Battle Fantasia Related content
-
BattleFantasia - Gameplay and trailer
-
Latest Battle Fantasia screenshots
- News Battle Fantasia heads to Europe [6]
PreviousBattle Fantasia Review
Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 Review by Matt Edwards
Page 1 of 2.
Page 2 
Why does it always take ages for the UK to get the latest 2D fighters? The Japanese have been enjoying Street Fighter IV in their arcades for nearly half a year, America got a console port of Arcana Heart with Europe once again overlooked, and as far as I'm aware there's only one BlazBlue arcade cabinet in the country at the Casino in London - not very helpful if you live in Cornwall. But after many months of waiting the UK is at least getting a console port of Battle Fantasia for the Xbox 360 and PS3.
Like the sublime Street Fighter IV, Battle Fantasia opts for a 2.5D fighter styling - 2D fighter mechanics on a 2D plane with full 3D graphics - and comes across as a fantasy-themed anime set in a steampunk universe. Everything exudes Japanese manga quirkiness, with bouts between "jetski-chainsaw" wielding warriors and giant dwarves with steam-powered backpacks a common occurrence in amongst the rabbit wizards and cat-girl waitresses.
Although Battle Fantasia has light/heavy punches and kicks, doing away with mediums in the same way as King of Fighters, it plays more like Street Fighter than you'd expect from the developer of Guilty Gear. Indeed, without the added complication of Burst Gauges, Roman Cancelling and Instant Kills, Battle Fantasia is noticeably more accessible than Arc System Works' flagship fighter. If you played Street Fighter Alpha back in the day then you'll already be able to pick up and play Battle Fantasia to a competent level - Alpha 3 players won't even have to worry about picking an Ism.
Still, that's not to say Battle Fantasia lacks depth. If you've bought an arcade stick for every console since the first SNES port of Street Fighter II, Battle Fantasia's Gachi and Heat Up systems will be incentive enough to spend hours in the Practice Mode.
Battle Fantasia's unlockable boss, The End of Deathbringer, has a ludicrous amount of HP. Heating Up is the only way to do serious damage.
Each player has a three-tiered MP gauge, which fills as you do and take damage. As well as providing access to each character's does-exactly-what-it-says-on-the-tin Super move, a stock of MP can also be used to enter Heat Up mode for a short time by tapping both punches or kicks, setting your character on fire Super Saiyan style. Whilst Heated, half the roster will have their normal and special moves supped up, significantly increasing their combo opportunities. The other half receives more specific benefits, including Marco summoning his pet dragon and Face loading his pistols with proper bullets - outside of Heat they have the stopping power of a Frisbee.
In a similar style to the classic Third Strike, Battle Fantasia fields a parrying system courtesy of its fifth Gachi button. If the player hits the Gachi button precisely in time with the enemy's high attack, or down and Gachi for a low attack, they will perform a Gachi Match - interrupting the enemy's offensive long enough for a swift counter. Alternatively, timing forward and Gachi or diagonally-forward and Gachi will execute either a high or low Gachi Drive. A low Gachi Drive sends your opponent hurtling towards the far wall, where they will spin-dizzied for a short time - the perfect opportunity to hit them with a guaranteed Super - while a high Gachi Drive launches them onto the arena wall, where they'll bounce back towards you. In this helpless state they'll be more susceptible to a lengthy juggle combo.
Are you excited about Battle Fantasia on PlayStation 3/Xbox 360?
View Eurogamer readers most anticipated games
Related Games
Battle Fantasia
Latest Features
No features found.
Latest Videos
BattleFantasia - Gameplay and trailer [6] 25 April, 2008
Want to comment on this article? Log in, or register!
Comments: 1-30 of 30 in total
|
3william56
13/02/09 @ 07:22
0
Once again, in English this time, please?
Y'know, stuff like graphics any good, control any good, and can someone who barely knows what a Saiyan is, and found the rest a bunch of japlish gobbledygook pick it up and play, or is it cubboard dwelling obscure beat-em-up freaks only?
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 13/02/09 @ 07:26
|
|
muscleblade
13/02/09 @ 08:13
0
I would normally buy this, but SFIV is a couple of days away so no buy. Too late. Should have released this in Europe at the same time as US.
|
|
JohnnyWashnGo
13/02/09 @ 08:51
0
Hmmm - if the price is right, I will be picking up a copy.
I am not a huge fan of fighting games, but since I decided to build my own arcade stick for the PS3, I suppose I should get some software to use with it ;) This and SFIV should be enough for now. |
|
muscleblade
13/02/09 @ 09:09
0
@menage
I love the 360 pad for fighting games. I dont see the issue. I think its just a fanboy rant. How childish. |
|
0
@muscleblade
Why is it every fucking time you say something negative about one system you're automatically a fanboy or own only one system. Fighters suck on 360 because the d-pad stinks. You're a fanboy, your mind works that way, not mine. Go "fanboy-hunting" somewhere else, accusing without proof is for idiots.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 13/02/09 @ 09:21
|
|
0
The d-pad on the 360 is definitely rubbish. Playing Street Fighter IV with a stick, although working, definitely feels strange. Yet, it's such a well designed game that I don't mind.
