Atlus please bring Arcana Heart 2 with its remake to USA.

[affinity]

I purchased Arcana Heart for PS2 and I really enjoy it!
Please consider also bringing Arcana Heart 2 with it's upcoming
remake (adding 2 more characters also).

watch this!! teh NEW SUGOI AH2 chracters in action!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GrBvFvmfEU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rcovFFNfHU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3MH_GgxgXE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6OMAa6pFuc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcana_Heart_2#Arcana_Heart_2

Your team has done a fantastic job porting Arcana Heart (despite the
minor tidbits some peopled nitpicked about), as well as including both
Arcana Heart and Arcana Heart Full versions and other goodies! :)

I can't afford PS3 so I think it would be more profitable to release it on
PS2. But I heard AH2 uses better graphics or something, but I still think
PS2 can handle it.

the two new characters the upcoming arcade AH2 remake is adding
are the Inuwaka sisters:

Nazuna
http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/__icsFiles/artimage/2008/09/01/pc_fc_n_gn/aruru008.jpg

and Akane
http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/__icsFiles/artimage/2008/09/01/pc_fc_n_gn/aruru005.jpg


as well as two new Arcana. Flower and Sound. it's also said the remake/updated version will adjust some aspects of the other characters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-hqMbZlwmM


also are you considering providing future games on a online marketplace
format like what Microsoft uses for its Xbox Live Arcade network?
Maybe that can save Atlus a lot of manufacturing and distribution costs,
plus it might open up possibilities to adding online play to future titles,
but ya it's a thought. :)

but either way, at least bringing Arcana Heart 2 to the USA would be
wonderful. :)

also, has Atlus ever had contact with Sega concerning Hokuto No Ken
fighting game made by Arc System Works? I feel that is another great fighting game to bring over the PS2 (it's already ported to the PS2 in Japan, but USA has yet to receive it.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08R7iKUMUHY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l7so-WYdQM

I'm not a fan of importing and modding, so Atlus, you're our only fwends
to make it possible! :D

[Zeether]

I think it will come out here (hopefully with dual audio... :?)

Hokuto no Ken is a possibility too...

[Tsuko]

I think it will come out here (hopefully with dual audio... :?)

Hokuto no Ken is a possibility too...

Hokuto no Ken is Fist of the North Star btw

[affinity]

ohhh it sounds reassuring there's a chance Arcana Heart 2 and it's updated version will come to North America for ps2. :D

oh hey I found the main page!

http://www.examu.co.jp/sugokana2/

[Inzaghi]

As it says in the stickied thread, Atlus USA is a publisher, not a developer, so we'd be constrained by whatever Examu decides to do. They'd have to create a home version of the game before we could look at licensing it for the US, and whether that takes the form of digital download or a packaged product is up to them, not us.

[cj iwakura]

AH1 had the most lifeless backgrounds in any fighting game ever. Was that improved for the sequel at all?

Compare AH1 to, say, Last Blade, and you'll notice the difference.

[affinity]

hey! Arcana Heart has some of the most beautiful backgrounds ever!
there are no real spectators because it isn't a tournament.
ya the backgrounds are not really animated but so what? it still has
a great atmosphere.
And I played Last Blade, but the backgrounds seem forgettable because
I don't really recall any of them. Whereas Arcana Heart's backgrounds
are as col and memorable just like Street Fighter 2 backgrounds. :D



anyways, thanks for the info, ya guess we'll have to wait for Examu to
make AH2 for ps2, before Atlus can plan on publishing it over here. :D

I'm guessing since the upcoming AH2 update is their priority, they won't
think of a ps2 version until after the updated AH2 is released. that would
be great anyway because the AH2 characters, plus the 2 extras now being
added, would make the console package complete! :)


uh oh serious news:

"The board itself is a pc with 2 gigs of ram and a high powered nvidia card."

some say PS2 can't handle those specs. So I guess it's coming to xbox360! whee!" :) but if it only goes to ps3, then I can't buy it.
oh well. hmmm but the game looks very similiar to the first game
despite the HUD changes. maybe its the added VFX.

[jeffx]

Affinity are you aware of this?? Maybe you can move to whichever state (or province) gets these cabinets...

http://arcadeheroes.com/2008/09/12/seen-at-andamiros-booth-arcana-heart-2-amoa-2008/

[cj iwakura]

Andamiro are bringing over Arcana Heart 2?

Now that's hilarious.

[James Fiend]

As it says in the stickied thread, Atlus USA is a publisher, not a developer, so we'd be constrained by whatever Examu decides to do. They'd have to create a home version of the game before we could look at licensing it for the US, and whether that takes the form of digital download or a packaged product is up to them, not us.I think an Arcana Hearts 2 arcade cabinet would be a great bonus for pre-ordering, I dunno, let's say Eternal Poison. You could even put a little keychain on it.

[affinity]

arcades are a thing of the past. ^_^;; I don't feel like traveling each time to play an arcade game, its so uncomfortable compared to playing at home, even if they have seats over there.

[unknown]

I wouldn't mind going to the Arcade if the arcade in my neighborhood was as cool as the ones in Japan.

[Zephyr]

I wouldn't mind going to the Arcade if the arcade in my neighborhood was as cool as the ones in Japan.

Truth. Though I can barely remember the last time I saw an arcade at all.

[punkrocker_271]

The last time i was at an arcade it was.........

[unknown]

Last time I was at an arcade was in Vegas, I sometimes go to the Nickel Nickel arcades with my friends or Power Station for laser tagging.

[punkrocker_271]

How was vegas i really want to go i just wasnt sure if it is worth it

[Sei]

Theres a couple arcades in west edmonton mall, nothing to write home about though, although they do get some Capcom and Namco stuff pretty early.

DDR/Pump it up are the most popular games tho.

Vegas is fun if you bring a lot of money and like shows, or gambling, or if you don't take a lot of money and like cheap buffettes with awesome food... actually I would say that it is good all around.

Lots of fun when I went.

[punkrocker_271]

I really want to go to vegas now. :D

[unknown]

Vegas is really fun even though I can't gamble yet. The buffets are indeed awesome and delicious, and it's fun to walk around and watch the free shows. The arcade is fun too, I like the ones at Caesar Palace and Excalibur.

[Sei]

^ Word about the arcades!

I miss Vegas food

[cj iwakura]

There's quite a few arcades down here, but mostly 'corporate' ones. Dave And Busters, Boomers, GameWorks, stuff like that.

Casual arcades like in malls are pretty much dead now.

[affinity]

watch this!! teh NEW SUGOI AH2 chracters in action!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GrBvFvmfEU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rcovFFNfHU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3MH_GgxgXE



On September 1st, 2008, Emaxu released the trailer remake of Arcana Heart 2 which is called !SUGOI! Arcana Heart 2 where there's 7 new characters and a new boss but only two characters have been confirmed:

O_O!!!! INCREDIBLE!!! this MUST somehow come to ps2 !!!!! or at least xbox360.
but ps2 just to be safe, even if they have to remove some VFX.

ONLY TWO OF THE 7 HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED (that we seen) so far.

AND THAT'S NOT COUNTING THE NEW BOSS!!!! o__________o

I never seen a sequel get an update so fast and large like this!!! heck it took SF2 YEARS to add just 4 more characters after 4 games.

now with Sugoi Arcana Heart 2. this results in over 20 playable characters!

oh I heard the extra 5 characters and boss may be a rumor.
but those 2 are confirmed.

http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/1217738_1124.html

http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/__icsFiles/artimage/2008/09/01/pc_fc_n_gn/aruru002.jpg

http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/__icsFiles/artimage/2008/09/01/pc_fc_n_gn/aruru001.jpg

[!sting!]

i've got arcana heart, and would love another.

thanks for the updates affinity.

[Saishu]

That character select screen is starting to look like Guilty Gear X.

[Genjo]

well they did release the first installment of Arcana Heart so they might pick-up this one.

[railtracer]

The greatest evidence that the sequel would be released is the fact that Examu has already decided to create the arcade games. I personally would love to see Arcana Hearts 2 on the PS2. I just recently bought the game (would have bought sooner but it was extremely hard to find) and love. The gameplay is amazing and it is definitely one of my favorite fighting games. I'd pre-order Arcana Hearts 2 in a heartbeat were it to be announced. With the sequel though optional audio would need to be included it was one of the few things I wished would have been better in the first game.

Apparently there are 18 characters in the Examu game meaning that is more than enough for me to buy it. Although more special features would be nice (audio could be one of them along with making a non-playable character playable through extras (like the boss)).

Regardless if Atlus ever decides to release it then I'll buy it.

[illogicaldreamr]

They really should. One reason I didn't buy the first was because of the existence of a second game in Japan that everyone was playing, making the first obsolete.

[kat_ears_kahrain]

Totally agree that we need this one too. I was disappointed with the lack of voices in the first one, but the bug fixes made up for that.

So this time, y'all could keep the voices! ^_^

[Kain Mare]

I was at an Arcade earlier this week. Birthday party with a few friends of mine.

I hear that the graphics for AH2 would be too much for the PS2 and the PS3 would be the likely choice if brought over to the states. It would be one more reason to save up and actually buy a PS3.

[jaykho213]

Sadly still no release date for a console in japan..

[Lastblade]

Sugoi! has 20 characters / arcanas to choose from.
Currently Sugoi! AH2 is being played in Texas, more specifically Houston and Austin :p
Original AH2 is in other places but eh. Quite happy enough playing sugoi daily.

On another note, the graphics aren't exactly a GIANT jump from the AH1/Full release on PS2. And if the ps2 can handle much more graphical games with CG movies and the like. Sugoi going on the PS2 shouldn't be a too far off.

[jj984jj]

Famitsu announced that this is heading to PS2 this week, just thought I'd let those interested in it know.

[Reinbach]

Yep, it has been confirmed!
Please Atlus, bring this over, too!

Crappy Famitsu scan:
http://img152.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=76525_07_122_777lo.jpg

[affinity]

aaaaah yes please bring the ps2 version to USA!! it's confirmed so ya, it should be possible for Atlus! ^____^ I reserved and bought the first one and I love it! The enhanced sequel would make Arcana Heart even better!

http://www.siliconera.com/2008/12/03/enhanced-arcana-heart-2-coming-to-ps2/

[psu319]

Yeah. Japan gets it April 9 2009 for the PS2. I purchased the first one the day it came out. I hope Atlus brings this one to the US too.

[jeffx]

I guess I'm in favor of this. The first one seems to have gone well with reviewers, except for the parts that were cut (http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10608241&postcount=126).

[michman403]

Hey Atlus USA, I really hope you guys bring Arcana Heart 2 to the U.S. I have reserve and bought the first one when you guys release it and I will definitely do so again if you guys decide to bring this over..you guys been rocking all of us gamer's world so far..please bring this..we as the fans hope you guys bring it..that would really make my day :agree:


Atlus faithful fan,

michman403

[Reinbach]

I honestly didn't like how japanese voices were removed and there were no english voices, either. That said, I don't really care for story mode voices if I can play the game. So, remove them again if this is needed, 'cause it's better to play a game with no voices than not to play it. Even if I live in Italy, I own a US PS2. I wouldn't like to modchip it just for a single game.

[Makai Zetsu]

The only time a lack of voices really bothers me in AH is when you pick a character, or when they are summoning their Arcana. It would be great if Atlus would leave those bits in (assuming they are able to get this game over here), but I'd rather them cut them out if thats a factor in the game coming here or not, like Reinbach mentioned above me.

[ProfessorMurder]

I don't think Atlus can continue singlehandedly propping up the PS2.

While it's a nice gesture for those of us who have a budget (as in, like ALL of us these days.) I highly doubt that a PS2 game in 2009 is going to have any impact. Now if there's a 360 version for this being made, with the nice lag-free combat that SFII Just Released Version has, then I'm all for it, even though the game's several helpings of loli too much for my tastes.

For the record, I absolutely HATE localized voices in a fighting game. Have you ever played KOF: Maximum Impact? There's a reason that Chuck Norris doesn't shout "Roundhouse!" "Roundhouse!" in his movies. It just doesn't make sense over here.

[jj984jj]

^Atlus USA isn't the right company to ask for that, this is already being ported to PS2 and that's all Atlus would bring over if they localized it.

[SickleCellAnemia]

I honestly didn't like how japanese voices were removed and there were no english voices, either. That said, I don't really care for story mode voices if I can play the game. So, remove them again if this is needed, 'cause it's better to play a game with no voices than not to play it. Even if I live in Italy, I own a US PS2. I wouldn't like to modchip it just for a single game.
Umm, what?
The only time a lack of voices really bothers me in AH is when you pick a character, or when they are summoning their Arcana. It would be great if Atlus would leave those bits in (assuming they are able to get this game over here), but I'd rather them cut them out if thats a factor in the game coming here or not, like Reinbach mentioned above me.
You people just aren't going to shut up about those voices, are you?

[Reinbach]

I honestly didn't like how japanese voices were removed and there were no english voices, either. That said, I don't really care for story mode voices if I can play the game. So, remove them again if this is needed, 'cause it's better to play a game with no voices than not to play it. Even if I live in Italy, I own a US PS2. I wouldn't like to modchip it just for a single game.
Umm, what?
I mean that I didn't like the general idea that voices were removed. But, if removing voices is needed for Atlus to localize the game I won't object. I obviously prefer to buy a full-voiced game, but if I must choose between playing a game with no voices or not playing a game at all because dubbing it would cost too much to Atlus, I definitely prefer the voices to be removed.

[furix]

Yewp~ It's been confirmed for PS2 release. I'll be importing it but if ATLUS decides to port it to the US, I'll buy it too.

But, please please either give us dual audio or leave the japanese audio in.. At this point I don't think Sony cares much about what goes into the PS2, do they? Maybe you can try sneaking in the japanese audio.. At least with the audio off but then giving you the option to turn audio on once you start the game. :s

AH1 story mode felt a bit empty without the audio, even though that's how it was in the arcades, I enjoyed the voice overs in my japanese copy of the game.

[SickleCellAnemia]

OMG Atlus pwease leave the voices in for the next game PWEEEEASE! :3 IM DYING ON THE INSIDE BECAUSE THERE WERE NO STOWY MODE VOICES!!!

[Olethros]

^ LOL. I've already fought this battle Sickle. They either don't understand English when used in its proper grammatical form or they can't comprehend the fact that MOST people don't care about it. Either way, they can't shut-up about it (it would be like asking a crack whore to stop using...never going to happen).

[Kakizaki]

^It is funny how this change as well. When I was younger, people wanted games as close to the arcades as possible. I remember some people even getting upset if a title had various tweaks and upgrades for the home version.

[MwarriorHiei]

^It is funny how this change as well. When I was younger, people wanted games as close to the arcades as possible. I remember some people even getting upset if a title had various tweaks and upgrades for the home version.

hehe that was me!

anyways, im all for porting this over too!
iono why people are complaining about the voices though. they really aren't that necessary, although i wouldnt mind them ;]

[SteelHearts]

I can't wait...it's about time they made it consle-wise. I'm crossing my fingers hoping it comes state side. Here's the official japanese site btw.

http://www.aqi.co.jp/product/sugokana2/

[EmptiMind]

I love me my 2D fighters. I'll buy it for sure!

Now, just have to figure out how to get Melty Blood over here in the U.S. I went to a mall in one of the towns outside Seattle, and they had a Melty Blood Arcade machine! IT WAS AWESOME!

[affinity]

[QUOTE=SickleCellAnemia;78909][QUOTE=Reinbach;78865][B]I
I mean that I didn't like the general idea that voices were removed. But, if removing voices is needed for Atlus to localize the game I won't object. I obviously prefer to buy a full-voiced game, but if I must choose between playing a game with no voices or not playing a game at all because dubbing it would cost too much to Atlus, I definitely prefer the voices to be removed.

I didn't like mixing Japanese voices with English text in GGXX home version's story mode, it made sitting through the dialogue more grating than ever.

I really enjoyed how Atlus has done the story mode for the ps2 US version. the stuff they say is cooler without voices that would sound foreign and annoying anyway. plus it in fact made some of the text and stuff they say more adorable (like when Fiona drags Heart out of the castle. :) )

I mean we would be very lucky to even get this brought over to the US in the first place.
as long as the Sugoi version is fully playable and we won't need to import to play this game, then Atlus has already done a great job.

[RubbishNoise]

It'd be great if Arcana Heart 2 was brought over. I'll be importing it when it comes out anyway, just in case it either doesn't get released overseas and/or the voices are cut again.

I imported the first game as well, and well... my friends do like playing the Japanese version more, despite what little bit of voice (during character select & the prebattle loading screen) we do end up hearing.

[psu319]

We also have to remember Atlus fixed a few bugs the Japanese version of Arcana Heart had. And if we see Melty Blood It willl be Actress Again.

[James Fiend]

I really don't see that much complaining in this thread about voices. Everyone is pretty much saying it would be nice, but by no means a deal-breaker.

It's not like the Persona 3 "WE WANT DUAL AUDIO/JAPANESE VOICES!" fiasco. Those were painful to read through; especially with the obvious amount of effort that went into that dubbing.

[Ashilyn]

I hear a lot of talk about how this game is supposed to be way better than the first one, which was... well, subpar is too nice. Anyone who's played it got any thoughts on that?

[psu319]

Sub par no...Different yes. This was the first fighting game I ever played that didn't have separate punch and kick buttons like Street Fighter and KOF. It was definitely different. . Then I began playing Melty Blood and now really like that kinda fighting system. The back grounds are a little bland but it was Examu's first installment of the game and maybe they were more concerned about how the game would be received and the fighting system than what the backgrounds looked like. And as graphics go AH looks good for a PS2 game. It even still looks good when I play it on my 42" flat screen.

Now I hope to get my hands on AH2 for the PS2. Hint Hint Atlus.

[Zesu]

I sure do hope it comes out for America. I bought the first Arcana Heart, and I <3 Maori. @.@ I also <3 everybody else in the game, but Maori's my favorite. :3

Even if it doesn't come out for America, I'm still gonna get a copy. My PS2 is "special" so it can play imports. ^^

[aokmaniac13]

Hey I'm new here, but I've got some info that might be new to some people. I saw this was the most active thread for Arcana Heart so here goes.

