So I decided to use Archer Kirby for this just like I did in Triple Deluxe, and once again, if you use that ability, it's pretty easy for the most part. When compared to Triple Deluxe, however, I'd say the True Arena is a bit harder in PR than in TD. Clanky Woods and Dedede Clone are probably the most annoying to deal with.
"Clanky Woods? But it's the first boss of the game. It should be easy. Why do you think it's annoying?"
Don't get me wrong, the first two phases of its fight are a joke. The third phase is where it can get annoying. If you want to get a good opening for an attack, you'll need to dodge its two spike attacks without using Camouflage so that you can attack it after the second hit. When it attacks with it's arms, you should try to outrun them and not Camouflage once again. That way, you'll have an opening when it gets stuck. The attack where it releases it's "leaf bombs" also makes a perfect attack opportunity; fire your arrows at it in order to deflect them back to Clanky Woods. Follow these steps, and Clanky Woods can be pretty easy to deal with
As for Dedede Clone... now this boss is the definition of annoying. The first phase of the fight is pretty easy. You can get one Magic-Star Arrow before he lands on the other side and uses his hammer projectile attack. If you do it correctly, you can just hit away from behind as he takes time using the attack. If he uses his inhalation attack, you can pull off one Magic-Star Arrow, then go into Camouflage to completely avoid it. Once he's done, fire a few more arrows, and you're into the second phase. This is where it really gets annoying. You can't just Camouflage on one side and fire arrows. The 3 Dededes will corner and leave you nowhere to escape if you stay in Camouflage for too long, forcing you to take damage should you choose to break free so that you can attack. Thus, this is the one fight where you have to be on the move when using Archer Kirby. Your dash attack gives you invincibility frames should you choose to attack while going through one Dedede, so remember to use that. If you have an opening, you could pull of a Magic-Star Arrow if you have the space.
The Dedede tank is a much easier fight though. It's attack patterns are very predictable unlike the Dedede Clones, so I didn't have much trouble with that.
Star Dream Soul though... this was the boss that made me have two tries to complete True Arena. I lost to it by the second phase, where much of my HP was lost in the first phase. Let's just say, you need to know how to do the roll dodge in this fight. I forgot about it in my first attempt, so that's why I lost for the most part. Once I remembered the roll, I had a much easier time. One of the reasons why I found the normal Star Dream battle easy because you could pretty much make it through the fight without rolling. The Soul, fight on the other hand, has a lot of hard-to-dodge attacks that require the roll if you don't want to take any damage, and you really do want to take as little damage as possible because you're only given one healing item before it and you have to play through four phases straight.
Did I say four phases? Oh yeah, this fight has a fourth phase: you battle the heart, a.k.a. Star Dream Soul OS, and you are back to using your normal ability (Star Dream Soul ends up inhaling you when you try to fly to it, hence why you end up inside it and have to fight the heart.
The nostalgia was pretty real with this fight. It's like fighting Nova's heart where you have to attack the nucleuses moving around the heart, only this time, you are using a normal Kirby ability to pull it off; a remix of the same Nova's heart music plays during this phase as well. Things can get annoying by the part where you need to attack 6 columns because they can start shifting around in a sort of "fast-paced gravity style," so it can be a bit annoying to find the right moment to fire an arrow there, but you should be able to find an opening when the opportunity presents itself. I don't know if the column can crush you if you stand between them though.
Once all the column are defeated, the heart jumps out and begins to attack. This was pretty easy to deal. I was around half-health at this point, but all I needed to do was to use Camouflage when it attacked, then fire a Magic-Star Arrow at the right moment, and the heart will give you plenty of openings when necessary. It also has a desperation attack once you defeat it, and you need to avoid its "death-waves." The first two you can avoid by just staying on the ground. The third one requires you to jump and stay around the middle. You can't use Camouflage to avoid it; it will kill you if you do (and the same applies to other "full-protection" abilities such as Stone and Leaf). Once that was out of the way, Star Dream was defeated for good.
Thus, Archer Kirby still is one of the best abilities to use for the True Arena. If you are a person who has a hard-time dodging boss attacks, doesn't have the patience to use Stone Kirby, and is simply interested in completing the True Arena, I recommend Archer Kirby all the way. If you know how to dodge boss attacks and are looking for a way to speed run the mode, stick with Hammer if you know how to use it.
Also, President Haltman has solidified as one of my favorite Kirby villains of all time. He's one of the few tragic villain in the Kirby series, and his backstory is pretty sad (which can only be learned if you pause your game to read his descriptions during his battle and the Star Dream battles). He only wanted to bring back his daughter from the dead, hence why he reactivated Star Dream to grant him that wish and invade Planet Popstar for further his goals, and Susie 2.0's description implies she is Haltman's daughter revived from that same computer, but it seems like the two will never learn the truth. It's even more tragic that Haltman ends up having his mind and soul erased by Star Dream Soul, thus killing him, and I can only imagine how Susie would react should she learn about everything later on. You can even President Haltman's pained screams when you attack the columns during the Star Dream Soul OS battle.
Susie is also a really enjoyable villain too and a character I grew to enjoy, mainly for her sass.
