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PS2
Arcana Heart + Preorder Bonus Disc
- New Import, In Stock |
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NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCS»
Yuki Enterprises (Examu) released Arcana Heart in
Japanese arcades towards the very end of 2006 and
found a ready and willing audience amongst the
gaming cognoscenti. Firstly, it's a capable
fighting game with a bevy of moves, combos, aerial
maneuvering, and move cancels out the wazoo.
Secondly, the cast of characters is entirely
female. Make that attractive females who can
choose their elemental powers by way of eleven
tarot cards which depict a beast such as Bhanri or
a deity-like lassie like Partinias.
The main character is a redhead named Heart Aino and she's joined
by 11 other fighters such as the blue-haired
blue-haired Saki Tsuzura,
Kamui Tokinomiya, Maori Kasuga, Mei-Fang, Konoha,
and more. When fighting, the bouts
generally take place on the ground but aerial
attacks can send the two girls way up into the air
as the playfield lofts higher to take in the
action.
The PS2 version of Arcana Heart includes the characters from the
original arcade version of the game along with the
"Arcana Heart Full" upgraded characters whom are
more balanced against each other. It's all about
equality these days. Similar to what Capcom did
with the DC versions of Vampire Saviour and Super
Street Fighter IIX for Matching Service, players
may use characters from the original version of
Arcana Heart to fight characters from the upgraded
version. A Story Mode, Versus Mode, and a Gallery
Mode round out the modes in the game.
Bonus Schwag
Pretty much every preorder for Arcana Heart will ship with an
Original Drama CD courtesy of AQ Interactive
as photographed above. If you placed your preorder
in the past day or two, we might not have enough
to include one with your order. Due to the ratio
allocation of the bonus, please note that new
orders placed henceforth will not include a bonus
disc.
Japanese Import Game Alert
Arcana Heart will only play on Japanese or Asian Playstation 2
and Playstation 3 consoles. It is not
compatible with USA or European Playstation 2 and
Playstation 3 consoles.
Jan Code: 4582210540096
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NCS
Game Notes
» Intro - Heart Aino appears followed by the
rest of the cast in sequential shots who stand
full-bodied in front of the camera. In the next
scene, Arcana runs with the blue-haired
Saki Tsuzura hand-in-hand followed by more character
portraits along with their respective
(recommended?) tarot cards. The intro was designed
exclusively for the PS2 game and it serves to
introduce gamers to the banshees and harpies
featured in the game.
» The title screen features the ARCANA HEART text
in front of two rotating mechanisms. Press START
and the following selections appear:
STORY / Select a fighter and play through
her unique story as she fights her way through the
ranks. Voice acting accompanies the written
dialogue.
ARCADE / Play the arcade mode with either
original Arcana Heart characters or Arcana Heart
Full! characters who are more balanced.
VERSUS / Fight against the CPU or a human
player - you'll get to choose the opponent and her
Arcana if fighting against the CPU.
TRAINING / Choose one of twelve gals and
practice moves and combos against a dummy opponent
that can be modified to be no dummy.
GALLERY / View character graphics, watch
opening movies, listen to music and voices, and
check out a Special section which requires
unlocking.
OPTION / Set difficulty, match time, sound
volumes, save/load data.
---------------------------
The STORY MODE for each of the 12
characters starts off with visual novel-esque
snippets of text and static images. The dialogue
is fully voiced and a narrator reads the text that
spews out across the bottom of the screen. After a
bout of reading, players get to fight an opponent.
For example, Heart's first opponent in Story
Mode is Kamui. Both versions of characters are
available in this mode which are selectable at the
outset of the game.
--------------------------
The ARCADE MODE is the original coin-op
version but the PS2 game allows players to select
the original or Full! versions of each character
in the fighter selection screen.
--------------------------
The TRAINING MODE keeps track of the damage
impacted on the dummy opponent and tallies up the
total damage in real time. The default setting for
the dummy opponent is to simply STAND and take
attacks without guarding or fighting back but the
CPU can be toggled to continually crouch, jump, or
be fully controlled by the CPU with a full
repertoire of blocks and offensive attacks at its
disposal.
---------------------------
The GALLERY MODE is set up nicely with the
following sub-options for each main category:
GRAPHICS
● Characters - View images of the 12 characters
● Arcanas - Check out the 11 Arcanas in the game
along with special moves
● Others - View a collection of 9 Arcana Heart
illustrations and splash pages
MOVIE
● Arcade OP - Check out the opening movie from the
arcade version.
● Full! OP - Watch the opening movie from the
arcade version without the title screen
interruption.
● PV - View a demonstration of the game with
canned music and information on the CV actresses
that provide the voices for each fighter.
● Anime OP - Play the entire introduction cinema
from the PS2 version accompanied by the game's
theme song.
MUSIC
● Listen to the title song, in-game music, and
snippets of tunes for a total of 34 songs in all.
We enjoyed the "Poolside Dynamite!" song but we
were probably unduly influenced by the title.
VOICE
● An impressive collection of every saying that
every girl mutters, exclaims, and barks out in the
game. For example, Aino Heart has a total of 218
sayings while Lieselotte Achenback is limited to
only 190 vocals. Mildred Avallone who has a deep
manly voice can speak even fewer lines with a
total of 138 sayings.
SPECIAL
● Requires unlocking before players can access
this particular section.
---------------------------
» Start a STORY MODE or ARCADE MODE game and you'll select a fighter from
the 11 girls and then choose an Arcana spirit
helper.
» The D-pad or L-Analog thumbstick may be used for
control.
