Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers
Content Warnings (Spoilers)

This game is rated T for Teen for alcohol consumption, mild violence, and implied swearing. All swearing is visually censored. There is no nudity but adult content is implied (kissing, physical affection, off-screen implied sexual activity, etc.)

• Mild Violence or Threats of Violence
  • In Level 2, after Zapper and Domino get into a heated moment of insults, Zapper shoves Domino and he falls over. No injuries, and Zapper immediately feels guilt over this.
  • In Level 4, Zapper discusses gun violence and her dislike of the reality behind it.
  • In Level 5, during Locksley's date a building accidentally burns down. There are no injuries.
  • In Level 5, during Jynx's date, the player has the option to track down and threaten a thief with violence. The thief gives back the item and no violence occurs.
  • In Level 6, Locksley ponders breaking someone's legs for their part in a cyberbullying incident. He changes his mind soon after.
• Suicide Attempt and Ideation
  • At the end of Level 6, a character will attempt suicide. It ultimately fails but does leave them in a coma for the rest of the game. This is visually depicted as them stepping offscreen, and then narration and sound effects describe a moving vehicle hitting them without graphic detail.
  • In Level 6 and 8, in Domino's scenes he implies or jokes about suicide in an off-hand manner.
• Ableism
  • Jynx's storyline involves her grappling with her disability, which gets in the way of the things she wants to accomplish in life. Often she comments that she sees herself as a burden on others, even though she knows they don't see it that way. She doesn't say it aloud until Level 7 but she blames herself for her disability due to being injured in a drunk driving car accident, a mistake she can't forgive herself for. With the player's encouragement she starts to accept her past and decides eventually to start driving again.
  • Notable other individual incidents of ableism and disability issues:
    • In Level 1, your initial encounter with Jynx starts off on the wrong foot, with variations of a negative encounter with disability -- but after some correction from Jynx the conversation goes smoothly.
    • In Level 1, when talking to Jynx, Domino, and Divine. During this scene, Divine will exhibit ableism, telling Jynx "It's not my fault you're defective." You have the option to confront her over this ableism and publicly expose her, or make her go away by other means (defeating her in Fast Cars 7, or unplugging the game and telling her to leave). Further discussion with Jynx about ableism and people's perceptions of disability follows.
• Bigotry
• In Level 2, you encounter L7 Gaming, who believe you only have a media spotlight due to your diverse team and you don't belong here. They comment on how they're "not allowed" to use the right words to describe you because of "woke corporate media."
• Mental Illness (Depression, Anxiety, Social Anxiety, Impostor Syndrome)
  • Domino's storyline is focused on his depression and his tendency to miss social cues. Throughout the game he will exhibit clear signs of clinical depression, regarding society as a ultimately self-destructive and feeling crushed by the pressure of it. In Level 6 this comes to a head and the player can encourage him to seek therapy and medication. He uses self-effacing terms like "funny farm" and "crazy," rebuked by those around him for doing so. However, as a result of player intervention, by Level 8 he is feeling more emotionally stable and able to cope with things with ease.
  • Grace suffers from anxiety, notably whenever under social pressure from friends and family, or facing any sort of confrontation. In Level 1 she can't get Blitz to give her game back because she feels too anxious around him, in Level 3 she's heistant to leave her overprotective family because she knows it'll start a confrontation with them. In Level 6 she must confront her sister regarding leaving the family. Ultimately she finds the ability to stand up for herself and follow her own dreams regardless of what they say.
  • The player character and Rhapsody both are dealing with forms of impostor syndrome -- the player feeling they're nothing outside their ability to succeed at FOD2, that victory is what gives them self-worth. Rhapsody feels they have tried several times to achieve their goals, but always came up short. Both have character arcs throughout the game of accepting loss without relying on emotional self-abuse as punishment.
• Parental Abuse
  • The Rival, during their scenes, mentions having a physically abusive father and a terrible family life.
• Cyberbullying
  • Throughout the game and culminating in Level 6, Coda is subject to a bullying campaign that starts after you post a video of his humiliating game loss (or humiliating victory rant) to social media.
  • In Level 1, if you choose to do so, you can post an ableism incident online resulting in the person involved being attacked in response.
  • In Level 8, if you sided with the hacker gang, they will post information on Valkyrie's misdeeds online.
• Political Discussion (Toxicity in Gaming, Social Justice)
  • Many of Locksley and Domino's scenes discuss matters of income inequality, who gets to write laws, and the nature of justice.
  • Several scenes with Rhapsody, Zapper, and Domino discuss toxic attitudes in the gaming community.
  • In Level 1, when talking to Grace, Locksley, and Blitz. During this scene, Blitz will refer to people who can't take criticism as "snowflakes" and preach a doctrine of "free speech."
  • In Level 3, Locksley and Zapper discuss an incident of free speech against a totalitarian regime resulting in an esports competition ban.
• Jump Scares
  • In Level 2, if you work with Zapper at the tournament, you engineer a jumpscare of a robot to spook L7 Gaming.
  • In Level 3, shortly after talking with either Jynx or Grace, there is a brief jumpscare of a digital happy face as your character wakes from a nightmare.
  • In Level 5, during Grace's romance scene, a ride breaks down and becomes intensely creepy for a short period of time.
• Alcohol Use
  • Throughout the romance scenes in Level 5 you will have opportunities to drink alcoholic beverages, but it's always optional. Other characters may choose to drink in Level 5 and Level 6.
• Mild Illness (Vomiting)
  • In Level 5, riding the roller coaster with Zapper and Grace will result in the player character getting nauseated, unless they're particularly Steady.
• Police Interactions (Non-Violent)
  • The police show to investigate a situation in Level 7, but only to ask questions and learn what happened. The player can refuse to interact with them.
  • One of the options in Level 8 for gaining assistance is to talk to the cybercrime investigator from Level 7. Another option is to talk to a vague and mysterious agovernment authority. There are other options on the table than these two.

Return to Content Warning Homepage