It could have been a lot worse, thank god for the magic skirt.
At first I was like “Little girls in cutesy clothes and big eyes ewww”
But then I managed to get past that and said “Lol the designs just had to be INTENTIONALLY cute it’s funny!”
Take it easy on Gravelneed - like many of us, he’s very passionate about the series and hyped about the console release…
…we just have to channel that enthusiasm towards positive and constructive community building, 'tis all. That goes for all of us.
Me? As long as one intends on playing and supporting the game (be it for the aesthetics or the gameplay), then it’s all good. Just look at the reaction from most of the people jumping on the hype train - I’m amazed, to be honest, that news of this game’s next-gen console release has had this reaction… 
The more the merrier, right?
Back on discussion, I’m kind of disappointed that there aren’t any new updates from the site when it launched… =_= I know that we’re like half a year or so away from a release, but I hope that the news and updates are regular. I remember the build up to the S!AH2 port and, if I recall, it weren’t until nearer the launch that they decided to release a steady stream of info.
Hopefully they (EXAMU and/or Arc System Works) take stock from SSFIV and KOF13 buildups and do something decent, like teases/dev blogs/trailers/screenies/character bios, etc.
O-O~
We didn’t see much buildups from SSFIV arcade, and KOFXIII console port is yet to be announced. Judging from Arcsys’ hype around BBCS(though, this is their main title at the moment), they hype up their arcade and console ports.
I love the new character designer/artist.
And by new I mean that I hadn’t noticed the AH2 artwork at all… doh.
Every single one of those designs was 100% intentional and fits a certain character stereotype/fetish. Arcana Heart is the Queen’s Blade of fighting games basically. I would say that it even outdoes Vanguard Princess in this category.
Nah. AH3 doesn’t have as much bounce or panty shots as VanPri.
Though I like AH3 a lot more.
Quoted for truth…
Vanguard Princess’s gameplay is solid, but I don’t find their visual style as appealing as Arcana Heart - it’s too overstated at times, and there’s not enough variety (even with the fewer characters in AH1, there was more than enough to suit someone’s taste)…
With AH, a lot of the moemoekyun stereotypes on show are more like parodies, and there is less of the obvious, in-your-face fan-service consisting of those panty shots, flesh flashing and boob bounces (though there are still some in there, coughParacecough)…
I prefer it that way, because I can laugh along with the designers’ intentions and enjoy playing a really awesome game…
Besides, where else can I play as a flat-chested armoured maid loli with a big-arse broadsword? XD
O-O~
This is one of the few threads I care about, so don’t fuck this shit up. I don’t care what the reasons, keep it civil.
Offending posts removed.
Arcana heart is definitely a parody. The presentation of every character is clearly intended to play off of some anime stereotype to the most extreme they can but don’t do the bouncing boobs (Note: I am ok with it if they did ^.^).
Personally I find the idea of an Arcana Heart Tournament outside a local group hilarious. Not because there is something wrong with the game, but the looks on peoples faces as you boot up AH with hearts, pink and all these various stereotypical anime girls duke it out. Culture Shock is the best way to describe it.
lol
Parody?
They’re catering to their fanbase guys. Big time.
:looney:
Oh I didn’t say they weren’t, but it’s not as glaring/tacky/obnoxious as, say, something like Queen’s Blade (which got a mention earlier XD) or, to a lesser (but more relevant) extent, VP…
AH panders its fans in a slightly different way, but it ends up having the same results… XD After all, the otaku fanbase is still the otaku fanbase, after all - they will hoover this up all the same… 
O-O~
Tried getting my friends to play this (this meaning AH 1 and S!AH2crummyport) and while they admit the system mechanics look crazy fun, they will not even touch it. Oh well, their loss, now that there’s Arc netcode built in, hopefully it’s as good as BB:CT code and people can build a community around that. I wonder if this also opens the door for many of the other fighting games like that uh…Daemon Bride? Don’t know if it’s any good but it’d be nice to have more releases of these relatively obscure games.
When arcsys screw up at least they apologize and make a fixed version. (Unless capcom or sega doesn’t let them)
ArcSys is arguably the only company in the business that truly cares about the fans and the genre. Lol.
Examu did get the brains to ask Arcsys to do the port so maybe you could add them to the list now.
Don’t get your hopes up for an Aksys localization.
Although if Aksys did intend to localize, AND if they were smart, they would wait until after the game is released in Japan to even make an announcement.
Anyway I’m very much looking forward to a LE with plenty goodies as well, also an all new arcade stick with an AH3 theme to go with that (Weiss!)
With the way things are going, I think its realistic to expect a localization.
The chances may be low, but I’ve been skecptical of many things happening with fighting games recently and more often than not, I’ve been pleasantly surprised.
So far they haven’t done anything too scummy with this iteration. But we’ll see. They don’t exactly have the best track record. Lol.
Let’s just hope they don’t start charging for DLC balance patches.
Well, look at where we are. Months ago, someone could ask “When is AH3 being ported to a console?” and pretty much everyone would say “OMG! Stop asking that question! It’s never gonna be ported, give up hope!”
And now, it’s being ported. I’ll say that the chances aren’t great, but the possibility is still there.
On a sidenote, I call dibs on Akane. She is my waifu and her pillow sits in my car, along with Heart’s.