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Arcana Heart 3: Love Max Six Stars!!!!!! PC Port Crowdfunding Campaign Reveals New Characters

Game developer Examu revealed more details for its Kickstarter project for an English PC port of Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX SIX STARS!!!!!! on Sunday. The project's website revealed the three new characters and Arcana that will serve as the stretch goals for the campaign, and it also revealed new pledge levels.

Examu streamed a video outlining the three new characters last week.

The first stretch goal at US$170,000 adds the Aracana Paracelsia to the game. This stretch goal has already been achieved. The second stretch goal at US$260,000 will add the character Shark Girl. The third stretch goal at US$400,000 will add the character Dark Heart and the Love Prison Geist Arcana. The fourth stretch goal at US$500,000 will add a new non-playable boss character named Omega and a new storyline. The fifth stretch goal at US$570,000 will add Omega as a playable character.

The campaign has added two new pledge levels. The first one at US$500 contains the rewards from pledge levels below it, while adding three full color reproduction illustrations and a tapestry of Minori Amanohara. The second one at US$800 contains the rewards from pledge levels below it, along with 10 full color reproduction illustrations.

The campaign reached its base goal of US$100,000 on July 9. As of press time, the campaign has raised US$175,354.

The campaign launched on July 5 and reached it on July 9. The campaign will now focus on its stretch goals, which include the development of a new character and making a collected edition of the game that brings together stories from earlier titles. The campaign hints at the possibility of three new characters, and if the stretch goal is achieved, they will launch as an update to the game in 2018.

The backer rewards include a thank-you letter, the Steam code for the game, a digital soundtrack, a digital copy of the Commemorative Illustration Collection, a physical copy of the game and soundtrack, the backer's name in the credits, a T-shirt, an arcade poster, character stickers, a physical copy of the Commemorative Illustration Collection, a figure of Heart Aino as a cheerleader, a certificate of appreciation, a Special Thanks mention in the credits, a full color illustration reproduction, an original full color illustration, and an original illustration with the subject requested by the backer.

Examu laid out a timetable for the port's development on the campaign page, with development of the port taking place in August immediately after the campaign and lasting until November (including quality checks), with the Steam codes for the game slated to be released in December. The company plans to send the backer rewards starting in January 2018.

Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX SIX STARS!!!!!! is an expansion to Examu's earlier Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX!!!!! fighting game, itself an expansion to Arcana Heart 3. The game allows players to pick an Arcana in addition to a character, which enhances a character's base abilities and adds new ones. The game's controls also feature a dedicated "Homing" button that allows players to close the gap between them and their opponent through various aerial angles. Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX SIX STARS!!!!!! adds the character Minori and the Blood Arcana to the game.

Examu released Arcana Heart 3 in arcades in 2009, and Aksys Games released the game digitally for the PlayStation 3 in 2011. Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX!!!!! arrived in arcades in 2013, and it shipped in Japan for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in May 2014. Aksys Games released the game in North America in September 2014. Arc System Works released the game on PC in 2015. Examu released Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX SIX STARS!!!!!! in arcades in December 2014.

Tohru Sakurai, the creator and writer of the game series, recently passed away at the beginning of May. Sakurai wrote the scenario for the first Arcana Heart game in 2006, and continued to write the scenarios for future games in the series.

Thanks to Rai for the news tip.