I'm puzzled by the whole "missing voices" ordeal. When I look at the game audio on the disc using a tool called PSound, it's all there in its entirety...

[psu319]

Hey I'm new here, but I've got some info that might be new to some people. I saw this was the most active thread for Arcana Heart so here goes.

I'm puzzled by the whole "missing voices" ordeal. When I look at the game audio on the disc using a tool called PSound, it's all there in its entirety...


Wow really??? Never heard that before. You mean the VS screen voices?

[affinity]

hey we'd be lucky to even get this game to the USA. so people demanding the JP voices should just be grateful with just playing this game if Atlus brings it over! :)

and I felt AH1's story was better without voices at all. just the text was cool!

[grgspunk]

So if this game is going to get localized and a dual option isn't going to be done, what's going to prevent Atlus from keeping the voices and having them turned off as the default option in the options menu?

I kind of doubt Sony would be through enough to look in the options menu.

[Svengaard]

I'd pick AH2 up easy.
I'd also like it if the Japanese voices stayed in at least in character select and before battles.

[Yggdrasil]

I'd port this and buy it if it gets released here. In the mena time I'm looking forward to the fact that a friend of mine is putting some arcade machines into my local game store/ hang out and he's buying an Arcana Heart Full board and putting it into one of his machines. If we can get some more people to help I'm going to try to see what can be done about getting Sugoi. If your in the midwest, specifically Minnesota perhaps you wont have to worry about it. ;)

[animeziggy]

http://www.aqi.co.jp/product/sugokana2/

I heard it not out in Japan on tell Apr 06, 2009. to be release on PS2

[Yggdrasil]

I really hope this gets localized, I'd love to see this game get a decent following here. This is the first fighter I've been very interested in learning everything about, aside from GG. I also really would like the arcade version aswell, or atleast to get to play it.

[Arctic]

I really hope to see this game get localized too. It looks way more awesome than the first one.

[anbu]

hori is making a stick just for this port to the ps2 in japan. very cool. hope it gets here soon.

http://www.hori.jp/products/ps2/controller/arcana2_st/

[gamerdood]

That stick looks sweet. I want one!

[Tatsuya Suou]

I bought the game last month and its pretty fun. Once the game is released in Japan I bet Atlus will bring it over here shortly after.

[System_Error]

Since this seems to be the year of the 2D fighter I say do it Atlus.

[psu319]

I Hope we see it.

"Bump"

[Ilpalazzo]

yeah i hope so to, the first AH got good sales right?So it should be release in america soon

[growlanservoter]

vote Day 1

[dungeon_man]

I'd buy a copy. The first one was fun even though none of my friends like fighting games and I had to play the computer.

[SteelHearts]

I think they will release AH2 it here in the states. I believe that Atlus will do everything they can to bring this game into our stores right into our televisions, isn't that right Atlus? ummm right?

[Yggdrasil]

That stick looks awesome, now I have more things to waste money on. I think that with this years surge of 2D Fighter releases that this should come over... hopefully with some others...

[Jinkies]

Also a fan of the first game and would love to see it here! I like the new characters and the changes are interesting.

[xHaseox]

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/46794.html

Get on it, Atlus. Grab a piece of the pie as 2009 is the year of the fighting game.

[Yggdrasil]

I think this is the first time I've been so excited about so many different game releases, most of them fighters, so getting this would be the icing for this year.

[SlaveSpawn]

Just by chance I ran into it on Amazon shortly after it's release & ordered it, I loved AH Full, a soild fighter w/some insane air combo's

I really hope the latest ver. of Arcana Hearts 2 makes it to the US for ps2/ps3 plz Atlus & Examu !

[Red_Chimera]

Make it happen Atlus! I got faith in ya! Also maybe put in some nice pre-order swag. wink wink nudge nudge.

[Captain Lemon]

I'm big fan of the first AH so I would really like to see the sequel here in the US.

[Gamecube Ichiban]

I would buy this for sure...

[penancetb]

I love the first game too.:agree:

Atlus will bring the sugoi Arcana heart 2 for ps2.

In japan the relase is near, please atlus bring this game to america.:devil:

[Yggdrasil]

The anticipation, it kills me, heh.

[affinity]

aahh it's released in Japan soon!

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-40-49-en-70-36hh.html

it would save us a great deal of trouble if they localize it for USA just like they did for the first one (which I still have. ^_^ ) please Atlus! fill our lives with bundles of wuv! ^^

[growlanservoter]

AH 1 was the only one I didnt trade in it has such fine quality to it that no capcom or snk game and compare to. Marvel Vs campcom 2 for my dream cast doesnt count cause that is still my all time fave fighting game ^^

[wlaznak]

Here is another request for bringing Suggoi! Arcana Heart 2 here to the states. You can be sure that i will vote with my wallet.

ps First post.. hello all.

[Hideki-Motosuwa]

Yes, here's my request for you all to bring Suggoi! Arcana Heart 2 to the US also.........

BUT................

You gotta put this on another system other than the PS2......this has to be either Xbox 360 or PS3 (or both). Truth be told, I have the Japanese import right now and this game is bad.........very very bad. I've never seen so many slowdowns in during gameplay and especially during supers. God forbid if I even mention how slow the game gets if you play with Petra (Dual gun girl).

Seeing as how there isn't an arcade with this game nowhere near my area, I have to make due with the import but I suggest......strongly suggest Atlus that you talk to Examu about putting this game on another system other than just the PS2 cause if you don't, believe me, you're not going to hear the end of it from the people who actually buys this game.

The amount of disappointed importers on www. shoryuken.com is proof of this.

[wlaznak]

Truth be told, I have the Japanese import right now and this game is bad.........very very bad.

Ouch. Reading through the thread on SRK was painful. Sucks that you got burned for being an early adopter.

Since Atlus USA is in the business of localizing games, there is little hope for this to be ported to another system. It seems doubtful that they would be willing to spend the time and resources to solve the lag issues. But who knows?

What a bummer. Fingers crossed... but not too tightly.

[affinity]

Yes, here's my request for you all to bring Suggoi! Arcana Heart 2 to the US also.........

BUT................

You gotta put this on another system other than the PS2......this has to be either Xbox 360 or PS3 (or both). Truth be told, I have the Japanese import right now and this game is bad.........very very bad. I've never seen so many slowdowns in during gameplay and especially during supers. God forbid if I even mention how slow the game gets if you play with Petra (Dual gun girl).

Seeing as how there isn't an arcade with this game nowhere near my area, I have to make due with the import but I suggest......strongly suggest Atlus that you talk to Examu about putting this game on another system other than just the PS2 cause if you don't, believe me, you're not going to hear the end of it from the people who actually buys this game.

The amount of disappointed importers on www. shoryuken.com is proof of this.

really? the slowdown is that bad? but I'm not sure if Atlus can port it to a next-gen console unless some company in Japan does it first, then all they have to do is translate it.

but I have a PS2 and Xbox360 so I rather get it for PS2 cause I don't wanna buy a ps3.

hey you know, I wonder if Atlus is going to enter the digital market? cause it would be cool to buy and download Arcana Heart 2 from Xbox Live Marketplace, especially now that MS has decided to set no memory limit to XBLA games. well some people would expect online play, but SNKP managed to get Fatal Fury Special and Samurai Shodown II with online play (and they work much better than SF2:HF) , but I guess they have a good online team.

but as for the AH2 ps2 slowdown, I'll just have to see for myself, cause some people are more sensitive to rough edges and tend to exaggerate.

[psu319]

If Atlus is thinking about bring AH2 to the US market they will check out the programing first to see if the game can be fixed. If not I think PSP and PS3 ports are in the future for the overseas market already. I agree with affinity that people over react. I guess I would too if I paid $60 plus to import a broke game. Also remember Atlus fixed problems with the overseas AH so they can do programing fixes.

[Hideki-Motosuwa]

This is more than a programming issue. Those of us on Shoryuken.com have been testing the theory if the PS2 wasn't strong enough to handle the game so we've tried playing S!AH2 on a PC using PCSX2 and the game ran much faster than expected with almost no slowdowns.

Not to mention the game had its graphics watered-down for the console port and its very noticable when you play with Petra, Mei-Fang, and even when you see Mildred on the final stage, you can barely make her out compared to the arcade version.

Truth be told, this is way more than a programming issue. Here are some links to some youtube videos so you can compare when doing Petra's BNB combos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0buhp43BK8E (PS2 Ver)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nuk6M4POnOg#t=33s (Arcade Ver)

[sandmanzero]

This is more than a programming issue. Those of us on Shoryuken.com have been testing the theory if the PS2 wasn't strong enough to handle the game so we've tried playing S!AH2 on a PC using PCSX2 and the game ran much faster than expected with almost no slowdowns.

Not to mention the game had its graphics watered-down for the console port and its very noticable when you play with Petra, Mei-Fang, and even when you see Mildred on the final stage, you can barely make her out compared to the arcade version.

Truth be told, this is way more than a programming issue. Here are some links to some youtube videos so you can compare when doing Petra's BNB combos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0buhp43BK8E (PS2 Ver)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nuk6M4POnOg#t=33s (Arcade Ver)

Wow! That's an interesting test you guys conducted. Makes me wonder if King of Fighters XII is possible on PS2....I doubt it though. Either way SNK America need to get their games rolling. They hardly release anything on time.

[aokmaniac13]

Most of the graphics aren't even high-res. The HUD and character sprites are, but that's it.

Interlacing is also done by the game, not the hardware. When the game starts to slow down, it tries to get away with drawing half of the scanlines to get a speedup, that's why some characters look pixelated during some (most?) moves.

[Ozymandias]

reports of heavy slowdown, choppy sound and graphics

[penancetb]

Yeah the game have slowdowns y ogly graphics.:very_sad:

Arcade > Ps2 port.:lovefirefox:

I hope that EXAMU make in a future a ps3 or 360 verson of this game o at last a pc version.

To enjoy the game to 100% Sugoi AH2.:devil:

Atlus bring to america in a ps3 version

[Jinkies]

PS3 or fix for the PS2 version! Hoping for a Hammerin' Hero fix for this one.

[psu319]

This stinks I was really looking forward to this game. I guess we can hope for a PS3 or a PC port.

[SteelHearts]

:( I saw the videos with my friends, we couldn't bear to watch. C'mon Atlus we really, really and I mean REALLY want to play this game on a consle. Hoping to fix the problem or PS3. Makes me wonder if Examu ever tested it before it was even released. Did they know anything about it at all? *sighs*

[purifyws]

Atlus, I would give you guys an infinite amount of $$$$, whatever it would take, to get this game fixed and available. PS3 with online is like a wishlist thing, maybe Examu/AQ will actually do that, and I'm not even sure it can be salvaged on the PS2 but...

PLEASE. I imported this and had been hype for it for longer than a year. Now I'm scared to open the packaging and put it in because I know the disappointment that awaits...

[penancetb]

If existe a Ps3 version.....:o

I love the battle online:agree:

Please Atlus will port this game to ps3

or

Make a petticion to EXAMU to meke a ps3 version:bs:

[kat_ears_kahrain]

After seeing all the problems with speed and graphics, I'll wait for a PS3/Xbox360 version.

Some of that is just totally unacceptable for a fighting game. Especially a 2D one.

[Kenji]

Well... I was thinking about importing this, but now I don't have to. ^^;; It's amazing how deceiving those beautiful still shots can be, huh?

Well, if there's a PS3 or 360 version, I'll have to consider it. If it's indeed a hardware issue, it's probably beyond Atlus USA's abilities to correct (though you never know).

[growlanservoter]

I don't want to ruin any expectations for Arcana 2 but I just got my Imoprt in the mail and I have been playing it all day. There is a serious lagging issue with this game and I had to stop because the lag is so bad ><

[Space Godzilla]

Well I signed up here mainly to suggest this game and I was glad that others seem to agree with me, especially after enjoying the first but it saddened me when I found an article on kotaku about the poor quality of the PS2 port, now I'm sure most of our hopes have been shattered of Atlus bringing it to the US in it's current state. I'd still buy it if they did but if there was some way to fix the issues it currently suffers from which is doubtful being that Atlus aren't the original developers...:frown:

Man, this is depressing...

[growlanservoter]

Dont loose faith Atlus fixed the bugs that plagued the first one with excellent programming :D

[Space Godzilla]

Really? I wasn't aware of that. Although I wonder if they can still save the game. Makes ya wonder. Hell, all of us would love to see Atlus do that but I wonder if the game is beyond fixing. Give us a sign atlus?

[growlanservoter]

The import of the first arcan hearts had some serious lag issues and so glitching going on during some of the summoning animations. ATLUS doesn't develop just publish but whenever they localize a game the get the raw or game data and can can the programing so we get a kick arse and working product. I am very pleased with the US release of Arcana 1 so go out and get it :) to support 2

[Hideki-Motosuwa]

I didn't really notice any difference between the 2 versions of Arcana Heart Full....none at all.

Anyway, also found that the game runs pretty good on a PS2 Hard Drive also....well, at least better than just the PS2 alone. Anyway, definetly hoping that some strings can be pulled for a Xbox 360 & PS3 version with online play.....gotta have it.

Also, get Hori to make those arcade sticks. Them things sell out too fast and now their overpriced (original price around $87....Play-Asia sold for $149......eBay seller selling it for $249....that's just pathetic).

[purifyws]

JP Arcana 1 didn't have "serious" lag issues or lag issues at all, it had some game freezes in certain, very specific situations. It was something like when x character uses x certain super after other character does x tactic. Some of these bugs were annoying, but they didn't affect gameplay as a whole like the AH2 port does...which is catastrophically bad.

There were a few ohter issues with the first game where the background transitions after Arcana summons were sloppy and some other slight graphical things, but not...your PS2 churns to a halt when you do a combo.

[Yggdrasil]

I have definitely been playing this game since it's realease and yes it's unpleasant (that is an understatement I know), but since I haven't gotten to play the Arcade version I still have been enjoying the opportunity to enjoy the new charecters even with the lag, along with my friends that I got addicted to the first AH. Still hoping for a fix on this though of course. Go Atlus! I choose you!

[growlanservoter]

Then I must have gotten a bad Import of 1 :( cause it lagged bad and then when I got the US release it ran perfectly.

[affinity]

well sales wise look at this:

Here are the latest console software sales from Japan for the week of Apr 6 - 12:

1. Sengoku Basara Battle Heroes (PSP, Capcom) - 85,731
2. Oboro Muramasa Youtouden (Wii, Marvelous) - 28,807
3. Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!! (NDS, Nintendo) - 25,194 [522,000]
4. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G [PSP The Best] (PSP, Capcom) - 17,942 [573,000]
5. Pro Yakuu Famista DS 2009 (NDS, Namco Bandai) - 16,676 [44,000]
6. Mobile Suit Gundam: Senjou no Kizuna Portable (PSP, Namco Bandai) - 15,614 [135,000]
7. Arcana Heart 2 (PS2, AQ Interactive) - 10,880
8. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2009 (PS2, Konami) - 10,346 [104,000]
9. Musou Orochi Z (PS3, Koei) - 10,340 [195,000]
10. Wii Fit (Wii, Nintendo) - 8,951 [3,350,000]
11. Makai Senki Disgaea 2 Portable (PSP, Nippon Ichi)
12. Rittai Picross 3D (NDS, Nintendo)
13. Taiko no Tatsujin Wii (Wii, Namco Bandai)
14. Biohazard 5 [Resident Evil 5] (PS3, Capcom)
15. Yu-Gu-Oh! 5D's Stardust Accelerator: WC2009 (NDS, Konami)
16. Zaidanhoujin Nippon Kanji Nouryoku Kentei Kyoukai Kounin: Kanken DS3 Deluxe (NDS, Rocket)
17. Super Robot Taisen K (NDS, Namco Bandai)
18. Rhythm Tengoku Gold (NDS, Nintendo)
19. Mario Kart Wii (Wii, Nintendo)
20. Wagamama Fashion: Gals Mode (NDS, Nintendo)

it's on 7th place. pretty good.

but ya, Did anyone notice Atlus is releasing a game on Xbox Live Arcade? maybe they can release Arcana Heart 2 on 360 through the XBLA marketplace? I'm sure their experience with it could maybe even include online play like Fatal Fury Special or Samurai Shodown II? :)

King of Fighters XII is coming to Xbox360 so it can easily handle Arcana Heart 2. :)

[VMan]

but ya, Did anyone notice Atlus is releasing a game on Xbox Live Arcade? maybe they can release Arcana Heart 2 on 360 through the XBLA marketplace? I'm sure their experience with it could maybe even include online play like Fatal Fury Special or Samurai Shodown II? :)

King of Fighters XII is coming to Xbox360 so it can easily handle Arcana Heart 2. :)

Don't your hold your breath for that. That is going WAYYYY beyond the scope of localization into actual port territory (with a major programming enhancement at that). Something like that is what you'd want to request from the actual developers.

[Space Godzilla]

Yeah it's pretty obvious that a PS3/360 port isn't going to happen anytime soon, especially when sales are great alone on the PS2. Although I'd still love it if Atlus would bring this one over, and fro mthe sounds of it, they might actually be able to solve some issues...yes, wishful thinking I know. But I won't stop till we get news on it Atlus! Don't let us down!

[growlanservoter]

If it gets localized the bugs can be fixed (more than likely) it would just take time and ATLUS can do it I have faith in their prowess. :D

[affinity]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUjxmiq7HuQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0buhp43BK8E

the lag doesn't look game breaking. it kinda makes the fighting feel more dramatic.
kind of like the final battle in The Lion King. :p but anyways, I'd still buy the US version. :)

I mean looky here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpdAMk3lzIU

the Japanese PS2 version looks very playable. :)

but ya, EXAMU has released Sugoi! Arcana Heart 2 to PS2 in Japan, so this opens the doors for Atlus to be able to localize it in the USA! :)

some say the problem with the JP version is that the sprites are 100% uncompressed.
maybe if Atlus is capable of compressing that data? that would eliminate any lag from the few characters/moves that cause it? but anyways I heard from some importers that it's still playable. so yea, it's definitely worth buying, but I'm not the importer type so that's why I'll wait for the US version.

