Arcana Heart

[Gabriel]

Received Arcana Heart last week. Played it some this weekend.

 

The game is more or less a poster child for why 2D fighting games are deader than any corpse you'd care to name.

 

I'll start with the good. The game is a 4 button fighting game instead of the silly hardcore excess of a 6 button layout. Just about all special moves are half circle + button, quarter circle + button, or dragon punch + button.

 

I'm done with the good now.

 

The bad is this game is geared towards and only for 2D fighting game fanatics. No other type of player need apply. Yes, there's a lot of depth here to dig into, but the learning curve and the mandatory minimum 20 hit combos means no one other than the slavishly devoted are ever going to find the oil buried deep beneath the desolate desert sands. Most of this learning curve is because the characters are very esoteric in play. Unless you know exactly what you're doing, then you might as well not even try. For those seeking characters they have to struggle to learn, the game will deliver. For those who want to jump in and play with buddies who aren't Japanese 2D fighting game geeks, you can forget it.

 

The game isn't ugly, but it doesn't impress either. Things look OK, if a bit bland, as long as things stay at the same zoom level. But the second the zoom level changes, get ready for the shimmer of shifting pixelation. Overall, the characters share a general lack of detail, and the backgrounds are wholly pedestrian, without any kind of life or spark. The whole thing feels "phoned in" in it's utter genericness.

 

For the judgement impaired 2D fighting game fanboy, this will seem like a godsend no matter how it plays or looks. They'll cream themselves just because it's a genre game. No doubt they'll hold it up as an example how, in their warped minds, 2D games are always superior to 3D games.

 

For those who haven't drowned in the Kool Aid, and are not interested in videogame resale speculation, avoid this one. It's just bad, and only the fanboy dedication can make it something worthwhile. If you have to have 2D, then go find the latest Guilty Gear game, World Heroes Anthology, King of Fighters XI, or wait for the SNK Arcade Collection in the next few weeks. Any of them will be better and more entertaining than this game, and cheaper on top of it all.

[Reaperman]

Thanks for the heads-up, I'll remove it from my gamefly list at once.

 

My first reaction was that the backgrounds were ugly (maybe even single layer?) and there weren't enough animation frames per character to make it look more modern than, say a 1995-6 title. (based on videos like

)

 

however, I thought a bunch of bouncy girls could be a fun, entertaining party game for drunk guys who probably haven't played a 2d fighter since the capcom cps2 titles. Of course the game being freaking hard eliminates that, and I don't think the title has enough 'payout' in terms of graphics to justify putting in the time required to master somebody in it.

 

'Fun party game' is really the realm of Capcom Vs. SNK 2 (which has been at the top of my gamefly 'send me' list forever) or Garou: Mark of the Wolves. Both offer depth (especially MOTW), but I believe they have a lot more payout in terms of reasons to continue playing. I am one who believes that 2d fighting games are superior to 3d by nature--though Soul Calibur on DC was pretty nice, as was fighters megamix on saturn.

Edited April 22, 2008 by Reaperman

[ubersaurus]

I have to disagree wholeheartedly. I like Arcana Heart, and I'm certainly not any good at the "20 hit combos" you claim are a requirement. It's a really fun game for those of us who just jumped into it.

 

And honestly, you're saying that THIS is too complex, but Guilty Gear is what people should just jump into? The game with like, 4 meters to keep track of and about 2 billion things you NEED to do with them to be any good at it? I'm sorry, but that game has characters that are just as bizarre as Arcana, and has a lot more shit to learn than a couple combos and what each yugioh card does for a character.

 

News Flash. Traditional, 2d Fighting games haven't targeted casual gamers since Street Fighter 2. Marvel 2 is popular, yes, but it never targeted that crowd, and anyway it's another game where you need to know "20 hit combos" to be worth a damn in. And your review just comes off as the ramblings of someone who doesn't really like, or know, the genre anyway.

