Granblue Fantasy: Versus - Legendary Edition by developer Arc System Works and publisher XSEED Games—Sony PlayStation 4 review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Granblue Fantasy: Versus - Legendary Edition is a packaged version of the previous released Granblue Fantasy: Versus. With it you also get all thirteen of the game’s DLC characters, including the two recently released Avatar Belial and Vira characters. Having missed this title the first time it came out, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get my hands on it now – and I’m certainly glad that I did. Granblue Fantasy: Versus - Legendary Edition is a fun, slick anime-styled fighting game that has plenty that kept me coming back for more.
My own experience with the Granblue Fantasy IP is relatively limited. I knew that it had quite the following as an RPG in Japan, and had seen some details on the characters and story in the past, but it’s not a property I know particularly well. What Versus does is take many of the characters from that game and put them into a 2.5D side-view fighting game. At this point Arc System Works knows the fight game as well as anyone in the business, and that expertise shines through here.
At first blush, I was reminded of the sword combat and storyline / RPG mode of the most recent SoulCalibur game, but the actual gameplay reminds me of Guilty Gear. The visuals are that same cel-shaded variety that provides fast, fluid movement during combat. Everything looks gorgeous, from the characters themselves to the environments they are fighting in. The music is enjoyable as well, if not quite as catchy as the aforementioned Guilty Gear tracks.
In terms of the actual game and modes, you have a lot of the typical fare and a unique one as well. Online matches, an arcade mode, training and an RPG mode. The one twist to the arcade mode is that you can choose a sort of branching path for the story that could impact difficulty or opponent you are up against. These between match dialog bits can be pretty word-heavy at times, and the RPG mode tells the story in a visual novel style that relies heavily on cuts of visuals and loads of text. It’s pretty good at helping me to understand the characters and their motivations as well as the general backstory effectively. It’s always a question of pacing in games like this to have so much exposition against bouts of really fast-paced combat.
When it comes to the combat, Granblue Fantasy: Versus - Legendary Edition is one of those titles that is pretty accessible but has more layers than it might first appear. Face buttons dictate the strength of your attacks. Special moves themselves are not too complex to pull off, and some things are made even easier by shortcut buttons on the shoulder that help you to pull off potentially complex moves more easily (though with the price of a cooldown to keep you from spamming them willy-nilly).
That being said, while easier levels of opposing AI or other novices to player versus player matches won’t require much beyond these shortcut buttons or a big super move to win the game, more skilled opposition will demand more from you. The tutorials generally do a good job of teaching you how to get the most out of moves, as well as how to string them together for even better results. This is where the fighting’s nuance comes into play.
The RPG mode was where I spent the vast majority of my time. Characters gain levels, earn new weapons, can upgrade said weapons and more. Given my affection for progression elements like this, I found the RPG / story campaign a great way to digest the somewhat slow-moving narrative. Less one-on-one fighter, the game takes on more of a brawler feel. It sort of reminds me of how other titles like Tekken have tried to carry over their combat mechanics to a similar but different style of game.
I was never a big fan of the brawler sub-mode in Tekken, but it works pretty well here. They are usually chained scenarios where you knock around easier enemies, getting some random loot drops and culminating in a boss battle that has a bit more challenge to it, but it’s not an overly challenging mode. Along the way you earn tickets that allow you to try and collect better gear or skin. The combination of loot, experience, enhancements and such are all nice lightweight homages to Granblue Fantasy’s RPG background.
Summary
Granblue Fantasy: Versus - Legendary Edition is a worthy addition to any fighting fan’s collection. It’s not perfect – to me it feels a bit like a lesser version of Guilty Gear at times. But it’s a whole lot of fun. The presentation is slick, the RPG mode has some longevity to it, and this Legendary Edition adds a lot of characters to an already solid roster. I’m glad I didn’t miss out on this title a second time.
Score: 8.25 / 10
0 comments:
Post a Comment