It took about 6 months before we got the first AH (Japan got it during a October, and we got it April the following year: http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/data/941885.html
)
so I estimate if it does get localized in the US, the earliest we can probably get AH2
released here would be around October (since Japan got it for PS2 this April). it's a theory. :)

[Space Godzilla]

Well after watching that last video the game does look pretty playaable. Although I'm sure Atlus would know not to just rush it out the door knowig it's full of bugs that need fixing. As for the sprites being 100% uncompressed, would that mean that the fidelity of the sprites would be affected when they're compressed down? From the sounds of it some are pretty bad as it is although I'm sure the smoothing option on my ps3 will help it. I still want this game, but I can't import...which sucks.

[Necrosis]

The problems with the japanese PS2 version of S!AH2 are pretty much all over the place. I speak as a competitive player dedicated to Arcana Heart, and while yes, casual players will likely not mind that the game slows down a little bit while they do a combo, for high-level play this is absolutely unacceptable. Unfortunately though this is all we have, and, barring any serious action by Atlus to remedy this, likely all we will EVER have in America due to Andamiro not doing a very good job of bringing the arcade version here, and the AH devs not caring if it's a perfect port.

The slowdown doesn't make the game overall COMPLETELY unplayable, but for Petra it actually does. I'm going to be running a tournament for the PS2 port in a month, and we actually have to talk about banning Petra entirely. The slowdown while she does basically any move makes it EXTREMELY difficult to move as you intended to. Aside from just characters, doing practically anything with your arcana will slow the game down. Combining that with characters who lag the game makes it even worse. However, in other cases we don't have anything to worry about. Akane, for example, doesn't really significantly slow down the game outside of one cinematic super. Although, there's a different problem with Akane.

There are two arcade versions of Sugoi! AH2, versions 2.5 and 2.6. In version 2.5 Examu made some bad choices in designing Akane as well as balancing the rest of the cast, and she wound up dominating the entire cast. No character has an advantage on Akane, she's extremely easy, and she's unfun to fight against. In version 2.6, the balance issues were remedied. The less useful characters were given new tools to work with, very strong characters were slightly weakened and Akane was seriously weakened. The problem here is that the PS2 port is built on version 2.5. Especially for the pro community, this is inexcusable. Even casual players will likely see that Akane is just too strong overall, with many completely safe moves and extremely strong but simple combos. In terms of pro play, the arcade version 2.5 had actually made many pro players quit the game until 2.6 came out. It's that bad, and now in america it is all that most people have to run tournaments with.

Lastly, the graphics are horribly ugly. In some cases they aren't, but when picking some characters, the sprites during certain actions will become so garbled that they look like a mess of colors that vaguely form a person. Even simply walking forward as Clarice causes her to turn into a nearly unrecognizable mass of pixels. This is the one point that would be excusable without the other two; if the game was at least playable, it would be alright that the game, at times, is this ugly. However, because the PS2 is very clearly incapable of handling the game, even with the watered-down graphics, it slows down, and there's no excuse for it being outdated at all.

So in summary, we're stuck with an ugly, outdated, sluggish port. I'm not sure how likely it is that Atlus could release an arcade-perfect, patchable PS3/360 port of the game, considering that someone else has already made a port and it would likely take a lot of effort and money for Atlus to do it. However, if it's at all possible, please consider that the pro community is stuck with no good option right now, and that not releasing a port or releasing the japanese port with only slight fixes leaves the american fans that the game has drawn stuck with no good option either. In fact, I'm certain that if the original japanese port was released here, it would have gotten AWFUL scores from reviewers and it would have made for extremely bad publicity. This is a request that I am sure the entire pro AND casual Arcana Heart community can agree with, please bring S!AH2 back to what it should be!

[affinity]

well a lot of casuals are enjoying the port as it is, otherwise Examu would have made a new release. ya its too bad from the pro gamers, but this game will still be fun if its localized.

[aokmaniac13]

Screenshot time!

http://i42.tinypic.com/i19zzn.png

You won't notice it's actually that bad at first glance because they made sure to keep at least the first frame of most animations in high resolution. (In case you're wondering, I capped the speed to 20FPS on purpose so I could freeze the frame.)

[Space Godzilla]

Damn that screenshot sucks...what did they do to my Meifang? Stupid buggy port...still want the game though.

[Necrosis]

well a lot of casuals are enjoying the port as it is, otherwise Examu would have made a new release. ya its too bad from the pro gamers, but this game will still be fun if its localized.

Actually, the Japanese casual players are fairly angry, it seems. They were talking about sending in the survey cards to say they hate it. And no, that isn't necessarily how it works. Even though everyone is generally displeased, it's not a simple fix, and it'll take time and money to completely re-port the game.

Also, to be frank, it often seems like examu doesn't care about their fanbase and customers in general. The arcade patch from AH to AHF cost an obscene amount of money for a patch with no new content, and it was required for SBO (huge national tournament) qualifiers, despite coming out very close to their start. Immediately after the console release of AHF, AH2 was announced, leaving console players with no option to play it short of getting an arcade board, killing all hype for the game in America. S!AH2 was even more money than AHF, although at least this version had new content. However, it also added a training mode, which is EXTREMELY bad to have on an arcade game from an operator standpoint. More time in training, the less money the operator makes. Finally, we come to this port. Examu has so far claimed that this port is perfectly fine and has no significant problems. Do YOU think they feel like they need to rerelease it?

[Hideki-Motosuwa]

well a lot of casuals are enjoying the port as it is, otherwise Examu would have made a new release. ya its too bad from the pro gamers, but this game will still be fun if its localized.

Actually, the Japanese casual players are fairly angry, it seems. They were talking about sending in the survey cards to say they hate it. And no, that isn't necessarily how it works. Even though everyone is generally displeased, it's not a simple fix, and it'll take time and money to completely re-port the game.

Also, to be frank, it often seems like examu doesn't care about their fanbase and customers in general. The arcade patch from AH to AHF cost an obscene amount of money for a patch with no new content, and it was required for SBO (huge national tournament) qualifiers, despite coming out very close to their start. Immediately after the console release of AHF, AH2 was announced, leaving console players with no option to play it short of getting an arcade board, killing all hype for the game in America. S!AH2 was even more money than AHF, although at least this version had new content. However, it also added a training mode, which is EXTREMELY bad to have on an arcade game from an operator standpoint. More time in training, the less money the operator makes. Finally, we come to this port. Examu has so far claimed that this port is perfectly fine and has no significant problems. Do YOU think they feel like they need to rerelease it?

In all honesty, no, they don't. They couldn't give a rat's @$$ about doing a re-release of a game when a spokesperson on their official blog stated that the game had no significant problems for "casual play". It makes me wonder if anyone at Examu or AQ Interactive even bothered to test the final product before they released it or they just didn't give a damn about it and decided to release it.....knowing they were going to make a profit off the first few days or first week of it's release. That alone is an accomplishment to them.

This really pisses me off cause now I've gone back to playing Fate/Unlimited Codes and it is excellent for what it is. But really, if Atlus does aquire the licenses for this sequel, please......for the love of God please......fix this game up so that it's actually playable to the pro community also.......and get Hori to make some arcade sticks for the US (I'm dying here........I really want an Arcana Heart stick).

[growlanservoter]

Heh funny you should mention Fate/unlimited codes I have just pciked it back up again. :D

[Necrosis]

You know, it's funny that you guys should mention playing Fate/Unlimited Codes instead of this, because that's what I did the entire two weeks before it came out. Depending on how things go over the next month or two, though, I may be quitting AH for BlazBlue until a good port rolls around. I really don't want to, but at least Arc System Works cares about their fanbase enough to ensure that they're releasing a quality port, with good features and minimal changes made to the game. That, and at least BlazBlue is my second favorite fighting game as of now, from my small bit of arcade experience.

Speaking of ASW, some of you might recall that they originally released a port of Accent Core with some minor bugs that only affected about 4 or so total characters and 99% of the time weren't noticeable. They released a public apology, fixed the USA port, and rereleased the game in Japan with the bugs fixed. A lot of us were expecting something like that, but as you all know by now, Examu has just stood strong on their "it's a great port" stance.

[Space Godzilla]

It's wonderful to know that Examu are nothing but a bunch of cash cows, releasing a half-assed port that's broken and doing the good ole "it's fine for the 10% of people who buy it." stance. Way to go Examu.

[psu319]

It is amazing that they would release their trademark game with so many problems.

[affinity]

I still would like Sugoi! Arcana Heart 2 localized.

Either way, it doesn't have online play so my only option is to play it casual-style anyway like the first one. the minor details hasn't stopped the casuals from enjoying it. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5OkGaWrr54

^_^

but Fate/Unlimited Codes gameplay looks ridiculous, in a bad way. >_>
and the character designs look like a bunch of soul calibur/yu yu hakusho rejects. :p

I'd rather save my money for Arcana Heart 2 (whenever it comes out) and KOFXII this summer.

well this is a site note, maybe it won't happen, but since Atlus has close relations with Examu, maybe
Examu can be convinced to port Sugoi! Arcana Heart 2 to Xbox Live Arcade, since Atlus is beginning to
get experience with the online marketplace of this generation, so all Examu has to do is make the port, and
then Atlus can localize it for Xbox Live Arcade? that would in fact be possible if they are willing to do it,
and more affordable since they wouldn't have to worry about game manufacturing and distribution costs.
So it would be a bright opportunity to spread the Arcana Heart 2 love to next gen consoles. ^_^ Examu just needs the interest to do it.

But I guess they don't want consoles to steal sales from its arcade business, since they would rather have people use an arcade unit for tournaments instead of consoles that cost vastly less than an arcade unit, which are about in the hundred thousands, or maybe millions. But does this mean companies don't want
home versions to be arcade perfect for the sake of their arcade business? arcades are still hot in Japan so maybe that's why.

[Necrosis]

I know that people are still playing and enjoying it, but the "minor details" HAVE stopped people from enjoying it. Bill307 is not a casual player, by the way. He's said himself that he dislikes the lag but thinks it's an even bigger problem that the game is not version 2.6, because Akane is THAT overpowered.

As for Fate/Unlimited Codes, it's a decent game. It's really fun but the execution barrier is RIDICULOUS. If you have a hard time with basically any game's combos... you're going to have a really hard time with F/UC pretty much guaranteed.

[Space Godzilla]

That last video you posted affinity gave me more hope. Being a casual player since I rarely play fighting games offline with anyone else, I doubt the lag will be that much of a problem for me, my only concern is however the character sprites. but other than that my main concern is Atlus localizing this baby! Make it happen Atlus! I'll buy it day one! :-D

[Necrosis]

Affinity, it's silly to say that companies would not want their ports to be arcade perfect because of the arcade scene. If anything, the port being out HELPS the arcade scene because players who are too intimidated by the fierce competition in arcades have an opportunity to learn the game. No one in Japan really plays fighting games seriously outside of the arcades, as they're where ALL the competition is at anyway. No one in Japan, the intended market of the game, will run tournaments on the console port. It'll all be in the arcades.

Also, the 360 doesn't sell very well in Japan. The only game that has really moved 360s off shelves was Tales of Vesperia... Until they got put right back on the shelves once everyone finished that game. It's a safer bet to release it on PS3, and in that case you'd actually be able to easily play the game here if it wasn't released here anyway since the PS3 is region free. A port to both platforms would be ideal, but if it's gotta be one or the other, the PS3 would be the better choice. I'm honestly not sure, but has Atlus released a game for the 360 yet? I know they did Disgaea 3 for PS3, so that may be more reasoning for a PS3 port, rather than 360.

Lastly, what if the PS3/360 port DID have online play? You'd have another option besides just playing it casually. In that case, wouldn't you care if it was the latest arcade version, and completely lag-free offline?

Space Godzilla, I have some stuff for you to look at regarding the lag. As someone who's played the game, I can also say that it is even worse than it looks. I do have friends who played this game casually, and they literally all quit because of this. To be fair most of them were really hype for Petra, but even the ones who weren't don't want to play this game. I won't tell you you HAVE to play a perfect port for it to be worth your time as a casual player, but trust me, it's really unfun to have the game actually DROP INPUTS because of the slowdown. It slows down for most arcana moves, even. You can't even avoid it by just not playing Petra.

Petra combos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0buhp43BK8E
compared to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wanuauOoz-w (throughout the first round)

Parace (the new boss):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUjxmiq7HuQ
compared to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjUa_TY1xgc

[affinity]

I don't think the slowdown would be that bad. I seen the videos and stuff, and it seems bearable. Also, Akane's overpoweredness has no efffect on the casual crowd, since most people would be playing this by themselves anyway. so version 2.6 wouldn't make much of a difference anyway. It still looks decent enough to have fun with it.

well its just that its a waste not being able to play it at all,

Atlus might take the flaws seriously since the negative reactions are so overhyped,

so my guess is that they will wait to see if Japan's community convinces Examu to make a new port, or wait until Arcana Heart 3 is brought to a console.....sigh.

This is why it would help if they start making these games for next gen consoles, at least then the games can be patched through online. but the ps2 probably will continue to get new Japanese games for the next 2 years.

[SickleCellAnemia]

I don't think the slowdown would be that bad. I seen the videos and stuff, and it seems bearable.

Any slowdown in fighting games(in local play) in this day and age is inexcusable.

[Space Godzilla]

Affinity, it's silly to say that companies would not want their ports to be arcade perfect because of the arcade scene. If anything, the port being out HELPS the arcade scene because players who are too intimidated by the fierce competition in arcades have an opportunity to learn the game. No one in Japan really plays fighting games seriously outside of the arcades, as they're where ALL the competition is at anyway. No one in Japan, the intended market of the game, will run tournaments on the console port. It'll all be in the arcades.

Also, the 360 doesn't sell very well in Japan. The only game that has really moved 360s off shelves was Tales of Vesperia... Until they got put right back on the shelves once everyone finished that game. It's a safer bet to release it on PS3, and in that case you'd actually be able to easily play the game here if it wasn't released here anyway since the PS3 is region free. A port to both platforms would be ideal, but if it's gotta be one or the other, the PS3 would be the better choice. I'm honestly not sure, but has Atlus released a game for the 360 yet? I know they did Disgaea 3 for PS3, so that may be more reasoning for a PS3 port, rather than 360.

Lastly, what if the PS3/360 port DID have online play? You'd have another option besides just playing it casually. In that case, wouldn't you care if it was the latest arcade version, and completely lag-free offline?

Space Godzilla, I have some stuff for you to look at regarding the lag. As someone who's played the game, I can also say that it is even worse than it looks. I do have friends who played this game casually, and they literally all quit because of this. To be fair most of them were really hype for Petra, but even the ones who weren't don't want to play this game. I won't tell you you HAVE to play a perfect port for it to be worth your time as a casual player, but trust me, it's really unfun to have the game actually DROP INPUTS because of the slowdown. It slows down for most arcana moves, even. You can't even avoid it by just not playing Petra.

Petra combos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0buhp43BK8E
compared to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wanuauOoz-w (throughout the first round)

Parace (the new boss):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUjxmiq7HuQ
compared to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjUa_TY1xgc

Ahhh yes of course, I've seen these videos countless times already and I still want the game. Nothings going to change my mind.

[Necrosis]

LOL, I ALWAYS have the most to say to Affinity. ._.

Any slowdown in fighting games(in local play) in this day and age is inexcusable.

While I agree with this, the first AH on PS2 had some slight slowdown during Lilica's 236A+B super. Not too big a deal, because it only lags during a successful hit, so in that case, it's at least like, ok, whatever. Game works fine otherwise. Something like this, though, indeed, is NOT excusable.

Ahhh yes of course, I've seen these videos countless times already and I still want the game. Nothings going to change my mind.

Believe me, I'm not trying to change your mind. I want the game too... just in a better form than what we have. Wouldn't you agree?

I don't think the slowdown would be that bad. I seen the videos and stuff, and it seems bearable. Also, Akane's overpoweredness has no efffect on the casual crowd, since most people would be playing this by themselves anyway. so version 2.6 wouldn't make much of a difference anyway. It still looks decent enough to have fun with it.

well its just that its a waste not being able to play it at all,

Atlus might take the flaws seriously since the negative reactions are so overhyped,

so my guess is that they will wait to see if Japan's community convinces Examu to make a new port, or wait until Arcana Heart 3 is brought to a console.....sigh.

This is why it would help if they start making these games for next gen consoles, at least then the games can be patched through online. but the ps2 probably will continue to get new Japanese games for the next 2 years.

The slowdown is bearable at times, and others it makes me want to go back to character select so I won't have to deal with it. Mostly it just has to do with matchups.

Version 2.6 makes a HUGE difference even for casual players. Akane is overpowered in EVERY WAY, and it's horribly, painfully obvious that she is the best character. It's become a joke in multiple circles by now that you can pick up Akane, and she will become your best character instantly. Even in casual circles, people recognize that she is way too strong. I had some people playing the game and just like pressing buttons for fun, and they softbanned Akane even though they WANTED to play Akane. She's that bad.

I agree about next-gen consoles. This port absolutely shouldn't have been released on the PS2. There is NO excuse for releasing it on hardware that obviously couldn't handle it like this, and also releasing it on a port that can't be updated with the new arcade versions. None. As much as the PS2 is still thriving in Japan, I definitely think this is just decisions made by Ecole/AQ, who ported the game. There are no problems with Persona 4, for example, but Persona 4 wasn't an arcade game, it was built from the ground up for the PS2.

Atlus SHOULD take the flaws seriously. If we're lucky we'll get a fixed port, and you can't really tell me that it would be a BAD thing to have a port that doesn't have any issues. I don't think it's unrealistic to hope for a port to the PS3/360, either. Atlus doesn't need to "make" a game at all, the resources and such from the arcade game are already there.

At this point, I don't think Japan is going to get another port. If, 2-3 weeks later, Examu is STILL not willing to admit that it's got flaws, then they probably aren't ever going to. As for AH3, that game hasn't even been announced yet. For all we know it will never happen, and they will start focusing on Daemon Bride instead. Also, in that case, you'd have to wait another year or so for the arcade game to finish development, then another year after that until Examu FINALLY makes a port.

