What could be better than fighting against a female character in a classic 2D beat'em up game? Fighting against 11 beautiful female fighters, Arcana Heart's developers, Atlus, say. And they might be right... but they don't quite manage to implement that "beautiful" part, in my humble opinion. Still, this PlayStation 2 exclusive might compensate with a back-to-the-basics scheme: fast-paced gameplay and crazy combos.

I really admire the honesty of the game developers or publishers, and Atlus seems to be the most honest one that I've ever seen, since their official press release states that they are "responsible for some of the best games you've never played." Yes, that was really funny, even though I *might* have played Odin Sphere for a while (or was it Etrian?). Never mind... let's get back to our sexy fighters from Arcana Heart.

This game's beauties will make your jaw drop (more likely with their fists) starting April 8th, 2008, so you'd better get prepared. Because the story is as interesting as it could be in a fighting game: beyond our world, a strange world of the Elemental beings exists - the Arcana. Only the "Maidens" are able to communicate with them and, in exchange, these mighty spirits offer them (among some other naughtier things, probably), their abilities. What follows is a Mortal Kombat-like story: a mysterious person wants to merge these two worlds and bring peril to our world, so the Maidens rise and start the fight.

UNLOCKABLES

Extra menu

Defeat Mildred with all characters and get the good ending.

Alternate ending

Defeat Mildred before time runs out in the last battle if the timer is running. Note: Do not win by having more life than her (with the timer on).

Bonus picture

Play a character ten times to unlock her bonus information with picture.

Here is some gameplay footage: