Arcana Heart: the fighting game for weirdos
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A game like Arcana Heart, which features an all-female cast duking it out for no apparent reason, is a no-brainer Playstation 2 import for Atlus, publisher of all the most Japanese games on the U.S. market. Arcana Heart is apparently quite popular in Japanese arcades, but does this beauty also have the brains to back up her brawn?
Arcana heart definitely has the good looks going for it. All 11 “Maidens,” most of whom are 14-years-old according to the instruction booklet, have well rendered, smooth 2D sprites and cover the gamut of anime stereotypes, often covering more than one per character. For instance, the main character, Heart, is a somewhat clumsy school girl who fights with the belief that Love (yes, with a capital L) will conquer all, which reminds me of a certain magical pretty sailor soldier. Then you have the mad scientist, the robot, the maid who carries a sword taller than she is, a demon girl, a shrine maiden; the list goes on and on.
Like Guilty Gear, another very weird game, these different looking characters often play very different as well. Some of them have counter moves, and one can release a doll to attack in tandem with the player. In addition to such unique move sets, there’s also the titular Arcana system. The player selects an Arcana at the same time as they select their character, and each Arcana adds to the character’s move set, usually a ranged attack, and gives the player special abilities, such as regeneration and increased attack, when activated. Activating the Arcana continuously drains the super meter, so the player will only have a short time to enjoy those benefits. Each Arcana has its own quirks as well, such as allowing a character to charge up their super meter Dragonball Z style or teleport similar to Akuma in Street Fighter.
As someone who’s played a lot of fighting games, from the casual Smash Bros. to the hardcore Street Fighter III: Third Strike, what I appreciate most about Arcana Heart is the simple control scheme. There are four buttons: A, B, and C, weak to strong attacks respectively, and a specials button. The specials button is used for special moves added by the Arcana, but also a homing dash, which can be used to cancel out of any move, even supers and guards. It’s this feature that I enjoy most about Arcana Heart. Once you get the hang of it, there’s an amazing amount of enjoyment to be had smacking an opponent into the air, homing dashing up to them, using a super, homing canceling, smacking them into a wall, homing dashing to them, and then hit them with a super again. It’s all made relatively easy, and more accessible once understood, using the specials button.
Arcana Heart does fail epically in some areas though. The sound, including music and effects, is forgettable at best and downright nails-on-chalkboard annoying at worst. This is most apparent when using one move often. I literally had to mute the TV it was aggravating my girlfriend so much.
There is also almost nothing in the way of extra’s, either. I suppose I’ve just been spoiled by games like Soul Calibur III and Smash Bros. Brawl, which both have a robust single player component. Arcana Heart does have a story mode in addition to the standard arcade and vs. modes, but it’s really the worst story mode I’ve ever seen. It’s similar to Guilty Gear X2’s story mode, where you go through a series of fights with story sequences in between, but, whereas the passable Guilty Gear X2 story mode had several endings per character and an actual story behind it, Arcana Heart’s story sequences could not be there at all for how much story they provide. There is literally one sentence before and after battle, usually something not pertinent to the story at all. Add to this a nail-your-balls-to-the-wall difficult final boss, and the story mode is really quite annoying.
Granted, you can look at the final images you unlock in story mode and watch various opening movies, but this is definitely not a game that has a lot of replay value for those of us that usually play games alone.
Arcana Heart is a strange game, to be sure. Not quite Katamari Damacy strange, but definitely out there. Like Katamari Damacy, though, there’s more to Arcana Heart than just its wackiness. Aside from impressive 2D sprites and absolutely huge stages, the fighting system is a nice mix between Smash Bros. simplicity and Guilty Gear’s depth. It’s lack of replay value disturbs me, especially considering the relative lack of extra features, but I suppose multiplayer is really where fighting games shine. Rent it if you’re only into it for the weird and novelty factors, but if you enjoy fighting games, and have some friends who could learn the game alongside you, this is definitely one I would recommend picking up.
Tags: AH, Arcana Heart, Atlus, fighting games, playstation 2, ps2
