Recent reviews by MikuruX

I'm not going to make a long-winded review on this because I just can't since it's this game in particular that we're talking about. With that out of the way......

Yatagarasu: Enter The Eastward is a 1 vs 1 fighting game made by a team comprised of 3 former SNK devs. If you're here and wondering why there are 2 versions of this game with the other called "Attack on Cataclysm", that's because "Enter the Eastward" is the sequel to AoC but in truth.....this isn't really a sequel but just an update to AoC without actually updating AoC but instead forcing you to pay full indie price for the whole game even if you own the AoC. There is NOTHING in this version remotely new coming from Attack on Cataclysm......NOTHING and if there is, it's not even noticable.

The only thing this version of Yatagarasu has in stored for players is the addition of 3 additional characters (and stages) that were included in the arcade version of the game. These characters have more than likely been in the arcade version for years with us just now getting them in the Steam version. These characters were first announced back in 2018 and we're just now getting them.....yeah, these devs are slow....hella slow on updating their game.

But this review is dragging on so let me get to the point and end this review. There are technical issues with this game like with the sound being overly loud and with no way of setting the game volume down at all (Yeah, the sound settings are broke and don't work.....set it under 10, sound is off and set it at 10 or over, it's by default loud and on at all times). The game user interphase is nowhere up to snuff to today's standards and looks cluttered and outdated like the game is stuck back in it's vanilla iteration back in 2008. The devs took nothing into consideration and did the bare minimal and just released it onto the public.

The most glaring issue with this game is that the online play. This game does NOT have rollback netcode......SOMETHING THAT THE DEVS ARE OBLIGATED TO PUT INTO THE GAME. The reason I said this is because back during the release of Attack on Cataclysm, the game had an indiegogo campaign and one of the stretch goals were to add rollback netcode into the game (GGPO) and that stretch goal was met. Players have been waiting for this since AoC's release and the devs have not delivered on their obligation but instead released an arcade version of the game and a updated arcade version (Enter the Eastward) since then. This is since Aug 8, 2013 when the stretch goal was met.

I'll say this now, this update isn't worth the asking price of what the devs are asking for. Actually, I would go as far as to suggest not supporting them or this release at all until GGPO or an equivalent version of rollback is added into the game (I had to buy the game in order to put a review out so yeah....). Even with my time spent with this version of the game, I'll just go off based on my experience with AoC added with this as my claim for this game.

Yatagarasu Devs, you guys have an obligation to your supporters to add rollback. I don't know what the hell you guys been doing all these years up to this point to only release this game in the face of all of those who gave you support money only to not fulfill that obligation for rollback but this makes you all look like a scumbag dev team to all of us. If you prove us wrong, then that's good but it doesn't change all the goodwill wasted on you after all of these years. Our trust in you is already gone so unless you can do something worth while and actually do some work on this version of the game to make it more presentable to the public and your fans, I'll stick with my opinion of you guys as lying and thieving devs till then.

If you still want this game but don't want to support the devs, just look for a warez version as the game is so ancient, you can literally run this game without Steam.

Before I get into this, be advised that my play time in the Steam version of Skullgirls is not an indication of how much I've played this game in total. I have all versions of this game starting from it's original release on the Xbox 360 & PS3. Since then, I've bought this game on PS4, Xbox Series X, & Nintendo Switch.....all of which to show my support for the game and its developers. I played (yeah....I don't play anymore now because of the ESG update and was on and off before then) mostly on consoles so I'll be going through this from my experience from that along with my short time on the Steam version.

Let it be said, Skullgirls - at its core - is such a wonder fighting game with it allows players to play the game the way they want. Be it 3 vs 3, 3 vs. 2, 3 vs. 1, 1 vs. 1, or whatever, Skullgirls is one the very rare games that allow for complete player expression of how they want to play. If you played Marvel vs. Capcom 2 or 3, you pretty much know how the game flow is like for Skullgirls (just minus the "X-Factor" mechanic from UMVC3).

