Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers is what the entertainment business sometimes labels a "standalone sequel." After all, it's chronologically set after the events of a prior story, but it stands on its own just fine as-is. You don't need to have played the original Arcade Spirits in order to enjoy The New Challengers.

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But if you're wondering whether it's worth it to do so, the answer is a resounding yes. Not only is Arcade Spirits a fun-filled time in its own right, but the scope and shape of the world you'll experience in its sequel will be influenced if you import the first game's save data. We'll go over how to make that magic happen as well as what sorts of changes you've got in store for you in The New Challengers should you elect to do so.

How To Import Your Save Data

Arcade Spirits New Challengers Import Save

Back when Arcade Spirits first launched, fans were tantalized when beating the game prompted beloved AI assistant Iris to ask players if they'd like to save their character for "future expanded content." Did that mean post-story DLC? Or, dare they hope, a full-blown sequel?

Naturally, we now have the answer. We've had it for a while. The sequel's in our hands. If you played Arcade Spirits years ago, and you've had that save data waiting ever since, congratulations. If you want to catch up by playing it for the first time now, go for it, and of course be sure to tell Iris yes once she asks the big question.

Thanks to the magic of science, file-importing is a very hands-off experience. Boot up Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers and the game will ask if you'd like to import. You're not going to believe this, but yes is the correct answer. Simply sit back and let your software work its miracles. Before you know it, your "canon world state" will be brought into The New Challengers. It's like you never left!

The same quick-and-easy approach applies whether you're on PC or console. Just make sure you play the sequel on the same console, since Microsoft hasn't enabled Xbox to go ask PlayStation permission to dig around in its databanks and vice versa. That's never going to happen. Obviously.

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What Changes If You Import A Save

Arcade Spirits 2018 Deco Nami Nostalgia

The writers behind both games in the Arcade Spirits series have cleverly altered certain variables so that returning players with imported save data will feel right at home. World-building exposition is slimmed down for importers because when you're watching the second season of a TV series, or reading the next volume in a multi-book saga, you aren't going to want the screenwriter or novelist to go into too much depth over things you already know. It kind of takes you out of the experience, right? You're a veteran in the year 20XX here.

On the other hand, more will be said about the events of Deco's Palace from the first game. It was a climactic event, and it affected many characters. Familiar faces are going to gab about it. Not importing a save won't stop some degree of chatter, but it's drastically reduced as it's not especially relevant to the events of The New Challengers and would only serve to needlessly convolute fresh experiences.

The city's primary arcade scene will change per the choice you made in the first game's sixth level. If you know, as they say, you know. You'll have more context for Iris' origins, too, and that context will carry over into a few moments of dialogue in a meaningful way. Last but not least, you can elect to keep the same surname you had from Arcade Spirits. You're playing a new protagonist in the sequel no matter what, but having family ties to the previous hero alters some relationships in a rather nifty regard.

So, ultimately this boils down to keeping things nice and tidy for first-timers who don't have import data versus adding in some loving callbacks and seasoning the world state with fewer recaps and even greater context. But The New Challengers does a fine job catching folks up without even feeling like it's going through the motions of doing so; as it turns out, all it takes to ease new fans into the Arcade Spirits universe is writing Iris and other prominent characters as though they recognize how new you are.

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