Arcana Heart 3 Review

Arc System Works, the company behind Guilty Gear and the BlazBlue series are at it again but this time they're bringing over a third-parties title for us all to enjoy. Yeah, I'm talking about Arcana Heart 3 originally by Examu, Inc.

As of writing this review, the XBOX 360 version of the game is exclusive to both Japan and Europe. Aksys Games released Arcana Heart 3 on the Playstation Network in the United States and have said it's likely they won't release a disc version for the XBOX 360.

Arcana Heart 3 is an all-girls fighting game which was originally an arcade title in Japan but has been faithfully brought to home console so we can all enjoy a little one-on-one girl action (I know what you're thinking!) with our favourite moe based heroine.

The game offers up 23 playable characters ranging from school girls to nuns and everything in-between. They've covered basically every base imaginable from the anime sect so there's likely to be a character on the roster that fits everyone's personal otaku dream.

On top of the characters, there are also 23 arcana (guardians) which can be paired with each of the girls to cause various changes to their stats. Increases in statistics such as attacking, defence and blocking can occur using specific arcana. As an example, by choosing an arcana that has high attack damage, it's likely that losses in defence will occur to rebalance the state of play.

There are 529 different possible outcomes based on the choice of character and arcana. This makes it pretty much impossible to nail down a definite pairing and allows the for possibility of no two matches ever playing out the same way.

The games fight mechanics feel  very similar to BlazBlue's and I'm guessing that's because the port is done by the same development team. The basis is to perform moves by plugging in set commands to initiate specific actions. From there, you'll be able to chain, counter, cancel, guard and super move yourself into the lead.

The game uses two separate gauges. Firstly, there's the force gauge which acts as a charge up for special moves and uses a certain amount each and every time a high-damaging or complex-guarding move is used to turn the tide of battle. The force gauge starts at full capacity, allowing for some flashy showmanship. However, note that it does not re-fill so any actions need to be chosen carefully and spread throughout the various match rounds there may be.

The second gauge is the arcana gauge. The arcana gauge starts out with one full block out of three and allows you to pull of moves and actions based on the cost of the ability. For example, it allows you to perform a finishing super move called a Critical Heart that uses up all three blocks but does an immense amount of damage to the opponent.

Arcana Heart 3 is rather strategic in the sense of balancing both bars to cause the best amount of damage possible. The game may at first seem quite simple but there's a lot of depth for players that love the thrill of counting character frames, chaining odd moves together and much more. It's certainly on-par with the freedoms offered by the big fighters in the genre.

There are eight different difficulty settings, masked behind numbers one through eight. A difficulty of 1 leaves the game very easy and of course is only recommended for those wanting to work their way up the ranks. A difficulty of eight turns the game into a challenge which would leave many of the genre's fans in bewilderment at the sheer insanity and chaos on-screen.

The game has a very basic story mode that follows the same story for each heroine. While the story itself is lackluster, the fights and difficulty posed are immensely fun to undertake. The end boss is a absolute beast and I had my fair share of issues completing him with many of the characters.

Both versus and online multiplayer are offered to spice up the games uptake. The online experience is excellent and uses the same code that was utilized in the BlazBlue games. I only ever found one online battle that lagged, however it only lasted mere seconds before the game intuitively corrected it so that my battle could continue.

While waiting in the online lobby, you can jump into training while you wait for other players. I love the training feature and it's excellent how they've integrated the two so that practice makes perfect when the true bouts begin. There's also an offline training mode for those who feel the need to hone your skills without all of the player notifications.

Graphically, the game isn't going to be an immediate crowd-pleaser. As I'd mentioned before, it's a faithful port in which the developers have left the sprited graphics intact for all to see. The only real change is the ability to either use the original stage backgrounds or the new high definition one's. It's nowhere near ugly, but you may see some jagged edges due to the amount of frames being thrown at the screen.

I love the soundtrack. It's vibrant and menacing at the same time leaving a pumped up feeling in each and every battle. I honestly wouldn't be suprised if you didn't catch yourself humming a few after a few hours of play. The voice acting is good too, although there is only Japanese voice acting so there is a need to deal with reading subtitles in story mode.

Arcana Heart 3 has been a welcomed change from the bigger titles in the genre. The game has its own identity through its characters and their zany stylings. If you can get over the fact that there is no sign of a Y chromosome in the game, there's an intriguing fighter waiting to invite you into the fray.