» The game keeps track of your hit combos, first
attacks, guard cancels, counters, and homing
cancels among other moves.
» When face to face close-up, the characters
measure roughly half the height of the screen.
When they're at opposite sides of the screen, the
camera pulls back so that they're about 1/4 of the
height of the screen. When an aerial attack is in
progress and the gals are at dashing around and/or
getting kicked around, the screen scales quickly
outwards so that the fighters measure only 1/8 the
height of the screen.
» Maori Kasuga generally fights one-on-one in a
bout but she's actually a family of four. She
calls upon her siblings to launch attacks and
special moves on opponents. Once she gets an
opponent up in the air, a number of aerial
cooperative attacks from her gliding helpers are
possible for some thrilling sequences.
» The game features lots of dashing attacks for
the girls where they can move quickly and attack
with running blows. This is especially the case
for Heart
Aino who has an attack that can be
likened to a dragon punch where she attacks an
enemy and sends her higher.
» The camera scrolls in and out effortlessly to
take in the action as the gals range near and far
away from each other on the battlefield.
» A character's ability to use an Arcana move is
dictated by the three bars on the lower part of
the screen. The overall power of the Arcana is
indicated below those three bars.
» Based solely on the sixth picture in the
Graphics/Others section, Aino may have a crush on
a bewildered Saki.
» The full fighting cast roster is as follows
below:
Mildred Avallone / Boss woman with a man's
vocal chords
Fiona Mayfield / Boss maid who wields a
blade that's as big as she is which leads her to
swing it clumsily. Fiona can also attack with her
butt (L + O).
Kira
Daidohji / Delightful little moppet
who rides on a big drop of water... which can
attack with monstrous water-powered punches and
kicks.
Mei-Fang / Martial artist with a
Chun-Li-like persona who moves with acrobatic
twirls and possesses a healthy bouncing bosom.
Lilica Felchnerow / An athletic blonde who
rides along on skates and is endowed with powerful
leg-kicking action.
Yoriko
Yasuzumi / A red-headed witch with
an extremely unusual broom-cum-familiar with
demonic feline facial features.
Heart
Aino
/ Dashing aerial princess who
has an wallop move and a wind-up punch. We
generally use her with the Moriomoto Arcana.
Saki
Tsuzura / Blue-haired brawler who's
hair gets shabby up during the heat of battle. We
usually pair Tsuzura with Partinias.
Maori
Kasuga / The girl who fights as a
family of four with cooperative attacks galore and
a nigh unbreakable "shield" barrier.
Kamui
Tokinomiya / Super-fast sword
swinging maiden with a very long ponytail. Her
reach is impressive and we like her boots.
Konoha / Girl with a bushy tail who wears a
dual red cape and throws shuriken like the
dickens. We love her.
Lieselotte Achenbach / Carries a suitcase
from which she dispenses imperfect wooden attack
puppets that clatter on the sidewalk.
» The Arcanas in the game are:
Oreichalkos / Metal Arcana which is in the
form of a dragon that imbues strength and super
meter charging. A sword attack is also possible.
Niptra / The Water Arcana which features
orbiting ice chunks which block enemy blows and
throws out water based attacks; also slows enemy
down.
Lang-gong / The Fire Arcana which gives
fighters the power to shoot fireballs galore and
also enhances a fighter's offensive attacks.
Tempestas / The mighty Wind Arcana which
rouses up local area whirlwinds and gives the
lucky partner girl a
swirling disc attack.
Dieu mort / Death Arcana apparition which
throws out a simmering purple-colored poison
attack and imparts teleportation skills.
Partinias / Love Arcana takes the form of
an angelic deity and gives fighters the power to
shoot purple balls of energy and laser beams that
sizzle.
Bhanri / Electric Arcana which dispenses crackling electrical discharges
and lightning blasts which strike from above.
Ohtsuchi / One of Ohtsuchi's attacks is a
big honking Earth Arcana fist that smashes into an
opponent and can breaks guards; also adds armor.
Anutpada / The Time Arcana
naturally affects the time and pace of the game
and allows for interesting attack possibilities.
Moriomoto / Nature Arcana with
interesting seed-throw move which sprouts into a
Venus-flytrap-like man-eater when triggered by
opponent.
Gier / Dark Arcana creatures shadow (literally)
and are at the beck of whomever possesses the
power of Gier.
» When an opponent uses Ohtsuchi as her Arcana and
throws out an Earth fist, you can crouch down and
dash forward to avoid it. The Ohtsuchi Arcana also
allows a fighter to drop a rock on top of an
opponent but it can be blocked.
» After each match in Arcade Mode, the game counts
down your "Life," "Time," "Finish," and "Perfect"
scores.
» Famitsu gave Arcana Heart a 26/40. Granted, the
game looks like the kind of fighter that can't be
taken seriously with its lolicon imagery, overly
cheery
characters, and pastel colors but we're guessing
the Famitsu editors couldn't be bothered to sit
down for more than an hour and really explore the
game. A single match or three won't reveal much
about AH's play mechanics or the Arcana system.
To wit, button mashers can win a few matches but they
won't beat a skilled player. In order to discover Arcana Heart's depth, its position in the
universe, and the inner meaning as to why girls
have to fight each other, one must sit down and
play for a minimum of 2 hours and check out the
characters, experiment with the Arcana forces, and
then mix and match them until something special is
discovered. Arcana Heart is one of our best
selling PS2 games in terms of preorders this year
so the market appears to agree with our positive
assessment of the game.
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This document is ©NCSX 2007. All rights
reserved. No reproduction in whole or in part of
this document may be made without express written
consent of National Console Support, Inc. |
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