Arcana Heart

**Release(s)** | **Arcade**September 23, 2005March 9, 2006 (FULL! Update)**PlayStation 2**JP October 12, 2006NA April 11, 2007

**Arcana Heart** is the first entry in the *Arcana Heart* series. It was originally released in September 23rd, 2005 for Arcade, then later ported to the PlayStation 2 on October 12th, 2006 in Japan. It was later released in North America on April 11th, 2007.

The game would receive an manga adaptation from 2008 to 2009.

## Story

*In ancient time, the Elemental world and our world were joined. No one knows why or when, but at some point in the past, they split. Now we live in our world, and the Arcana live in theirs. Behind the scenes, the Ministry of Elemental Affairs (MEA) has been working to protect the boundary between the worlds, for they know if the worlds ever merged into one again, the results would be disastrous for humanity.

Now, in the skies over Tokyo, a dimensional rift is beginning to form, and the boundary between the worlds is in danger. Humanity's only hope rests with the Maidens, young girls who can communicate with the Arcana. What awaits these Maidens in the skies above...?*

## Characters

The game features a cast of colorful girls representing various *moe* archetypes. Upon starting the game, the player(s) is given 30 seconds to choose one, along with 20 seconds to choose an elemental Arcana.

### Playable Characters

* Heart Aino - Partinias
* Saki Tsuzura - Bharni
* Kamui Tokinomiya - Anutpada
* Konoha - Moriomoto
* Maori Kasuga - Ohtsuchi
* Mei-Fang - Lang-Gong
* Lilica Felchenrow - Tempestas
* Lieselotte Achenbach - Gier
* Yoriko Yasuzumi - Dieu Mort
* Kira Daidouji - Niptra
* Fiona Mayfield - Oreichalkos †

### Boss

* Mildred Avallone

† - Final Boss in Arcade Mode

## Features

### Main Menu

* Story Mode
* Arcade Mode
* Versus Mode
* Training Mode
* Gallery Mode
* Options

### Options Menu

* Difficulty
	+ 1-8 (1 = Lowest, 8 = Highest)
* VS Matches
	+ 1-5
* CPU Matches
	+ 1-5/1-5
* Time Limit
	+ 60/90/Infinity
* Output
	+ Stereo/Mono
* Music
* Sounds
* Voices
* Interface
* Controllers
* Save/Load
	+ Save
	+ Load
	+ Auto Save
* Default

## Updates and Patches

### *Arcana Heart FULL!*

A patch introduced early on for the Arcade version on March 9th, 2006. It fixed a variety of issues, including toning down overly-powered characters, increasing the strength of the weaker, etc. However, controversially, the Patch had been priced in comparison to other games, which released patch updates for free.

### Console

The PlayStation 2 released version of the game was affected by this patch. It allowed players the option of playing characters in the 'original' or 'full' format of the Arcade version. Voice acting was also presented in the story-mode segments.

## Trivia

* When the game was released outside of Japan, the Japanese voices were kept for gameplay but removed from the victory screens and story segments, likely due to Sony Interactive Entertainment's (previously known as Sony Computer Entertainment) US policy against games without English dubs at the time.

## Video

Arcana Heart - Trailer (japanese)Atlus USA Trailer- Arcana HeartArcana Heart Opening and All Characters -PS2-Arcana Heart Japanese PV