I'm not here to talk about the game mechanics because the game isn't new......this is a decade old game that was a love letter to the Marvel series. One of it's main selling points besides its gameplay was its use of an very 1940-ish (I think around that time frame) but with some modern aesthetics art style for it's world and characters. Sure, there are some lewd undertones for the game but because of this, it's what garnered its fanbase for the decade it's been out. The series has had its fair share of ups and downs, even to the point of getting support from fans via the famous successful Indiegogo campaign (which I took part of in to support also). In this campaign, all of supporters helped the Skullgirls game with our donations to keep the game alive and was given various rewards because of it from new characters (Squigly, Eliza, Big Band, Fukua, Robo-Fortune, & Beowulf) and a slew of extras from new character color palettes, announcer pack, soundtrack, and an artbook (both physical & digital). All was good since then.....sure, the game had a few minor changes but nothing too drastic (like changing Valentine's cross color from Red to Magenta due to issues with the United Red Cross and their trademark).

Well, that has changed with the latest major update the devs dropped on to the fanbase. Keep in mind, NO ONE ASKED FOR THIS UPDATE BUT WAS INSTEAD FORCED UPON THE FANBASE AND CONSUMERS. What this update does is sanitizes a lot of the game art assets to from its original version. Keep in mind, a lot of the lewd aspects of this game was one of its main draws and what helped the game gain its current fanbase and supporters. The developers "Future Club" consists of developers from Lab Zero who ended up making their own studio after either leaving Lab Zero or ousted by its owner Mike "MikeZ" Zaimont. I won't get into details so look it up on google if you want the whole story. Future Club would later team up with "Hidden Variable" to help with further development of Skullgirls. I don't know what happened within these 10 years but all of a sudden the devs decided they wanted to GO WOKE and change a lot of the things art wise in Skullgirls - even though they had NO ISSUE with this before now.

Maybe they want that good 'ol ESG money or maybe they think they need to censor their own game and think people will flock to it because they're back at EVO (EVO - short for Evolution - is the largest fighting game tournament in the world held in Las Vegas) and think that because they have so many eyes on their game, they need to censor a lot of things that are "problematic". Keep in mind that a lot of the things they censored is in the SINGLE PLAYER EXPERIENCE which means NO ONE will see these things during gameplay at EVO. The only thing they will see are the game character sprites during the matches. I don't care what you may think of me and why I don't support this change but I hate having my S#!T altered from its original form or completely taken away from me from the time I bought it. This is exactly what Future Club, Hidden Variable, & Reverge Games (the publisher) has done to its fanbase......altering the game in a way that it changes it from its original form and from its original intent in which the players purchased it.

Now we have an issue....Drunken Russian announcer pack that was removed was a reward from the Indiegogo campaign. The developers have stolen that from its fanbase who supported the game back then. My main gripe now is that they altered artwork in the digital artbook. THIS DID NOT NEEDED TO BE F#CKED WITH AND NOW WE HAVE TWO VERSIONS OF THE ARTBOOK!!! THE REAL VERSION IS NOW LOCKED BEHIND THE PHYSICAL ARTBOOK WHICH THOSE WHO DONATED TO GET THE PHYSICAL BOOK ONLY HAVE!! THOSE OF US WHO GOT THE DIGITAL ARTBOOK NOW HAVE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT VERSION FROM THOSE WITH THE PHYSICAL VERSION!!! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU DEVS!?!?

These devs already got my money but if you're on the wall about buying this game, I recommend that you don't. If the devs have gone this WOKE to change the vision of the game so much and now they feel like their embarrassed because of it that they have to sanitize their work, who knows what else they'll change going down the line. If you're comfortable with having your crap changed on a fly from its original intent, go ahead and support these devs. In all honesty, I kinda wished MikeZ was still at the helm of this game and maybe then, we wouldn't have gotten to this point.

SCREW YOU FUTURE CLUB!
SCREW YOU HIDDEN VARIABLE!
SCREW YOU REVERGE GAMES!