[psu319]

I still hope Atlus is looking at this game. They did a great job with AH so if they come out and say this game on the PS2 is a lost cause, I'd believe them and move on.
Melty Blood Actress Again was just announced so there's still hope for a new fighting game from Atlus.
http://e56.info/mbaaps2/index.html

[affinity]

meeeewww! but I so wanted to experience the continued story and new character plot lines and stuff and gameplay! some slowdown won't bother me. It's still worth localizing! XD meeeeew! please! It'll still be fun! :)

[Yggdrasil]

Examu you make sad and dissappointed... take a hint from ASW. Oh well back to GG:AC+... and hope for a better port and Melty Blood in the future. Maybe I can get arcade board for S!AH2...

[purifyws]

Speaking of ASW, some of you might recall that they originally released a port of Accent Core with some minor bugs that only affected about 4 or so total characters and 99% of the time weren't noticeable. They released a public apology, fixed the USA port, and rereleased the game in Japan with the bugs fixed. A lot of us were expecting something like that, but as you all know by now, Examu has just stood strong on their "it's a great port" stance.

This.

Necrosis, thank you sir. You're representing the community well here. I agree 100% with all he's said.

My copy is still in the wrapping. I can't bring myself to even try to play it. I was going to play Petra competitively. Yeah.

[affinity]

meeeew!

um um, maybe Atlus will be in talks with Examu about helping making the US port/localization better? well um I still wanna buy it, even for just the story and casual play and stuff. :)

[penancetb]

When is de date of the relase of the ps2 american ver?:confused:

In december:agree:

or

Maybe for the start of the next year (Febrery or March):frown:

Please atlus anwer and fix the problems of the japanese port.;)

[psu319]

Yeah I'd like an answer too. I wish they would at least let us know if their looking at the game. I'd also like to know what exactly is wrong with the game....bad programing, the PS2 is just not powerful enough.

[Rednusander]

Yeah I'd like an answer too. I wish they would at least let us know if their looking at the game. I'd also like to know what exactly is wrong with the game....bad programing, the PS2 is just not powerful enough.

It's a sticky thing to tell you guys in any official capacity whether or not we've looked at a game. If we say we have, we would either be preempting an announcement, or disappointing a lot of people if that announcement never came. If we say we haven't, you guys just pester us more. Haha. In other words, I can't give you an "answer," but that's not to say that as individuals, we haven't played/checked out a Japan-only game.

As far as what's wrong with this game, haven't the people who have imported it given you enough details in this very thread?

[LordGeo]

Yeah I'd like an answer too. I wish they would at least let us know if their looking at the game. I'd also like to know what exactly is wrong with the game....bad programing, the PS2 is just not powerful enough.

It's a sticky thing to tell you guys in any official capacity whether or not we've looked at a game. If we say we have, we would either be preempting an announcement, or disappointing a lot of people if that announcement never came. If we say we haven't, you guys just pester us more. Haha. In other words, I can't give you an "answer," but that's not to say that as individuals, we haven't played/checked out a Japan-only game.

As far as what's wrong with this game, haven't the people who have imported it given you enough details in this very thread?

You do know that since you decided to post in this game's suggestion thread, you've probably now given some people the thought that Atlus will definitely be doing Arcana Heart 2, right?

"Hey, Atlus posted in this game's thread... That means that they're doing it! Why else would they post in this specific thread?"

Or something to that extent.

[kat_ears_kahrain]

Yeah I'd like an answer too. I wish they would at least let us know if their looking at the game. I'd also like to know what exactly is wrong with the game....bad programing, the PS2 is just not powerful enough.

It's a sticky thing to tell you guys in any official capacity whether or not we've looked at a game. If we say we have, we would either be preempting an announcement, or disappointing a lot of people if that announcement never came. If we say we haven't, you guys just pester us more. Haha. In other words, I can't give you an "answer," but that's not to say that as individuals, we haven't played/checked out a Japan-only game.

As far as what's wrong with this game, haven't the people who have imported it given you enough details in this very thread?

So you are doing it! Hope you fix the issues that the import had!

...nah, I know how hard it is to read a board and not be able to say anything one way or the other. NDAs suck, eh?

[affinity]

I don't mind if the "issues" are still there. I'd still buy the translated version! even reserve it! ^_^

I mean those "issues" that some people whine about haven't stopped the importers from enjoying the game (but I don't like importing, so localization is the only option. besides, the story and win quotes must be understandable to enjoy it too! ^_^)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BdpPvTuTQY
wind Clarice pong! xD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlgkIFlbl88
the famous magnet combo >.>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLHzFooanf8
good match!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OEOA4tN32A
another good match!

[VMan]

Yeah I'd like an answer too. I wish they would at least let us know if their looking at the game. I'd also like to know what exactly is wrong with the game....bad programing, the PS2 is just not powerful enough.

It's a sticky thing to tell you guys in any official capacity whether or not we've looked at a game. If we say we have, we would either be preempting an announcement, or disappointing a lot of people if that announcement never came. If we say we haven't, you guys just pester us more. Haha. In other words, I can't give you an "answer," but that's not to say that as individuals, we haven't played/checked out a Japan-only game.

As far as what's wrong with this game, haven't the people who have imported it given you enough details in this very thread?

You do know that since you decided to post in this game's suggestion thread, you've probably now given some people the thought that Atlus will definitely be doing Arcana Heart 2, right?

"Hey, Atlus posted in this game's thread... That means that they're doing it! Why else would they post in this specific thread?"

Or something to that extent.

They could simply be actually reading suggestions people make and decided to detail a realistic perspective for people who are starting to "whine" about the lack of a confirmation/denial of interest.

[affinity]

Yeah I'd like an answer too. I wish they would at least let us know if their looking at the game. I'd also like to know what exactly is wrong with the game....bad programing, the PS2 is just not powerful enough.

It's a sticky thing to tell you guys in any official capacity whether or not we've looked at a game. If we say we have, we would either be preempting an announcement, or disappointing a lot of people if that announcement never came. If we say we haven't, you guys just pester us more. Haha. In other words, I can't give you an "answer," but that's not to say that as individuals, we haven't played/checked out a Japan-only game.

As far as what's wrong with this game, haven't the people who have imported it given you enough details in this very thread?

You do know that since you decided to post in this game's suggestion thread, you've probably now given some people the thought that Atlus will definitely be doing Arcana Heart 2, right?

"Hey, Atlus posted in this game's thread... That means that they're doing it! Why else would they post in this specific thread?"

Or something to that extent.

They could simply be actually reading suggestions people make and decided to detail a realistic perspective for people who are starting to "whine" about the lack of a confirmation/denial of interest.

well ya, we'll just have to wait what's decided. but ya, if AH2 port can still make sales
in Japan that took it up to 7th place and sell about 10,000 copies (surpassing even the
sales Musou Orochi Z made that week) that means it's actually decent enough to play.
Of course the serious tournament-level competitors expect more, but it would be a waste
to not localize it here since not everyone is so nitpicky as to miss the positive aspects of the port and stuff.
I mean seriously, having AH1 but not AH2 is liking owning Tobal no. 1 but not Tobal 2. We could have story marathons from AH1 to S!AH2 back to back,
and like, appreciate both at once! I mean like it's like enjoying an anime and knowing
a new season of episodes has been released but it's not here yet!

[Callidin]

I too would love to see this game come over. I really don't care about lag. I've been in many a laggy situation and to tell you the truth the videos aren't nearly the worst I've seen. Sure I would have loved to see it on the PS3 with no lag and wonderful sprites but hey I like AH and I'll take what I can get. Even petra looks playable if you adjust your timing that little bit.

[Necrosis]

Affinity, yes, AH2 sold extremely well in Japan, but the arcade game has consistently placed in the top 10 most popular fighting games in arcades, and the PS2 port was also in the top pre-ordered games in Japan. I honestly doubt that if that weren't the case, it would not have sold anywhere near as well. Sales don't ever determine how much people like the game anyway, and nor do review scores. If that were the case, then I would be able to say "EVERYONE must like Street Fighter 4 because it is selling millions of copies" while that is not necessarily true. Hell, I bought SF4, and I don't like it.

The problem with Petra lagging the game isn't that it makes it hard to do combos, it's that it changes the way her blockstrings/pressure/etc. work. Because the game lags so much even on NORMAL clashes, forward guard cancels + Petra slow the game down HORRIBLY, making either player's actions in that situation extremely telegraphed.

Although, in addition to that, the problem with the laggy combos isn't even that you just need to adjust your timing. Rather, it makes the timing RANDOM. Elsa's jumping C will sometimes lag the game, and sometimes it won't. Angelia's ice moves work the same way. I actually dropped a game-winning combo in a tournament match last weekend, because the game slowed down horribly during a Nazuna combo and I missed an attack to continue the combo.

By the way, speculation on the cause of the lag is that it's a combination of lazy programming by Ecole, who did the PS2 port, and the PS2 not being powerful enough to run the game. The PS2 only has 4mb of VRAM and is also optimized for polygons, so high-resolution 2D graphics are actually HARDER for the PS2 than 3D. Either way, this is all just speculation.

[affinity]

well either way, I'll reserve and buy this if it's localized in USA. ^_^

[Callidin]

Ah ha ha ha, after all that you will reserve it. I agree that the timing will be random but if your tully pro you should be able to use that split second desicion prowess we posess and make a good call. Plus this isn't nearly as bad as Smash Bros. Brawl online. You can win there by spamming Ganondorf's punch easily due to the lag. I think it makes a good factor in some games. the extra tangents you can go through with such a random factor makes a game much more interesting then a preditable game. It's like taking a tile out of Riichi Mahjong. Sure I'll play more predictable games but they don't have that random flare which can go either way. Anywho this game has me vote for oversea goodness and joy.

Your right on the PS2 power part. It's precisely because it's been optimized for 3D graphics that it fails in 2D. Sure it can do 2D but only to a certain extent. Either way we got AH2 on PS2 and from the videos posted it looks like it will be a very fun game.

Reserve it I will...hehehe...Nani o sono oyashiro-sama no tatari...hehehe...

[Necrosis]

Split second decisions are different from 5-frame errors in timing caused by the lag. And no, random factors DON'T make a game more interesting. Can you REALLY justify tripping in Brawl? Because honestly, that's what the lag during combos is like in this game. Sometimes you just trip then die for it.

[aokmaniac13]

lazy programming by Ecole, who did the PS2 port,
I don't know who started this rumor but it simply isn't true. Ecole had nothing to do with this game.

You could of course, prove me wrong with a credible source.

[Necrosis]

Then I'll give you two. Page 19 of the game's manual lists Ecole (4th "name" in the first column), and Famitsu also listed Ecole here: http://www.famitsu.com/game/coming/1220326_1407.html

[affinity]

Split second decisions are different from 5-frame errors in timing caused by the lag. And no, random factors DON'T make a game more interesting. Can you REALLY justify tripping in Brawl? Because honestly, that's what the lag during combos is like in this game. Sometimes you just trip then die for it.

it's debatable if it makes it more interesting or not. for the tournament-level competitors, it's an issue, but for casuals it isn't an issue worth dwelling on, since most people play these offline-only ports by themselves anyway. Random Factors hasn't stopped most people from enjoying Brawl, in fact, it's what makes the matches more surprising.
If people want the real deal, they'll find an arcade, but ya, I still would like this localized here. :)

in a way it's a shame Sony still allows development of games on PS2, maybe if Examu was forced to bring the port to Xbox360 and PS3 through the online marketplace, it would have arcade-perfect performance, and online play. But at the sametime, knowing Examu, it would have been just a PS3 port and maybe no online play (unless Atlus somehow convinces them to make a better port for Xbox Live Arcade, since Atlus is getting experience in that arena.)
and I'm not interested in PS3 (I have ps2 and x360). So on the otherhand, it's an advantage getting the port on PS2 instead.

for its first week, this game sold really well in Japan to make it to the top 10, maybe
Examu might make a new port in the future but not sure how keen they are in providing
it through the gaming marketplaces on the current gen consoles. But they are obviously busy with other things. So the most possible chance to get S!Arcana Heart 2 port is
to get the ps2 version localized. It would still be a sweet deal. It would be a waste if it remains in Japan like Hokuto No Ken and Tobal 2 (Tobal 2 being the only game I imported. but that's cause someone I knew had this device that easily lets imports to work on ps1.
but reading up the hassle of getting ps2 imports to work, I don't wanna bother with modding or those swapdisks. Plus even importing it would missing out on the story and
fun quotes and stuff. )

ya it would take certain factors to get S!AH2 localized over here. If Atlus is uneasy
about the port's performance, they might try to see if Examu will make an english port
that's more polished, before Atlus decides to localize it. but that might cost big bucks,
then again not sure how that business would work, but if Examu won't do it then
it's either localized because there is more positive things about the port or skipped because its faults can't be ignored by publishers.

then again, AH1 had that glitch with the metal arcana where like if its Arcana Blaze isn't
performed in a combo, it might freeze the game. but I still use metal arcana sometimes,
it would be crazy if we didn't get AH1 just because of that glitch. There might have been
other tidbits people don't notice unless they look hard, but overall, I really love AH1 port and a Suggoi Arcana Heart 2 over here would be put to good casual use! ^_^

[aokmaniac13]

Proof
Thank you for clearing that up for me. Had to run the page through Google Translator to see Ecole being mentioned though.

[Callidin]

Some of us are tired of straight matches where you win with just skill. I've been on that boat for a while but when Brawl came out it evened the playing for casuals. In other words those glitches and random vectors in a game can make it more challanging for those who are tired of the straight skill games. Plus that 5 frame error looks like it could be a fun thing to try and counter. In other words use it to your advantage like any other game. As for the tripping in Brawl...yeah I agree that shouldn't be a factor. Way too unforgiving on those who get more kills.

[Necrosis]

You are so very wrong on this one. Fighting games that aren't at least mostly consistent aren't worth playing. If the best player isn't winning, then why would anyone play the game seriously? The lag doesn't make doing combos "challenging." The combos are challenging to begin with. The lag makes it inconsistent, not "challenging" or "fun to try and counter." You CAN'T counter it because it's random. You don't know when the game is going to lag. You have to just do your best to react to the lag, which, for certain combos, is impossible. Nazuna and Elsa, whose most common combos both lag randomly, require a VERY strict timing as they slam the opponent to the ground, but before the opponent hits, pick them back up. You CANNOT react to the game lagging during these combos. In the same way, no random factor makes the game "more challenging." Super Turbo's random factors in damage/stun don't make the game more challenging, they just mean that sometimes a combo will do more or less damage or stun than average. The player who guesses right and plays the best in Super Turbo wins, not the player who the game favors with random chance.

Straight skill determining the victor is the most important thing in a competitive fighting game. Maybe you find it more fun when you or your friends can pull out wins despite the skill barrier but in competition, that is unacceptable. If you're tired of playing games where the most important thing is skill, then you're not the intended audience for this game.

[Callidin]

Hahaha, that's rich. You are apparently the end all be all rule maker for this genre. I pull out wins because of my skill in both random and straight up fighting games, not luck. I like having that non-human error in some games because it DOES make it more challenging. Yes you can react to lag and yes you can use it to your purpose. I's the same as learning that split second timing for combos except now you need to look closely at the frames to know when you need to start as well as positioning of both players. This "if the best player isn't winning it's not worth playing" nonsense tells me you see things in black and white. People play Brawl because it's fun and the best player isn't always winning. Believe it or not some of us are definitely tired of winning in a field where nothing random happens. I got tired of it with Soul Calibur 2 and Melee. Competition, tournaments, all of those to prove who is better. Yeah when everything comes down to skill sure I'll do my best to kick your butt but being just that is boring. I'm the very audience for this type of game because I can play it on a tournament level and a casual level. You who are so focused on just competition will never enjoy every aspect of the game. In the end that is what games are for, enjoyment. If you don't like my way of thinking, fine, but don't expect me to lie down and take your black and white idea of fighting games and competition. Harsh words will be met with harsh words. This is also a competition isn't it...you just can't get enough of it can you. Well I can't really talk can I. Hehehe...じゃあ、ね。

[Necrosis]

It's not as simple as "positioning of both players," it's "if you are a few frames off YOU ARE GOING TO DROP THIS COMBO, by the way the few frames are variable, GOOD LUCK!" Positioning comes into play regardless of lag, and that is something that any good player needs to be able to react to. However, we're not talking about positioning. The Nazuna combo has to deal with positioning, sure, but there's a difference between "my opponent wasn't high enough" and "well I was going to hit my opponent but the game lagged and I pressed A just before I hit the ground instead of just after." The timing really is THAT tight.

Using the lag in your favor is actually one of the biggest problems. The way Arcana Heart works, having the game lag during certain moves, guard cancels and clashes actually makes these things too telegraphed and too easy to react to, and makes cancels such as Dorothy's 623x -> 623A+B doable on reaction while the difficulty of reacting is supposed to balance the fact that you can even do the cancel. It definitely changes the game for the worse.

I said nothing about your skill, and I find it funny that you actually tried to DEFEND your skill, multiple times throughout your post, no less. If you're really winning so much that it becomes boring then you should go find better opponents, because they're always out there.

And just because I want the game to play well in tournaments doesn't mean I can't enjoy it casually. Casually, I will play random character/random arcana matches or just play around with whatever character because I feel like playing them. More than anything I just enjoy the strategy that goes into the match, and that's how I get my fun from fighting games. Random chance kills strategy for me, and in doing so kills the fun largely. This is the same for a LOT of people, and THESE people are the ones who will play it at the highest level, not the ones who would rather be playing a random game.

People play Brawl because Brawl is a Smash Brothers game, and that's where the money is at. I know a few Brawl players who really genuinely dislike the game. I know a few SF4 players who genuinely dislike that game, too. They're where the money and the hype are at, that's all. The people who play that game because they randomly might not win and it's more interesting that way aren't the people who are REALLY playing at top level. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't get tired of winning hundreds of dollars in Brawl tournaments if I was consistently doing well in them. There's big money to be made by playing a video game well, and some people are more interested in the money than in the game itself.

