When Blade Strangers was announced, I was excited. It looked like a neat crossover fighting game that would harken back to an older era while keeping modern ideas. The end result was a bit different however, and in a way I find interesting.
The game, developed by Studio Saizensen and published by Nicalis, features characters from those companies’ games along with some guests such as Shovel Knight and Gunvolt. Some of the cast seems unusual such as the characters from Umihara Kawase, who are not exactly known for fighting prowess. The developers made some interesting design choices however, and the result is a fighting game with truly unique character designs. Shovel Knight fans will be very interested in the character as he appears here, just for how he was interpreted.
Blade Strangers is not as traditional a fighter as it was made out to be. It instead plays like a cross between old school four button SNK fighters, and Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series. The game is very easy to get into and learn and has simplified controls, but with more in depth gameplay at the same time. You can learn the characters quickly, but actually becoming excellent at them is another matter. There are of course different tiers of characters in terms of who is good to use, and finding which one suits you best is a must for playing.
I have to say that fighting game purists will probably not be the biggest fans of this game. It may have been marketed as a traditional fighter, but it follows the Blazblue Cross Tag Battle formula. That in itself is not a bad thing, but being a relaxed style of fighter ( for lack of a better word), is definitely not what Blade Strangers was presented as. It is still a good fighter, but you should know what you are getting into. For those that like all different kind of fighting games, this will be of interest as the game is rather fun.
The online play in Blade Strangers played extremely well, and I did not experience any lag while fighting others. This was a worry for me, but as is often the case with indie fighters, their netcode seems to be better than that of fighters from major companies. The issue I have is with the single player arcade mode. It is a perfectly good arcade mode and fun to waste time in, but I would have liked endings of some kind. I get that the story mode is there for single player as well, but does not really give a satisfying conclusion.
The writing in the game is very funny, and laughs at the absurdity of the situation. The crossover could have been done a bit better though. The interactions are more limited than I had thought they would be though, and I felt many could have been done better. There were stories modes I liked, but I feel they just didn’t go far enough.
Overall, Blade Strangers is a bit of a mixed bag. There is plenty that works and much that feels strange. I did like the game in the end and had a fun time with it. The visuals were stunning and the music was excellent. Just be aware that it may not be exactly what you think it is.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
Reviewed on Switch.