Anyone heard of Arcana Heart? [Archive]

hub

03-23-2008, 10:46 PM

Okay, so I went to place my order for Persona 3 FES over at Amazon.com, and I noticed a recommendation for a game called "Arcana Heart," due in April and also from Atlas.

So just what is this game about? I know that it's a fighting game, and that it looks like something straight out of a Nippon-ichi title, but what else is there to it? Is it any good? Is it any fun? Would you recommend it to someone who generally sucks at fighting games?

Maybe this'll finally give me a chance to try out that Capcom PS2 fighting pad that I bought years ago but never bothered to use. :sigh:

Nork22

03-23-2008, 10:49 PM

This fighting game is suited for the more immediate to advance crowd as it's quite a technical fighter. The mechanics of it is quite similar to any Capcom fighting games.

curr

03-23-2008, 10:53 PM

Yes! A fighting game that features all girls! I hoping to preorder it soon! Us Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghQoTVtsVUI)

It will be mine yes...

Chacranajxy

03-23-2008, 10:54 PM

Don't bother. There are waaaaaaaaaaaaay better fighters out there, both in Japan and the US.

Otakuman1

03-24-2008, 12:21 AM

Howdy all!

I Pre Ordered the game at my local GameStop cuz Its the first that Atlus has A fighting game.

Plus it reminded me of an OLD PS One game my friend let me play on his modded unit. Asuka 120% Game that has lotsa anime girls that kick butt & takes names :grin:

Heres is the official site for Arcana Heart:
Atlus USA Official Arcana Heart Website (http://www.atlus.com/arcanaheart)

Game is due out April 8TH.

Enjoy!

Johnny

03-24-2008, 05:26 AM

Don't bother. There are waaaaaaaaaaaaay better fighters out there, both in Japan and the US.

Agreed 100%. I know with the crowd that post here it will be immediately attractive due to character designs but honestly, there are much better anime based/inspired 2D fighters out there that are more worth your time.
Arcana Heart is decent and looks great but it's too sluggish and boring to keep you entertained.

Spend the money on a modchip or Swap Magic and pick up Hokuto no Ken or Melty Blood.

Johnny

03-24-2008, 05:31 AM

but what else is there to it? Is it any good?

Each girl has an Arcana spirit which can be summoned after a power meter fills up, allowing a different, more powerful move-set.

Is it any fun?

No, not really. Story mode is nice but it has a super cheap end boss so you may never finish it with everyone and arcade mode is just consecutive fights which get boring quickly.

Would you recommend it to someone who generally sucks at fighting games?

Absolutely not. It's quite tough and will take a while to master.

I would love to love Arcana Heart but for me, it has too many flaws. I was playing the Japanese version so maybe the US release will be tweaked in terms of difficulty but I don't honestly see it making much difference.

Buster Darkwings

03-24-2008, 06:21 AM

I haven't been heavily into fighting games for nearly a decade, but I picked it up when it came out in Japan since I'm a fan of Saki's seiyuu. It's a fairly fun game, and most of the characters can be learned (but not mastered) fairly quickly. Seems to have a good bit of fans amongst FG fans. But the AI sucks and the final boss is uber-cheap. If you're a fan of anime girls and have friends to play with, I'd go for it.

I was rather disappointed it doesn't have a progressive mode, though (unlike the arcade game which is of course progressive like all arcade games). A progressive mode should be a requirement for 2D games, IMO... I guess when/if a version comes out for the PS3 or 360 it'll be progressive...

Mazinkaizer

03-24-2008, 12:21 PM

I did not play the game but my friend told me that it's fun, though nothing near Sammy's Hokuto No Ken. I wonder though if the US release will retain the Japanese voices or not ?

Chuplayer

03-24-2008, 04:33 PM

DekarTheDragoon

03-24-2008, 04:45 PM

I heard that Arcana Heart is a finely-tuned fighting game on a low budget that puts many other fighting games to shame in both presentation and gameplay. I preordered it instantly.

And of course there are all the cute girls.

I was much the same.

Of course, I didn't care about the game hardly at all after the first paragraph, as I usually hate fighting games. But I figured why not at least look into it, and opened the official site.

Went out and pre-ordered the moment it became available to do so. Too many cuties to pass up, and I've been needing a new game for multi-player anyways...

Junker Woland

03-24-2008, 05:11 PM

Just to throw my opinion into the mix, AC is really good game if you actually enjoy the fighting game genre, tend to spend time learning a title, and play against either friends or other competitors; if you’re just looking for some flashy thrills, you’ll probably be disappointed, even with the cheap price.

Suwako Moriya

03-24-2008, 05:14 PM

Story mode is nice but it has a super cheap end boss

Just curious but, what makes the end boss cheap? I mean cheap can mean the following things.

A: The boss blocks everything under the sun.

B: The boss moves at the speed of light.

C: The boss has attacks that can't be dodged.

D: The boss is allowed to automatically win the battle and victory is based on luck.

Also sometimes cheap is relative. You can read posts about a boss is extremely easy and posts about a boss is impossible. With both sets of posts talking about the same exact boss. Go figure on that one.

Mateo_home

03-24-2008, 05:43 PM

C: The boss has attacks that can't be dodged.

I'd have to go with this. She has this super attack that you're only given a split second to block which attacks all over the screen. You might get lucky and "glitch" your way out as if you're character is already down. Her normal attacks are all the normal Arcana's super moves.

Magic_Knight

03-24-2008, 05:58 PM

Cool, thanks for pointing this game out. I gotta get it.

Suwako Moriya

03-24-2008, 05:59 PM

She has this super attack that you're only given a split second to block which attacks all over the screen.

Ah those type of situations can be extremely annoying in the long run... The type that would make the player go "How the heck do you win?" for several defeats. At least it sounds like such a scenario.

HitokiriShadow

03-24-2008, 08:17 PM

lostnomad84

03-24-2008, 09:36 PM

And of course there are all the cute girls.

This was why I pre-ordered it. I currently have almost nothing other than JRPGs and MGS games and I could use a 2D fighter. I'm hoping that if this does decently, other, better games like it will get released here. I know the odds of Melty Blood every coming out here are just about nil, but I can still dream and do my part to try to get it to happen.

I have a gut feeling that if this title does well enough, Melty Blood could have a higher chance of making it here. I am interested in Arcana not because of that fact, but the game does seem like solid fighter and I like niche Japanese titles that don't suck!

HitokiriShadow

03-24-2008, 10:06 PM

Yeah, it also looked like a decent fighter. I'm obviously not a hardcore fighter, but it looked like it could be a fun, decent fighter. I'm disappointed to hear about the uber-cheap final boss.

Nork22

03-25-2008, 12:13 AM

Yeah, it also looked like a decent fighter. I'm obviously not a hardcore fighter, but it looked like it could be a fun, decent fighter. I'm disappointed to hear about the uber-cheap final boss.
She's not that cheap if you just constantly attack her. Figured out that much after getting my ass handed to me a few times.

Suwako Moriya

03-25-2008, 12:22 AM

She's not that cheap if you just constantly attack her. Figured out that much after getting my ass handed to me a few times.

Ah sounds like one of those bosses where the best strategy is to not let the boss have a chance to really do anything.

Nagato-san

03-26-2008, 11:22 AM

Well, I pre-ordered the game Monday. I've been needing a new fighting game, and I've been looking foward to this game ever since it came out in Japan.