[Callidin]

Well as for trying to defend my skill that's not a problem as I really don't care. I was providing a convenient example that was probably over read or maybe overused. As for playing casually you just said that fighting games that have random factors are not worth playing. Yeah there is money to be had, look at Starcraft. In Korea they have a TV channel dedicated to Starcraft players. And yes some people do play top level and enjoy a game for random things. Sure there aren't many out there but they are. I met a few in Anime Banzai 08 last year. Quite odd people really. I agree with most of your last post actually. I also understand the random factor can break a strategy hat you work hard to build. I hated that for the most part a few years ago but now I find it helps develop new strategies that don't always fail if something random does happen. I've gone to tourneys but I really don't like them, sure the money is nice but I don't like the atmosphere very much. At least the ones over here are far too serious about it. The ones that seem to truly enjoy the game are usually the ones who lose at the very beginning then your stuck with grimmy mcgrim grim glaring at you half the fight. Oi if you do play casually then why so gung ho about overly serious gameplay is the only thing fighting games are good for. I think we could be good friends XP. At least this is how 2 of my friendships started. Oh and I misstated the positioning of players thing. I meant to say You need to consider the frames on top of the fact you have to consider the positioning and button timing. After all I can't hit you with Heart's short punch from across the stage regardless of lag now can I.

[Necrosis]

I'm going to make an assumption here, feel free to tell me I'm wrong, but if you've only been to anime convention tournaments or maybe Marvel vs Capcom 2 tournaments or something (just using MvC2 as an example), certain games and certain settings for tournaments don't bring out the best in players, or the best players. Marvel is a game notorious for being SUPER serious to a point where players will bet thousands of dollars just to prove that they are superior to the other player. That's just how that community is. Anime conventions tend to not see many people travelling to them, so you don't really see the best from all around. In contrast, a major tournament, regardless of location, tends to have great players from all over the country, sometimes even from other countries. In all my time travelling to tournaments, I've found that a lot of the time, the best players are the ones who are enjoying playing it. Kinda sounds like you've just gotten a bad impression of tournaments from a few bad tournaments.

That's all assumption though, just throwing it out there.

On a semi-related note, the very reason that Arcana Heart is my favorite game is that the execution barrier is low, and the amount of options you have at any given time is larger and more diverse than most games, making the strategy in any situation both the most important thing, and the most open-ended part of the game.

[affinity]

ya, that's nice and all, but since the port is for casuals, might as well keep your serious competition in arcades. :p

[Necrosis]

A laggy, broken game is laggy and broken no matter how you spin it. It's not "well now it's better for casuals" because they intentionally changed properties of characters like in CvS2 EO, but rather the game is just not running as it should. It has nothing to do with competition or casual play.

And "keep serious competition in the arcades" is a great idea, why didn't I think of that already? Oh right, because there is a grand total of ONE S!AH2 version 2.6 cabinet in the entire country, and it's in Texas. Not to mention the part where this is America and arcades are rare as it is, let alone arcades that are good. I can't exactly afford to take a trip down to texas every weekend to play this game.

[affinity]

A laggy, broken game is laggy and broken no matter how you spin it. It's not "well now it's better for casuals" because they intentionally changed properties of characters like in CvS2 EO, but rather the game is just not running as it should. It has nothing to do with competition or casual play.

And "keep serious competition in the arcades" is a great idea, why didn't I think of that already? Oh right, because there is a grand total of ONE S!AH2 version 2.6 cabinet in the entire country, and it's in Texas. Not to mention the part where this is America and arcades are rare as it is, let alone arcades that are good. I can't exactly afford to take a trip down to texas every weekend to play this game.

but do you even have a competition group in your area that would play it over your house regularly? even if you do why rain on everyone else's parade if this is our only chance to play S!AH2 at all on ps2? it may not meet your standards, but to everyone else who tolerates its rough edges, would have a good time with it.

if Atlus somehow convinces Examu to make a special superior port for USA release, that's fine, but if the Japanese port, translated, is all we can get, it's better than not getting it at all! People are already complaining it's not the latest version (2.6), but that doesn't bother me either since at least it has the Suggoi! extra characters, extra arcanas and extra boss.
This game is too cool to miss out on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Necrosis]

Just because the community was screwed over doesn't mean that there's no community. A lot of people all over the country want to play the game, they just don't want to play this port. And believe me, if we HAD an arcade or a better port, we'd be ALL over that. But we don't, so the laggy port is the only way for us to play the game. I can name over 10 people off the top of my head who were interested and now are not going to play the game because of the port.

I honestly believe that the japanese port, just translated, being released here would have a NEGATIVE impact on the game's future here in the states. Maybe you and a few others would be able to tolerate it and enjoy it anyway, but reviewers would have a field day and anyone NOT able to tolerate it would probably lose all interest in the series after this. If there's no demand for Arcana Heart 3, who's going to release it here? No one wants it, so why bother?

Obviously this is all just speculation at how it would turn out, but I don't believe that the majority of players, and especially reviewers, would be able to say "well if you look past all its flaws..." You may think that the game is cool and you'd rather play an imperfect form than a perfect one that may never happen, but what would a first-time player who said "hey this girl with the guns on the cover looks pretty cool" think after they find out they can't attack at all without slowing down the game?

[Yggdrasil]

They'd probably play for a while switch characters, then when it innevitably happened again, they'd be like this game sucks, thus slaying Arcana Heart here in the US. Which would piss me off. While I agree that I appreciate even being able to play this game at all (burned copy), I know that this is not exceptable for serious play it's barely exceptable for casual play. This is the only fighter I've been interested in learning serious fighting for, besides GG, and I'd like to get used to the new configurations in a less laggy environment. Everytime I do a comb with Catherine I wonder if it would actually work or if it could be better and the like. So, there's more to be done and more to hope for, the only random that belongs in fighters is the character select option, and that move Faust does... Peace.

[Necrosis]

But, what about the arcana selection!

Also Dorothy's Critical Heart is the same as that faust move.

[Callidin]

Ah on a note from before, I have been to state tourneys, I live in Utah. People around here are not the fun loving people you might think. Most are trapped in their weird complexes of trying to be better then everyone else. Not everyone is like that but most are. The people at the convention were mixes of alright players and two good players. The good players would probably do about mid level at a major tourney.

Chu Chu Lovely Muni Muni Mura Mura Purin Purin Boron Nururu Rero Rero

^^I love that by the way^^

I agree that AH has a lot more options when it comes to the fighters then most games. Plus AH is the only 2D fighter I really got into. MvC2/GG/SF/others never really could get me playing long.

[affinity]

it doesn't matter if we got a perfect port instead of what the Japanese got.
Arcana Heart series in general would not make a great impact in the west due to western society's attitude towards fighting games involving a full cast of young girls, it doesn't matter how great and deep the gameplay is. It will never reach the amount of attention
other fighting games are getting here in the west. Maybe in rare tournaments, but outside of that, it would just remain as an underground cult classic. And even now, everyone's all
hyped about SFIV, MvC2, Blazblue, Tekken 6, KOF XII, HD Remix, SCIV, KOF2k2UM, etc.
so what hope is left for Arcana Heart 2 in the mainstream market?
It would have same level of popularity either way.
Plus all the hardcore gamers know very well the port is not competition worthy and they
are sticking with the arcade version. But that doesn't mean the casuals who don't care
about what the majority think should be left with no S!AH2 to play at all.

It's like this,
*you hate how the game was ported, and you'd rather have no S!AH2 localized at all than to be able to play it at home.
*you think people's opinions of a rough port is going to affect it's future in the states, when even within the fighting community, most are too insecure about being seen playing this kind of fighting game in the first place. but that's western society for ya.

the first AH1 didn't sell well to begin with and it only had one noticeable flaw (the Metal arcana glitch). and I doubt it had much affect on its future in competitions,
most people don't even travel to tournaments or play it with others, but at least they got
to own and enjoy the game.

ya AH2 port is not as polished as AH1, but look at how much fun people are having anyways!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byIrxOEvey8

the rest of us shouldn't need to import it to play it, otherwise most of us
would have never even gotten to experience AH1 if it was never localized.
It reminds me of when Tobal no.1 came to PS1, it was great, but didn't sell well, so
we never got Tobal 2, and people missed out on such a great sequel!

meeeeew! S!Arcana Heart 2 should be localized! meeeeew! please oh please!!!!!!!!
mew mew mew!!! the game will still be fun! the story will be very interesting and funny like the first one! meeeew! x3

[Necrosis]

You say the game doesn't have much of a standing here to begin with, but if this port is released it will definitely still lessen its standing. Also, I've heard from many people who said they don't want to play a game with only little girls that AH2's new characters offer a character that appeals to them. This game COULD be huge, but it won't be if we get the Japanese port. You're right, I would rather it NOT get localized over the Japanese port being localized, because anyone who isn't already fully aware that this game is better than this will probably never touch the series again.

And actually, no, the hardcore players aren't sticking with the arcade version... we don't have an arcade board to play it on, so the only options are deal with this port or not play it. I've said this all before, but in reality many people just don't play it. The hardcore community is DEAD right now because there are so few people who really care enough to put up with this, especially with BlazBlue coming out. Many of us want to move on to that, since we already KNOW it's being ported as close to perfectly as possible.

[Callidin]

Pessimist. Not all of us are waiting for BlazBlue, and to tell you the truth you're right AH2 probably would'nt be that huge. It's like a lot of the games Atlus localizes. They release a lot of very niche games. Kinghts in the Nightmare, The Dark Spire, Tokyo Beatdown. They look like fun titles but not a lot of people will pick them up like SMT. The first AH didn't sell tons of copies either but if you look at amazon there are quite a few reviews on there. Even if it's 2.5 and a little laggy I think people will still pick it up and enjoy it. People are in Japan and people who have imported it are enjoying and I too would have imported it the PS3 was region free on PS2 games as well.

[Necrosis]

Man, I've been over this already. The Japanese are straight INSULTED that they've been given this port. There were so many sales there because in the week that it came out, it was the most preordered game. The people who have imported it are STILL unhappy, the people playing it are only doing so because it's all we have.

And no, not ALL of us are waiting for Blazblue, but that's what most of the hardcore arcana community looks like now. "Well, at least Blazblue is out in 2 months." That was all I meant by that.

While I may be being pessimistic, I think the concern is warranted. At the very least, I can't see any reviewer giving the game a favorable review. It's laggy, it's ugly, and it's clearly imbalanced even at low levels, so even the relatively casual reviewers would dislike it. That's not even to mention the ridiculous load times, which I've definitely seen reviewers mention when it's a problem, and moreso than any game i've ever played it is definitely a problem here.

[affinity]

it still looks good, maybe your standards are too high? and I seen laggier games.
and Marvel vs Capcom 2 is the king of imbalance yet it's loved by so many.

I seen the load times of the ps2 port and you exaggerate how long they are, I seen longer load times, those are acceptable. you haven't said a single good thing about it, and people with nothing positive to say with the negative, are too pessimistic to enjoy something.

you are really overreacting, if the port was that bad, literally no one would be playing it at all or even posting gaming videos of it. I even seen play-asia videos that are positive besides negative, and some actually like it for what it's worth.

it's really senseless to repeat your rambling, you already made up your mind you wouldn't buy the port, but there are still those of us who would buy it. We may play
it casually instead of competitively, and we are not as nitpicky as most people, but
we would appreciate and put the port to good use if it was localized. :)

[Necrosis]

My standards are exactly where they should be. If the game were imbalanced on the latest arcade version, I wouldn't be asking for it to be fixed, that's just how the game was. Marvel vs Capcom 2 is loved because it's Marvel vs Capcom.

You mean you saw the load times in Bill's videos? Bill runs the game off a hard drive. If you're running the game off of a disc, like you would be, every loading screen except the one for the arcana select that shouldn't be there takes like 15 seconds. This includes the loading screen for the winquote and then the loading screen to put you back into the match if you choose to rematch.

I haven't said a single good thing about the port because there isn't a single good thing about the port. I could say good things about Arcana Heart 2, sure. It's definitely my favorite fighting game, in its INTENDED form. The port, on the other hand, is just so bad that I cannot enjoy it, and nor can many people from all kinds of skill levels and player bases.

You also seem to not understand "the port is our only option." Some people are dedicated enough to keep playing it despite this port, but those people too would prefer a better port or an arcade board. I'm now starting to fall on the side that says that this port is not at all tournament worthy, and I'm not sure if anyone recording videos has actually done tournaments yet to realize how much the flaws of the port affect tournament play.

[affinity]

but the thing is, there's almost no chance the US version would be any different in how the port was handled. so I would still enjoy what's there.

Bill ran it off the harddrive? so it's installable like Resident Evil Outbreak was for PS2? I have a HDD for ps2. but even without it, 15 secs isn't bad loading times, people should be patient, cause their whining won't change how long it takes. I've seen worse loading times than that.


you sound like you just don't want it to come even if it means no one gets to play it. :p

[Callidin]

Wow Necrosis, that really is something, people say they geniunly want the game and you try and bring them down by saying it's not good in any way, shape or form. Especally when we do have people uploading vids. The enitre game is not broken and I've seen games that are worse like WindyXWindam. If your Ashley in thqat game you can easily dominate. Where as Reath, Stin, Big and Jack don't stand a fair chance against the other characters. In AH2 2.5 only Akane is a cheap character to play as. Petra slows down things a little so for tournaments she probably wouldn't work but the rest of the cast should be fine. Making those into gaint problems when they are minor/borderline major problems doens't chagne the fact that the rest of the games runs fine.

[Necrosis]

If you truly want the game, then demand a better port than this. Don't just say "well as long as it's Arcana Heart 2 I'm ok with that," when good demand for a better port could actually make it happen.

The rest of the game DOES run badly. Doing pretty much any projectile causes slowdown until it's gone. Good luck playing the Love arcana, which is the best all around arcana in this game by the way, when your multiple projectiles will slow the game down horribly. Speaking of arcana, the Halo arcana's activation has Mildred come out... and slow the game down even more. Clashing, a universal system mechanic, slows the game down. Homing cancelling certain moves slows the game down. For some characters, DASHING slows the game down, also a universal system mechanic. Petra isn't even the only character that slows the game down. It takes Petra's gun effects to do it, but Catherine and Nazuna, for example, also slow it down. Doing certain things with Lieselotte slows it down, due to her puppet. Almost every character has at least one attack that slows the game down. If you haven't played the arcade version then you might not notice some of these, especially if you're a casual player, but this, plain and simple, SHOULD NOT happen.

WindyXWindam isn't even a good example from how you describe it. I'm even going to ignore that Akane is as dominant a tourney-legal character as I have ever seen, and that you only cite one broken character in WindyXWindam. It's a worse game from the way you make it sound, but this game could be so much better without any real effort in terms of design. The better arcade version is already there, it just needs to be ported. Now, I've never played WindyXWindam but if that's the game's only problem, then at least it runs well.

Callidin, I said there is nothing good about the port, and I stand by that. AH2.5 Akane is dominant to a point that I don't even want to play anymore if it has to be 2.5. I just don't want to deal with a character who has any of (if not most of) better damage, better speed, better reach, better priority and better clash moves than every other character. I've already written about how bad the lag is in this post. That Mei-Fang screenshot a page back? That's not even the worst the graphics get.

Bill runs it off the hard drive via an exploit to load any game off of a hard drive, not through an in-game install option.

[Callidin]

Akane, JUST Akane. One broken character...how is your one broken character better then mine? If I were running a tourney I would ban Akane and Petra for sure. For free play however I would use all of them.

As for the lag thing being bad. After watching vids (not Bill's) on http://www.nicovideo.jp/ it's not nearly as bad as you describe it. Sure you can see it but it's not devastating at all. http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm6746617 this vid goes through several characters and even during the Arcana summons it wasn't bad at all.

I'll stick to my opinion as well. This looks fun so I want it. That is all.

[affinity]

ya that's the spirit! this is still a good port! I'm not sure if Atlus can influence Examu's
decisions of making a better port for US. Examu doesn't seem like the type of company that would want to spend more money making a new port, and if they helped Atlus make one for north america, then the Japanese would demand that port as well, then Examu would feel like they betrayed their country by giving foreigners a better port.

Atlus basically translates and makes the games playable on our consoles, they can't tinker with how the graphics are compressed or uncompressed, whatever. or maybe they
need permission first.

It's just mind boggling than AH2 looks exactly the same as AH1 in art (it isn't like they redrew the sprites like SNKP did for KOFXII compared to KOF XI.) , but it has lag.
maybe they overdid it with some special effects file size or something.

well anyways for soem games, slowdown can in fact enhance the experience, like make the battles look more dramatic in some instances. that's how I see it. :)

[Yggdrasil]

I must say that this feels more like a thing of principle, you may want this game but tat doesn't mean it's good. I mean I doubt Atlus would even port this version, since I'm guessing they likely look at the content of these forums, they'd know about the absolute silliness of this so called "port". Don't get me wrong I'm very grateful to at least have some access to S!AH2 but this just doesn't cut it. I beleive the appropraite analogy is if you have hungry people and you give them access to your discarded food some will likely eat it but that doesn't make it any less garbage, like this game.

Also by no means are GG, Blazblue, or even KoF mainstream stateside, mainstream among people who play fighters maybe but thats different. So if Atlus does port this, I'm assuming it'd be a fixed version, 2.6 I beleive someone said earlier, and If not I'll just wait to get access to an arcade version. In the mean time I'll be a happy that I will have access to MeltyBlood Act Cadenza, GG:AC and AH Full arcade machines in my city, so hopefully S! and Blazblue will join them by the end of the year.

I'm not telling you guys what to do with your money but I mean I doubt Atlus would port this exact version and tarnish their reputation.

I love my signature too. :D (By the way Callidin is your avatar from Higurashi no naku koro ni?)

[Necrosis]

Akane, JUST Akane. One broken character...how is your one broken character better then mine? If I were running a tourney I would ban Akane and Petra for sure. For free play however I would use all of them.

As for the lag thing being bad. After watching vids (not Bill's) on http://www.nicovideo.jp/ it's not nearly as bad as you describe it. Sure you can see it but it's not devastating at all. http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm6746617 this vid goes through several characters and even during the Arcana summons it wasn't bad at all.

I'll stick to my opinion as well. This looks fun so I want it. That is all.

Then you'd be running your tournament badly. Akane isn't completely unbeatable, but it's an unfun, extremely difficult matchup for everybody. The only banned characters I know of are banned either for actually being theoretically unbeatable, or not being on the arcade version. Akane is neither. Petra is a different case that shouldn't even come up because this port shouldn't be so bad.

I've said this before, but I stand by that you're watching videos, and it's really not enough to get a feel for how bad the lag is. I'm also speaking as someone who was able to play the arcade version, although that was almost a year ago. If you haven't, you won't notice the more slight lag a lot of the time, but believe me, it is a hundred times worse than it looks from just watching videos. Honestly, I didn't think it was unplayably bad (except for Petra, of course) until I actually had the lag screw me over repeatedly in matches and until I noticed how it really changes the flow of the game.

I've helped a few new players learn Dorothy by now, and I always mention her DP -> DP super combo. They always think it's SUPPOSED to be as slow as it is, when really the 11 hits of the DP would happen much, much faster on arcade. You have a bunch of Dorothy players around here HIT-CONFIRMING DP -> DP super to avoid wasting their super meters, when they should have to guess if it'll hit. The entire game changes because you can see everything happening in slow-motion in almost any situation where it really matters.

Affinity, you need to stop pretending this port is good just because you want to play the game. To say that the game lagging will make it better because the fights will be more dramatic is just wrong, plain and simple. I'm not saying anything more about that. Now, this, I'm not really sure about myself, but I take "Atlus does not make games" to mean "Atlus will not build a game from the ground up because you want to see it." So for example, Atlus will not make some Gundam RPG that plays like Persona because you think it would be a cool game. The difference here is that the game is already out in arcades in a playable form, the problem is just that we got a bad port. In making a port these days, you don't need to draw entirely new sprites, and you don't need to design the moves. It's not like on the Super Nintendo where you would actually have to redraw everything to make it run on an SNES. We now have powerful enough consoles that in porting a game, the exact sprites and effects can be taken from the arcade version. I believe the arcade board for Arcana Heart is actually very similar to PC hardware, if not actually PC hardware, as well, so I'd imagine it's not the most difficult game to make a console port for. But then, I don't know too much about programming a game.

[affinity]

then I guess Atlus should push Examu to make a Xbox360 port? would be a great chance to sell it through live marketplace as a xbla game. :D

[VMan]

Akane, JUST Akane. One broken character...how is your one broken character better then mine? If I were running a tourney I would ban Akane and Petra for sure. For free play however I would use all of them.

As for the lag thing being bad. After watching vids (not Bill's) on http://www.nicovideo.jp/ it's not nearly as bad as you describe it. Sure you can see it but it's not devastating at all. http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm6746617 this vid goes through several characters and even during the Arcana summons it wasn't bad at all.

I'll stick to my opinion as well. This looks fun so I want it. That is all.

I believe the arcade board for Arcana Heart is actually very similar to PC hardware, if not actually PC hardware, as well, so I'd imagine it's not the most difficult game to make a console port for. But then, I don't know too much about programming a game.

Just want to chime on that one little detail (I'm avoiding the argument about the port itself as I, myself have been in a eerily similar argument with someone regarding Virtua Fighter 5's X360 port having online play). Porting a game built on PC hardware to a console doesn't necessarily mean it would be an easy translation to a console's architecture simply because a console's architecture may be (and often is) very different from that of PC.

I'm currently working on a XNA game for the 360/PC, and I can tell you right now that there is very little conditional compilation in the code (about 98% shared among the two platforms it runs on). This is possible because the 360's architecture is in fact relatively similar to a PC's. However, porting to the PS3 would require loads to API call replacements, possibly some structural code changes and wrappers as a result, a modified and much more increased emphasis on threaded functionality to use the cell efficiently, changes to the renderer, etc. (BTW, this is all true regardless of the fact the game is written in C# rather than C/C++).

You also have to consider that the console's architecture may be very well-suited to some technical aspects of the game. The fact that the PS2 was built to be a relatively heavy polygon pusher (for its time) has already been brought up. The SEGA Saturn was actually arguably the most powerful 2D console in existence for its time, but trying to develop a polygonal game on the hardware practically shoehorned in for that purpose was not exactly easy.

The assumption that a game built on PC hardware should be easily portable cannot be made unconditionally.

[psu319]

Akane, JUST Akane. One broken character...how is your one broken character better then mine? If I were running a tourney I would ban Akane and Petra for sure. For free play however I would use all of them.

As for the lag thing being bad. After watching vids (not Bill's) on http://www.nicovideo.jp/ it's not nearly as bad as you describe it. Sure you can see it but it's not devastating at all. http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm6746617 this vid goes through several characters and even during the Arcana summons it wasn't bad at all.

I'll stick to my opinion as well. This looks fun so I want it. That is all.

I believe the arcade board for Arcana Heart is actually very similar to PC hardware, if not actually PC hardware, as well, so I'd imagine it's not the most difficult game to make a console port for. But then, I don't know too much about programming a game.

Just want to chime on that one little detail (I'm avoiding the argument about the port itself as I, myself have been in a eerily similar argument with someone regarding Virtua Fighter 5's X360 port having online play). Porting a game built on PC hardware to a console doesn't necessarily mean it would be an easy translation to a console's architecture simply because a console's architecture may be (and often is) very different from that of PC.

I'm currently working on a XNA game for the 360/PC, and I can tell you right now that there is very little conditional compilation in the code (about 98% shared among the two platforms it runs on). This is possible because the 360's architecture is in fact relatively similar to a PC's. However, porting to the PS3 would require loads to API call replacements, possibly some structural code changes and wrappers as a result, a modified and much more increased emphasis on threaded functionality to use the cell efficiently, changes to the renderer, etc. (BTW, this is all true regardless of the fact the game is written in C# rather than C/C++).

You also have to consider that the console's architecture may be very well-suited to some technical aspects of the game. The fact that the PS2 was built to be a relatively heavy polygon pusher (for its time) has already been brought up. The SEGA Saturn was actually arguably the most powerful 2D console in existence for its time, but trying to develop a polygonal game on the hardware practically shoehorned in for that purpose was not exactly easy.

The assumption that a game built on PC hardware should be easily portable cannot be made unconditionally.



Well maybe a PC port of AH2 is in order?

[aokmaniac13]

Since the Ex-Board is literally an Intel architecture PC running a modified version of Windows XP, it's not a big stretch to suggest that a PC port would just be an unencrypted rom dump of the game.

Which also raises the question of what kind of graphics library they used. (DirectX would make it much easier to port to the 360, not sure about OpenGL, or maybe even something developed internally.)

Edit: Slight factual error.

[affinity]

okay so it lags

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0buhp43BK8E

but that is not gamebreaking for people who wanna just have fun with it and the
lag/slowdown really gives it a dramatic effect. :)

this should still be localized. :D

[Callidin]

Ah sou. it's impossible to please Necrosis, I take his advice when it comes to running tourney and then he said I would run a bad tournament that way. Look the game isn't perfect, we already got that. But it's still a fun game. I never expected much else from a new arcade to ps2 port. I haven't played the arcade version because there are no arcade versions here simple as that, so I won't mind the differences because they are irrelevant to me. It's like eating chocolate. If all you've ever eaten is kit kats and Hershey bars then a toblerone bar will taste awesome but to someone who has had real Swiss chocolate will think that the former taste artificial. Seeing as most people in the US don't have access to a S!AH2 machine I believe that the result will be much better then you think. From my point the game looks fine, from yours, who played the arcade, it's crap. So don't be a little kid trying to make your opinion everyone else's opinion when we are affected by different circumstances.

[Yggdrasil]

I have never touched an S!AH2 machine, I have however played the port, which is definitely a steaming pile of fecal matter. Once again better than nothing but it's not at all what I would want to be representing AH to the public, nor what I believe Atlus would want to attach their name to.
All it can really be useful for is finding out what color scheme for the characters you like and being able to recognize the moves, and of course the awesomeness that is Angelia's Ultimate move I can never see that enough. Peace.

[affinity]

rawr! It's still a good port! Why do you think Examu is not releasing a new port? Why do you think it was within the top 10 most sold Japanese games the first week it came out?

Why do you think Examu themselves stated that there are people besides the negative feedback, there was more positive feedback and reaction from the port than negative,
which is why they don't see it as a serious matter.


Only the competition-level players see it as a problem, they don't understand how PLAYABLE and ENJOYABLE this port still is at a casual level! and that's exactly what 9 out of 10 people buy these games for. casual play.

the tournament and competition community is really not as big as the consumers that buys these games just for fun. the competitors only make a small fraction of the people that actually make the game sell.

[Yggdrasil]

rawr! It's still a good port! Why do you think Examu is not releasing a new port? Why do you think it was within the top 10 most sold Japanese games the first week it came out?

Why do you think Examu themselves stated that there are people besides the negative feedback, there was more positive feedback and reaction from the port than negative,
which is why they don't see it as a serious matter.


Only the competition-level players see it as a problem, they don't understand how PLAYABLE and ENJOYABLE this port still is at a casual level! and that's exactly what 9 out of 10 people buy these games for. casual play.

the tournament and competition community is really not as big as the consumers that buys these games just for fun. the competitors only make a small fraction of the people that actually make the game sell.

I believe it hit the tops mainly because of how many people pre-ordered it, likely to their dismay after they started it up.

Once again I'm not going to say this game isn't fun, but it's a big disappointment and the only reason I can enjoy it because I played the first one. If I had never played AH and just bought this game and played it I'd be very annoyed. Which is what will happen if this game gets ported and the blame will in most cases fall on Atlus even though they didn't make the game.

By the way is there any particular reason you just don't import this game yourself?

[Callidin]

^^
Because I don't have a modded PS2 or a JP PS2. An imported ps2 costs more money then a US ps2, a lot more. I would have imported it a while ago. If it never gets localized I will import after they find a way to trick the ps3 into playing imported PS2 titles or find a ps2 when I go to japan next year. Either way works.

[aokmaniac13]

So if you look in the right places you'll find some old unused AH1 graphics in the game...
------------------------------

Aside from what was already discussed, it's extremely difficult to get new people to start playing the game, especially if they're already turned off by the game's concept. A lot of the time, people will stick around and watch/play a game they dislike if it looks good, something the PS2 port can't deliver.

[Necrosis]

Callidin, I never told you to ban Akane, all I said is that she's a stupid character and that 2.6 fixes that. You WOULD be running a bad tournament if you banned Akane. Banning Petra is a whole different issue, like all the petra players don't even play this port so it shouldn't even be a problem I think. I'm just clarifying by this point, though. I really would like to hear your impressions of the game after you've played it if you get a chance anytime soon, by the way. And just one last thing to mention, if you're going to japan, don't bother with a japanese PS2 copy. Seriously. You'll probably actually be able to play the arcade version then, so why bother?

Affinity, same goes for you, I want to hear your opinion if you get to play it. Also, as Yggdrasil mentioned, it was like #1 on the top preordered games chart. There were HELLA preorders on this game, just because it sold well doesn't mean it's satisfying. Examu is HORRIBLE in terms of ripping off their customers. They said that this port is great. It's clearly not great, they're just covering for themselves. Don't just believe whatever their PR guy who can't say they screwed up or he'll get fired says.

I really don't like having to respond to every post you make with this, but I'm doing it again anyway: This port is NOT good, period. I don't care how much you want to play AH2, I don't care how much you like the story, I don't care how much you're ok with the slowdown because it makes the fights more dramatic, IT'S A BAD PORT. For it to be a good port it would have to at least mostly play like the arcade version. AHF for PS2 was a good port, for example; the only things affected were slight slowdown ONLY during 1 or 2 supers and a couple of glitches that you would practically never see in a real match anyway. The game at the core here is good, the port is the worst port of any arcade game I have ever seen. Stop trying to argue with factual differences between the two versions.

[affinity]

[QUOTE=Necrosis;114836]Callidin, I never told you to ban Akane, all I said is that she's a stupid character and that 2.6 fixes that.

no, even in 2.5, Akane is not an unfair character. She isn't broken like Boss Akuma in vanilla Super SF2Turbo. I've seen Akane lose matches in 2.5 vids, so some people are just
jealous that she's a higher tier than the others, Same with Duo Lon in I think KOF2003,
or KOFXI, they were so high tier, some considered him a soft ban character, but
anyways again, the casual consumers outnumber the competitive consumers, even
when it comes to fighting games. Akane still needs skill to win matches, and she isn't that huge of a advantage over other characters.

They said that this port is great. It's clearly not great, they're just covering for themselves. Don't just believe whatever their PR guy who can't say they screwed up or he'll get fired says.

There are imported who say its not great but there are importers who say it's not
unplayable, and the vids have proven its decent enough to have fun with. Some people are just more sensitive than others when it comes to
how close it matches to the arcade version.

This port is NOT good, period.

that's still just a forced opinion since you are ignoring those out there enjoying the port
right now.

I don't care how much you want to play AH2, I don't care how much you like the story, I don't care how much you're ok with the slowdown because it makes the fights more dramatic, IT'S A BAD PORT.

it's only a bad port based on your competitive standards. and you only care about yourself and not what the casuals feel who are not so nitpicky and negative.
You sounds like you don't want it localized, but you already decided you aren't gonna buy it, so why are you ranting about something you wouldn't buy, but others would buy?

the port is the worst port of any arcade game I have ever seen. Stop trying to argue with factual differences between the two versions.

stop being a Grinch, and there were really bad arcade ports (Virtua Fighter on Genesis).
and understand people who will still enjoy what's there and not
be troubled with some lag, S+ tier Akane, and long loading times. What's bad to someone might be good to someone else. You don't see it because you are occupied with how you planned to use the game for competition instead of casual fun.


Yggdrasil:
By the way is there any particular reason you just don't import this game yourself?

Why do you think people ask and thank Atlus for localizing games?

It saves people money from buying
mods or japanese ps2s. it allows them to enjoy the story text and win quotes without
looking for archived translations. and overall play the game without needing to mod and
import. and some don't like deliveries and prefer picking it up at the store.

if S!AH2 is localized here on ps2 I would buy it but
I'm just not that big of a spender to get involved with imports or swap magic. It's not as expensive as PC gaming, but importing is a pain for one game.

[SickleCellAnemia]

If this game sees the light of day over here, I'd buy it, but not if it's still this terrible port.

Also, I agree with everything Necrosis says.

[Necrosis]

I didn't have any of the things lying around the house for swap magic. I had to go out and buy a box of tissue and a roll of tape, and my swap magic cost $30. Imports tend to cost the same as games here, MAYBE a little bit more. Yeah, that's definitely some big spending!

No, Akane isn't broken like Akuma in ST. And no, she's not totally unbeatable. That doesn't mean she's not overpowered. Why should a character get to kill mine in 2 combos when I have to do 4 to kill her, and I have to take some effort to actually get the combo in while she can just do whatever she feels like and probably clash my move, win the clash battle for free, and get a huge combo in? Why should Akane's DP -> super deal more damage than some entire combos? You can't seriously be trying to justify Akane not being so bad she's bannable. If you saw Japanese videos of Akane losing, that's probably because for the most part, they upload matches that showcase unique tactics or low tier victory or whatever else to make the video interesting. In 2.5, "low tier victory" essentially means "a character that wasn't Akane won." How about considering that 2.5 Akane made many competitive players either switch to Akane or quit the game altogether? And by the way, Duo Lon in XI isn't even high tier, let alone a dominant top tier character. Bad example. He's really good in the right hands, sure, but he's not top.

How many times do I need to tell you that I am, to some degree, enjoying the port? I enjoy messing around with the characters, but I cannot play this game seriously right now. Once we get into serious play this game becomes a joke, and for ANY fighting game that is the kiss of death.

No, Affinity, you don't realize the meaning of "bad port." "Bad port" does not mean "this game is not fun at all and I hate it," it means "this game is not a good conversion of the arcade version." Don't even try to argue the facts on this one. The FACT that it's laggy alone is enough for it to be a bad port, but the FACT that it's outdated and the FACT that the graphics garble only for it to slow down anyway have to be considered as well. This port is FACTUALLY a very bad conversion of the arcade version. I don't think anyone besides you, even supporters of this port being released if that's what it has to be, would argue that it is a good port. What, do I need to define the word "fact" for you next?

Yeah, someone who isn't so competitive will DEFINITELY be happy that the game is laggy, has long load times, and that akane is broken. Maybe they play akane, then they have it really easy and can even win tournaments because she's so good, even though they don't really play it! It's ok that it has long load times, they can get up and go to the bathroom while they wait instead of having to take a real break. It's more fun for casual players who are just sitting at home playing their friends that way!

I'm honestly very frustrated with these forums' reception of the port. We're looking at the last hope for Arcana Heart in America to really thrive, Atlus releasing a better port, and what does this forum do? Say that they want it no matter what, it's ok if Atlus doesn't fix it at all, no matter how wrong that is for however many different reasons. I'm definitely not being very nice right now, but more than anything it's because I'm disappointed that you all aren't showing that the game needs to be fixed, you're just lying down and taking whatever crap Examu feeds you.

[Dan Druff]

Somewhere in the previous page, someone mentioned that the PS2 had a tougher time doing 2D, which reminded me of the same problem with the original PlayStation and why the Marvel games made by Capcom were so crippled. It also explained why Ketsui (a low-res shmup) couldn't be ported to the PS2. Also on the previous page was the mention of the original hardware being like that of a PC. A similar case was the American dancing arcade In the Groove, also running on PC-like hardware, being ported to the PS2 and not running as well as the arcade for the same reason Arcana Heart 2 was a bad port; the original hardware exceeded the capabilities of the PS2. I wonder if Arcana Heart 2 would have run better on the original Xbox if it was still alive?

