Arkadian Warriors is an Action-RPG in the vein of Diable, only it doesn't really go far enough to make it special.
Cool premise! Only it doesn't execute extremely well, and what fun there is, does get repetitious quickly.
Quests are simple. Kill this, collect that, find so and so. Rinse, repeat, level up. What doesn't help is the enemies are basically the same. You spend 8 levels killing boars and wolves, then more levels killing snakes, and then chimeras, then blah blah it's not diverse and it gets boring. You ultimate quest to kill Gorgon really becomes the ultimate quest to get 25 achievement points. Simply put, the story isn't why you are playing this game.
Quests will offer simple rewards that you will usually sell to the store, but the fun of Arkadian Warriors is building up your characters. The character models change according to your armor, and it's a great deal of fun wield magic bows, swords and staves. The game pulls of the character development well item wise. Skill wise, there are a few skills that are useless, but you will find ones that suit your play style and it helps mix up the action from hitting the attack button over and over. By the end of the game you really feel like a mighty warrior on a mission to kill a massive beast. Or better yet, why don't you become a massive beast yourself!
The beast mode is fun, and it's great for when your in a tight spot. You fill the yellow bar needed to transform by killing enemies, and you can use it when you wish. For a few seconds, somewhere in the range of 10-15 seconds, you go into your beast and it's game over for enemies. It's usually best to save for when you are surrounded and have no way out. It's well balanced, and you can still be killed while in beast mode. It's actually one of the best parts of the game, turning into a beast and going ape-sh..... well you get the idea. It is a nice change of pace to the action, and because your beasts do area damage, it's great fun to clean out a room with the form.
The classes are good deal of fun, but near the end game, they get incredibly broken, mainly because of the skills and their natural traits. Warriors are given an invincibility spell that makes them godly. Archers can run past the enemies unhurt and straight to the objectives. And well, Sorceress is the only class that isn't really broken, but considering the other two can play the game with no support characters, she's rather useless. She really is only helpful in low level areas because she can heal. Lame.
Arkadian Warriors pulls off being a action-RPG quite well, and in some cases is better than full price offerings of the same genre. (cough Kingdom Under Fire) While repetative, the character developement, though basic, is fun and at least makes the game worth playing through.
If your looking for a great XBLA game to co-op with a pal, or just a distraction, Arkadian Warriors is probably worth your 800 points. Just don't expect more than another hack and slasher, and the same mission over and over and over and over.