Kotaku
All-female 2D fighters are nothing new. Back in the days of the original PlayStation and the Sega Saturn, games like Asuka 120% and the Variable Geo series were a common sight in Japanese game stores, offering up hot girl-on-girl fighting action, but generally just that. The games lacked depth, relying on the gimmick of their fully female roster rather than crafting compelling gameplay. Now Atlus brings Examu's PlayStation 2 girl fighter Arcana Heart to North America, featuring 11 classic moe girl archetypes fighting to save the world from a power-hungry nun seeking to merge our realm with that of the elemental Arcana that fight by their side. The game is full of promising elements, but it all comes down to one thing—is Arcana Heart a mediocre game trying to get by on sex appeal alone, or a solid fighting game whose characters just happen to lack Y chromosomes?
Style versus substance, red versus blue...
Loved
• Characters - There may be only 11 playable characters, but each one has a distinctive fighting style and design that sets her apart from the rest. Making the tiny girl in the water globule the wrestler character tickled me to know end.
• Graphics - As far as 2D graphics go, these are definitely on the upper end of the scale. While not as fluid as Guilty Gear at its best, Arcana Heart's sprites come pretty close.
• Combat - A relatively simple four-button system hides an extremely deep combat system full of counters, reverses, cancels - all the buzzwords you'd expect in a 2D fighter; a system where skill will win over random flailing 90% of the time.
• The Arcana System - This is where Arcana Heart really makes its mark. First you select a character, then you choose one of 11 Arcana to aid you in your fight. Depending on which you choose, you're able to not only access powerful special attacks, but also inflict status ailments on your enemies, or buff yourself. Which Arcana you pick can completely change your fighting strategy.
Hated
• Difficulty - I know I praised the complex combat system under the "Loved" section, but I'd still like to be able to sit down next to a friend who wasn't familiar with the game and give them the slightest chance of beating me. Hell, I'd like to have a chance at higher difficulty levels.
• Music - Aside from the opening song, the music in Arcana Heart could have been ripped from just about any generic 2D fighter in the history of the genre. Pleasant at first, I soon found myself setting the volume down lower and lower.
Plenty to love and not too much to hate in Arcana Heart, which deftly rises above the girl gimmick. If it weren't for the fact that they're all so damn adorable, it would be easy to forget that Arcana Heart's characters are all female, and that's no mean feat considering the core gamer demographic. When questions of which girl is the cutest (Puppy Girl!) give way to which character / Arcana combination fits your play style the best is when you know the game has you. The high cuteness factor may not be for everyone, but don't let it fool you - this is not a game for reflex-challenged button mashers. This is a game for fighters.
Arcana Heart is an extremely solid 2D fighting game, packed with intriguing gameplay variety and dipped in sexy anime sweetness, making it well worth its $30 price tag.
Arcana Heart was developed by Examu, published by Atlus and was released on April 8. Retails for $29.99. Available on PlayStation 2. Completed story mode for each character on medium difficulty.
Comments
im buying it asap
also the world needs more anime girl love at least here in the US although when I say love I mean appreciation ... .. .
Already got it paid off ... Asuka 120% actually had a pretty decent fighting system that was fair, even if it was really easy to pick up. But, yeah, I can't wait to get this!
Is it just me or is that front image slightly NSFW at the bottom there?
I'll probably get this since the price is low and 2D fighting games need more love. The best girl only fighting game is Immaterial and Missing Power from the Touhou series on the PC, but it's only available in Japan. Import ftw.
Ah, cleverly placed health bars.
@Spoony Bard: She looks like she's wearing a dress. I'm sure that'd be SFW.
Umm, system?
I assume PS3, since last release was for PS2... but it was also released on Saturn, and many Sega releases having been popping up on Wii and 360...
Do Atlus employees work in a time bubble, allowing them 48-hour days? How do they keep churning out medium- to high-quality games every 30 minutes?
