Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers Qweerty Gamers Exclusive Reveal!
If you’re a fan of Arcade Spirits you’re more than likely also a fan of its many complex, arcade cabinet-loving characters. And if either of those statements apply to you, it’s probably also safe to assume you’re eagerly wondering which of your most beloved characters from the Funplex will be returning in the 2022 sequel Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers. And who could blame you? Arcade Spirits features a compelling cast of multidimensional members of the arcade community of the future such as the affectionate repair whiz Naomi and your pinball-loving, pragmatic manager Gavin. Fortunately for you, Qweerty Gamers recently got the exclusive scoop on one of your (as well as our) favorite characters from the original game who is confirmed to return in next year’s Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers when we sat down for an interview with developers Aenne Schumann and Stefan Gagne of Fiction Factory Games.
If you haven’t yet had the pleasure of being introduced to the world Arcade Spirits then allow us to do the honors. Arcade Spirits is a 2019 Visual Novel, available on PC and consoles, set in the alternate future of 20XX in which the arcade industry never crashed and instead earned its place in mainstream entertainment as well as the cultural zeitgeist. As you navigate the arcade scene in pursuit of taking control of not only your career but also your dreams, you’re able to befriend or even romance the cabinet aficionados, gaming entrepreneurs, and esports players alike who all flock to Francine’s Funplex as your choices and, subsequently, your personality traits help shape your own story moving forward.
Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers, the follow up to Arcade Spirits which is currently slated for an early 2022 release, sees your return to this futuristic yet retro timeline where you take the mantle of a brand new character with new hopes and goals which, this time around, centers your pursuit of becoming an esports champion in the competitive arcade game Fist of Discomfort 2. You’ll be forming relationships as well as rivalries when you join the team at the Good Clean Fun pizzeria-arcade-laundromat (you read that right) which builds on the foundation of the first game that allows you to date any character regardless of your pronouns, which we love here at Qweerty, or just make lasting friendships instead. Fans can also look forward to an enhanced character
customizer, which adds more body types, hairstyles, and accessories as well as an expanded list of pronouns for your own character which is perfect because your character will appear on screen for the entire game. And while we could go on about rebalanced personality choices, new characters, and the ability to actually play Fist of Discomfort 2 in the form of a strategic minigame, most fans of Arcade Spirits are rightfully curious which of their fave arcade dwellers will make a return in the sequel.
So, who can we expect to reappear from the original Visual Novel in The New Challengers? The developers of Fiction Factory Gamers were kind enough to reveal new information about the details of their sequel during our live panel and game demonstration on Twitch, which led to their confirmation of the return of… Hamza! The eccentric (and much adored) rare arcade cabinet auctioneer and all-around empath of the gaming crowd, Hamza, is confirmed to continue his Arcade Spirits legacy in the story of The New Challengers. Schumann and Gagne added that Hamza’s original voice actor Akash Thakkar is also on board to return for the sequel, and hinted that they have some exciting storylines for the character in the works for fans to look forward to. And perhaps most on brand, the devs teased that Hamza will have new challenges to confront your esports-hopeful character with when you step into the world of The New Challengers early next year.
If you’re as excited as we are to see more from Hamza and the entire ongoing story of Arcade Spirits you can watch Qweerty Gamers’ interview with Aenne Schumann and Stefan Gagne here as well as our live-play of The New Challengers demo with live commentary from the developers on our YouTube channel. And if you want a more personalized preview of what’s in store in Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers, you can download the free demo now on Steam (make sure to wishlist it) and itch.io and check out the new character creator and even meet the titular new challengers yourself! Oh, and when you do, say hi to Domino for us, we’re already--uhm, big fans!
