Arcana Heart

"The Greatest Fighting Game Ever Created"

Presentation
Arcana Heart explodes with very beautiful art, the front and back of the box art,the full color manual (the Japanese port had a black and white manual, Atlus made their own manual for this game from scratch.), the lovely art on the game disc, and the game itself as a whole, a lot of heart was put into all of this. This side of the world is very fortunate to get a chance to own this masterpiece that would otherwise only have been imported by the few, and the story and characters not fully understood and appreciated if it wasn't translated.

Normally this game is really worth $200 or more and for just about $30, it's a giveaway. Especially considering that it's arcade perfect, has both the original and Full (rebalanced) versions, the deeply involved and fully translated Story Mode, great configuration options, training, versus, and a Gallery mode packed with official art, guest artwork, 3 opening movies, the complete soundtrack, and the most enjoyable, refreshing and addicting gameplay to be experienced in a fighting game.

The PS2 port also includes a very beautiful and jaw dropping anime-style intro with a worthy remixed version of the opening's music. The art and animations are great enough to really be entertaining to watch again and again, especially during the climax of the intro when it shows the characters in action and the perspective zooming towards Fiona and a glimpse of the final showdown, it's truly breathtaking!!!!!

Story
Although a fighting game doesn't need a story as long as the gameplay is great, Arcana Heart proves that a deep enough story can give the world, characters and the battles a pure soul. And therefore you admire and appreciate all of the characters even more! At first glance, these characters may seem like "generic archtypes" or whatever from common themes. They all stand out as much more than that once you see them interact with each other and learn how they think and feel.

Well of course the story mode is no 30-hour RPG, but it has just enough dialogue and relations between the characters to give them enough depth to make them feel more alive and gives their battles more meaning, even if it's for silly reasons or serious reasons, or a mix of both (like Disgaea).

The story goes like this: In ancient times, the Elemental world and our world were joined. No one knows why or when, butat some point in the past, they split. Now we live in our world, and the Arcana live in theirs. Behind the scenes, the Ministry of Elemental Affairs (MEA) has been working to protect the boundary between the worlds, for they know if the worlds merged into one again, the results would be disastrous for humanity. Now in the skies over Tokyo, a dimensional rift is beginning to form, and the boundary between the worlds is in danger. Humanity's only hope rests with the Maidens, young girls who can communicate the Arcana (they are chosen by their Arcana.)

And so, the characters, their Arcana, and the battles snowball into a more meaningful struggle to find out the truth. Without spoiling the story, you will get the full picture once you complete Story mode with all 11 characters. Although there is no wrong order, it's recommended completing Heart, Kamui and Fiona's stories last, but that's my style in preserving the bigger plot points for last. Either way, they all have a significant role and driving force to their involvement.

The other thing is the interaction between the characters, you just want them to keep talking sometimes. Oh yes, I read somewhere the Japanese version had voice overs for the story dialogue, while this version doesn't. but I really like it how it is without voices, because the text feels more universal (like imagine if Final Fantasy Tactics' text had Japanese voice overs, it just wouldn't fit. it would just be like two languages conflicting and at least to me it's hard to understand the "tone" and "feeling" of a voice if it's a foreign language you don't know. And it's better no voice overs than bad voice overs. Arcana Heart already had plenty of Japanese voice overs during the battles anyway.

And also, the dialogue/text is written in such a way that voice overs wouldn't fit because there are some occasions where some worded "emotes" and "actions" are expressed as words for the most part. And it's part of the humor and style of this story which makes it work really well. The story mode is packed with so many great things that are said that they could become new legendary quotes mentioned about in the future and added to signatures. ^_^

Overall, Story Mode is a brilliant collection of perspectives and a very jaw dropping climax.
I feel the final boss is given even more justice through how the story presents her and makes her mark as one of the greatest final bosses of all time. Seriously, Guilty Gear's final bosses are nothing compared to the ominous and absolute presence of Arcana Heart's final boss's final form and power. Even the final boss's first battle form was completely unexpected and never seen before in fighting game history, you'd think that sort of thing would only show up in a Guardian Heroes game. And the backgrounds and music for both are truly EPIC!!!

Characters/Arcana/Gameplay
yes you probably seen them all by now, and picked your favorites, and the ones you aren't interested in, but thanks to the story mode and hands-on play with all of them, I began to enjoy and cherish every single one of them! It's kind of painful seeing them fight each other, why don't they fight like evil elemental monsters or something as a team? lol. Well yes like I mentioned, the story mode brings them to life, but since we already covered that, you'll get the full picture when you play through all their perspectives.

