-V-VI, Ys or Tales of Graces f, just to name a few JRPGs that handles explorations in a similar way) and nostalgic graphics with well animated, expressive sprites mixed with 3D isometric locales with rotable camera, a bit like Breath of Fire III, Xenogears or the first five Trails games. Talking about Trails, fans have actually long theorized about Falcom being influenced by Arcturus, which they localized themselves, during the development of Legend of Heroes 6-Trails in the Sky, especially in terms of presentation and world design, though obviously this is a thesis that needs to be approached cautiously from an historical standpoint, and one that runs into a number of issues once you outline how different Arcturus and Sora no Kiseki are in terms of mechanics, narrative and tone, while many of Trails’ traits can be traced back to the previous Legend of Hereos trilogy, Gagharv, for instance with Tears of Vermillion’s Adventure Guild being a rather obvious precursor to Zemuria’s Bracer Guild.
Arcturus is set in the continent of Varensia and its three nations, giving you the option to choose one amongst two prologue scenarios before the party can actually get together, a bit a la Wild Arms. One scenario features Elluard, a narcissistic nobleman diplomat and secret agent that, in my head, was a bit like a prouder, meaner, more cynical and far less autoironic Olivert with some Zelos Wilder mixed in for good measure, sent by his uncle to investigate the mysterious artifacts known as Dallants on behalf of the Seven Lords' Republic, which is actually an oligarchy of aristocrats with a burning ideological hostility to the nearby Ashirion Empire, which is a bizarre mix of Eastern and Western imperial tropes, in a world when lots of toponyms (Ephesus, Laodicea, Pergamos, Sardis and Philadelphia) are actually the name of Anatolian cities whose common theme seem to be being mentioned in the Bible’s New Testament, especially in the Act of the Apostles and Revelation, an influence the game won’t even try to hide once you reach a certain milestone. Even another location, Cetephan, could be named as a reference to historical Ctesiphon, the capital of the Sasanian Empire which practiced the Zoroastrian religion, also widely referenced in Arcturus (as if having a party member named Ai Zarathustra wasn’t enough).

The other prologue scenario, which is probably what most people will pick first, features the unlikely pair made by Sizz, a boy that is mostly mistaken for a girl, and his bully, gold-digging tomboyish friend Maria, which gets mistaken for a boy just as frequently (Sizz and Maria, by the way, are featured as NPCs in Ragnarok Online, which means they were likely introduced to millions of players who didn’t even know of Arcturus’ existance). One fateful day, the two decide to leave their native island to reach the mainland, with Sizz wanting to leave behind his alcoholic, abusive father while Maria is more interested in getting rich, whatever the cost. Of course, things will obviously go differently from what they expect once they get to the South Varensian Kingdom which, despite its name, is a theocracy controlled by one of the many Eastern RPG offshoots of the Catholic Church. The game offers a long adventure, taking around 80 hours if you’re a completionist, and it’s one a positively wild ride, if an enjoyable one, especially if you know what you’re getting into.
Unfortunately, this rather rosy picture gradually gives way to a number of issues which suggest that the game’s budget and development time were mostly spent on the game’s first act, which is massive in scope, rich in optional contents and almost sandbox in the way it lets the player explore the world and freely pursue the main questlines, while also providing lots of interactions between party members. This openness can cause some issues, like with an optional mine dungeon where you can easily get stuck without having a chance to beat the boss due to a major gap in equipment and levels, but it mostly works and it’s actually refreshing because of the red herrings it provides to the party during their main quest.
Then, in a way that is a bit reminiscent of Xenogears’ second CD, the game becomes much more linear for reasons that are partly due to the story itself, plot points are explained way more briefly despite the story suddenly gaining many new layers and, unfortunately, quite a number of NPCs and antagonists end up feeling underdeveloped and underused right after being introduced (with the Ashirion Empire's generals being the main example), while also having hints at possible developments that either end up not happening or happen off screen. Some party members also develop in strikingly different ways during the time skip between the first two chapters, even if their evolution is at least partly justified by their situations, and the reversals seen in the growth of two characters I won't name are impressive in their own right. This tonal shift is enhanced by a soundtrack that is as interesting as it’s diverse in genre and quality, with Gravity’s Sound Team TeMP providing tracks ranging from ambient, dance and Korean metal, including some of the most unusual tracks you will hear in an Eastern RPG (the tune you can hear in Dome during your last visit will haunt you, though in which way only God knows). Some of Arcturus’ songs are actually reminiscent of Sound Team TeMP’s later work in Ragnarok Online, which will become one of the most beloved MMORPG soundtracks of the ‘00s.