Bad game and bad port are two different things. A bad game is subjective, but a bad port is unforgivable. A perfect example is Mana Khemia on the PSP. Whether you like Mana Khemia or not is your opinion, but everyone can agree that Mana Khemia was ported very badly on the PSP. At least those who would rather play a better version of Mana Khemia have an alternative (PS2), but no such alternative exists for Arcana Heart 2 other than a machine; bug Andamiro about that since they localized the machine. It's not fair for Atlus to have brought the first Arcana Heart over and fix the bugs only to request that the bugs not be fixed should Atlus acquire the sequel.

[Necrosis]

Andamiro actually only localized up to version 2.1, with hilarious engrishy translation and without advertising it at all, so they're probably only slightly more common than the Japanese board is here. In fact, since there are like 4 of those and I've only ever heard of one Andamiro cabinet, it may even be LESS common. Point is though, not even the Andamiro localization is a good alternative.

[affinity]

I'm honestly very frustrated with these forums' reception of the port. We're looking at the last hope for Arcana Heart in America to really thrive, Atlus releasing a better port, and what does this forum do? Say that they want it no matter what, it's ok if Atlus doesn't fix it at all, no matter how wrong that is for however many different reasons. I'm definitely not being very nice right now, but more than anything it's because I'm disappointed that you all aren't showing that the game needs to be fixed, you're just lying down and taking whatever crap Examu feeds you.


MEW MEW MEW!!! MEEEEEEEEEW!

Atlus can't fix it. Examu would have to do that. Atus only translates the port and makes it work on this region. they can't mess with the deeper technical aspects. That's why AH1 still had that Metal arcana glitch from the Japanese port.

People already demanded Examu to release a better port, but they won't, so you'd
rather not have the game come over here at all????????? That isn't gonna teach
Examu to do better, as long as they make money, they don't care. And Atlus can't
really do anything about it except bring it here as it is, unless they can convince Examu
to give them a better port, but that would cost serious money to convince them, AND
the game would still not sell a whole lot because of its theme. It's still an underground
favorite here in the west. No matter what it's not going to be as popular as the other fighting games people are playing, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't come on ps2.

But the bottom line, is that the game is still very playable and I would buy it and enjoy it
for the positive things it has. Of course it isn't for competitive-level consumers like yourself, but it would be a shame to just leave the game in Japan over such minor details.



bringing the port over here is more possible than Examu building a better port exclusively for Atlus and North America.

and MEEEEW! People are enjoying it right now! MEW MEW MEWWW!!!! >.<

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLHzFooanf8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dReFK9ALylc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-J_K_uKAEg

an email from someone I know also said that it's not tournament worthy, but
very playable and fun, and that's what counts. :)

and ya, importing is not expensive but I feel a game is incomplete if I can't enjoy the win quote translations and story text. Plus even though swap magic is like 30 bucks, the
game imported is about 60 bucks. I would be spending about 90 dollars just to play the
game with no english translations (except names), versus Atlus releasing this game over
here, fully translated, for about 40-50 dollars.

I would have never played AH1 if it wasn't for Atlus. the hope only rests on them now.
even as a limited release like SNKP did with its neogeo games, I would be sure to reserve and buy it. :)

[Yggdrasil]

What makes me sad is that when I first saw Arcana Heart I was really interested in it, but I didn't buy it and I couldn't find it for like almost a year. Once I got it I didn't play any other game for quite a while (except randomly KoFXI and GG:AC). So when I found out about AH2 I was very excited about it, this is number one on my list of fighting games slightly above GG. So I was really hoping that AH2 would get more interest in the series, which would incourage more unique fighters to get brought over seas ( i know one game doesn't really make a difference but with this, BlazBlue and KoFXII it's a good year for 2D fighters).

But instead we get this disappointment that will do nothing but destroy the chances of AH growing to be any more popular than it is if it got released like this here. So I really have to give Examu the one finger salute, and to those of you who really think Atlus should port this exact copy, it would really only be hurting any chance of future versions of this game coming over, if Examu even makes anymore after this debacle. By and By I know I've been contributing to it myself but this whole debate has been one side saying the exact same thing then the other side responding the exact same way over and over...

Meh, just fight for the revival of arcades stateside solves lots of these problems, Peace.

[Necrosis]

Affinity, I will remind you that the Atlus version of AH1 made the training mode health bars regenerate faster. They CAN change things. I don't know the extent to which they WOULD change things but they CAN change a game. I don't honestly remember what metal arcana glitch you're talking about, but since no one freaked out over it like they did with the Maori 2P whip homing glitch in AH2.5, I'm going to assume that it didn't affect the game in a big enough way for Atlus to fix it. If it was "if you pick the metal arcana the game crashes randomly" or something, I'm sure Atlus WOULD have fixed it.

And please, just stop with the "mew! mew! mew!" nonsense, all it does is hurt your credibility.

[affinity]

But instead we get this disappointment that will do nothing but destroy the chances of AH growing to be any more popular than it is if it got released like this here.


more popular? where? in people's private homes? sure. but look at the theme, western audiences for the most part don't even take all girls fighting games seriously.

So I really have to give Examu the one finger salute, and to those of you who really think Atlus should port this exact copy, it would really only be hurting any chance of future versions of this game coming over,

I dont think they are making another one for the 2-3 years. they are making another fighting game.


Meh, just fight for the revival of arcades stateside solves lots of these problems, Peace.

no arcades will never be revived in the west. consoles have surpassed and are fully capable of playing anything arcade games can play (well this current gen, not really ps2 gen.)

plus arcades are a very unfriendly atmosphere for the most part. the countless stories of rage gamers and fights and close calls, deaths, not to mention the total of hassle of leaving the house just to play an arcade game for an hour or two versus being able to play something all night without needing to worry about gasoline, traffic, and other issues.

consoles have really spared people a lot of money and time and headaches. not to mention even back in the day when arcades was the only way to play the top games,
not everyone had the luxury of finding one in their stores and malls.

the other thing is the atmosphere, all this noise from other games going on in an arcade, I really hated those times. but thankfully consoles have taken over and I have enjoyed the audio that would otherwise would not be as appreciated or noticed in an arcade.



so ya its a good thing arcades are not popular anymore.

[affinity]

Affinity, I will remind you that the Atlus version of AH1 made the training mode health bars regenerate faster. They CAN change things. I don't know the extent to which they WOULD change things but they CAN change a game. I don't honestly remember what metal arcana glitch you're talking about, but since no one freaked out over it like they did with the Maori 2P whip homing glitch in AH2.5, I'm going to assume that it didn't affect the game in a big enough way for Atlus to fix it. If it was "if you pick the metal arcana the game crashes randomly" or something, I'm sure Atlus WOULD have fixed it.

And please, just stop with the "mew! mew! mew!" nonsense, all it does is hurt your credibility.

no it doesn't hurt credibility, but it does hurt your closed-minded acceptance of different personalities from people.

Ya it sounds immature, but it's just funny you are ranting and not wanting this game to come over here,
when you only care about yourself and you would like other people to not play it at all when they would in fact enjoy the positive things about it and are not so nitpicky as to dump the whole thing just because it isn't arcade perfect and not the latest version.

and I heard the Maori whip homing glitch in 2.5 was fixed by Examu in the ps2 version.
wasn't that glitch only present in the arcade version?

well okay Atlus can change some stuff, but training health bar regeneration isn't as big a task as sprite compression and fixing the lag for those characters/moves.

if Atlus and/or Examu can improve the western release, that's good, but if a straight port is the only option, then so be it.

sometimes it's best to accept what we can get, like a day-old pizza that can be re-heated instead of throwing it away. it's still yummy.

[Purgeon]

Cant argue with the pizza analogy.

[Necrosis]

I won't argue with the pizza analogy, but I'll claim that your pizza analogy is wrong. It's like paying the delivery man for the pizza, then he leaves, and you open up your pizza to find out he took a dump on it and left a note on top of it that said "haha suckers" and deciding that you're ok with that and you SHOULDN'T call the pizza joint and complain.

I don't only care about myself as much as I care about the community. If I prioritized myself in this case, I would go spend the $2200 I'm raising to buy an arcade board for this game on something else. Maybe I'd go buy a 360 and every single game I want on the thing instead. Maybe I'd just save it up for something nicer/more important. No, I'm going to go buy a goddamn arcade board.

Maori whip was fixed in PS2, and apparently so was the poison character freezing, but in 2.5 those needed BADLY to be fixed, and then they were in 2.6. They were also incidentally the ONLY real gameplay changes made to the PS2 version (not counting lag/graphics/etc). Besides, how would you know what is and isn't hard in terms of programming? Don't just make stuff up because the change is more subtle. Graphics compression isn't even due to the programming.

And you, who has only played on your own as far as I can tell, and are not involved in any kind of community, have no right to say what the reaction to this port was. I will say this once more: I saw casual and hardcore players alike, players who liked and disliked the all-girl concept alike, players who are more into street fighter or who are more into guilty gear alike, all show serious interest and really get hype over this port, only to quit the game the moment they touched it. I won't say any more about that and I would ask that you stop claiming things that aren't true.

Lastly I'm gonna comment on "oh yeah it's a great thing arcades are dead!" You can just stop going down that path right now. If arcades weren't dead you wouldn't have to wait for a year and a half for a console port of a game that isn't even as good as the arcade version (and I'm NOT just talking about AH2 here). If arcades weren't dead, people would have a consistent, effective place to meet up and play games, instead of the way it's become go to someone's house unless they're busy then just do nothing that night or whatever. That one or two hours you left the house to play against other people is a better one or two hours than you would have had playing on your own, and in fact, you STILL have to leave the house now unless you're having people over, which is in some cases even worse in terms of gas/traffic/whatever. People physically hurting others because of an arcade game shouldn't happen, no, but the fact of the matter is that it's not the arcade's fault. Don't hold it against the arcade. Finally, as for sound, your arcade mustn't have been very good. Any important sounds coming from the game at any arcade I've ever been to, I was able to hear them. Maybe I can't hear every individual note in the music or something, but I can hear just fine. Either way, sound is hardly the most important aspect of a game. If sound really mattered that much there would be an actual Cheetahmen 2 fanbase, and I shouldn't have to explain why THAT would be wrong.

[SickleCellAnemia]

Uh-oh, someone used the pizza analogy! It's on like Michelle Kwan!

[affinity]

I won't argue with the pizza analogy, but I'll claim that your pizza analogy is wrong. It's like paying the delivery man for the pizza, then he leaves, and you open up your pizza to find out he took a dump on it and left a note on top of it that said "haha suckers" and deciding that you're ok with that and you SHOULDN'T call the pizza joint and complain.

no the dump example does not match the differences between arcade version and
port, otherwise LITERALLY no one would be playing the port. and the fact is, people are
playing the port. so it's not that bad.

THE CLOSEST EXAMPLE IS THAT YOU ORDERED A MUSHROOM PIZZA, BUT THEY GAVE
YOU A PINEAPPLE PIZZA INSTEAD. now that's a more accurate example of the port differences. the toppings are not how you wanted them, but it's still good. well I would eat a pineapple pizza. it's still the pizza, just the topping is not as good as mushroom pizza. but still decent.


I don't only care about myself as much as I care about the community. If I prioritized myself in this case, I would go spend the $2200 I'm raising to buy an arcade board for this game on something else. Maybe I'd go buy a 360 and every single game I want on the thing instead. Maybe I'd just save it up for something nicer/more important. No, I'm going to go buy a goddamn arcade board.

community? it's a console port with no online play, how can you expect a true community that can't even interact competitively? oh sure, a message board that talks
about a fighting game, that sure is one useful community. besides questions and answers, communities that can't play with each other doesn't really have much use. :p



And you, who has only played on your own as far as I can tell, and are not involved in any kind of community, have no right to say what the reaction to this port was. I will say this once more: I saw casual and hardcore players alike, players who liked and disliked the all-girl concept alike, players who are more into street fighter or who are more into guilty gear alike, all show serious interest and really get hype over this port, only to quit the game the moment they touched it. I won't say any more about that and I would ask that you stop claiming things that aren't true.

I play HD Remix on x360. I know the real communities that actually play fighting games
together. It's just that a fighting game with no online play has no benefit in some
community except more typing at some AH board instead of playing the game. that's
why I just play AH1 and would play AH2 at a casual level. there's no sense in a
community since I don't have people come over to play. and just talking about it to other people instead of playing it doesn't really help besides combo/character/boss advice.

oh yeah there are people who know people and they go to someplace to play together. but that's only a small fraction of the gaming population in general.

. If arcades ....blah blah blah

I'm referring to western arcades, not Japanese arcades, of course Japanese arcades are
needed for these games to exist pretty much. But I'm sure they would get a next-gen
console port if there were no arcades left in the world, plus technology is getting better
for online fighting games, so arcades are not so needed to meet and battle.

if you have the luxury of a good arcade, then that's nice. but not all have that kind of
resource, so console ports are the way to go. But either way, arcades do not have the comfort and advantages consoles do. That fact will never change.

It's really just bad decisions on Examu and Sony's part. Sony for allowing more games to be developed on the outdated PS2. and Examu for choosing PS2 instead of next-gen consoles to port the game at its full potential. if Sony blocked developers from making games for ps2, that would have definitely convinced them to make it for ps3/xbox360.
but Examu is already familiar with ps2 so they took the easy way out instead of learning
from what Arc Systems did with Blazblue, releasing it on next(current)-gen consoles, with online play.

but back to the case at hand. it's already ported, they won't port it again unless another publisher picks it up and releases it on current consoles. fat chance of that. so it's up to Atlus whether or not it'll come over here. I wouldn't want Atlus to risk everything just to bring this game over here 100% fixed yet low sales regardless. we're dealing with a game that can never reach more than cult status here in the west. so regardless of fixed or straight port, its popularity level is already decided.

[Necrosis]

No, this port is like the crap-pizza. Maybe if you'd said "if I wanted a pizza with mushrooms on it and they gave me an anchovies pizza and I hate anchovies," but you're saying "well this pizza is ok too." Actually, let's try crap-pizza again. Picture if that happened, except it was accidentally dropped out of a helicopter onto a desert island that you're stranded on, without any food. Do you have any other choice but to eat it? Nope, dig in!

Playing online will NEVER, I repeat, NEVER be a replacement for playing someone in person. You obviously don't realize the meaning of the word "community" if you honestly think that HD remix online represents "knowing a real community that plays fighting games together." You said it yourself, arcades are dead, the console port is our only option. Just the fact that it doesn't have online play doesn't mean no one would play it together, it just means YOU won't play it seriously because you don't know what a real community IS.

I won't argue that the decision to release it on PS2 was a bad one, but it's not sony's fault, it's ENTIRELY Examu's fault that it's on PS2. It's also Ecole's fault that the game doesn't run well on the PS2. The game could have been reworked to run better than it does, but ecole is terrible.

Even if the game would definitely have low popularity, it'll get even lower with this port. How many times do I need to say this before you acknowledge it?

I would really, REALLY like if this would at least go anywhere instead of back and forth, same points, same counterpoints. Care to actually try to counterpoint me in a way that actually sparks discussion, thoughts, etc?

[affinity]

no crap pizza doesn't match the port description. like I said, it's like a normal pizza topping not everyone likes or expected (not everyone like pepperoni, etc.),

oh ya sure, so you know what a real community is, based on the real people you meet
and play fighting games with locally? or if that's not what you mean, why don't you
explain it, mr. smartpants.

so what if it gets lower popularity? Vagrant Story is one of the least popular and known
games (well people know the name but never bothered to play it), and it's still a great
game, even if few played it. Suggoi Arcana Heart 2 has ZERO chance of any popularity in the west if its localization doesn't exist.

The port is playable and decent enough for those without high standards or planning
on using it for competitive purposes. Not everyone has a "community" like yours. And
communities will always be in the minority compared to the masses that just play games for fun, and yes the majority often if not always play them alone, unless it has online play, but that doesn't mean they are less important than the hardcore gamers.


and this conversation really can't go anywhere because you are already made up your opinion about the port, and others who have imported the game and still play it for fun, have made up theirs and one of them emailed me at how silly your argument is. You
are only seeing it from a hardcore/community perspective, not from a casual gaming perspective. I've seen ports far worse than this and this game is playable compared to those ports that are just plain unplayable. It's like you're trying to convince people
to not buy it even if Atlus localizes it.

This subject will go nowhere unless Atlus confirms whether or not they'll localize the port. They haven't said anything either way, so if there is no news in 6-7 months then
it's probably not in the plans. cause after AH1 came out in Japan ps2, Atlus was already in the process of releasing it 6-7 months afterwards. well its an estimate, but
yea they probably can't say anything about it, so either they might be trying to fix it
or something, or they are waiting to see if Examu makes another port (which is unlikely).


Examu is now focused on Daemon Bride.....so I guess we'll have to wait an extra year
to see if they'll ever make an Arcana Heart 3. Arcana Heart really saved their behind
from going bankrupt, so I think they might continue it past a sequel.
it's a shame though, cause AH2's story and the fun interactions at that period would be skipped in the west.

[Callidin]

Ah long time no argue. I'm working on being able to play AH2 right now so we should soon see the results and I will post my impressions. I will point out good and bad after I have played with every single character. Even a Petra vs. Petra battle to send the lag to it's highest state of laggyness. I have high hopes and bad feeling both right now but we shall see. As for playing the arcade version...yeah right, the arcades around here are practically bankrupt, no chance of an AH2 board. :D

[Necrosis]

First and foremost, let me say this: If Atlus DOES localize this EXACT port, I will be trying to convince people that it is not worth their money. I am completely serious about this. I even bought two copies of AH1. I'm ok with throwing money out there on something I won't use too much to support something I like. This, though, is just not worth it.

Community isn't just "play games with people." There's a social aspect, organization, discussion, etc. in a community as well. People who get together locally to play games do have community, whereas playing random people online is barely a community if at all. I don't see how I should have to explain this to someone who is on multiple community forums.

You keep saying "well this game won't be popular period," and say that it's ok if the popularity is even worse than it would be if this port was actually good. Let's not even get started on how much you're assuming. If this game comes out here, and gets the inevitable horrible scores and horrible word of mouth that it SHOULD get, it'll very likely become well-known, but as a bad game. How do you think that would affect AH3's chances here? There's no way this exact port WOULDN'T hurt AH3's chances. You say it has zero chance of being popular without a port? Well, I say it has negative chances of being popular WITH a port.