So let's talk a little more about the gameplay. Yes, you have your typical fighting game energy bars, super gauge, stocked supers, timer, and rounds won. There are 3 Homing Meters (I call them Boost gauges), and they are used for guard cancelling, homing cancel, and basically homing/flying towards your opponent. This is faster than normal movement and even airdashing, but get used the speed because you might end up flying into a mean counterattack before you decide to attack. Homing Meters recharge by themselves or when activating Arcana Force.

There are 4 buttons, A, B, C are light, medium and strong attacks. while S is the special button used for guard canceling, homing cancel, and homing itself. S is also used for the Arcana specials and supers (you don't need to be in Arcana Force mode to use these).

basically, each character has their own standard moves, specials, and supers. The Arcana you choose for them gives them elemental based specials and supers, as well as passive effects (like Lang Gong, Arcana of Fire gives you unblockable >+C when charged.) and Arcana Force effect when you activate your Arcana (the Niptra, Arcana of Water grants the ability to not take any damage while blocking).

while passive benefits are always available, the power of the Arcana Force is another factor:
*activating Arcana Force can help you break out of a combo since you are invincible for the first few seconds.

*Arcana Force fully recovers all 3 Homing bars. but your Super Meter will keep draining until it runs out of stocks.

*depending on the Arcana, you may get something like increased damage and health regeneration.

*during Arcana Force, you can choose to unleash Arcana Blaze, your Arcana's ultimate technique.

*Arcana Force can be activated once per round.

*You don't need a super stock to activate Arcana Force, but the more stocks, the more time you can benefit from its effects, and more time to activate Arcana Blaze if you want.

*Arcana Force changes the background/location into what looks like a temporary fusion between our world and the elemental world.

Each Arcana's ultimate technique has it's style of power, some are fullscreen, some are not even attacks, some trigger trickly, and some require more time to trigger (therefore it's easier to interrupt those types of Arcana Blaze.), some have to be performed at a certain distance to "catch" your opponent. Overall, using Arcana Blaze is a risk factor, but if successful, it could be very useful!Arcana Blaze automatically drains the super stocks to zero afterwards.

So Arcana Force has many strategic uses:

*Will you use it as a last resort combo breaker?
*Will you use it when you have enough stocks to make it last long enough to take advantage of its benefits? (supers stocked are saved between rounds)
*Will you use it early in the fight to try to catch your opponent with Arcana Blaze?
(since you don't even need 1 super meter to use Arcana Force, then Arcana Blaze immediately afterwards. all Arcana Blaze are performed with quarter circle toward+A+B+C, so it's really easy to perform it quickly enough before Arcana Force runs out.)
*ya, Arcana Blaze is an awesome sight to behold. Try them all!

So you have your character's moves, specials and supers, and arcana's specials, supers, benefits, Arcana Force, and Arcana Blaze. This results in an overwhelming amount of actions, advantages, and strategies.

with 11 characters and 11 Arcana, this results in 121 possible combinations!!!!!!!!!

Saki/Bhanri (Lightning) vs. Saki/Tempestas (Wind) is as unique as two different characters battling it out. Both styles play out very differently, and players must adapt to those differences to discover the depth hidden within each combination.

also the a.i. is very well done. the cpu has done combos and even linked supers in a way I didn't even imagine. and the final boss even on the easiest setting may very well take you to school. It's a really great workout! ^_^

Here are brief impressions of the characters:

Heart: very easy to use and with an Arcana, she has more techniques than Terry Bogard and Ryu combined, therefore, mastering her true potential will take real skill. I thought her personality was gonna be annoying, but thankfully, although she is enthusiastic about love, she has a very likable flavor to her spirit. And the nicknames she gives to her friends is just so kawaiii. ^_^

Saki: a charge-based character that seems to be easier to use than charge styles I played in other games. It seems you don't need to charge as long as I thought.Her Orna technique seems pretty tricky to set up, but overall, she has an interesting style that gets better with whatever Arcana she is using. Although Saki seems quiet and "normal", she is burning with determination behind her calm exterior and shifty eyes. ^_^

Kamui: a classy edge to sword mastery. The range, speed and flexibility of her offense and defense make it clear how experienced she is. Her Kunugi sacrifices health for one of two things, either flling up a super stock (A), or restoring a homing bar (B); that adds more strategy to the options available if ppl wanna take the risk. Kamui seems very serious, but you will get to understand her better in time. ^_^

Konoha: this is a ninja through and through. her moves have the agility, range, and mobility to strike from all angles. And some great tricks to avoid damage too. Doppleganger is downright brutal. How many fighters can you name that can perform a 100 hit super by themselves? Konoha is pure fun. A pupply girl in every sense of the word. It's funny someone as silly as she is could be so skilled at the sametime. It's really great she is what she is, because there have been too many cat girls and the concept of dog girl is something so rarely encountered and done so well like this.