As you progress in Arcturus’ second half, the game heavily ties its lore to what seems to be a best-of edition of all the religious and esoteric references found in JRPGs: Gnosticism, Zoroastrianism dualism, Christian (likely Protestant, given its relevance in South Korea) eschatology, simulation theory and plenty of other things are happily mixed together, conspiring to create a bewildering, unique story that ends up feeling like a confusing fever dream by the time the credits roll.

The end game may feel anticlimactic to some because of the massive amounts of twists, secrets and lore dumps, not to mention potential plot holes or some unexpected twists (some of which surely felt fresher in 2000 than today, even if Arcturus could likely attract some of the criticism against the superficial use of religious themes that were also made against other titles back then), but this is partly due to the story's ambitious nature and its attempt to tackle a number of very different themes. The same rushed feel extends to some of the areas introduced in the last chapters: for instance, there’s one large, fully optional city near the end of the game, Laodicea, that’s almost a test map, without a proper access by road, bordering a castle dungeon that, as far as I know, is only accessible through a bug. Speaking of bugs, hilariously enough you can exploit the game's camera angles in order to open distant, unreachable treasure boxes by making them seem near the party and then interacting with them as if Sizz and the others were actually nearby.
Then we have some rather glaring balancing issues concerning the battle system: magic, especially AoE spells, is frankly the only way to go and spamming it drastically outclasses every other tactic, with melee characters becoming less and less useful as the game goes on. Also, some of the best spells are obtained through a fairly obscure system of rituals that you can only perform in some locations and require a number of consumable catalysts to be cast, with said catalysts being very hard to obtain (thankfully, there’s a shop selling them during one of the last chapters, the last time you visit Merhem, so make sure to stock up if you ever get there). Even with a good suit of spells and equipments, though, this is a game that actually expects you to grind a bit (or a lot, depending on the characters you use), with even a few levels making a huge difference.
Last but not least, this game’s inventory system is a bit reminiscent of CRPGs, with each item having its weight depending on the party’s cumulative strength. Surpassing a character's allowed weight level will make you move slower and slower, forcing you to deposit some items in chests that act as a vault but are unfortunately only available in some cities or dungeons, which can be a huge hassle depending on how free to travel you actually are during certain story quests.
As for the localization, even if the translator did an awesome and commendable job (Arcturus’ script is unexpectedly large and complex, not to mention Helly did all of this solo), the translation patch could have used some additional editing and still leaves some bits untranslated, including a surprising quote from the L'infinito poem by Giacomo Leopardi, unless that's been solved with the latest update which was released soon after I passed that point. Also, in the game's last chapter I experienced some technical issues, namely so-called actor errors, that landed me to desktop during some of the most graphically intensive cutscenes, requiring me to click on a small prompt, return to the game, get another error and repeat until the cutscene could progress, having finally found the assets it was searching for... unless the game decide to shut down, that is. Your mileage may vary depending on your PC's configuration, though, not to mention part of those issues should have been solved by the last patch. There’s also one monster whose cry of pain can crash the game because of an issue with the matching audio file, providing an interesting, if obnoxious, example of a meta attack to the player’s own free time.
While the issues I mentioned so far are very real and impactful, it’s a testament of Arcturus’ unique charm that I still can’t help but vehemently suggest any Eastern RPG fan in search of a story driven, old school title with little handholding and plenty of soul to give Arcturus a chance. It’s a title with its own personality, as deranged as it may be at times, and those who look with fondness to the Legend of Heroes series or beloved titles like Xenogears or Grandia could very well end up falling in love with this forgotten, overly ambitious Korean gem. As unlikely as it is, I can only hope someday Arcturus will find its way to Steam and GOG in a professionally localized and at least partially fixed re-release, because I could see the adventure of Sizz, Eluard, Maria, Tenzi and their unfortunate friends gaining a bit of a cult following if it had a chance to show its virtues to a wider public.
Note: I wrote a previous version of this article six years ago, back in August 2018, on the /JRPG subreddit