Arcana Hearts 3: Random video game review

Fighting games, what do we(and I) love about them. The intuitive combat, the cast of characters, the fast-paced gameplay. I really ADORE the genre, leading me to some hidden gems of the genre.
And NOW we get to Arcana Hearts.

Arcana Hearts, especially the third entry, is one of the most overlooked fighting games and even games in general.

To start of this review, I introduce you the characters. Arcana Hearts takes every anime stereotype and takes it to over 9.000. Some examples:
Kamui Tokinomiya: The guardian of Japan, an absolute BADASS and one of the greatest sword wielders in
EVER! Behoooold the Backslash of Destruction!
Lilica Felcherow: A half demon/human girl on rollerskates, who likes to have fun.
Scharlachrot: An sadistic b$@?*, who got absolutely crazy. And we love her for that.

Every single character feels very different, Lilica is fast paced, with insane combo potential and less defense. Scharlachrot uses her whip to slash everyone and create bombs of destruction and Petra has guns (WOW, very fair!).

The combat is by far the greatest thing about this game. Characters are very fast and have a lot of free room in the air. Especially when you play as Lilica, the air game is insane. This is made by the Homing Dash and the Homing Cancel, where you can cancel attacks by homing into them, which consumes Arcana gauge.

The game is also one of the only ones, aside of DBZ Budokai 3, where I have'nt experienced any spaming or button-mashing or overpowered characters. It is one of the most balanced games out there and that is saying a lot, when compared to Arcana Hearts 2 Sugoi!(I get to that later). Even Petra, WHO HAS GUNS (!!!!!), is very balanced, it only makes her gameplay different.

The spritework is great as well. Everything is very detailed and all moves look absolutely flashy.

The game also uses the Arcana mechanic. Every character has a Arcana, which has a certain effect on the gameplay, like the Arcana of Wind, giving you one extra move in the air. It even gives them entire new Supers and Hypers.

The game features a few standard modes too. We have Story Mode(self explainatory), Score Mode (or Arcade Mode), Training Mode(again, self explainatory), Versus Mode and Online Mode. I cannot say anything to Online Mode, because I have'nt played it.

The story mode also uses branching paths. Everytime you defeated someone you can decide, who you fight next. That makes for EVEN MORE replay value.

O.K., I have to underline it with math. When we only count Story Mode:
Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has:
36*3*35*3*34*3=1156680 ways to play the game
Arcana Hearts 3, however:
23*23*5*5*2*5=132250
It does'nt even touches it, but comparing it to the GOD OF REPLAY VALUE let it look impressive.

However, I have 2 problems with the game. The firsz being the music. The game has an forgettable and heartless soundtrack, only consisting of synthezisers. It is'nt painful to your ears, but it's just so unmemorable.

My second and biggest is a comment in the fighting game genre, bosses. They are beyond cheap and are my ultimate killjoy. But if it's so well known, why even mention it? Arcana Hearts 3 has the MOST BEYOND BROKEN CHEAP BOSS IN EVER: Parace L'Sia! This boss is super fast and does a crapton of damage. It feels like her AI is so supernatural, that it feels, like she can see in the future. She has numerous almost unavoidable moves, which she spams the entirity of the fight. She regenerates her health the entire fight and has two Critical Arcanas, one, which is almost INSTAKILL and one, where she regenerates her health even faster and regenerates her ARCANA GAUGE. The game needs to help you, by giving her less health everytime you start. Yes, she's THAT broken. At least you only have to face her in Score Attack and Story Modes final boss, Ragnarok, was oretty good.

So, Arcans Hearts 3 is by far one of my favorite fighting games ever and after reviewing every piece of it, I think it deserves a solid:
8/10 with the adjective ,,awesome''
It has a lot going for it. Great style, gaphics, controls, combat, characters and a LOT of replay value. If you are a fan of fighting games, then check this gem out, it's worth the investment.

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