Battle Princess of Arcadias

 PlayStation 3
Metascore
69

Mixed or average reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 22
  3. Negative: 1 out of 22
  1. PSX Extreme
    Jul 2, 2014
    84
    Battle Princess of Arcadias is a lot of things at once, an action side scroller, a JRPG, and a strategy game. Mostly it's just a great game made of simple, familiar parts.
  2. CalmDownTom
    Jul 4, 2014
    80
    Battle Princess of Arcadias is an incredibly fun game that you should definitely give a shot.
  3. PlayStation Universe
    Jul 2, 2014
    80
    A fun RPG beat 'em up that puts all the emphasis on easy fun at the expense of a coherent storyline. Great for when you just want to sit back, relax, and not think about anything.
  5. PlayStation LifeStyle
    Jun 23, 2014
    80
    With a great musical score and just the right level of cute without being annoying, Battle Princess of Arcadias is a game worth checking out.
  6. Digitally Downloaded
    Jun 19, 2014
    80
    Battle Princess of Arcadias is a beautiful game, and it has a truly charming narrative and set of characters.
  7. IGN
    Jun 28, 2014
    76
    It does, however, have a great combat system, diverse customization, colorful art, and a stellar soundtrack. Battle Princess dutifully delivers 30 hours of almost uninterrupted challenging and engaging combat.
  8. IGN Italia
    Jul 21, 2014
    75
    Battle Princess of Arcadias is the triumph of grinding, and this might be annoying for some players. Anyway, the particular visual style, the growth of characters, the large number of classes and the continuous sense of challenge, framing a quality action-Jrpg.
  9. ZTGD
    Jun 25, 2014
    75
    There is a solid little ARPG here with a charming cast of characters, but the real question is, can you handle all the grinding?
  10. Worth Playing
    Aug 12, 2014
    70
    Battle Princess of Arcadias could have been exceptional but ends up being average.
  11. Everyeye.it
    Aug 6, 2014
    70
    A solid beat'em up with a JRPG structure: this proud ostentation of Nipponese traits means that you'll find nonsense cut-scene as well as trying grinding session.
  12. Digital Chumps
    Jun 28, 2014
    70
    As it stands Battle Princess of Arcadias is a neat endeavor across divergent styles – and not much else.
  13. EGM
    Jun 26, 2014
    70
    While it doesn’t get everything it tries to do right, Battle Princess of Arcadias is still an enjoyable action-adventure that mixes some unique gameplay twists together with a serious level of beat-em-up satisfaction.
  14. Gamestyle
    Jun 25, 2014
    70
    If you can break through the walls it puts up for the player then there’s a rich and rewarding experience to be had.
  15. Push Square
    Jun 24, 2014
    70
    Not quite RPG, not quite brawler, Battle Princess of Arcadias manages to inhabit its own little space between the two. The positives of the combination more than outweigh the negatives of not focusing on a specific genre, and like any good royal, the game will leave you smiling after each and every visit.
  16. Hardcore Gamer
    Jun 23, 2014
    70
    When the layers of the experience are peeled back, what we’re left with at Arcadias‘ core is a sluggish brawling RPG that can sometimes lack the kind of gameplay merit needed for sustainability beyond a handful of hours.
  17. Gaming Age
    Jun 25, 2014
    67
    Allow yourself to be taken in by the bright colours and easy controls and silly story, and the steep difficulty might turn you off it entirely. Recognize, however, that those are simply fun additions to what amounts to a challenging RPG, however, and the dissonance might not be so bad.
  18. RPG Fan
    Jul 9, 2014
    65
    Actually kind of fun once you get past the game's daunting early portions.
  19. Destructoid
    Jul 28, 2014
    60
    Beyond the threadbare narrative and vacant cast are some interesting battle systems and lovely aesthetic qualities. Unfortunately, it has almost as much unfulfilled potential as it does promise, never managing to separate itself from the crowd or do much of note to truly demand your attention.
  20. DarkZero
    Jul 13, 2014
    60
    Despite its glaring faults, Battle Princess of Arcadias still makes for a decent hybrid of RPG and Beat-’Em-Up, even if it lacks the visual and mechanical polish of Vanillaware’s titles.
  21. RPGamer
    Jul 1, 2014
    60
    Battle Princess of Arcadias is a perfect example of what it means to be a middle-of-the-road RPG.
  22. The Digital Fix
    Jun 30, 2014
    50
    In the end, despite some good work in combining RPGs and side-scrolling beat ‘em ups, it’s difficult to recommend Battle Princess of Arcadias to anyone but the most ardent fans of either genre.
  23. GameCritics
    Aug 15, 2014
    40
    There are no puzzles, no secret rooms, no open exploration of any kind, and the game wants players to do this with ten unique characters, leveling them each to 99. Battle Princess of Arcadias is so monotonous that I kept playing it out of inertia rather than because of enjoyment, but I kept hoping for more of the magic from its first five minutes. Sadly, that magic never appeared.

