Welcome to our review of Blade Strangers for Nintendo Switch, hardcore old school fighting action filled with many beloved indie guests!
A malevolent force known only as Lina is devouring data from a vast, interdimensional network of servers overseen by sentient computers called ”motes.” In desperation, the motes summon heroes from a variety of parallel game worlds to face off against each other in one-on-one combat. The tournament victor has the potential to be awakened as the Blade Stranger—the savior who can vanquish Lina and protect the motes from further harm!
Developed by Studio Saizensen, Blade Strangers is a hardcore old-school fighting game. The streamlined four-button control scheme makes it easy for beginners to deal out damage from day one…but the intricate combos, counters, and specials give tournament-caliber players plenty of opportunities for frame counting, chain construction, and hit-box science.
While I am not a seasoned fighter, I do know my way around the old school fighting games, being very skilled at the original Street Fighter II when I was young, I never lost track with the genre as long as it was 2D. I tend to be bad at those 3D ones but the 2D fighters, those I love. This obviously made me very eager to play Blade Strangers.
Blade strangers is a basic fighter in its core, much like the good old games in the SNES era. Four buttons to mash or to strategically hit to hit that very beautifully executed combo, all up to you. As a fighter, Blade Strangers brings a solid experience to the table and adding some indie favorites like Shovelknight, Isaac, Solange and Quote… The roster is not that big compared to many other games out there. Which might be its biggest problem.
The lack of variety, a point at which we have been seriously spoiled in the past few years. I mean really, Smash Ultimate fighters alone could outnumber them several times. Nothing wrong with a smaller lineup, don’t get me wrong, just that we have been spoiled and a more limited line up feels weird again.
What I would like to say, the graphics on this game are simply impressive. The fighting might at times feel a little slow, but literally, everything is going on at the same time. You got the moving backgrounds, the atmosphere set by the music and so much more. The overall feeling is great. I love the artwork, really do. The storylines did not do it for me, it was just “part of the game” and nothing that I consider special.
When it all comes down to rating a fighting game, I personally look at 3 things!
- did the game keep me amused? Yes, it sure did, be it short gaming sessions only, it was fun to play!
- Would I play again soon? I do believe so, I do not think there is currently a better one that I would play!
- Did it feel fluent while playing? I have some reservations here. It has that old school feeling where some moves take a while before they get started and if this was done on purpose, well done. But sadly it also annoyed me a little. Some moves were too big or too elaborate and while fun to look at, annoying to use in a proper fight.
In conclusion, the guest appearances and the old school feeling are really what this game is all about. A short story mode but a chance to play online to make up for it. I think the game might need a bigger roster as for now, my rating is 75%.
7.5/10
Tested on Nintendo Switch