As for the Battle Fantasia, I am a bit of a fan of Arc System Works so I am pretty sure I will buy this. The last Guilty Gear game (GG XX accent core plus sadly only out in Japan so far) was very good and despite the fact that BF seems to be somewhat simpler and shallower, if the comparisons with SF Alpha made here are true then I believe I will have a lot of fun with it. The last year actually brought forth some incredibly good fighters to home consoles (GG XX accent core plus, Arcana Heart, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom - sadly none of them released in Europe, thank Allah for PS2 and Wii modchips...) and seeing two pretty high profile titles being released at the beginning of 2009 on 360 and in PAL makes me cautiously optimistic. |
|
muscleblade
13/02/09 @ 09:36
0
Sorry Menage! Im just in a bad mood right know.
I just dont see the problem with the D-pad. Many do so i guess theres something wrong with me then. I will definetly buy the SFIV stick though just to try the difference. |
|
0
Oh and Kudos to Matt for consistently writing good, in-depth fighting games-related articles. Of course I am aware that many people find themselves alienated by the plethora of 'strange' words and terms, but I am afraid this comes with the territory. An RPG title-related article will usually be full of references to XP, MP, tanks, area-of-effect spells, aggro, orcs, halflings and whathaveyou, just as an FPS-related article will use terms such as strafing, leading, rocket-jumping, bunny-hopping etc. Since Fighting Games are a bit of a niche-genre where many gamers are actually pretty obssessed with advanced techniques and the actual depth of those games lies in those advanced techniques, I think it is pretty necessarry to discuss these things in an article such as this. If it's any help, here's a pretty good dictionary of fighting-games terms:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:F... |
|
0
Ive played this a few times in the arcade. Its..not very good tbh. I want to like it, but I dont.
On an EG-scale, where 5 is medium, I would give this game just that, 5/10. (Atleast the arcade version) EDIT: To everyone hoping for a new Guilty Gear. Youll be dissapointed. Try a demo first.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 13/02/09 @ 10:42
|
|
0
"I only wish I had more time to get obsessed with these sorts of games: they're everything I think videogames should be. "
Heh, yes, in a way 1-on-1 fighting games fuse the best of both worlds: the manual dexterity, reflexes and hand-eye coordination on one hand and tactical thinking, resource management and spatial thinking on the other. You could probably defend a thesis on how this represents a quintessence of videogaming with all other elements that take away from the purity of the experience reduced to almost nill. Then again, other people would point out silly visual design, large bouncing breasts, moronc attempts at storytelling et cetera and we'd feel ashamed even talking about these games in a public forum... "To everyone hoping for a new Guilty Gear. Youll be dissapointed. Try a demo first. " I assume you're referring to the Guilty Gear 2: Overture, which, admittedly doesn't look too hot, but after all, this is not a 'real' GG game anyway. |
|
0
Matt, while I do appreciate having someone who really understands fighting games (even if at a much higher level than I do) writing these reviews, would you mind putting in a little more vanilla information? I mean, you write Coyori and Face having move sets that chain into each other, and that Ashley is an aerial combo monster when in Heat Up mode, but at no point do you explain who or what these characters are. This isn't like Street Fighter where you can assume everyone knows that Sagat is a giant muay thai fighter or Honda is a sumo wrestler, most of us know precisely nothing about the game, seeing as it is the first in a new series.
|
|
0
After playing Battle Fantasia for a few hours today I'll say this:
Whoever designed that final boss is having abit of a f%^#$ laugh, aren't they? Overpowered? More like completely mental.. Although, compared to Seth from Street Fighter IV, Death Bringer in his second form is still acceptable.. Anyway, other than that, I think the game will appeal to everyone into Guilty Gear. It is slightly less complex what with roman cancels and combo breakers/ faultless damage moves missing but it is by no means a dumbed down fighter. The basic feel is very similar to Guilty Gear: the roster is crazy as hell (Watson is pretty crazy but Face and Cedric and Coyori are also out there), the gameplay is very fast (although not every character can dash and do double jumps) and combo heavy. I don't think it can be compared to Street Fighter beyond a certain point, since combat is much more about combos and super moves whereas I find SF games to be more about zoning and counters... (Then again, might be the way I play). Anyway, typically, when you do a good one in BF, you are likely to end up with three sets of combos following each other and hit count of over 20. Gachi moves and throws are tactically pretty interesting, but they are also pretty difficult to pull since they demand very precise timing, so I assume it is not easy to abuse their existence and spam them into gameplay. On the other hand, heating up demands smart tactical thinking as it spends one level of the gauge, but doing a super combo while heated up will steamroll the opponent (if it connects that is), so it pays to be conservative with the gauge... The thing is, unlike Street Fighter where you feel like you have safe zones and can tactically retreat (although , with a knowledgeable opponent, you're dead anyway), BF really encourages aggressive playing. Every character seems to have some way of attacking quickly from a distance, either through dash specials or through projectile attacks and you simply can not retreat and consider yourself safe at any time. So it's best to be on the offensive most of the times... What I miss is some kind of advanced airplay that was abundant in Guilty Gear. There, with air dashes and double jumps, practically every character could do insane things in the air. Here you are restricted to specials and supers which are great but can not be extended... So far I have played with Ashley and Coyori and they have very different styles but what they have in common is speed. I like this game. |
Comments: 1-30 of 30 in total
Want to comment on this article? Log in, or register!
