Battle Fantasia is a 2D fighting game that seems to not really know who its audience is. On one hand, the gameplay has fairly easy to learn moves and flashy special attacks that make it fun and accessible for all gamers, but on the other hand the characters and presentation are aimed squarely at hardcore fighter and anime fans. The result is a game with a solid gameplay base, but characters that players might find hard to really get behind. Find out all of the details right here.
Quick Hits
- Title: Battle Fantasia
- Publisher: Aksys Games
- Developer: Arc System Works
- ESRB Rating: “T” for Teen
- Genre: 2D Fighting
- Pros: Fun, accessible gameplay; nice art style; flashy special moves
- Cons: Only 12 (mostly oddball) characters; not terribly deep in features or gameplay
Gameplay
The strength of Battle Fantasia definitely lies in the gameplay, so I’ll start there. The core gameplay is fairly standard 2D fighter fare, but that has a lot to do with why it is so fun. The move lists aren’t terribly long, but the game flows together remarkably well and it is easy to produce flashy, spectacular combos and special moves without a tremendous amount of effort. If you have played a Street Fighter or King of Fighters game before, you have the basic controls and moves down already. This makes a game that is just plain fun to play because you can get some great results right away, which makes it great for all types of gamers and not just hardcore fighter fans. It is well-designed, accessible, fast paced and flashy and just plain fun.
Features
Aksys GamesThere are some issues, however. The game is great for your average or casual fighting game fan, but for genre die-hards Battle Fantasia doesn’t really have that much to offer. It is good and fun, but kind of shallow particularly when compared to other fighting games on the Xbox 360. The other problem comes from the character list. There are only 12 characters, and they are the strangest mix of characters I have ever seen in a fighting game. There are young warriors that want to prove themselves. A quiet and shy girl that is surprisingly fierce in battle. A cat girl. A Harry Potter look alike. And even a large rabbit. Basically, every clichéd anime archetype is well represented here. The problem is that between the tiny cast and the fact they are all pretty strange compared to most fighting game characters, actually finding a character you give a damn about is kind of hard. And when you don’t particularly like the cast of a game, it is hard to maintain your interest.
That is the conflict that we kept coming across in playing the game. Some people loved the characters and setting but weren’t hooked by the simplistic gameplay. And others loved the gameplay but the characters were too weird for them to get attached to.
Gameplay modes include Story, Arcade, Survival, Time Attack, Vs. and Practice, all of which we have seen before. There is also an online versus mode as well which can be great fun thanks to the solid gameplay.
Graphics and Sound
The graphics in Battle Fantasia are pretty impressive for the most part. The characters look hand drawn even though they are 3D, and are nicely detailed overall and are very well animated. The backgrounds are sharp and great looking as well. Special effects for super moves and for the “Heat Up” moves fill the screen and look simply awesome. The game is flashy and over the top and just plain fun to watch.
The sound is mostly good. The music is solid and the sound effects are par for the 2D fighting game course.
Bottom Line
Aksys GamesOverall, Battle Fantasia is a decent game, but doesn’t quite pull together the whole package to attract a wide audience. Depending on how big of an anime fan you are and how you like your fighting games, Battle Fantasia really is a love it or hate it affair. The gameplay straddles the line between “just right” and “too simple” and the presentation and characters walk the line between “cute and interesting” and “surprisingly unappealing”. In our experience showing the game to a number of people, most liked one aspect or the other but rarely both. Basically, it takes either someone completely desperate for a new fighting game or someone with very peculiar and specific tastes to really get the most out of Battle Fantasia and fully enjoy it. Give it a rental if you are interested in a new 2D fighter on Xbox 360, but I can’t really recommend it for a purchase.
