Overview
Blade Strangers is a 2D sci-fi fighting game developed by Studio Saizensen and published by Nicalis for the PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC on August 28, 2018.
A traditional hand-drawn fighting game from the studio behind Blade Arcus from Shining, Blade Strangers is a crossover fighting game that not only feature characters from Studio Saizensen's other games (namely Code of Princess and Umihara Kawase), but also characters from games published by Nicalis (namely Cave Story and The Binding of Isaac). Gunvolt and Shovel Knight also appear as guest characters.
The game is known for its accessible control scheme, avoiding use of complex input motions for its special moves (instead relying on a single directional input in combination with four attack buttons).
It was later released on arcades in Japan (using PC-based Sega ALLS UX hardware and digitally distributed via ALL.Net P-ras MULTI Ver. 3) on December 25, 2019.
Story
Every world in every universe is a simulation created by an interdimensional network of servers. These worlds are maintained by the goddess Exiva and the Motes, sentient computers that serve her. To keep the worlds safe from harm, the Motes choose heroes from across the worlds and unlock their inner power, transforming them into one of their champions known as the Blade Strangers.
When a being named Lina appears and begins consuming the servers' data, countless worlds are lost, with all the Blade Strangers falling before her. To protect the universe, the Motes transmit several heroes from the remaining worlds to their plane and alter their memories to make them believe they are participating in a fighting tournament, believing the last hero standing will be awakened as the new Blade Stranger and defeat Lina once and for all.
Gameplay
Gameplay in Blade Strangers takes place on a 2D plane and uses four attack buttons. The game avoids the use of more complex input motions seen in other fighting games such as quarter-circles and dragon punches; instead, players use a single directional input combined with a button to perform their moves, similar to the Super Smash Bros. series. During battle, players can build meter by dealing and receiving damage, which can be spent to unleash EX Special Attacks and powerful super moves against their opponent. Once per round, when a character is running low on health and has a full meter remaining, players can enter a temporary “Heat Up!” state, granting them increased attack speed and full armor for its duration.
The game offers a single-player story mode, with characters interacting with one another while progressing through a tournament ladder, along with arcade, survival, challenge and training modes. The game also supports local and online multiplayer battles.
Characters
From launch, Blade Strangers included 14 playable characters, 12 of which are drawn from other game franchises either developed by Studio Saizensen or published by Nicalis. Three additional characters were later added via update (one of which is an alternate version of Kawase).
Original
- Kawase
- Noko
- Emiko
- Summer Kawase (added on August 26, 2019))
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