I honestly think that from the very FACT of "I have played this game and you have not," you've already lost any argument in discussing how playable the game is. All you can do is say "I saw people playing the game and having fun, therefore it is good." If you seriously want to try to debate with me that if someone can enjoy it then it is a good game, then I kindly invite you to go play Shaq-fu. I saw videos of people enjoying Shaq-fu therefore Shaq-fu was a good game!

Lastly, just to let you know, Examu is focusing on Daemon Bride, but they said that they definitely want to make AH3. Provided Daemon Bride doesn't tank so hard that it bankrupts Examu I'm sure we'll see AH3 sometime.

[Necrosis]

Ah long time no argue. I'm working on being able to play AH2 right now so we should soon see the results and I will post my impressions. I will point out good and bad after I have played with every single character. Even a Petra vs. Petra battle to send the lag to it's highest state of laggyness. I have high hopes and bad feeling both right now but we shall see. As for playing the arcade version...yeah right, the arcades around here are practically bankrupt, no chance of an AH2 board. :D

In Japan? Because that was what I was referring to. In Japan, go play on an arcade board and see how that is. The problem for both of us with posting impressions of the port in terms of lagginess, is that neither of us has really spent much (in my case, any in yours) time on the arcade version, though. It's hard to say for either of us EXACTLY how bad it is. I can tell from my small experience with the arcade version combined with intensive video studying that it's bad. I don't know how much of that you've done. Whatever though, post them up and we'll see. As for what to expect, for about 2/3 of the cast nothing is HORRIBLE, but the remaining 1/3 of the cast has at least something, not to mention arcana moves.

Petra v Petra isn't even the absolute laggiest by the way, because Petra's attacks are what causes her lag more than anything. The laggiest I have ever seen this game get is one Halo Catherine and one Halo Petra, both burst then Petra does a combo into super. I'd also say to try out the Halo arcana force, but I don't know how long that's actually supposed to take because no one uses the arcana and most arcana forces are really rare, especially when no one plays the arcana.

I'm double posting because I want to keep my post to affinity and my post to callidin separate. They're pretty different.

[Callidin]

Ah so Halo Petra vs. Halo Catherine, I'll give it a go with the using the arcana force. Good suggestion. Your right about my time with teh arcade version. None. So it is hard to view spec on spec but I can at least give my thoughts on the PS2 version now and when I go over to Japan I could try out the arcade version. Problem being my trip is going to be next year when we will have basically forgotten this dicussion anyway.

Yeah our post types are very different. Anywho let you know what I think. Chao.

[affinity]

First and foremost, let me say this: If Atlus DOES localize this EXACT port, I will be trying to convince people that it is not worth their money. I am completely serious about this. I even bought two copies of AH1. I'm ok with throwing money out there on something I won't use too much to support something I like. This, though, is just not worth it.

its only not worth it to people who think like you. :p

Community isn't just "play games with people." There's a social aspect, organization, discussion, etc. in a community as well. People who get together locally to play games do have community, whereas playing random people online is barely a community if at all. I don't see how I should have to explain this to someone who is on multiple community forums.

well people can see communities differently

You keep saying "well this game won't be popular period," and say that it's ok if the popularity is even worse than it would be if this port was actually good. Let's not even get started on how much you're assuming. If this game comes out here, and gets the inevitable horrible scores and horrible word of mouth that it SHOULD get, it'll very likely become well-known, but as a bad game. How do you think that would affect AH3's chances here? There's no way this exact port WOULDN'T hurt AH3's chances. You say it has zero chance of being popular without a port? Well, I say it has negative chances of being popular WITH a port.

I'm not thinking about AH3 now. for all we know, Examu might pull a samurai shodown 3
and removing some favorites while adding new ones, totally splitting the fanbase, with some preferring S!AH2. its too early to determine if AH3 will be worth the wait. and Examu might still release it on ps2, which would upset your community yet again.

I honestly think that from the very FACT of "I have played this game and you have not," you've already lost any argument in discussing how playable the game is.

I already said I talked to other people who imported it and some like it and some don't like it, but the ones that like it have proven that the port is playable and fun at a casual level. But here you are, acting like your opinions are absolute facts when you only embrace the negative aspects of the port.

All you can do is say "I saw people playing the game and having fun, therefore it is good." If you seriously want to try to debate with me that if someone can enjoy it then it is a good game, then I kindly invite you to go play Shaq-fu. I saw videos of people enjoying Shaq-fu therefore Shaq-fu was a good game!

I played Shaq-Fu, it wasn't my cup of tea but it had its moments.

Lastly, just to let you know, Examu is focusing on Daemon Bride, but they said that they definitely want to make AH3. Provided Daemon Bride doesn't tank so hard that it bankrupts Examu I'm sure we'll see AH3 sometime.

yeah, maybe in 2011. by then, I would have already played FinalFantasyXIII 50 times :p

[growlanservoter]

Back on track is it eve posible to fix the bugs and lag. having n admins opinion wold be awsome. :) On the up hand I imported this and I have to say the lag is bad for ome characters but for casual play it is ok it has its moments but I really wouldn't reccomend it to anyone in its current state. AH2 is really frustrating at times.

[Necrosis]

Ok, I just went out and played the game in matches for a bunch of hours, with the worst results I have EVER had playing the game.

We had, multiple times throughout the night, a normal mid-match situation where a Magnet Clarice player used their burst, landed, threw the opponent (Steel Kira), and used the space created by the throw to activate the Magnet arcana force. One time, though, during the super freeze, everything except the background froze as it was.

Shortly after this I suggested that we start recording videos, so within the next couple of weeks I should have videos up of myself playing Love Nazuna against a Time/Poison Dorothy player. This matchup lags to ALL hell, with Nazuna already being a laggy character and Dorothy's cards cluttering up the screen and making any already existing lag MUCH worse. At a few points, the game dropped to what must have been lower than 75% speed as I was trying to do Nazuna's re-launch combos. It's RIDICULOUS. You'll get to see these eventually, like I said, as soon as I get them from the guy who owns the camera.

Near the end of recording Nazuna vs Dorothy matches we got ANOTHER game-stopping glitch, wherein I did a random combo involving Nazuna's dp+C's second hit as a crossup, followed by her bird and wolf auto-combo super.The bird hit, the wolf threw Nazuna to the ground, rushed into my opponent, went offscreen briefly... and never came back. Nazuna got frozen in place on the ground, the bird just went about its business, and Dorothy was left unable to hit Nazuna at all. We let the game time up just to see if it would somehow fix itself, but it just left them frozen after the "time up" announcement.

Then, just to showcase how bad it can get with Halo Catherine vs Halo Petra with both having used their burst, we ran a few matches of that. These got pretty bad, but whatever that was the point.

I have two things to mention about this, they are as follows.

I had NEVER, until today, seen the game outright freeze up like that. We then did it twice without even trying to within one hour. It might even have been within HALF an hour, it really didn't take long at all. I would say that simple occurences like "used an arcana force" crashing the game are a pretty big problem, so it's worth mentioning. We even discussed a little about what to do if this ever happened in a tournament. Do we run back the entire match? Do we run a 1-round sudden death? Do we just assume whoever had the life advantage won the round and go from there? How do we deal with this? In the case of that Nazuna freeze, we had actually been almost completely even. We each had one round and the super would have either killed him or very nearly killed him, and I was heavily up on life anyway. We agreed afterward that if that had been a tournament match, we would both have been pretty angry.

Second, I HAD FUN. I know, unbelievable that I can have fun with the game and enjoy it even though it was crashing and lagging to a point where I couldn't do the proper combos worth a damn.

[VMan]

Back on track is it eve posible to fix the bugs and lag.

I would also really like to know how much are these issues simply the result of the PS2 hardware not being suitable for the game's demands and how much has to do with poor optimization. I'd think therein lies the answer to your question.

[affinity]

you are too combo crazy, that's your problem. :p and maybe negative karma messed up your disk. :p

[growlanservoter]

You are absolutely right Vman thanks for clarifying :)

[aokmaniac13]

Back on track is it eve posible to fix the bugs and lag.

I would also really like to know how much are these issues simply the result of the PS2 hardware not being suitable for the game's demands and how much has to do with poor optimization. I'd think therein lies the answer to your question.

It's a little of both, really.

[Necrosis]

you are too combo crazy, that's your problem. :p and maybe negative karma messed up your disk. :p

Yeah, it's my fault for trying to take advantage of my one of my character's best attributes. Clearly.

And no, my disc is fine, as is my PS2, not like that would be a legitimate reason for any of the crashing or lagging.

I can't wait to see you try to tell me that these videos are "not too bad" and totally playable, because the lag makes me dropping a combo due to the lag more dramatic.

[affinity]

I'm done with this topic. Atlus has been aware of this game so it's up to them whether or not they'll bring it over. fixed or not fixed I would still buy it.

anyways The King of Fighters XII in releasing in a couple of weeks (early July), so I'll be playing that online when it releases. :)

[SteelHearts]

I'm done with this topic. Atlus has been aware of this game so it's up to them whether or not they'll bring it over. fixed or not fixed I would still buy it.

anyways The King of Fighters XII in releasing in a couple of weeks (early July), so I'll be playing that online when it releases. :)

Same here...I will also buy this game regardless, with 2 others that I know. I think Atlus should just say yes and fix the game with they're uber powers. As for King of Fighters I think it releases on the day before my B-day, The perfect gift. If atlus does say yes then that'll make a great perfect gift too! :)

[Yggdrasil]

"Mere sheep led to the slaughter." Heh.

Anyways I can see that more people have gotten to the more inportant issue of what to do about the problems with the game, if anyone finds out something I'll be glad to hear about it, I'd also relly like to hear an opinion on this port from someone at Atlus.

Also I will never except online play as a suitable from of comptetition for most games especially fighters. To many things can go wrong online to feel that it's completely neutral field skill level aside. Arcades are the way of the fighter they always have been. I think people have gotten away from it, out of laziness in my opinion. I think that a "true" player would rather go out and met there opponents and learn from them. People online also tend to be immature and rude, whereas in arcades they're more likely to be a bit more mellow. But that's just what I have to say not for everyone. My arcade that I beleive in is a card shop for Magic, but it's in an old garage so it's big and has tables and TV's for game and now arcade machines, I run tournaments on the tv's or on the machines now, but I think a modern arcade should ave bouth machines and consoles avaible so it's a mix for people who like which ever on. Arcades will never become popular again if everyone is pessimistic about it, you have to work towards a goal. Anyways, Peace.

Hope you enjoy Japan Callidan, which part you heading to? Oh and is that Rena from Higurashi as your avatar?

[SteelHearts]

"Mere sheep led to the slaughter." Heh.

Anyways I can see that more people have gotten to the more inportant issue of what to do about the problems with the game, if anyone finds out something I'll be glad to hear about it, I'd also relly like to hear an opinion on this port from someone at Atlus.

Also I will never except online play as a suitable from of comptetition for most games especially fighters. To many things can go wrong online to feel that it's completely neutral field skill level aside. Arcades are the way of the fighter they always have been. I think people have gotten away from it, out of laziness in my opinion. I think that a "true" player would rather go out and met there opponents and learn from them. People online also tend to be immature and rude, whereas in arcades they're more likely to be a bit more mellow. But that's just what I have to say not for everyone. My arcade that I beleive in is a card shop for Magic, but it's in an old garage so it's big and has tables and TV's for game and now arcade machines, I run tournaments on the tv's or on the machines now, but I think a modern arcade should ave bouth machines and consoles avaible so it's a mix for people who like which ever on. Arcades will never become popular again if everyone is pessimistic about it, you have to work towards a goal. Anyways, Peace.

Hope you enjoy Japan Callidan, which part you heading to? Oh and is that Rena from Higurashi as your avatar?


I get where you are coming from. Playing online is pretty much a headache for me at times most of my losses came from lag or some other problem to the point I nvr wanna play them again. Sadly I don't have the luxory of playing in arcades(none around). Online play isn't for everyone, but it works for folk that don't have arcades in the area or a real-life gaming community(like me). I just can't afford to travel that's all, if i could I would be all over going. Online play isn't a reason for me to buy a game it's just adding more icing to the cake. Online play is NOT the best for competition, but it's better than nothing. I will still buy Arcana Heart 2 online or not..but honestly I think they're gonna scrap the whole online idea. Anyway I like how u made your arcade optional between Consle and Machine, I like variety, that and I suck with arcade sticks

[Callidin]

Hope you enjoy Japan Callidan, which part you heading to? Oh and is that Rena from Higurashi as your avatar?

I think I will enjoy i greatly. As for where, it's through a study abroad at my college and they are still hammering out the details. I am assuming the normal tourist spots but my Japanese teacher might also take us somewhere "hidden" from most travelers.

As for 2 it is indeed Rena from Higurashi. If I were forced to pick a favorite anime/manga/visual story it would be Higurashi.

[IceCold_Assassin]

I love Higurashi. :lovefirefox: Havent played the visual novel but ive heard its great.

[Yggdrasil]

I saw a click from that anime in AMV Hell and really wanted to see the actual thing and once I did it immediately went to #1 on my list of favorites.

I suck with arcade sticks too but I'm working on that. It's not my arcade/store by the way I'm just there alot and supportive of the store and it's movement into housing arcade machines.

[Dragon God]

I just know I'll be flamed for my opinion...

Personally, given that it is highly unlikely that Examu will give it a nother shot at porting, I'd be perfectly fine to see this reach the US.

So.... yeah.

[affinity]

I just know I'll be flamed for my opinion...

Personally, given that it is highly unlikely that Examu will give it a nother shot at porting, I'd be perfectly fine to see this reach the US.

So.... yeah.

ah just ignore the flamers. even some critics admit it's fun and playable port, just not how the pros expect it.

[Dragon God]

I just know I'll be flamed for my opinion...

Personally, given that it is highly unlikely that Examu will give it a nother shot at porting, I'd be perfectly fine to see this reach the US.

So.... yeah.

ah just ignore the flamers. even some critics admit it's fun and playable port, just not how the pros expect it.

Thanks... I just hope Atlus will be willing.

[Yggdrasil]

To be fair I don't care that you want it brought over I care that you didn't get that it's a bad bad bad port. I mean if Atlus ports it as is they will if they don't they don't. Obviously they'll be able to make some money out of it, but if they port this exact game I'm not buying it because I already have it and there's no benifit of buying a new one, I mean I can understand most of Japanese in the movelists and character quotes so whatever.

PS, I just found out today that there was a live action Higurashi movie, got to find it a nd watch it now, dont care how bad it is.

[Dragon God]

Eh, I understand. All I'm saying is that I fear the port's quality may prevent Atlus from trying. Worse news? I can't mod my PS3 (Region free for PS3 games only, sadly) without risking loss of PSN access.

And I never saw that movie. Tell me how it is!

[affinity]

aw I really wanted to see the story and character interactions in this sequel. the first one was so cute and funny. ^^;

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=videos&search_query=arcana+heart+2&search_sort=video_date_uploaded

[Dragon God]

aw I really wanted to see the story and character interactions in this sequel. the first one was so cute and funny. ^^;

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=videos&search_query=arcana+heart+2&search_sort=video_date_uploaded

I'm not gonna quite give up yet. I usually wait a year when it comes to games like this before I attempt to import. I'm just hoping atlus is willing.

And yeah, my favorite interactions had to be anyone with Heart. Just because they would usually end up inducing laughter due to her ditziness.

[affinity]

definitely!

Fiona: *drag drag drag* "We love visitors! please come again!" *throw*

:D

[Dragon God]

But yeah, don't give up. Like I said, I'll give it a year to be sorted out before making my decision. After all, a home version is the only way I can possibly play it, given that we have no arcades here. That, and I lack a Japanese PS2.

[Yggdrasil]

definitely!

Fiona: *drag drag drag* "We love visitors! please come again!" *throw*

:D

I was going to say that was my favorite line from the story mode on the first game. And every thing that came out of Leisolette's mouth was hilarious.

[Dragon God]

definitely!

Fiona: *drag drag drag* "We love visitors! please come again!" *throw*

:D

I was going to say that was my favorite line from the story mode on the first game. And every thing that came out of Leisolette's mouth was hilarious.

I agree with that statement highly.

[Zacewing]

So I played this for a bit at Anime North this past weekend...

I support this game. :D

[Dragon God]

Thanks =p. It truly is a gem amongst fighting games, I must say. The AI doesn't feel like it cheats either.

[Yggdrasil]

AI always felt a bit turtlely (?) to me on the first one atleast this one not as much but I'd rather not compare the two, heh.

[affinity]

new video! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5pdXR8vC1Q

[Dragon God]

AI always felt a bit turtlely (?) to me on the first one atleast this one not as much but I'd rather not compare the two, heh.

Yeah, it kinda did. It just didn't feel as berserk as SF AI, which is good for me.

And nice combo video of Elsa affinity. Love the Order of Ecclesia Music, fits AH well.

[Zacewing]

The loading times are awful.

EDIT: Also, if Atlus brings it over, they should keep everything the JP version has (i.e. voiced story sequences, prebattle and victory sequences), and they should make English voiceovers.

Cause it seems as if Atlus half-assed the localization of the first one.

[affinity]

The loading times are awful.

EDIT: Also, if Atlus brings it over, they should keep everything the JP version has (i.e. voiced story sequences, prebattle and victory sequences), and they should make English voiceovers.

Cause it seems as if Atlus half-assed the localization of the first one.

that's a very rude thing to say.

first of all, the story sequences were better without Japanese voice overs. unless you know Japanese, it's hard to tell when they stop talking so you can press a button to move on to the next block of text without interrupting them. without voiceovers, it helps people read the dialogue at their own pace better.

second of all, the english port of AH1 already had Japanese voiceovers for prebattle and
victory animations.

third of all, English voiceovers would be very costly to hire people to do the voices, when the majority of otakus and stuff will just stick to the Japanese voice anyway.
and especially expecting such a silly thing as english voices when AH1 didn't even sell well to begin with, we would be lucky to even get a straight localization of the Japanese version of Suggoi Arcana Heart 2 at all (with text translated of course).