Arcana Heart 3: LOVE MAX!!!!! (PS Vita) Review

Arcana Heart 3: LOVE MAX is an updated re-release of the third game in the Arcana Heart series. It is a fairly popular hardcore fighting game franchise with an all-girl cast that still uses the aforementioned fan-favourite sprite art and animation. While it may not be the most fluid 2D sprite-based fighting game, it does have a widely varied cast of girls with their own unique styles. The sprite work and draftsmanship of the characters are all rendered fairly well for a low budget title, and everything is appropriately colourful. Light colours and soft pastels are certainly a suitable tone for its light-hearted, feel good atmosphere. Each combatant has a distinctive silhouette, making them easily identifiable. With over 20 girls to choose from, each with their own unique gimmick, in addition to the 19 combo augmenting Arcanas, it can be staggering at times deciding who to use.

When there is a cast with so much personality, it's a bit disappointing how flat the new visual novel mode is, however. Arcana Heart 3: LOVE MAX is a fighting game first, but this updated release adds a post story game mode that turns the game into a visual novel of sorts, which has some very uninspired writing. It doesn't help that the music isn't very engaging or exciting either, coming off as middling and forgettable. There are a few characters that seem to have voices that just don't match their character as well. One example is a girl who looks like a 15 or 16 physical education student, but her voice is that of a deep seductress. Saying that, despite a few questionable vocal styles, the game does have a pretty great pop song theme.

In Arcana Heart 3: LOVE MAX, there has been some rebalancing to the game to make it fairer. One aspect that has been unchanged, however, is the fact that the fighting arenas are still too tight. Arcana Heart 3: LOVE MAX has huge attacks and sometimes characters are mounted on mechas, slime monsters, or monster drawings, and often the tight quarters can feel too restrictive. Even though the claustrophobic arenas haven't changed, the massive amount of content and options should please any fan of the series.

Arcana Heart 3: LOVE MAX has one major weakness - the absurdly long loading times. It happens in Arcana Heart 3: LOVE MAX very frequently and the wait is very long, lasting up to anywhere between 20 and 30 seconds. In this genre, action is supposed to be fast, and in Arcana Heart 3: LOVE MAX it can be very fast indeed. Some matches end up being shorter than some load times, though! Before and after battles, there are loading screens. Before and after cut-scenes, there are more loading screens. It is actually damaging that there is so much loading, almost to the point where it is actually hard to recommend.