I guess I need to explain why I changed my vote on this game/engine. After messing around with Teravit for a few a while now after saying I wouldn't even bother making a world......I went ahead and started making a world. Keep in mind, my original point of view for Teravit still stands that you should probably play something else of its kind since Teravit lacks a lot of content compared to its competitors but there is still some fun to be had in it.

CyberStep is slowly but surely adding content and are listening to some of the feedback from its community (I think mostly from the JP side of things but they have listened to some from its EN side). I've already come to the realization that we're more than likely not going to get the story RPG content back that was in the alpha. What I think will happen is that they will give the world creators the tools to make their own storyline for their world and if that happens, I'll be happy with that. Anyway, I'll say this now but give the engine a try since its free and if you don't like it, don't bother with it. But till then, I think it's worth a recommendation on my part solely based on what the future may hold for Teravit if CyberStep stays committed to its development.

:: ORIGINAL REVIEW ::

Before I get started with this review, let me just state that I'm going to be talking about both my experience with the game during the Alpha and the current version of the game. Most of my experience was during the alpha test which I believe to have been the better version of this game. With that out of the way, let me get started.....

Teravit was - at one point - a Dragon Quest Builder / Minecraft type of game but this was only during the alpha test of the game. During this time, you would start in a randomly generated world where you'll be given quest prompts to do certain tasks. You'll be able to do the typical Minecraft stuff but with actual RPG elements built into the game where you'll be sent here and there to achieve them. Your character is also able to level up to get stronger to take on stronger monsters in further regions in the world you created. I don't know what the end game was during the alpha.....honestly, I don't think there was one and I don't know since I didn't have enough time to figure it out. There are lots of monster variety along with gear progression that was satisfying and not as tedious. You had hook shots, swords, bows, scythes, spells, and so forth to help you your questing (I'm pretty sure there was others but I can't remember). All of this made the game fun in my eyes....I'm speaking in past tense because things changed from this point.

After this initial alpha test, there was another test called the "Builders Test". During this phase, the game focused on all the building aspects of Teravit and Cyberstep wanted players to play around and build whatever they could in this phase to test out what could be possible done with the system. After this test, we come to official release and boy did everything go crashing down in typical Cyberstep fashion.....

Leading up to the official release, there was no word from Cyberstep that Teravit would have both elements from both tests in the official release of the game so players were left speculating and some even hyping up the game from what they tested (myself included). Now that we have the official release, Cyberstep decided to strip Teravit of ALL the elements of the game which would make the game a - in their own words - "RPGs with Storylines" and instead opted to make - again in their own words - "a game where players share games they made and everyone enjoys them together." What this leaves us with is basically a game engine where we have to create the game ourselves. I'm trying to wrap my head around this because wouldn't Cyberstep have benefited from Teravit if they just left both elements in the game!? Did they not understand that maybe....just maybe.....that there are players who don't have excessive amounts of time to create a game world or maybe have enough friends whom are willing to help with building these world!? I fall into both of these categories and it's disappointing to see this is what we're left with. So what we are left with is the following:

- A game engine where the player base creates the worlds for other players to adventure in
- Players must either create or buy avatars created by other players with Real Money Currancy (Microtransactions). The prices of the avatars are decided by the creators of the avatars. Creating your own avatar requires you to use an desktop app called Magicavoxel
- All RPG with Storyline aspects from the alpha test is stripped from the game, leaving players with no choice to either play in another players created world or build their own
- From my understanding, monsters in the world have levels but you can't level up (at least, I haven't been able to find a method to do so) meaning stronger mobs will kill you in 2 to 3 hits if not 1 hit

I was so hyped for this game after playing the RPG alpha test since it scratched my Dragon Quest Builders itch but with it stripped out of the game, it's just a shallow husk of an engine / game that only those who have the time, creativity, friends, & resources to build these worlds will find enjoyment in while the other side of the player base are going to be left testing out each and every world created until we find one that suits us....if we ever decide to log back in again. Until then, for those of us looking to just jump in for an adventure, there are better alternatives out there than the current version of Teravit for you like:

- Minecraft
- Ylands
- Craftopia
- Dragon Quest Builders 2
- Roblox

These are just some of the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Until Cyberstep decides to add the RPG elements back into the game, steer clear. If you have a creativity itch, have at it and enjoy this engine / game but with a lack of players, don't expect your world to get noticed easily. <_<

- UPDATE -

Since my initial review, the game has seen a couple of huge updates that brought about a lot of QoL changes and then some. Unfortunately, these changes have come a little too late as now there's hardly anyone playing this game so it's very hard to find ANY matches. Spectating lobbies only allow up to 3 people (room host can decide to spectate and host a spectate only room). This update was shadow dropped and was never advertised to the people who bought the game so no one probably knows it's up. The 4:3 screen ratio is also added but if you play in ranked matches, the game will default to the 16:9 ratio.

On Playstation, PS4 arcade sticks now work on the PS5 version (BOUT TIME).

Overall, the updates have been okay and need but they just came too late. So with that being said, I'll change my review verdict but it probably won't change how everyone else feels about this title as of now. In its current state, the game is worth picking up but to some degree but with no one playing online, I wouldn't bother unless you want to support the devs or have the game in your collection.

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::: ORIGINAL REVIEW :::

I'm sorry but I'm not going to hold back on this review because there is some stuff that needs to be said and the devs need to get their $#!t together and stop these kinds of practices and players need to call them out on their BS. With that being said, let's talk about "The Rumble Fish 2"


The Rumble Fish 2 is a port of an arcade game that came out back in 2005 and has never seen a home release on any console or system until now. This is wonderful....finally we all get to play this wonderful classic while supporting the devs.....if only it was that simple. This port is bad....hella bad......VERY BAD....FFS IT'S SO GAWD AWFUL that it gives other bad "ports" from other developers a run for their money. Barebones doesn't even describe this game and it gives the meaning to "barebones" a whole new meaning when you compare this to modern day fighting game ports. What you get in this port are the following modes:

- Modes -
Arcade
Survival
Time Attack
Versus (both for local & online)
Training
Gallery
Ranking
Options

These are your staple modes in any fighting game. Cool....but this is where it ends. There are so many glaring issues with this game that you can't give the devs a pass for this by allowing them to say their going to "patch" fixes in when this crap should have been in the game "DAY 1". Here are things you need to know that are going to be "patched" into the game:

1. There is no online lobbies or spectator mode for online play.
2. There is no replay mode to view your previous matches
3. There are no practice mode options
4. The game is stuck in a 16:9 full screen ratio when it's originally 4:3 in the arcade version. This screws over a lot of characters over that rely on wall bounces for their combos. Those combos are now useless since the wall is farther out
5. No keyboard movement binding support for those who don't have controllers (PC Only)
6. There is no option for rematches. After a fight, you go straight to the game over screen and do it all over again (WTF!?)
7. Not being able to see the ping of the opponent you're facing against online nor the option to deny a match with said person.
8. There is no Legacy Control support for console versions of this game (I have the PS5 version also and I can't use my Quanba Dragon arcade stick on it since it's a PS4 stick - Playstation 5 Console Only Issue)(I need verification for Xbox)
9. For the Playstation players, There is no cross-platform purchase option for this game on consoles. If you buy one version and want the other, you'll need to pay another $29 for whichever version you want (this was my mistake when I bought the PS5 version and found that I couldn't use my Quanba arcade stick on it). The DLC is the only thing that's cross-platform purchaseable.

Truth be told, the PS2 version of The Rumble Fish 1 seems more complete than this version and it has no online play so that's telling. The kicker to all of this is the following which EVERYONE is pissed about:

"The 3 unlockable bosses are locked behind a paywall. They're DLC which totals around $12. This is such a greedy part on the devs because these characters are unlocked either by code (on the Atomiswave version) or by default (on the Nesica version). There is no other way to get them other than paying for them."

