Game #1134: Granblue Fantasy Versus

 More anime, more problems.

 Well, back in the PS2 era ArkSys was known for making fighters out of other people's franchises in their own signature style, for example, both Hokuto no Ken and Sengoku Basara got theirs, although, sadly, they never made it outside Japan. Granblue Fantasy Versus is their latest foray into turning somebody else's work into a fighting game, but using their Xrd style.

 Yeah, the game is gorgeous, with fantastic 3-D models that look like 2-D sprites. These models are, detail-wise, somewhere between Xrd and Strive, so they are pretty.... although, on the flip-side, the roster is a measly 11 character small, which is kinda pathetic. Modes include the usual suspects: VS, Arcade, Training and ArkSys' trademark Mission training, which is sort-of like a tutorial but more involved. Then there's RPG mode, which is the best Single Player content they have ever included in their fighting games. Basically, you take part in about 40 missions, some which play more like a very simple  beat'em up instead of a fighter, and you level up your characters, obtain weapons(Some which can change how the character weapon looks, which once found, can be change in the other modes), upgrade weapons and equip support abilities to use in battle. It's... it's actually really good, the most fun I've had since they've done fighting games.

 The combat system is a bit too slow and simple for my tastes. The basics are are alright, three attack buttons(Light, medium, strong) as well as a button that does something different for every character. It's not as deep as Blazblue, but, for instance, Gran gets a chargeable slash, Percival gets a grab, Zeta gets a mashable stab, etc. Of course, being a modern ArkSys game, auto-combos are in, but they are three-hit long and don't end in a special or super move. Special moves run on cooldown, which is... weird. There are simplified inputs, by pressing R1+a direction on the pad, or technical commands, like the quarter-circle forward input, that makes the cooldown slightly shorter. Rounding up the mechanics is the R2 button, which can be used to block, or by pressing forward or downward, dodge incoming attacks.

 The basic combat mechanics I enjoyed, but this is definitely a game that rewards patience and moves a bit more slowly than I would've liked. Combos feel mundane and unexciting considering how the cooldown mechanic works. I don't know, I would've much preferred something a bit faster and a bit more involved.

 While I wouldn't say the fighting is as fun or as exciting as their other fighting games, I must commend ArkSys on the Single Player mode, which shows they can try something different and succeed at it. It's not an noninteractive, lame movie like in Guilty Gear Xrd/Sign, an impenetrable visual-novel style series of fights, like Persona or as densely boring and uneventful as Dragon Ball's boards. So yeah, I think it's a decent package, but an unimpressive fighting game.

 7.0