Edited April 23, 2008 by ubersaurus

[Gabriel]

I have to disagree wholeheartedly. I like Arcana Heart, and I'm certainly not any good at the "20 hit combos" you claim are a requirement. It's a really fun game for those of us who just jumped into it.

 

And honestly, you're saying that THIS is too complex, but Guilty Gear is what people should just jump into? The game with like, 4 meters to keep track of and about 2 billion things you NEED to do with them to be any good at it? I'm sorry, but that game has characters that are just as bizarre as Arcana, and has a lot more shit to learn than a couple combos and what each yugioh card does for a character.

 

News Flash. Traditional, 2d Fighting games haven't targeted casual gamers since Street Fighter 2. Marvel 2 is popular, yes, but it never targeted that crowd, and anyway it's another game where you need to know "20 hit combos" to be worth a damn in. And your review just comes off as the ramblings of someone who doesn't really like, or know, the genre anyway.

 

Guilty Gear certainly has all that hardcore stuff in it. The difference is that it has a much better learning curve. Guilty Gear can be enjoyable as a pick up and play game while Arcana Heart is merely an exercise in low damage frustration. But I'm not married to the suggestion. That's why I threw a couple of other suggestions in there.

 

And you're right, 2D fighting games haven't targeted casual gamers, but I'm not talking about casual gamers. 2D fighting games haven't targeted anyone other than the most dedicated genre fans since the mid 90s. That's why the genre is currently 6 feet under.

 

Think a minute. Let's ignore the accessibility argument completely. Would you really judge Arcana Heart to be an exceptional game? The conclusion I came to was that it most certainly wasn't. It's only claim to fame is that it's a 2D fighter without the Street Fighter or SNK logos on the packaging. Even being generous, it's only an average game. The truth is that Arcana Heart feels like a minimal effort sort of title to hook the genre fans because they'll snap this sort of thing up without a second thought. Hey, it worked. I picked it up.

 

No. I wasn't trying to say it's a stinking pile of refuse like Cosmic Carnage or Time Killers. But it's certainly not anywhere near a godsend.

[Jess Ragan]

News Flash. Traditional, 2d Fighting games haven't targeted casual gamers since Street Fighter 2. Marvel 2 is popular, yes, but it never targeted that crowd, and anyway it's another game where you need to know "20 hit combos" to be worth a damn in. And your review just comes off as the ramblings of someone who doesn't really like, or know, the genre anyway.

 

Actually, it sounds like it's coming from a guy with a massive bug up his butt about 2D video games. If you don't like them, Gabriel, then why are you playing one? It's like you bought Arcana Heart for the specific purpose of complaining about the genre in general.

 

For some of us, a game like Arcana Heart is a rare treat. We don't get many of these titles in this day and age, and it's massively frustrating to have someone actively discourage their development. You've got hundreds of first-person shooters, sandbox games, and role-playing adventures... can't we have this one game?

[Reaperman]

Actually, it sounds like it's coming from a guy with a massive bug up his butt about 2D video games. If you don't like them, Gabriel, then why are you playing one? It's like you bought Arcana Heart for the specific purpose of complaining about the genre in general.

I don't really get that vibe at all from the post. Seriously

.

I had been looking forward to this game for a while, but the youtube video makes it look like something that wouldn't make my neo geo sweat, and now I get news that the gameplay isn't stellar either.

 

Though I do know how you feel. Right now I'd love to play a console space sim--we just don't get them anymore and I don't really care how bad it is, I'd buy it. I'm just not as die-hard over fighting games anymore. The people who would buy the game no matter what will buy it, but the rest will probably stick with one of the more excellent choices of 2d fighter on that platform.

Edited April 24, 2008 by Reaperman

[ubersaurus]

I have to disagree wholeheartedly. I like Arcana Heart, and I'm certainly not any good at the "20 hit combos" you claim are a requirement. It's a really fun game for those of us who just jumped into it.

