Arcana Heart

From SuperCombo Wiki

Introduction

(Taken From Wikipedia): [Arcana Heart Wikipedia entry]

Arcana Heart (アルカナハート, Arukana Hāto?) is a 2D arcade fighting game developed by Examu Inc. (formerly Yuki Enterprise). The first edition was released to arcades (mostly in Japan, but a few in other countries) in late 2006. The game features an original all-female cast (each a variation of the moe Anime-Girl archetype), and after choosing a character the player chooses an "elemental alignment" which determines the character's special moves.

Development

In mid-April 2007, a patch was released for Arcana Heart called "Arcana Heart FULL". The patch fixed a variety of issues, toning-down overly-powerful characters and "buffing up" weaker characters. A controversy arose, however, due to the fact that the patch (which is physically housed on a single custom chip) costs ¥78,000 each, whereas similar patches for similar games have been released for free (such as the patch for Melty Blood: Act Cadenza).

Console version

On July 4, 2007 it was announced that a console version of the game is slated for release on PlayStation 2 in Japan on October 11, 2007.

The home version allows the option of playing individual characters in "Original" or "Full," reflecting the original and patched versions of characters from the arcade. Voice acting was also added to all story segments.

On April 11, 2008, the game was released in North America. A notable difference between Arcana Heart and most other US PlayStation 2 titles is that the game has only Japanese voice-overs and no English voice-overs. Atlus removed the voices present in the Japanese console version's story mode as well as pre-battle and victory screens, but kept the voices used in battle.

Notation

Joystick Notation

  • 6 - Forward - Tilt stick forward/toward the opponent. (X-axis)
  • 4 - Backward/Back - Tilt stick backward/away from the opponent. (X-axis)
  • 8 - Up - Tilt stick upward. (Y-axis)
  • 2 - Down - Tilt stick downward. (Y-axis)
  • 236 - Quarter circle forward/Hadouken/Fireball - Tilt stick downward, then to downward and forward, then forward.
  • 214 - Quarter circle backward - Tilt stick downward, then to downward and backward, then backward.
  • 41236 - Half circle forward - Tilt stick backward, then to downward and backward, then to downward, then to downward and forward, then forward.
  • 63214 - Half circle backward - Tilt stick forward, then to downward and forward, then to downward, then to downward and backward, then backward.
  • 623 - Dragon punch - Tilt stick forward, then to downward, then to downward and forward.
  • 421 - Reverse Dragon punch - Tilt stick backward, then to downward, then to downward and backward.
  • 360/FC - Full circle - Complete a full rotation of the stick.
  • 720 - N/A - Complete a 720 degree rotation of the stick.
  • Charge - Hold a tilt - Hold the stick in either 4 or 2 or 8 (Depending) then move to 6 or 8 or 2 respectively.

X-axis functions can be used interchangeably with Y-axis functions and vice versa. X-axis functions cannot be used in conjunction with another X-axis function and vice versa.

Four Button Notation

Expressed in the form: Notation - Move - (PS2 Default Map)

  • L - Light - (Square)
  • M - Mid - (Triangle)
  • S - Strong - (O)
  • D - Homing Button - (X)

Occasionally people may use "Notation" and "Move" interchangeably.

Arcade sticks:

A B C

D

is the button setup. A = weak, B = mid, C = strong. D = homing.

Descriptors

Connectors

  • +: Used between two other pieces of notation to signify that they should be performed at the same time. i.e. "X" + "Y", "X" should be performed at the same time as "Y".

e.g. 6 + MP

  • -> (Sometimes > or ,): Indicates the next part of a sequence. i.e. "X" -> "Y" -> "Z", After "X" is performed, "Y" should follow, then "Z".

e.g. Dash -> Fierce Jet Uppercut

  • xx (Sometimes x): Used between two other pieces of notation to signify that the first should be cancelled (Interrupted earlier than it would finish otherwise) into the second. i.e. "X" xx "Y", "X" should be cancelled into "Y". Moves can be cancelled from in ascending manner in this way: Normals > Specials > Supers.

e.g. 5B, 5C xx 236+A+B

  • ~: Indicates that the preceding action should link (immediately follow with) into the next action. i.e. "X" ~ "Y", "X" should be followed immediately by "Y"

e.g. 5C ~ 6D ~ 5A

  • /: Used to show when two or more options are available at that point in a sequence, invariably to show that they both produce similar if not identical results.

State Modifiers

  • s. - The following move should be performed in the standing position (neutral in the Y-axis). i.e. s."X", perform "X" whilst standing.
  • c. - The following move should be performed in the crouched position (held down in the Y-axis). i.e. c."X", perform "X" whilst crouching.
  • j. - The following move should be performed in the "in the air" position (After having held up in the Y-axis). i.e. j."X", perform "X" whilst in the air.


Game Mechanics

Basic Movement

  • Walk

6 or 4 while standing on the ground

  • Dash

66 or 44 while standing on the ground: this covers more ground faster than walking but at the risk of being unable to block during the dash

  • Jump

8 or 9 or 7 while standing

  • Double Jump

8 or 9 or 7 during your initial jump

  • Airdash

66 or 44 during jump or double jump: this changes your jump trajectory greatly and can also be used to increase your jump range

  • Instant Airdash/IAD

9~6 or 7~4 while on the ground: this helps to extend combos, extend pressure, avoid pokes and counter poke.

