Arcana Heart 3 Import Review

Repeat after me: moe.

This is not the Simpsons character, nor the member of The Three Stooges. In Japanese, this word is pronounced “mo-ay,” coming from the word moeru (“to bud” or “to sprout”). In Japanese otaku culture it refers to a warm, fuzzy feeling one gets when viewing a female character. In English, it’s impossible to explain without sounding completely awkward. I would know – I asked an English-speaking maid in Akihabara to explain the concept in English to my non-Japanese-speaking friend, and she told me in Japanese that it would be too difficult. What does all this have to do with a game review? Well…

The Arcana Heart series by small developer Examu is one of the more popular and famous examples of a moe motif in modern fighting games. Although not well-known outside of Japan, the game and its sequels have made regular appearances in Japan’s national fighting-game tournament Tougeki Super Battle Opera alongside heavyweights Super Street Fighter IV, Tekken 6, BlazBlue, and Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown. Atlus even localized the PlayStation 2 port of the original title a few years ago, garnering a small amount of interest in the franchise among American anime enthusiasts. The latest in the series, Arcana Heart 3, was recently ported to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, much to the delight of series fans located thousands of miles away from anything resembling a Japanese game center.

Game: Arcana Heart 3 (IMPORT)
Publisher: Arc System Works
Developer: Examu
Genre: Fighting
Price: Varies by importer, Japan MSRP 8600¥
Verdict: A faithful home port of an extremely niche arcade fighter.
Pros: Netcode is good, graphic filters and widescreen options show a true attempt to “modernize” the aging engine. Lots of characters and arcana make for nearly limitless options. Easy to learn.
Cons: Even with graphical options, in-game sprites show their age against more modern titles like BlazBlue. “Moe Factor” makes this a very niche title. Homing mechanic makes the game feel stiff at first. Xbox 360 version is REGION LOCKED TO JAPAN, but PS3 version is playable on any region system.

Purchased by Reviewer

Arcana Heart 3 is a 1×1 fighting game, containing a character roster of 23 unique maidens – some of these maidens are tasked with saving Japan from destruction at the hands of a sinister organization, while others are tasked with aiding in the nation’s destruction. Either way, the story serves little purpose but provides an excuse to fight it out. The home port consists of several game modes, including Story, Score Attack, Versus, Training, and Online.

Arcana Heart 3 has several mechanics that differ from most fighting games, the most notable of which are the Arcana system, the Homing mechanic, and the Extend system. The Arcana system adds an entirely new layer of depth to character match-ups, as each of the 23 available Arcana has its own set of special moves, super moves, and properties that change the offensive and defensive abilities of a selected character. Some Arcana focus on adding projectile attacks and setup options to a player’s repertoire, while others add large mobility buffs and/or modify character attributes such as attack strength and defense. The combinations of characters and Arcana are diverse, and each arcana benefits a character in different ways. There are literally hundreds to choose from. The Homing mechanic allows a player to immediately dash towards an opponent, whether on the ground or airborne. This mechanic is vital to extending combos, and the existence of a Homing Cancel allows a player to return to neutral state immediately after executing a homing maneuver at the cost of part of the super meter. The Extend system changes the background and introduces a new set of character buffs unique to each Arcana and access to an Arcana-specific super move that can wreak havoc on an unwary opponent if it connects. The ability to enter the Extend state is governed by a special Force gauge located next to each player’s life bar, which recharges on its own. Super meter can be used for both character-specific specials and Arcana specials, and is filled by attacking an opponent or being damaged.

It’s a lot to take in, which is part of what makes the game unique among modern fighting games. The existence of Arcana make creating a tier list nigh impossible, and the sheer amount of options and wide support for varying gameplay styles make Arcana Heart 3 one of the more flexible fighters on the market today. It’s also easy to learn, but exceptionally difficult to master.

The HD art created for character cut scenes and backgrounds is gorgeous, but the in-game sprites were dropped into the game right from the arcade version. Graphical options are available to filter the look of the characters, but on a large HDTV the sprites will look either pixelated or blurry depending on which option is selected. There are options available for full screen or widescreen. Widescreen mode is true widescreen (with the entire screen consisting of playable area, unlike the PS3/Xbox 360 Marvel Vs. Capcom 2), but tournament aficionados take note: the combo potential and game physics are drastically different in widescreen mode versus full screen mode due to the amount of space on the screen.

Story mode consists of a few cut scenes and battles, ending with a gimmick fight against Ragnarok, a giant robot reminiscent of Apocalypse and Onslaught in the Versus Series games from Capcom. Playing the story mode with various characters on different difficulty levels unlocks trophies and gallery items, but not additional characters or character colors. All playable characters are unlocked from the start, and extra colors are earned by winning matches online. Like BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, a Score Attack mode is also present. Score Attack pits the player’s chosen character against an armada of computer opponents with amped-up difficulty. Score Attack culminates in a grudge match against Parace L’Sia, the non-playable boss of Arcana Heart 2, and her screen-filling attacks and constant healing make BlazBlue‘s Unlimited Ragna look tame in comparison. Fortunately, Score Attack mode does allow the player to continue where they left off (including the fight with Parace) and the game will continually reduce Parace’s stamina as the number of continues begins to mount. It took me 15 continues before I was able to finally defeat her.

In online play, the netcode stands up amazingly well. I haven’t had any problems getting stuck while connecting to lobbies, and most fights are playable – even against international opponents. A surprising number of people in the US appear to have imported the PS3 version, as it is always easy to find a lag-free match (or at least one without game-breaking amounts of lag). Playing well online will unlock additional colors for each character via the CHARM system. Basically, the more you use a character, the stronger your bond with her will become. A strong bond unlocks more stuff. My experience playing online is limited to the PS3 version.

The previous game in the series, Arcana Heart 2 Suggoi!! had an outsourced extremely sub-par PlayStation 2 port, which was advertised using assets from the arcade version. This PS2 version had an enormous amount of slowdown, and any unique animation would cause the character sprites to become pixelated (an effect that was extremely noticeable with larger characters). After the game was released, it was universally panned and made a lot of fans question the integrity of the series’ developers. With new partner Arc System Works – a company that knows their way around a fighting game or two – Examu has appeared to redeem themselves with this feature-packed port of Arcana Heart 3.

Although a great addition to the Japan-only library on current-gen consoles, Arcana Heart 3 is certainly not for everyone. Anyone who has any sort of hate or loathing for high-pitched Japanese characters, stay far away. The Homing mechanic makes the pacing unique among modern fighters, as the game will feel “stiff” at first (because there is no solid dash/run mechanic like BlazBlue). There is also an intimidating amount of character and Arcana combinations, and it is probably a good idea to do some research on beginner-friendly pairs that can be used to learn the game’s mechanics. If someone likes fighting games and can get over the fact that this game is the antithesis of everything “bro,” they’ll probably have a good time with Arcana Heart 3.