 

And honestly, you're saying that THIS is too complex, but Guilty Gear is what people should just jump into? The game with like, 4 meters to keep track of and about 2 billion things you NEED to do with them to be any good at it? I'm sorry, but that game has characters that are just as bizarre as Arcana, and has a lot more shit to learn than a couple combos and what each yugioh card does for a character.

 

News Flash. Traditional, 2d Fighting games haven't targeted casual gamers since Street Fighter 2. Marvel 2 is popular, yes, but it never targeted that crowd, and anyway it's another game where you need to know "20 hit combos" to be worth a damn in. And your review just comes off as the ramblings of someone who doesn't really like, or know, the genre anyway.

 

Guilty Gear certainly has all that hardcore stuff in it. The difference is that it has a much better learning curve. Guilty Gear can be enjoyable as a pick up and play game while Arcana Heart is merely an exercise in low damage frustration. But I'm not married to the suggestion. That's why I threw a couple of other suggestions in there.

 

And you're right, 2D fighting games haven't targeted casual gamers, but I'm not talking about casual gamers. 2D fighting games haven't targeted anyone other than the most dedicated genre fans since the mid 90s. That's why the genre is currently 6 feet under.

 

Think a minute. Let's ignore the accessibility argument completely. Would you really judge Arcana Heart to be an exceptional game? The conclusion I came to was that it most certainly wasn't. It's only claim to fame is that it's a 2D fighter without the Street Fighter or SNK logos on the packaging. Even being generous, it's only an average game. The truth is that Arcana Heart feels like a minimal effort sort of title to hook the genre fans because they'll snap this sort of thing up without a second thought. Hey, it worked. I picked it up.

 

No. I wasn't trying to say it's a stinking pile of refuse like Cosmic Carnage or Time Killers. But it's certainly not anywhere near a godsend.

 

Would I judge it as an exceptional game? Yes, I would. For a fighting game, it's held up extremely well competitively, and ultimately that should be the goal of any 2d fighter maker at this stage. You complain about the fact that attacks don't do much damage, and that you actually have to learn things to do well. I think to myself, how are these bad things? The pace of the game is so far removed from something like Samurai Shodown that if damage was high, the rounds would end in only a couple combos. I liken it more to Marvel 2 if Marvel 2 was a one on one fighter, because that's essentially what this game is.

 

Guilty Gear is so accessible that a guy like me, who doesn't play the game, can pick it up and get my ass kicked because I can't do anything other than push a couple buttons and jump. How is that different from Arcana? You also say that the graphics in Arcana suck, but my first impression a year ago when I saw it in the arcade was that the game looked damn nice. At least as good as Guilty Gear.

 

There's depth in the game, it's not retardedly broken, and I found it to be extremely fun. How are any of these bad things?

[Gabriel]

Would I judge it as an exceptional game? Yes, I would. For a fighting game, it's held up extremely well competitively, and ultimately that should be the goal of any 2d fighter maker at this stage. You complain about the fact that attacks don't do much damage, and that you actually have to learn things to do well. I think to myself, how are these bad things? The pace of the game is so far removed from something like Samurai Shodown that if damage was high, the rounds would end in only a couple combos. I liken it more to Marvel 2 if Marvel 2 was a one on one fighter, because that's essentially what this game is.

 

Guilty Gear is so accessible that a guy like me, who doesn't play the game, can pick it up and get my ass kicked because I can't do anything other than push a couple buttons and jump. How is that different from Arcana? You also say that the graphics in Arcana suck, but my first impression a year ago when I saw it in the arcade was that the game looked damn nice. At least as good as Guilty Gear.

 

There's depth in the game, it's not retardedly broken, and I found it to be extremely fun. How are any of these bad things?

 

First off, you're under a misconception that I said the graphics of Arcana Heart suck. I didn't. I didn't say they were bad. I didn't say they were good. I was trying to convey the visuals were workmanlike and pedestrian. Nothing stands out about them. Never once did I or my fellow playtester feel impressed by the visuals. This was one of the things contributing to the feel of just the bare minimum needed for the game. The game had the minimum resolution and animation quality I'd expect in this day and age, but no more. The only unreservedly bad thing about the graphics was the pixel shimmer during scaling. Perhaps it isn't as pronounced on a SDTV on a PS2, but we were playing on a PS3 on a HDTV.