@Phantom_Photon: If you read at the bottom, it says "available on Playstation 2".
@MisterSleep: Atlus typically only publishes games other people make.
@MisterSleep: they don't actually develop the games.
love this game btw, been playing it since november. but arcana heart 2 is already out. they need to get their ports out faster!!
@MisterSleep: well Atlus didn't develop Arcana Heart, they just did the localization (which is easy and short for fighting games) and published it.
Atlus wins again! I'd be worried about getting the banhammer for Atlus fanboyism except for the fact that I don't know anyone who doesn't love them.
... spoken like a true fanboy!
I am really excited for this game! The world needs more 2d fighters.
I loved the import. It's no grade A fighter, but it's a lot of fun. I'll certainly be buying it once I actually have a bit of money.
@MisterSleep: Aside from what everybody else said, Atlus goes after the best of the best from Japanese developers and localizes them. God bless them for that. We need more Japanese games over here. They're usually better than the trite that we get over here. Still waiting for Atlus to buy the Mother 1,2 and 3 DS pack from Nintendo and localize it.
Interesting looking game, but I can't stand stand how anime girls are depicted as "cute", then "sexy", which is kind of creepy.
Im a fan of all girl fighters (like 120 Auska and Pretty Fighter) but this game failed to impresss me. Which sucks, cause its been like 50 years since one has came out. Something was very....generic about it. Ill hold off on the 2nd one (that one features a girl with curly pigails and guns!!!)
So is it misogynistic for beating up women? Or empowering because it is assertive, aggressive women?
I will say neither, because packing a fighting game (a genre renowned for its fan service) full of attractive female anime figures is probably as far removed from trying to make a point about gender roles in video games as Fear Effect.
Puppy eared ninja girls = tight pants.
...Im sorry D:
@kingmanic: Clearly she is not. Take, for example, the clean lines.
Looks awesome, I might pick it up. I already know what my and my brother's favorite characters will be (Witch Girl VS Puppy Girl).
I'll say this. The game has received good reception from the gameplay crowd, but it is more towards the Guilty Gear vein of games then the SF vein.
The funny thing is this was the same design team behind SamSho Special, which was completely different.
I'd give this a recommend if you like the genre/ that style of fighter, avoid if you don't.
On it. As said before, kind of sad since Arcana Heart 2 is already out now. Chinatown Fair actually just recieved it in NYC.
@Witzbold: this game will control my insatiable power for quirky anime fighting games.... at least until Blazblue comes to PS3 :D
I remember some years ago, there was a game by Tecmo (whatta surprise) called Angel Eyes. I think it appeared in Japanese arcades, but I have it for the original Playstation. 2D fighter that had some rather bizarre (and all-female) fighters; some were straight 2D, several were CG-style. One I vividly remember was a moe-type (before the term was popular) called Chibi-ko, and was a mopey soccer player. One of her supers was where you formed a large water bubble with her face on it. Then, when executed, her face on the bubble would cry, it would burst and clobber your opponent with smaller versions of bubbles, with her face on them.
Not as weird as the "red wing" attack on Strip Fighter 2 for the PC-Engine (or as gross), but it's certainly up there...
I give your subtitle an "F".
@Witzbold:
Agreed... but I'll never figure out why they crammed the ninja, puppygirl, and bloomers into one character, that's just silly. It's like one of those scenes where a cartoon character runs through a clothesline or dressing room and comes out wearing something random.
...she still wins though. ^^;
@RudeAnimat0r: o shit dude!! Chinatown Fair is still open!?!?
Jeszus, last i stepped in there since 96. wow that is crazy. damn dude I got my ass handed to me in KOF and every other fighting game there, by 10 yr old asian kids! of course i eventually got better :D
@KirbyMorph & @Phazonmasher & @badoor: Ahh, thank you good sirs. That certainly explains things! Still though, good on 'em for bringing over some cool-ass IPs I would have never normally even heard of.
