Battle Princess of Arcadias (PS3)

PRINCESS_BOXThe Kingdom of Arcadias was being ravaged by warring armies, until one day the princess of the land took up the sword and led her people to victory.  From then on she was known as the Battle Princess.  Now the kingdom is being plagued again by opposing armies, and they’ve unleashed new living weapon monsters, too!  And what’s worse, the king of the land has been turned into a talking goose!  So now once again the Battle Princess must take up arms and lead her people to triumph in this download-only 2-D side-scrolling action game for PS3.

You’d think with a name like Battle Princess, the main character of this game would look all strong and tough.  But nope, every character in this game looks like they belong in a Strawberry Shortcake cartoon.  But that’s OK, it’s part of the game’s anime inspired charm.  There are three main gameplay modes: 2-D action stages, boss sieges, and skirmishes.

The 2-D action stages are the most fun.  You run and jump left to right while slashing enemies with your sword.  You can also use items on the fly like healing potions, or press the shoulder buttons to switch characters.  The friends and allies you make during the game can join your three-person party in battles, and you can switch to them when your energy runs low or if you need to use their special weapon skills like archery or magic.

Sometimes you’ll have to defeat a huge monster in the boss siege stages.  You control your characters similar to the 2-D action stages, but you won’t be able to defeat these behemoths on your own.  But here you also have command over an army, and dish out orders via a menu similar to the one you fiddle with to use items.  So you can give orders for them to defend and attack when the time is right.  Whittle down the monster’s shield and wail on them when their defenses break.  But be careful as the monsters pack a punch and can defeat a whole army with just a few blows.

The last mode is skirmish battles between your army and another.  They play out like the boss siege stages where you give commands to your army via a menu, and you can watch the battles in the background.  Sometimes you’ll have fight soldiers one-on-one if they make it to your station, though.  Switch out your troops when their health and morale are low and when you need a squadron that’s stronger.  Whoever defeats the other army first is the winner.

Between battles you can visit the town and castle to buy items and upgrade your weapons and armor.  You can also train and level up your brigade and talk to your friends to gather info on the next quest.  The game has some problems, though.  The boss sieges and skirmishes are too hard and confusing since you have to fiddle with another menu to give commands as you play.  Some of the boss battles feel way too hard and unbalanced, plus upgrading your weapons is needlessly confusing, too.  I would’ve liked the game a lot more if it were just the 2-D action stages.  Sometimes less is more.  However, even though they didn’t make this game, Battle Princess feels and looks similar to some of VanillaWare’s titles like Odin Sphere or Dragon’s Crown.  So if you enjoyed those games, you might like this one, too.

PRINCESS_SCREEN

Kid Factor:

Battle Princess of Arcadias is rated T for Teen with ESRB descriptors of Fantasy Violence, Suggestive Themes, and Mild Language.  Even though you hack and slash enemies with swords and magic, they just fall over and disappear when defeated.  Most of the suggestive themes and mild language are in the text only.  Reading skill is needed, as they didn’t bother localizing this game outside of the text, so the voices are still all in Japanese.  Really the best reason why this game is better for older gamers is the high difficulty level and learning curve.

One Response to “Battle Princess of Arcadias (PS3)”

  1. Definitely the type of game I could enjoy. I have mostly approved of the fusion of certain rpg mechanics with beat em ups which have been popping up a bit more often lately. Definitely a pleasant nostalgic resurgence I can get behind!

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