 

Aesthetically, I found the game very plain. The characters lack detail. The backgrounds are flat and lifeless. The special effects aren't very special. But this fits in with the "bare minimum" stuff mentioned above.

 

Now, Guilty Gear seems to be a hanging point here. If it's such a problem, then I retract the suggestion. However, my friends and I have found GG to be friendly during the button mashing learning/relearning phase. Arcana Heart wasn't. The great majority of our fights were pointless experimental small combo affairs which ended in frustrating timeout after timeout because we couldn't inflict appreciable damage. Later we turned the timer off and the fights just became long and unbearable.

 

The gameplay didn't really feel like it offerred anything which couldn't be had in better games. My friend and I were torn on whether the Arcana system was kinda neat or if it just added pointless fiddliness, but we did agree it added an additional layer which was causing us an additional roadblock towards figuring out what we needed to do. Dashing and super leaps handled awkwardly, and this tended to make the fights slow. The air juggles were the most annoying I've seen in a while.

 

You say that the goal of any 2D fighting game maker should be for the game to perform well competitively. I'd like you to elaborate on that comment, because I don't want to go off a rant because I misinterpreted it.

[ubersaurus]

I think it's straightforward enough. Fighting games nowadays tend to really only get made for, and played by, hardcore fighting game fans. And a good chunk of those play the games competitively, or at least try to get halfway decent at them. If you end up with a game where a couple characters destroy everyone else outright, it sucks. No matter how pretty it may look, if it doesn't have that much going for it, it's not worth the money to buy it or the time to learn it.

 

Obviously there are people who don't care, and just like to play the games. But at this point I'm willing to guess that they form a minority of fighting game players. Maybe SF4 will change that.

[Gabriel]

I think it's straightforward enough. Fighting games nowadays tend to really only get made for, and played by, hardcore fighting game fans. And a good chunk of those play the games competitively, or at least try to get halfway decent at them. If you end up with a game where a couple characters destroy everyone else outright, it sucks. No matter how pretty it may look, if it doesn't have that much going for it, it's not worth the money to buy it or the time to learn it.

 

Obviously there are people who don't care, and just like to play the games. But at this point I'm willing to guess that they form a minority of fighting game players. Maybe SF4 will change that.

 

And that's the inherent problem. It's like a singularity. Those within the event horizon are living in a little bubble of alternate reality. Those outside find what lies inside the event horizon unreachable. I'm not saying make the characters grossly imbalanced. That really has nothing to do with pure tournament considerations and everything to do with the simple act of designing a playable game.

 

I'm a bit bewildered by the comment about balance coming out of the blue. I'm guessing it's an extension of my damage issues with the game. My damage problems aren't about balance. I don't have any desire to have one character dominate all others. I would just like to see the characters do enough damage so that a pair of novices without the benefit of extensive knowledge of the combo system can decisively finish a round in a reasonable period of time. I'm not saying we need to throw away all our niche games requireing practice and learning the intracacies of and play Wii Fit instead, but toss us non-l33t people a bone! It's especially needed on a title like this, which really seems to be trying to appeal to a casual fan with it's Moe-inspired cast.

 

Really, if the only goal is to cater to the needs of the tournament circuit, they might as well just name their games Swordquest and be done with it.

 

When it gets down to it, I don't believe we're really disagreeing on anything. I said that 2D fighting game fans will enjoy the game regardless. I said it uncharitably toward those fans, but it was my prediction nonetheless. I sincerely doubt people outside the bubble will find the slightest interest in the game.

 

I can't remember... The recent SNK games have a feature where you can program a button for special moves and/or combos. It's very nice, because I program my most commonly used super there and never have to worry about it again. I don't think Arcana Heart had a feature like that, but if it did, please correct me.