Homing Gauge

The Homing Gauge is one of Arcana Heart's more interesting features. The Homing Gauge takes the form of three(3) stocks sitting above your super meter. The Homing Gauge is used to perform several key actions in Arcana Heart- Homing, Homing Cancel, Guard Cancel, Wall Tech, and Ground Tech. Each of these actions require one Homing Stock (Homing Cancel and Guard Cancel cross out the Homing Stock they used). Each Homing Stock refills on its own after a short time. Crossed out Homing Stocks won't refill until they clear, which they do on their own after a short time. Homing Stocks will NOT naturally refill during the combo in which the stocks are used in the first place (ie. if you do a homing cancel, you that stock won't start clearing up till your combo is done). Activating your Arcana (A+B+C) will refill your Homing Gauge instantly.

Homing

The most basic use of the D button. Simply pressing any direction + D when you aren't attacking or blocking an attack causes your character to dash/fly for a short burst in that direction - 5D causes your character to do a little hop in place. This uses one Homing Stock. Holding D will cause your character to continue flying/dashing after the initial burst - this does not require any extra Homing Stock! True to the name, your character will home in on your opponent, though you can still control your flight path to a certain degree by moving the stick around. You can stop Homing at any time by releasing D.

Special Cases:

  • Anutpada (Time) Arcana- ground 6D is a teleport of sorts, it takes you forward a long distance and can pass through your opponent.
  • Ohtsuchi (Stone) Arcana- ground 6D has slower startup, and has hyper armor through the entire duration of the Homing (ie. eats all hits and keeps going)
Homing Cancel

As the name implies, you can cancel moves that connect with your opponent (hit or blocked) with Homing. As with regular Homing, you can Homing Cancel in any direction by adding a joystick press, and you can extend your Homing Cancel movement by holding D. Homing Cancels cross out a Homing Stock. Homing Cancels offer a powerful tool in combos and pressure, as well as the ability to make moves safe on block. Uses for Homing Cancels are covered more extensively in the character specific pages. Homing Cancels operate like regular Homing, including the special cases.

Guard Cancel

(Taken From the Arcana Heart Wiki) [guardcrush.net arcana wiki]

GC = Guard Cancel, while guarding, you can use the D button to cancel through and cancel the blockstun. Similar to Homing Cancels, GC6 is guard cancel forward, GC4 is guard cancel backwards. If you guard cancel forward (depending on your arcana choice, but we'll not get into that now), a red shield that clashes the opponents attacks pops up in front of you as you charge forward. If you guard cancel backwards, your character takes a jump back (meaning it'll go over lows) and then if you don't cancel the jump back in the air (only certain moves can be canceled in this way), your character will automatically run forward after she's done with the jump back.

Wall Tech/Ground Tech

Hold D before getting slammed against the wall to tech, thus avoiding a followup combo. This uses one Homing Stock. Holding D after hitting the ground lets you Ground Tech. Ground Techs can be cancelled into special moves and the tech itself is invincible to strikes (but not to throws!).

Arcana

Each Arcana has its own set of moves and special properties, regardless of which character uses them. Once per round, you can activate your Arcana by pressing A+B+C. The initial activation can get you out of combos, though there is a slight recovery window during which you can be hit. It also completely refills your Homing Gauge, and starts draining your super meter- once your meter is empty, the activation ends. While your Arcana is activated, you will gain certain benefits (based on the Arcana) and will be able to summon the Arcana (Arcana Force - 236A+B+C) as long as you have any bar remaining. The Arcana Force takes away whatever bar you had left, regardless of whether it hits or even comes out.

I'll start off by copy and pasting the [guardcrush.net wiki] than I'll start editing the articles. -- Finkledoodoo

Characters

Listed in order of appearance on the character select screen (from left to right)

General Strategy

  • Get familiar with using your 5B and 5C. Throwing all types of crouching attacks is usually what people start off doing but you miss a lot of opportunities to pressure with IAD's. IAD pressure can save you precious homing bars.
  • Learn the homing meter system. If your opponent has no homing meter, throw in a charged 6C in your block string for free damage and conversely save yourself at least one homing bar for defense.
  • Learn the clash system. Clashing 2A twice will result in the second 2A being a 5A, so don't mash 2A when you clash. This goes with any crouching normal but I have only seen people give free damage on a forced stand from 2A. Another thing to remember is which frames have clash frames so that you can go from defense to clashing on reaction.
  • Learn the arcana affects on your character (passive and activation). If you're running fire and are behind in life, don't panic, try building as much meter as possible. Activated Homing is a pressure beast. I don't know how many times I've take 60% plus life from an opponent while using only 4 bars of super. You need to know things like, you can get a near guaranteed 50% life combo on any opponent when you activate during the 2C part of an opponent's string if you're running wind (so always 5B and 5C when fighting wind users).

Links

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