First of, every time you read the title of this game you have to read it as if I’m yelling at you in a manner five times that of a normal human yell. I know that may sound impossible, but guys, there are five –I think it’s five– exclamation points on the end of Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX!!!!! My English professor is banging her head against the table right now if she wasn’t already from my substandard understanding of the English language.
Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX!!!!! is a sprite based fighting game that has just recently hit the PC after seeing time on the PS3. Everything I just typed makes me giddy like kid on Christmas, as all of those things are my favorite things ever. While not great myself, I love to get my hand on any fighting game I can as the genre, in my opinion, is the best bang for your buck. As with any modern fighting game, Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX!!!!! is going to be compared to Street Fighter, King of Fingers, etc in terms of how it plays.
This is a shame, because if you go into Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX!!!!! with the mentality of either of those series, you’re probably going to have a bad time. On the surface Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX!!!!! is going to seem very shallow. You essentially have three buttons of low, medium, and heavy attacks to deal with opponents. You also have a homing button, as well as an Arcana button that gives the game its edge. Super moves are also here and can be unsealed whenever you fill up a bar on the Arcana gauge. There are three bars on the gauge and if you’ve played games like SFA3 or the like, you’ll get the idea as it’s pretty much the same.
Each of the games 23 characters have a few super move variations along with one super special that will require you to fill all three gauges before pulling it off. Still, when you start playing you will feel like there is a lot more under the hood that is off limits to the casual player like myself. Fair enough, I know that games like these require a lot of practice and time, so I’m never going to be proficient with it, but Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX!!!!! doesn’t always make learning the game an easy/fun experience. Playing the story mode gives you a chance to pluck away with whatever character you have, and even with my lack of skill I was able to make it to the games first major boss without losing a match.
Cool! Maybe the game is slowly building up as there are more characters than are needed, but once crazy boss lady showed up the game pretty much ended for me. I spent an hour and forty-five minutes trying in vain to get any sort of edge on this boss to no avail. I went back to multiple characters, started their stories, worked them easily through, and still was handed defeat like I was a newborn tasked with decrypting the Voynich manuscript. Never before have I seen a fighting game ramp up the difficulty the way Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX!!!!! did. The boss would easily pull of two combos and the match would be over before I could even curse the screen.
Okay, I’ll just back out and jump into another mode to practice and learn what I can. This is essential anyways, as the game offers up 23 unique Arcana abilities that you can pair with any character. Each comes with its own set of moves, so finding the one that works for you will be a fun experience that keeps you coming back to try new combinations. Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX!!!!! does offer a lot of extra modes on the main menu with replay (watching a recorded match back), training, After Story, Gallery, and on and on. There is seriously a lot here, and even additional story bits and combat content after the game’s main story already ends. In fact, there sometimes feels like there is too much superfluous story, as the game can sometimes feel like a visual novel. Still, the training mode doesn’t offer me, well, anything. You can access the command menu, as you could in game, to see you move list and practice, but there is no clear way to learn those 60 hit combos without some luck and guessing.
If you read this you are probably now on some government watch-list. My bad.
Even when I jumped online to try and find some training videos –something I shouldn’t be forced to so to learn the basics mind you– many often came off with a sort of elitist attitude about them. I would often see things like, “Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX!!!!! is not for noobs, so know your stuff before watching.” Um, I’m watching so I can learn, but okay, next video. “Average gamers just can’t comprehend the high level fighting in Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX!!!!!” Well, no shit, that’s why I’m looking for help, asshole. Still, I did manage to find a trio of guys that did a solid job of explaining a lot in a friendly and helpful manner. I only wish the game would provide players the tools to actually learn the games special mechanics better. If it wasn’t for the video help I would have dropped this title after a few days out of frustration.
Visually, Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX!!!!! is fantastic, but that’s only because I’m a sucker for sprite based fighters. Since I’m grading here with a general rubric the score in that department isn’t going to be off the charts. Sprites look good, but they are in no way HD in the way a Blaze Blu or other game is. They are rough around the edges and would feel right at home on a console a few generations back. They also become really messed up if you push into 1080p, so just keep the game at 720p to make it look okay. Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX!!!!! also isn’t widescreen, but it does a great job masking this with how it uses the side bars. Each character in battle is represented on each side banner and will react to how the match is playing out. Some may find this a bit distracting as it tends to draw the eyes away from the action, but I think it’s a good way to fill up the negative space, especially since the game isn’t widescreen.
That’s pretty flashy for only 4 hits.
Each of the games characters all have a unique look, and while some do play the similar, most will require their own practice time to better understand. The character designs are all really eye pleasing with a wide variety of looks, and only two of the cast has boobs that require a wheelbarrow to get around! Oh, and neither one of those two have them popping out of their tops, so good on you Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX!!!!! Although the alternate outfits… Well, yeah.
Fighting is smooth as can be, but every now and then I would encounter a split-second of slowdown –a big no no in a fighting game– but this was mostly relegated to a big, flashy, animation heavy supers or combos. Sound in Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX!!!!! is also fun and lively with all the characters being voiced well on both the character select screen, as well as in the games many pre/post fight screens. The music is light and cheerful, but not something that will stick with you after playing.
Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX!!!!! is a lot of fun and worth the price of admission. The load of characters with 23 unique Arcana really offer up a deep learning pool to fish out of. The only problem is getting down to those yummy fish. Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX!!!!! can feel life you’re an ice fisherman, but forgot your power drill and instead have to bore out a hole with you pocket knife. Sure, you can do it, but it would be much easier, and more fun, if you had the right tools.
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