I want to love this game, I really do and after having to wait for so long for a home version only to be greeted with a "NOT EVEN BAREBONES" & cash grab version of a game, there is no way in heck that I can recommend this port to anyone.....let alone my friends. Even if they do patch everything in, it doesn't make up for allowing this to be released as is to the public. With that being said, if you want a better gaming experience with this title, I implore everyone to go play on FIGHTCADE rather than this disaster of a release.

3goo (never heard of this publisher till now) and DIMPS should be frickin ashamed of themselves for this BS release. <_<

:: UPDATE ::

Rollback Netcode is being added to the game so I changed my recommendation for this game now to Recommended. The Rollback Netcode test is currently going on right now and online play has been a bit better now because of it.

:: ORIGINAL REVIEW ::

Samurai Shodown is the return of one of the best weapon based 2D fighters of the arcade heydays. When this game was announced, I was estatic for its return and to this day, I still put it off as one of my all-time favorite fighters due to the slow paced nature of it in comparison to like Street Fighter and such. So why am I giving a game I hold dearly a negative rating? It's because of 2 obvious reasons but let's go into what makes it a good purchase and then we'll go into why it's a bad purchase.

(NOTICE: I KNOW I HAVE A LOW TIME OF PLAY FOR THIS GAME BUT MY REVIEW IS BASED ON MY TIME COMBINED FROM ALL VERSIONS OF THE GAME - PS4 & EPIC GAME STORE - FOR THE OFFLINE PORTION OF THIS REVIEW BUT THE ONLINE PORTION OF THIS REVIEW IS PURELY BASED ON THE STEAM VERSION SO IF YOU WANT TO READ THAT PART, GO TO THE THE SECTION ::THE BAD::....THAT'S WHY YOU'RE HERE, RIGHT?)

:: The Good ::

As I stated, Samurai Shodown is a slow paced fighter that focuses more on strategy, spacing, & footsies rather than mid to huge combos than recently released games. I say this because a simple mistake can cause you dearly as missing a read or a button press can cause you a good chunk to nearly half of your health in "1" hit (sometimes, one hit can kill you but this IS after certain long conditions are met with certain characters). Sure, you'll still get people playing as if this is still Street Fighter (which makes me laugh or pisses me off) but that can only go so far if the person you're playing against knows how to read each of your moves with optimal attacks. This game is basically high risk, high rewarding in gameplay.

The roster of this game is quite sizeable for it's based roster but you'll notice a good chunk is locked behind season pass DLC (you can buy them individually). No two characters play similarly so it's a huge variety of characters to play in this game. A lot of returning characters along with some new & guest characters form the roster of 29 characters in all with a 30th coming soon (This character is a Guilty Gear guest character - speculated to be Baiken).

:: The Bad ::

Everything bad about this game is stemming from how this version was made. Let's get rid of the elephants in the room right now:

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- UPDATE -

The game has had a update which takes the online DRM out of the game (they call it a glitch but whatever). The offline parts of the game can now be played without an internet connection.

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:: ONLINE PLAY IS PRETTY MUCH NEAR IMPOSSIBLE AS THIS GAME HAS ONE OF THE WORST NETCODES EVER ON PC ::

I can't exaggerate this enough. This game is so unplayable online that the FGC resorts to using parsec just to do online matches. This game has the worst delay-based netcode to man (okay, maybe not but it's pretty f'kin close). On PS4, playing online is a lot more tolerable than both PC versions of this game.....it's just FUBAR here on Steam and on Epic Game Store.

:: HALF OF THE CAST IS BEHIND A PAYWALL ::

I know I said some good things about the cast but it doesn't change the fact that half of the cast is locked behind a DLC paywall. Now keep in mind, I don't care about the DLC as I bought them anyway so this section of the review doesn't pertain to me but rather those people who put off by the mention of character DLC. Keep in mind, SNK has done us a favor by adding an option when purchasing the game to buy the game and all of its season passes out the gate at a discount but when that discount ends, you're going to be paying a healthy chunk for the whole cast. Now sure, I know the DLC is a form of supporting game and I'm all for it but again, this isn't about me. So this isn't really a negative in a sense but rather a judgement call on yourself to decide if supporting SNK is something you want to do with this game.