It seems to have been delayed a day for some reason. The shipping date is now the 9th. I'm still kind of on the fence about it though. I like 2D fighters a lot, but I don't really know anyone who'd play this with me so a lot of the lasting value goes out the window for me.
@fuchikoma: Its just that damned awesome.
@Fonic:
Most areas of the US have an offline tourney scene for this game, check shoryuken.com tourney section.
Particularly if you live in the Northeast US.
Hmmm... I was a bit turned off by the "only girls" thing; thought maybe it was going to be gimmicky. But I love Atlus and I love 2D fighters, so I was on the fence for this game. But well, Kotaku has yet to lead me astray, so I'll pick this up soon, before it becomes impossible to find like all other Atlus games.
I'm buying it ASAP
Had this preorder paid off for awhile.. can't wait to pick it up tomorrow. I've been anticipating this game quite a bit, but I considered it a guilty pleasure more than anything - not so much now that I know there's a decent game under all the fanservice.
I just got my X-Arcade stick a couple weeks ago, too. This is gonna' kick all kinds of ass.
Wonder if Atlus installed a hot coffee mod in here somewhere. :)
I think we've all learned one thing from this. Girls are deadly...
@arstal: Thanks for the info but that brings up another problem for me. I'm not good enough at fighters to really compete in any tournament. I suppose if I practiced enough I could be, but I don't know if I'd want to devote that kind of time.
nothing like variable geo in psx, i really liked that game even the loading time was long it was a good game.
Aww shucks, this game sounds like a day 1 purchase for me, but I don't own a PS2. Probably should have one by now, but I think I'll pass (saving up for a new PC).
DO WANT.
Witch chick?
Loli evil cat girl?
Robot chick with massive camel toe?
Some chick with the name Heart?
German thief who's name is "Lies a lot"?
Check, Check, Check, Check, Check.
Sweet.
Might pick this up now, considering how starved I am for a good fighter.
Played this at arcade it was a lot of fun. I found this to be a rather solid 2D fighter with much in common to the Guilty Gear series, as has been stated many other places.
A larger selection of fighters would probably be my only gripe with the game. overall though, a lot of fun and I will certainly be picking up the home version.
I want it for puppy girl!
@cornunderscore2x: yeah...it just got pushed back...only two days, but I'm kinda pissed. I went into work this morning hoping it would have come in early, only to find out it's been pushed to arrive in stores Friday.
In any case, super excited! I can't stop saying the name in my best Fahey announcer voice; I think it's starting to drive my coworkers nuts.
@Fonic:
That's what the casual play is for. One option for getting better is GGPO or Kaillera for older games. That will be a good indicator if you can learn enough to enjoy the game.
This comes out today? I may have to run down to EBGames later on...
Do Want.
I wish I had enough money to pick it up. I've been spending too much as of late.
I'm pretty sure if you buy this game, you'll end up on some government watch-list.
@cornunderscore2x:
POS stick for a cool game
Arcana Heart 2 is already out in Japanese arcades.
*yawn*
@devilsnap: ...and that means what to US gamers?
@Captain Impulse: It means that if this one sells well we might get a quicker local version of the 2nd one. So if you think it sounds awesome rent it or pick it up.
my 2 cents? I'm gonna buy it, they play this madness at tougeki and it seemed like a slower more aerial guilty gear. With magic. And an all female cast. Not a fan of the select screen though, could be better there but the fighting looks pretty epic.
@Flowen: My comment was more a jab at the *yawn* comment above, as it seems the above poster doesn't care about this release because it's old news. I could be wrong, but that's how it comes across.
I'm picking this up, too. I know my wife would love it so it'd be fun to play together.
I'd like to get this, but I have no PS2. =(
Also of note is how the backgrounds are HUUUUUUUGE - the zooming out can get pretty crazy at times.
I wonder if this still has the slow-paced feel I experienced when I tried the arcade version. It DOES have the same feel as Guilty Gear, just maybe with the speed reduced by a third.