A fighting game that does a ton of really clever things with it's storymode while having a very enjoyable cast of characters to work with in multiplayer. It's very approachable to new or inexperienced players, all while having some phenomenal netcode to boot. It's no surprise that it was given the spotlight at EVO.

EDIT: Review was edited to factor in recent patches and my longer playtime.
----
VISUALS:

Maybe one of the game's biggest strengths is it's insanely strong art direction and visual style. Every inch of this game oozes with superb visuals, from it's pixelated RPG storymode to it's un-cluttered and pleasing multiplayer. On top of that the UI design is also excellent, being very pretty without compromising any of it's functionality. There's pretty much nothing I have to complain about in regards to the visuals, anything I do is kinda just whiny nitpicks.

One whiny nitpick I'd say is that it doesn't seem to scale too well with 1440p, looking a bit pixelated and jagged when in actual 2D combat. This could also be entirely intentional, maybe it is just pixelated naturally. Another tiny nitpick is that Tianhuo's flame effects (on her moves) are a teeny bit visually cluttering; just a smidge. For real though, I need a big magnifying glass to even catch a whiff of any nitpicks.

----
STORYMODE:

What an absolute highlight, seriously this storymode is something special. It's a very clever, well designed storymode that eases the player nicely into the game's mechanics, and has plenty of charm in it's writing to boot. It used to have some severe difficulty spikes in it's bosses but was quickly fixed a week after launch. That leaves only one problem left; I just want more of it.

The game has two different modes you smoothly swap between during gameplay, a top down RPG style pixelated overworld, and it's 2D fighting game combat. The fantastic thing about them is that one can influence the other, like how creeping up to sleeping enemies in the overworld lets you get off one free combo when you transition to the 2D combat. It's honestly genius since doing so lets you freely experiment and practice combos for one turn. On top of that you can also stomp on enemies in the overworld, which then stuns them after you transition into the combat again.

Enemies also have attack patterns that perfectly complement your character's moveset, stuff like the most basic enemy having a very telegraphed jumping overhead that you can catch if you time your air lasso right. I could gush for hours about everything well designed in this campaign, not even touching on it's story, characters, or writing, all of which are just as enjoyable.

I honestly just want more of the storymode to play as it only lasts about 4 hours with more chapters coming at some point in the future. Even still, 4 hours is more than enough to be worth it, and knowing that plenty more is on the way makes me very happy.


----
GAMEPLAY:

If you've played a 2D fighter in the past two decades, you should have a clear idea of how it plays. Traditional 2D fighting game combat with an enjoyable neutral, rewarding combos, and plenty gimmicks and mixups to work with. There only being six characters makes it feel especially approachable to inexperienced fighting game players too, all while having plenty depth within each character for experienced players to dig their teeth into.

I don't really know what else I could say beyond that. It's defensive game is great and rewarding, every character has their own unique tools to fight neutral, combos and blockstrings are just the right amount of challenge to be rewarding. Overall everything is pretty much as sound as it gets.

I guess I can mention the netcode, which is quite possibly the best netcode I've seen in a fighting game to date. Even when connecting to people across the world there's zero problems and it all feels as if I'm sitting there playing a local match. Hopefully this game's inclusion in EVO 2020 for having rollback netcode really makes a clear statement that delay based netcode should not be the standard any longer.


----
CONCLUSION:

Should you buy it? Absolutely. The price they're selling this for is impressively low for what you get.

The storymode is absolutely excellent and the multiplayer has a ton of depth to satisfy experienced players while still being very approachable to those who aren't as well versed in fighting games. I didn't mention it much but the balance overall is very great with some very rare discrepancies here and there which feel a lot more matchup/play style dependant than they do actual balance issues.

I forgot to mention the training mode is also pretty excellent, covering pretty much everything you'd need to know about not only this game, but fighting games in general.

A fighting game that does a ton of really clever things with it's storymode while having a very enjoyable cast of characters to work with in multiplayer. It's very approachable to new or inexperienced players, all while having some phenomenal netcode to boot. It's no surprise that it was given the spotlight at EVO. EDIT: Review was edited to factor in recent patches and my longer playtime. ---- VISUALS: Maybe one of the game's biggest strengths is it's insanely strong art direction and visual style. Every inch of this game oozes with superb visuals, from it's pixelated RPG storymode to it's un-cluttered and pleasing multiplayer. On top of that the UI design is also excellent, being very pretty without compromising any of it's functionality. There's pretty much nothing I have to complain about in regards to the visuals, anything I do is kinda just whiny nitpicks. One whiny nitpick I'd say is that it doesn't seem to scale too well with 1440p, looking a bit pixelated and jagged when in actual 2D combat. This could also be entirely intentional, maybe it is just pixelated naturally. Another tiny nitpick is that Tianhuo's flame effects (on her moves) are a teeny bit visually cluttering; just a smidge. For real though, I need a big magnifying glass to even catch a whiff of any nitpicks. ---- STORYMODE: What an absolute highlight, seriously this storymode is something special. It's a very clever, well designed storymode that eases the player nicely into the game's mechanics, and has plenty of charm in it's writing to boot. It used to have some severe difficulty spikes in it's bosses but was quickly fixed a week after launch. That leaves only one problem left; I just want more of it. The game has two different modes you smoothly swap between during gameplay, a top down RPG style pixelated overworld, and it's 2D fighting game combat. The fantastic thing about them is that one can influence the other, like how creeping up to sleeping enemies in the overworld lets you get off one free combo when you transition to the 2D combat. It's honestly genius since doing so lets you freely experiment and practice combos for one turn. On top of that you can also stomp on enemies in the overworld, which then stuns them after you transition into the combat again. Enemies also have attack patterns that perfectly complement your character's moveset, stuff like the most basic enemy having a very telegraphed jumping overhead that you can catch if you time your air lasso right. I could gush for hours about everything well designed in this campaign, not even touching on it's story, characters, or writing, all of which are just as enjoyable. I honestly just want more of the storymode to play as it only lasts about 4 hours with more chapters coming at some point in the future. Even still, 4 hours is more than enough to be worth it, and knowing that plenty more is on the way makes me very happy. ---- GAMEPLAY: If you've played a 2D fighter in the past two decades, you should have a clear idea of how it plays. Traditional 2D fighting game combat with an enjoyable neutral, rewarding combos, and plenty gimmicks and mixups to work with. There only being six characters makes it feel especially approachable to inexperienced fighting game players too, all while having plenty depth within each character for experienced players to dig their teeth into. I don't really know what else I could say beyond that. It's defensive game is great and rewarding, every character has their own unique tools to fight neutral, combos and blockstrings are just the right amount of challenge to be rewarding. Overall everything is pretty much as sound as it gets. I guess I can mention the netcode, which is quite possibly the best netcode I've seen in a fighting game to date. Even when connecting to people across the world there's zero problems and it all feels as if I'm sitting there playing a local match. Hopefully this game's inclusion in EVO 2020 for having rollback netcode really makes a clear statement that delay based netcode should not be the standard any longer. ---- CONCLUSION: Should you buy it? Absolutely. The price they're selling this for is impressively low for what you get. The storymode is absolutely excellent and the multiplayer has a ton of depth to satisfy experienced players while still being very approachable to those who aren't as well versed in fighting games. I didn't mention it much but the balance overall is very great with some very rare discrepancies here and there which feel a lot more matchup/play style dependant than they do actual balance issues. I forgot to mention the training mode is also pretty excellent, covering pretty much everything you'd need to know about not only this game, but fighting games in general.