Now take it, it took us 2 years to get this game on Steam all because SNK decided to go with Epic and make this game a one year exclusive on the Epic Game Store so a lot of us are probably double or triple dipping right now and honestly, that alone is making me pissed at SNK. Even with all that Epic money, they did nothing to fix the main issue with this game which was the online play. Everything about this game from an offline perspective is fine, just playing online is unbearable. I hate to say and see a game die right out the gate but SNK has pretty much shot themselves in the foot with this one due to the online play & the unwanted DRM. If you are looking for a good offline experience with some offline play with friends, you got a good game right here but if you're like me and looking to play other people online, I would advise you avoid this game like the plague until SNK fixes their F'KED UP NETCODE.

Even with the DRM taken out of the game, this doesn't change my opinion if you should get this game or not. The only thing that will change my recommendation is if SNK fixes the netcode so till then, I don't recommend this game.

:: Pros ::
- Combat improved with new mechanics not in previous games
- Harder AI for bigger aragami bosses
- More weapon selections (not by much)
- Free DLC updates
- Character creator is by far the best in the series (Code Vein takes it a step further)

:: Cons ::
- If you played the previous games, it's pretty much the same in terms of story
- Doing Boss raid usually ends up short due to online script kiddies using 1-hit mods
- Grinding on end for 1 specific material or blueprint gets tedious
- Few bugs here and there but varies from people due to PC specs
- Missing fan favorite characters due to story plot (this game story takes place in a different region from previous games)

I didn't want to type a long review but overall, this is a really good game and I recommend it if Monster Hunter is not your thing.

Million Arthur: Arcana Blood plays similar to that of previous Team Arcana games....most notable would be comparing to their last game "Nitro+ Blasterz". Each character has a 6C anti-air move, everyone has a universal evade, everyone has 2 super moves, & everyone has a cinematic super (a staple in Team Arcana games minus Arcana Heart & Daemon Bride). Matches are fast paced with everyone running and flying from side to side of the screen and calling assists, looking for ways to open up their opponent to do long flashy combos. Online play is fluid and matches tend to play out smoothly almost every time.......for the most part.......I will get to why I say this when I start talking about this games faults like right now. The game music and sounds feels just right with the game although some BGM tends to sound out of place in the game sometimes (Koume seems to have the best theme track in the game)

This game is pretty fun but with this fun it comes with some damning flaws that needs to be addressed. With the minor issues with this game, going back and forward from the character select menu is disturbing due to the fact that if you mistakenly pick the wrong character, you will need to go all the way back to the main menu just to reselect your character again.....this was also an issue in Nitro+ Blasterz (Team Arcana stated that this was means to counteract counter picking but it's still restrictive). For the keyboard warriors out there, there is no native way to rebind key settings for movement in this game so you're probably going to need some 3rd party tool like Key2Joy or other methods to get around this. This should have been something implemented from the start in every game. Another minor issue I have is not being able to pick what stage music / character theme you would like to hear while playing. A very minor issue but would be a welcomed addition (I can see myself picking Koume & Iori's theme most of the time). Now the first most problematic issue with this game is the online play. Yes, I know I said that online was smooth and fluid most of the time but this all changes after a person wins the first match in a set. 99% of the time, the game will desync during the character match intro and when the match starts, you will get up to about 3 1/2 second button delay for a good portion of the 1st round of the new match. The game will slowly resync itself but by the time, someone would have gotten adjusted to the desync and shaved off a good portion of another persons health. This really kills the flow, especially when you just finished an intensive first match. This problem needs to be fixed ASAP.

