Review: Arcana Hearts 3 Love Max!!!!!

Rating: 0
Author: Jim Smale

by Jim Smale · Published November 20, 2014 · Updated November 20, 2014

Soon after the Kantou Incident, large-scale dimensional rifts began to open all across Japan. This sudden uptick in celestial phenomena was seen as exceptionally odd by many, and some even whispered that it could be the result of secret research by the Drexler Institute. The Japanese branch of the Celestial Union was dispatched to investigate the phenomena, and they called on several angels from the National Academy of Metaphysics. Only six days remain until the destruction of Japan.

Pros:

Gorgeous 2D graphics with some truly wonderful backdrops. The game has some of the best detail and eye candy in the business.
Gameplay is a 2D fighting game.
23 characters to pick from, Each character is unique and there is no set them here except they are are all girls. You can have badass military style fighting girls to little girls fighting with their teddy bears. No logic, No sense just pure unfiltered character selection options!
So many game modes for you to pick: Story, Time attack, time attack survival,survival online battles, back story, training and so much more. If a fighting game has a game mode, Chances are it is in here.
Sidebars on each side of the screen keeps a record of how your match is going and gone. It displays combo info, ratings and more.
Hardcore oldschool fighting game with a bit of re balancing from the original earlier versions that graced the PS2.
Arcana adds the variety and skill to the game. For after picking a character you can pick one of the many Arcana buffs that add new moves,improve old moves and generally mixes it all up. You can do special Arcan combos, blocks and supers.
Simple mode is a option for new players and will pre determine your Arcana and make the game generally a lot easier to handle.
Online play as mentioned with local play available on PS3.
Controls are easy in terms of layout and to be honest once you get the basics down it is an easy enough game to pull off super moves and combos.
On screen combo counter.
Story mode will tell the story of your character and have you picking from a selection of fighters in each part.
Full Platinum trophy.
PS3 version allows you to stretch the screen to get rid of the side bar menu.
Gameplay is fast and frantic.

Cons:

Steep learning curve even for fighting fans.
No actual tutorial mode.
The game screen is squashed thanks to the side bars which on the Vita in particular, Cannot be turned off. It makes the already small screen much smaller.
Side bars are not actually that helpful and act more as a hindrance than give any real benefit.
Story mode is not that great due to some really bad story telling and language use.
The screams and shouts from the fighters is alright at first but then really hurts your ears.
Difficulty spikes pop up through out.

In Summary, This is a game for die hard fighting fans and fans of the Japanese games in general. The learning curve is steep, The roster and Arcana choice is a lot to take in. Once you do how ever you get an exploson of fast engaging and all round bad ass fighting gameplay! I struggled for a long time ntil I actually took time to just learn the basics, Then build up on that. I mean the manual in the PS3 is actually quite in depth, The Vita version brings a digital manual to you and the website actually has a good section. In short the game is brilliant fun but does require some dedication and discipline to learn the ropes. Both versions have their good sides and bad sides. I feel the Vita version just edges it but its due to its portability. The PS3 version has more options like offline play and the ability to take the borders off. Other than that they all play the same and look fantastic.