Lilica: positioning and reflexes are a must. I have yet to really link her specials effectively but this style is really cool! Possibly the "combo queen" of the game due to her stylish assaults. Her rollerblades and default wind Arcana really match her attitude. Free and careless as the wind, one might say. ^_^

Yoriko: This one takes some getting used to. While her offense is somewhat straightforward, her supers are harder to follow through than supers you might be used to (as in close ranged,and if it doesn't hit/trigger, then you missed your chance.) But the creative combined unision between Yoriko and Mike really makes their attacks humorous and at the sametime surprisingly effective. Yoriko may appear to be the victim of a ritual gone wrong, but Mike is a barrel of laughs. You won't believe what he likes to eat and what he really is. XD

Maori: Now she has a really cool style. Who said there isn't tag team? Well apparently Maori delivers the team aspect to the table. Although she doesn't swap out with her sisters, they serve as support in the form of specials when called upon. They are not only used for attacks, but could also protect Maori in different ways. Tsuzune has a diving kick, as well as a frontal fist sandwich special, while Koito and Kouta ride on large origami-like birds. It's truly a sight to behold.

Technically, two sisters can be called in almost at the same time. And if you add Maori's own attacks, and whip-like specialities, her style really is unlike any other (and the gameplay depth between the 4 sisters brings more strategy than even Yuda's henchmen from Hokuto No Ken.)

So in a way, if you choose Maori, you are choosing Tsuzune, Koito and Kouta as well. Maori is very humble and polite, and her sisters are really like a happy family ^_^ Oh ya, did I mention the sisters also particiate in her supers?

Lieselotte: A complex villain of pure genius. Her smile leaves you speechless. The most complex darksides are never two dimensional. Elfriede seems to be with her, since that puppet definitely has some secret behind it. Lieselotte's style is open to many possibilities. Initially, the puppet is a part of her luggage attacks, and enhances its range. You can sacrifice the range for a very unique feature, releasing the puppet (D,DF,F+A/B/C), doing so, opens up more attack possibilities. The puppet, or should I say Elfriede, seems to have an a.i. of its own but you can manipulate it to combine a more organized approach. The drawback to having Elfriede out is that a 3 bar gauge appears, if the puppet is hit 3 times, she is out (but Deception can revive the puppet and return her to the suitcase afterwards. Then you can release her again if you want.) Lieselotte....your flavor is one for the history books. XD

Mei-Fang: A very disciplined and powerful set of techniques. I'm still learning linking her Kirin Jacket super with her UV Cannon, but I did it once. Mei-Fang is great! Her hits are solid and her rhythm is vibrant. It takes some practice learning some cool tricks, like following up her Backflip with a White Tiger to catch them by surprise. Although she is a robot, her story still is really heartfelt.

Kira: the grappler fighting type. Fortunately, she has more than just grapples, and her range can be scary at times, although the range of her grapples, are pretty short. It's a good thing one of those grapples don't involve 360-rotating, but then again the PS2 controller is the best controller in the world. I can do all her grapples with even the d-pad, and the analog stick raises success by 80%. So yeah, a child prodigy that puts Pinky and the Brain to shame,looks like a catgirl from the shoulders up, and has a pet slime she rides in? Although her mean streak can test your tolerance, it's really funny seeing her make others (and herself) look like an idiot. Pure madness...... XD

Fiona: this loveable child is a force to be reckoned with. Where did she learn to wield a sword so well??? her default Arcana fits her style even more so. shields, swords, and massive destruction. no one would underestimate a (technically 11)-year old maid ever again. You really gotta love Fiona's good manners and whiny personality when things don't go as planned.

?????: The final boss is someone you'll learn to love and hate at the sametime. Ambition and desperation sink deep. Very deep. She really is worthy to be the final boss. The final battle is really really awesome and her super even more so.

Graphics
Very high quality art! The sprites and animations are great enough to stand with the best! Although they are not as fluid as SF3, they definitely have more polish to the point of not looking pixelated. Sometimes I could swear this is in high definition. is this HD quality sprites? Well it sure looks close. It definitely is on par with Guilty Gear X, no rough edges. The animations are really well done. From Kira's amusing win poses, to Yoriko's adorable entrance animations, the visuals are sparkling with personality. ^_^

The Backgrounds are gorgeous and vertically huge! And they change when Arcana Force is used! There is so much detail to them! The artwork for the Arcana "cards" is extremely well done too! Even the character select screen is beautiful, showing the characters as a group (like Fatal Fury 3), instead of just rows of boxed-in portraits. The special effects are very well done too. specials, supers, Arcana Blaze, everything flows and bursts with life. Even the details like the way they block a hit (check out Mei-Fang's barrier.) The visuals really stand out as flawless.