Now the most problematic issue with this game that most people have major concerns with even though it's actually a small detail but still, it's major for those of us who've played the JP PS4 version of this game......the censorship. Yes, this game is censored and this is all thanks to Square-Enix's new "Ethnics Department" (yeah, the same guys who went and changed up Tifa in the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Remake - wasn't bad actually). If you've been following Million Arthur way before this game hit the PS4, you'll more than likely came across the little animated series on Youtube. One of the best things about Million Arthur is it's comedic factor.....especially from one of it's characters who is an assist character in this game. Jakusansei Elle assist move is a play on one of her antics in the Youtube animated series called "Nice Chin Chin". This move will call Elle out and she'll run after the opponent and hit them.....well....not really hit. In the PS4 & Arcade version, Elle will run up to you and if she makes contact, she literally gives the male cast a crotch rub while screaming out "Nice Chin Chin". It's funny as hell in the animated series and it was funny in this game too. This was taken out completely and instead, Elle will just run up to you and hop at you like she's punching you in the stomach or something.....no mention of "Nice Chin Chin" or anything of the sorts. She will also do this with the female cast as well just wont scream out "Nice Chin Chin" in the PS4/Arcade port. I'm all against censorship in my games and for something so minor as this, it was really uncalled for. The game loses some of it's appeal with this attack now gone.

Overall, in it's current state, this game is really not worth the amount of money that Square-Enix is asking for. I would advise you to wait till a sale comes up or something but with all Team Arcana games, I wouldn't wait too long to the point that the non-discord online activity is dead. But yeah, until these faults are fixed and Square-Enix get off their moral high ground and put "Nice Chin Chin" back in the game, I can't recommend this game to anyone if you're playing with online or with censorship moral in mind.

:: Pros ::
- First Million Arthur game to be released to the West
- Features crossover characters from Secret of Mana, Lord of Vermillion, Hangakyusei Million Arthur, & The King of Fighters
- Fast paced 1 vs 1 (with assists) fighting action
- Online matches tend to flow smoothly regardless of connection

:: Cons ::
- Massive Desync in online play after 1 match in a set
- Unnecessary Censorship in the form of stripping "Nice Chin Chin" from the game & other visual types of censorship
- Lack of native movement key binding for keyboard players
- 13 character cast seems rather small but is over set by how diverse they are....should have at least made it 20 and added more characters from Hangakyusei Million Arthur or made some of the assist characters into playable characters
- lackluster soundtrack for the most part with a few exceptions
- Overpriced for a very niche game with no type of fanbase to cater to in the West and for the value in the package

(Update: The animation for the "Nice Chin Chin" attack has been added back into the game via fan patch.....however, this still does not get Square-Enix off the hook for such pointless censorship. If they add it back in a official capacity, I'll update this review to reflect it)

(I edited this out cause I have a tendency to do long reviews like I do for other places but since this is Steam and some people here don't like TL;DR BS, I made it shorter to fit those individuals mentality......take this any way you want, IDGAF)

My first review here on Steam so I'll try to be as fair and to the point as possible.

Blade Arcus is the latest addition to SEGA's long running "Shining" RPG series but this time, we skip all of the hours of gameplay and grinding to progress the story for more simplier system......let's turn this franchise into a "FIGHTER".....someone at SEGA must have said that and "poof", it's done.

The game story revolves around it's two original characters Ryuuga & Pairon. As to what that story is? I don't know....I have yet to play story mode and quite frankly, I don't care much for it. I play fighting games for the fighting, not the story (majority of the game). If it was animated and you had to watch it like a movie like in Guilty Gear Xrd (Sign & Revelator), then I'll probably know what the story is cause I'll watch it in a heartbeat. Just know that there is a story to this game that is only relavent to this game and not any of the other Shining games that never made it here to the west:

- Shining Tears
- Shining Wind
- Shining Hearts
- Shining Blade

There's a lot more games in the series than what I posted but I'll keep it short for right now.

Blade Arcus sports 16 characters of whom all are from various Shining games that I just mentioned above with Ryuuga & Pairon making their Shining debut in this one. Consider this game more of a dream match to put some of the fan favorite characters the Shining series against one another. Outside of Shining Force 1 & 2, I'm only familiar with Dylan, Rick, Rouna, Misty, & Xiaomei from Shining Hearts due to the anime series. Each character is unique and there isn't really a carbon copy character in this game although one may realize that Ryuuga & Pairon are basically your Ryu & Ken (Street Fighter) staples of this game.....to some degree.

