The indie fighter for everyone.
For a time, it was a rare occurrence to see crossover titles. The fighting game genre was one of the first to start implementing these special games with guest characters from different games. Nowadays, it seems like it is almost a requirement for fighting games to have some sort of special guest star. Blades Strangers is no exception. This one has a bit of a twist – it stars characters from other games, but all with a more indie footing in the gaming market.
Characters from Code of Princess, Azure Striker Gunvolt, Cave Story, Shovel Knight, and even The Binding of Isaac are here to duke it out in 2D fighting game fashion. The story is kind of standard; characters are selected to fight after being brainwashed into thinking they are in some sort of fighting tournament, but are actually being trained by some servers and computers to take on an all powerful being known as Lina that is trying to destroy the universe. It’s there, mostly forgettable, but it works.
Platforms: Switch, PC, PS4
MSRP: $39.99
Price I’d pay: $30
The fighting is where Blade Strangers shine. While it seems overly simple to begin with, it grows to be a very complex fighting system full of combos and strategy. It is played on a four button system with two buttons designated light and heavy attacks and two other buttons for special abilities and unique abilities. All of these are governed not only by the button pressed but also the direction the player is pressing when the button is pressed. Think of it much like Super Smash Bros. If I pressed the special button while pushing forward, it would send out a projectile, while not moving in any direction would be a different attack. There’s even an auto-combo system in place that allows for flashy combos with simple button presses. It’s a simple system that makes it very accessible to players.
Being accessible doesn’t mean sacrificing complexity and strategy. Blade Strangers still has a full combo system, ultra combos that require meter to use, EX moves that take up some meter as well, and a heat up mode that can be activated at low health that allows chain combos and usage of EX moves and ultra combos without over using the super meter. That, along with cross-up moves, overhead attacks, and reversals makes this a fighting game that is simplistic to play, but difficult to master, but with enough time and care, anyone can learn this game and have some fun with its mechanics.
The modes offered here are decently vast. There’s a tutorial, story mode, practice mode, survival, trial mode for learning combos, and the online matchmaking modes for both casual matches and ranked ones. While the tutorial is nice, experience in fighting is really the only proper way to learn the ins and outs of the mechanics. Luckily, there is enough here for that that can keep the player busy for a while.
The online mode is where most will want to spend their time. As said above, there are rooms for casual matches and a quick join for ranked matches with a random player looking for a bout. The online stability is perfectly fine. Granted, I was only able to find a handful of matches online both in ranked and unranked play. The online systems seemed to run on a catch up way of online play. I could tell it was adjusting lag in between rounds before letting the players being their fighting which is a smart way to handle lag. But, only being able to find maybe six players online at a given time brings me to my biggest issue with Blade Strangers – the player base. Now, I know that fighting games rely on their established player base for survival, and this one needs it badly. The unfortunate thing is that I don’t know if it will ever see the large fan base it should have. With Nicalis charging $40 for this niche fighter, it could very well be a death sentence for the player base.
Visually, the game looks decent. It is sprite-based with some pretty flashy moves to show off. It can get a bit pixilated at times making it look like the camera is slightly zoomed in too far, but for all intents and purposes, it’s visual style is well done, especially when seeing a giant Shovel Knight jumping around with an enlarged Isaac fighting against each other.
Blade Strangers is a fine fighting game. It has a simple mindset, but a very complex nature that allows the newcomers to pop in and have a fun time learning the ins and outs while veterans can dive deep into the systems and have just as much fun. It is a fast and nimble fighting game with a lot of flashy combos that fans of the genre can appreciate. I can only hope that this niche fighter will gather a player base. Until then, casual fighting game fans may want to find a deal on this one, but those of you that are looking for a novelty fighting game with some interesting characters will have a fun time here.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