Awards & Rankings

37
#37 Best PS3 Game of 2014
61
#61 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2014
46
#46 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2014

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 25 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 25
  3. Negative: 3 out of 25
  1. Tsant
    Jul 12, 2014
    10
    Very fun game with an amazing soundtrack. The game is really colorful, but the plot is actually pretty dark.
    Definitely a must buy if you're    Very fun game with an amazing soundtrack. The game is really colorful, but the plot is actually pretty dark.
    Definitely a must buy if you're a fan of RPGs.
    Also has an easy platinum for you trophy-enthusiasts.    … Full Review »
  2. TheDestroyer
    Feb 21, 2015
    5
    I am The Destroyer. I will break games, complain about the littlest detail, and tell you whether or not you should buy this game. A lot ofI am The Destroyer. I will break games, complain about the littlest detail, and tell you whether or not you should buy this game. A lot of things to say but can't due to the 5000 character limit.

    Seeing this in the Playstation store, I decided to give this a go, and bought it without any prior knowledge on what the game was about. And after completing it I can say that Battle Princess of Arcadias is a huge disappointment. Many elements missing here that will forever prevent this game from being great. The longer I played it, the more my criticism would pile. But in the end, I just couldn't find myself to hate this game enough to destroy it.

    1. Story
    If you're someone whose looking for a good story as well as gameplay, then don't look here. The story targets an audience range between ages 10 to 12. But most gamers are way above that age bracket because of them having the actual money or resources. Even then, this fairytale story is filled with plotholes, and predictable outcomes you can see coming from a mile away.The story however is still worth paying attention too at least once due to it's colourful characters.

    2. Voice Acting
    Heavy Criticism Alert!!! -The game only has Japanese dubs in all versions of the game, which is not acceptable!! When you release an NA version or an EU version of a game, you hire a voice acting team, and put in english dubs! You don't leave the japanese dubs as the only option in the NA or EU version because no one outside of Japan is going to know what the hell they're saying! Oh- There's english subtitles in there so it must be okay, right? NO! It's not okay!!! Gaming companies have been hiring their dub voice acting team since the original playstation era! What the developers did for this game was the very definition of lazyness! They don't deserve a free pass!

    3. Graphics and Visuals
    For a side-scrolling theatre type game, the graphics here are pretty good, even if some of the characters look like paper.
    During gameplay, there are a lot of different colourful backgrounds filled with detail and scenery. Of all the stale things in this game, graphics & visuals won't be one of them.

    4. Gameplay
    Gameplay refers to combat, customization & level up, and various game modes you play within the game. Put it all together and it's average!

    -Battle System-
    The game is a 2D beat'im-up action rpg. Despite only having a few simple combos for the characters you play as, the fighting and controls are excellent! You have your standard basic attacks for Square, and your heavy attacks for Triangle. You can mix the two together to create a combo attack, which allows you to dish out multiple hits to an enemy. The game comes with 10 playable characters, and each character's combo attacks are different.

    -Customization-
    By visiting a blacksmith shop, it is possible to customize your weapon stats by improving or adding an element (Fire, Ice, or Lightning), luck, or further increase it's attack power... - that is if you can get though it's dysfunctional menu. By end-game you'll have so many items that it will require you to scroll through a list of junk to reach what you want. There's no sort button or separate menus for stats either. This is the only thing that can be considered customization. There is no alternative attires or costumes, and level-up stats is fully automatic.

    -Modes-
    All 3 modes; lacks tactics in Skirmish, danger in Siege, and platforming in Combat.

    5. Soundtrack
    Mostly forgettable. The soundtrack here is the type where you're gonna put on your own tunes to help you get through a grind because you'll quickly lose interest in hearing the 1-minute loops.

    6. Bugs & Glitches
    It isn't a big deal but I feel it needs to be mentioned anyway in case someone out there is receiving the worst of it. The game randomly crashed on me once when I was trying to do a "crazy dance" attack with a character. No further damage was done to my save file or PS3, but it is recommended now for players to turn on the auto-save from the options menu.

    7. Personal Enjoyment
    The game took me about 3 days to complete, having playing it non-stop other than sleep. So it does take a reasonable amount of time to finish. Some parts felt pointless, but overall was a fun game.

    8. Overall Verdict
    The final verdict for Battle Princess of Arcadias is a 5 out of 10. Had english dubs been put into the game it would have been a 6 out of 10. I cannot recommend anyone to play this game. It isn't by all means bad, but there's just not enough of an incentive here for paying full price or even $29.99 . Wait until it comes down to bargain bin price before purchasing. And if it never does, just move onto another game.    … Full Review »
  3. CzarIndustires
    Sep 3, 2014
    8
    This game is a solid game for anyone needing an RPG fix. Good controls, music and story line. I've really enjoyed it. Now first playthroughThis game is a solid game for anyone needing an RPG fix. Good controls, music and story line. I've really enjoyed it. Now first playthrough works good and there are no issues. If you are going for plat and taking on NG+, thats where it really slows down. Grinding it out becomes a serious chore. But it's simple, straightforward and satisfying enough that I keep coming back.… Full Review »
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