Keep in mind that Blade Arcus is "NOT" an airdasher anime fighting game. This game is slow paced which is could be similar to Koihime Enbu or Samurai Showdown but with a borrowed mechanic from Guilty Gear (which I will get into). The game sports a 2 vs 2 gameplay style where you pick any two characters where one will be your primary and the second will be your support character. You're able to switch roles of your characters in between rounds if you need a change of pace & strategy. Your secondary character is your assist character to whom you can all out "a la Marvel vs. Capcom" but there is a catch. You have an assist gauge that has 4 marks which indicate an assist level. Depending on when & how you call assist (Pressing D alone will make your assist do an assist attack depending on the situation you're in. Pressing D with an attack button will make your assist do an attack depending on the strengh attack you use.....which also counts to how much meter they'll use). You gain assist meter by taking damage or defending otherwise, it will fill "VERY" slowly if you're offensive. Offensive or Defensive.....the choice of how you use your meter is up to you and can determine the flow of a match. As for the borrowed Guilty Gear mechanic, there is one which is pretty much a "Roman Cancel"....that is, a mechanic that allows you to cancel a normal or special move animation to continue a combo. This mechanic is known as "Offensive Force" and consumes 1 whole super meter to use (so you get a total of 3).

Seeing as this is the first official western release of Blade Arcus, it's best you know that this game was ported to the Playstation 3 & 4 back in November of last year with extras like Arena Mode (arcade), an art gallery, and a stylish mechanic for those of you who are casual fighting game players or don't play fighting games at all. These modes & mechanics did NOT make it into the Steam release of this game. The reason for this is because the game was developed using the 2.01 arcade build as the basis. As to how Arena mode didn't make into this release, we don't know but evidently, this is a deal breaker for some people along with not having the art gallery. Degica Games is currently trying to see if Team Saisenzen will add them to the game but realize that it's Team Saisenzen that makes the final decision as their the publishers of this version, not Degica Games & not SEGA. Degica Games is only playing the advisor & EN PR role for Blade Arcus on Steam.

One of the key modes that was missing from the PS3/PS4 version of the game was Online mode which is exclusively made by Team Saisenzen for the Steam release. I'll admit, upon release of the game, playing online was straight garbage....I mean slow as molasses matches hindered this game like no tomorrow. Fortunately, after one day of release, there has been a update that addresses this issue and so far, I've experienced smooth online matches from various players and even those from Japan so right now, online play is pretty decent. This experience may be different for everyone else so please be aware that my experience my differ from yours.

Now......is this game worth getting? That's hard to say because I don't know how some of you think when it comes to fighting games. For me, this was a good purchase and it also shows my support for Degica Games & Team Saisenzen but also it shows my support for hoping that more games in the Shining series would be considered for the west if this game does good. If you're into slower paced fights, no out of control combos, no airdashing (the only exception is Rouna), & not many confusing mechanics to remember (at least in my book) then this game may be up your alley. If you're looking for more frantic fighting gameplay, you may want to steer clear. I would advise that you watch some videos of this game before you decide to purchase it if this type of gameplay is not your cup of tea. It's an enjoyable game to play to say the least.

:: PROS ::
- First game in YEARS from the Shining series to come to the western market
- Only version of the game that has Online Play
- Slow paced matches with simple mechanics (gameplay similar but mixed with Koihime Enbu, Samurai Showdown, Guilty Gear)
- Sonia is unlocked (so no DLC for this game at the moment)
- Features character designs by Tony Taka
- Good soundtrack

:: CONS ::
- Slow paced matches may turn off people who are into games like Guilty Gear, Melty Blood, Under Night In-Birth EXE|Late
- Missing console features not included in this version (Arena Mode, Art Gallery, Stylish (casual) gameplay mechanic)
- Features character designs by Tony Taka (Hey, there are actually people out there who hates his artwork so I have to cater to them too)