Battle Princess of Arcadias

Game Info

Side-scrolling beat-em-ups have been around since the early NES days.  Nowadays developers like to add RPG elements to these games for even more variety and things to do.  The latest game to try this formula is Battle Princess of Arcadias.  Its a recent release as a PSN exclusive on the PS3 in North America and Europe and does some good things and bad things in its implementation.

Battle Princess of Arcadias tells the story of a kingdom being overrun by monsters that sends out their battle princess to stop them.  The king is also a duck.  I don’t get it either (never change Japan).  The narrative is told with Japanese audio dialog and English text boxes, so be prepared to read a lot.  The cut-scenes seem to go on a really long time too, which kills your momentum a lot of the time.

The combat comes in three different flavors.  First, there’s your run left-to-right and kill all the monsters that appear in front of you stages.  These make up the bulk of the action.  You can choose up to three party members for each stage gaining experience and honor among those who fight together.  While going through these stages, you only control one of your party at a time, with the occasional automated assist from one of the other party members.  You can also switch to any of the other characters at any time during the battle.  Each character has a unique weapon and move set, so you can switch it up to take advantage of monster weaknesses at a moments notice.  These battles can be fun to go through and get high combos, along with the XP and gold that comes from completing them.  But when the game demands you to grind a lot to progress, they start to lose their luster.

The second combat stage type is single boss fights.  With these, you again gather together three heroes, but this time you get to bring along a small army of CPU-controlled soldiers as you band together to take on a giant boss creature.  You have access to commands that make your army play defense, offense, or a mix of the two.  The mechanics are interesting in that you need to destroy a shield before you can inflict damage and then try to stun them to unleash a super powerful attack.  It takes some getting used to when trying to command your troops, especially in the heat of battle.  Multiple times I found myself losing a ton of health while trying to find the right command in an on-screen sub-menu because it’s all done during the fight.  It is pretty satisfying taking down these giant beasts though.

The final stage type is skirmishes that see you lead three different armies against the armies of the computer.  There’s a little bit of a rock-paper-scissors element to these fights, as one class of troops has strengths and weaknesses against the corresponding troops of the computer.  Before each fight, you’ll get to see what your enemy looks like and then can decide who you will send out against them.  Once in battle, you can again control your troops to attack more or defend more while using your main characters to directly attack the enemy’s leaders and minions.  It’s a little overwhelming trying to navigate through these fights, especially when trying to make command decisions while also trying not to get sworded to death.

After the battles you can return to your town base to buy upgrades for your swords, armor and skirmish troops.  You can also upgrade individual weapons using other items you find in battle.  There are so many options available when upgrading that your head will start spinning trying to figure out which way to go.  So if you like variety in your weapons then you are all set.  I can see where some casual players would get turned off from the sheer amount of options available.

You’ll probably have plenty of gold available for things because you have to grind grind grind grind grind (and grind some more) to make it anywhere in this game.  After completing the first level, I had to play that same level over and over in order to be strong enough to take on the first boss stage.  I’m all for having to work to get more powerful but you shouldn’t have to play the first stage on repeat for an hour or two just to be able to move to the second stage.  Once I finally beat that first boss in stage two, I had to grind a ton more to be able to finish the first skirmish.  After finally getting past that first boss and first skirmish, the next handful of stages are breezed through, until you reach another skirmish that requires another few hours of grinding.  Pacing is definitely weird and can destroy a player’s motivation.

Since you have to go through these stages a lot, they should be at least fun to look at and they are.  The art style is very Japanese and looks gorgeous all around.  The backdrops and bosses are the things that stand out for me.  Everything is very colorful and a treat for the eyes.  The music is pretty good too.  Lots of repeatable, hummable tunes that you’ll get to know very well when you play the stages over and over (and over) again.  Again, the entire spoken dialog is in Japanese, so if that’s not your bag, you may get turned off quite easily.

THE RECOMMENDATION

I like the concept behind Battle Princess of Arcadia.  I like beating up monsters.  I like all the weapon and gear and character options available.  I like the pretty graphics and sound.  I like getting more powerful as I go on.  I do not like the poor pacing that is created from having to grind so much just to move ahead in the story.  This game is worth checking out but just know what you’re getting into and be prepared for a long journey.