Aksys and Arc System Works, the fighting game masters that brought you Blazblue and Guilty Gear, just released their newest installment to the Arcana Heart franchise, Arcana Heart 3. As with most Arc System Works games, there is a learning curve to Arcana Heart 3, and you will have to study mechanics and combos in order to get the most out of it. That being said, this is one of the deepest and most balanced fighting games out on the market right now, and it should really appeal to any fighting game fans who are willing to put in the effort. There hasn't even been any character tier lists released because of how balanced everything in the game is!
The Arcana Heart series wasn't always so balanced, however. It started from the humble beginnings of a fan service game, with people being interested in it more for the all generic, pretty, anime-girl fighting cast than for its gameplay, which was actually fairly slow and clunky. It really fell flat, but the later incarnations slowly started to speed up the gameplay and widen the characters in variety.
The story in Arcana Heart, however, has not improved. It's some convoluted thing about how Japan is going to be destroyed if these girls don't fight... something something something blah blah blah... who cares. This game is definitely not about the story, but to be fair, most fighting games aren't, they are about the gameplay.
Arcana Heart 3's gameplay, as mentioned before, is where this game really stands out. It manages to take 23 characters and evenly balance strength, speed, and ability brilliantly without having any "clone characters". Along with that, you are able to select from 23 "Arcana", which give you extra passive and active abilities during battles. In the end, there are about 529 different combinations of how you can pair the characters with the Arcana, making it the most diverse character selection of all time. In addition to the balance and the diverse characters, another welcome addition to the gameplay is the new "homing button", which when pressed will make your character fly directly toward your opponent. This speeds up the fighting immensely and also makes it hard to play the ever so annoying game of 'keep away'.
Overall, this is an amazingly deep and complex game that any true fighting enthusiast will enjoy, and for only $30 on the PSN and XBLA, it's a great deal as well!
Submitted By: Tom Ferko (Employee)
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