Sound/Music
the voices fit perfectly with their actions. The music is really better than people realize, yes this isn't Guilty Gear style tracks, but Arcana Heart is filled with light hearted, and inspiring tunes that you notice even while fighting. Well yes, some like Kira's stage theme(Poolside Tyranny) don't stand out that much, but the soundtrack has its share of wonderful and fantastic music too like Saki's (Love and Power), at first, it seems like it's going nowhere, but then the main theme plays and it actually sounds really cool! Konoha's (Training Park) is really great too! It's upbeat but at the sametime very solid in getting a fun rhythm going without sounding like a silly carnival.

Lieselotte's (Nocturne) is too awesome to describe. I wouldn't really call it gothic, it seems more victorian or something. But it fits perfectly with the stage and mood, I mean PERFECTLY. It really stands out as one of the best tracks I ever heard in a game. You'll have to hear it at least for 2 loops to grasp it's nature. Mei-Fang's (eBravery) is on par with Lee's theme from Art of Fighting. overall the music is great and even the tracks used for the story mode cutscenes and stuff truly don't feel out of place at all. Like I said the game's opening theme is beautiful too. the versus theme, etc. etc. It really fits the atmosphere. ^_^

Control
Yes, thanks to the best controller in the world (PS2 controller), and the responsiveness of this port, it's pretty to do all of the specials and supers in the game. It's a shame the next-gen consoles don't have a d-pad as good as this, if PS2 had a pad like they do now, I'm afraid people would be struggling to tears trying to do all of those dragon punch-type motions. But thankfully that isn't the case.

Also the motion inputs are thankfully no more complex than what you would find in Guilty Gear X and King of Fighters games (thankfully nothing like Geese Howard's raging storm input.) So overall, you should be able to easily perform any of the moves.

The one thing is to make sure you customize your controls and add some helpful shortcuts. cause as good as the controller is, I feel better placing the S button on R1, and A+B+C shortcut on R2. With, A, B, and C placed in square, X, and circle in that order. but I also placed S on the Triangle button as well for a backup.

For you see, S is a really vital button for homing purposes, that it seems too cumbersome depending on a face button to assign it to. the shoulder buttons seem to work better for those kind of functions that may require split second situations, especially if you knock them far or high up and you wanna fly after them as fast as possible, homing is the way to go, so it helps having that button always at a moment's touch, so for me the shoulder buttons are best for S, since it's also smooth to perform guard cancels and homing cancels much better. So if you only depend on walking and air dashing, you won't completely discover the true speed and pacing of the game, which is often linked with
the homing assaults.

Also A+B+C to a button shortcut helps you free up your fingers, and makes activating Arcana Force and using Arcana Blaze, much faster and easier.

So ya, the controls are great, responsive, and really effective. And basic combos are pretty easy to understand too. A > B > C can create combos for the most part, so naturally sometimes it's best to start light and end strong. And also notice that some specials change depending on the button pressed.

Just remember that S is always for your Arcana specials and supers (not counting Arcana Blaze). and the function for Character Supers always end in A+B.

Replay Value
plenty of material to unlock. Full version is already available and grants the characters
8 colors on top of that (for their default color, press X. ya I often like their default.) but ya even the manual shows you all of the button combinations to get a different color. (mainly either one of the 4 buttons, or combined with L1.) but have fun figuring out which one gives which colors. ^_^

Story Mode has plenty of hours completing it with all 11 characters, Arcade Mode provides even more replay value. Training is fast and easy, and resetting Training requires no loading at all! there are plenty of options for match rules. even without other players, there is plenty to do and have fun with even after unlocking everyone, 121 combinations and the possible combination of match ups with each combination leads to a colossal amount of paired challenges and experimenting. The gameplay can be addicting and I think that's why some call it "Arcana Crack" XD

It's full of heart and it's a rarity finding a fighting game this fun, beautiful, deep and balanced. Thank you Atlus and all who made it possible. ^_^


Presentation 10
Story 10
Characters 10
Graphics 10
Sound/Music 10
Control 10
Replay Value 10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/15/08

Game Release: Arcana Heart (US, 04/10/08)