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A refreshing approach to the series!

2K View2023-08-17

BlazBlue Entropy Effect

8.8

ActionRogueliteSingleplayerPlatformer

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BlazBlue Entropy Effect (Reviewed)

Developer: 91Act

Publisher: 91Act

Released: Aug 3, 2023

Price: $30 USD

BlazBlue Entropy Effect is a vibrant metroidvania, hack and slash, action roguelike and is a welcome departure from the norms of the series fighter games, I applaud it. It's entertaining, and offers a lot of variety to the player. While it is Early Access, there is a lot being offered and being worked on towards their future endeavors.

I want to point out that I've never bothered to pick up a previous title, nor have I been really interested in the series as a whole, so this review comes from a more objective standpoint, reflecting my general views towards the game as a game rather than what they've been over the past few years as a series.

Issue

Voice Language
A Chinese narrator provides the game's main voice. The whole cast of characters, however, speaks Japanese, yet the trailers for the game on the Steam page all use English voice narration. This should certainly be included in the future full version of the game, because it's very inconsistent to have two languages speaking together. Yes, while there are subtitles. I'd rather listen to Japanese or English voice actors.

This is a matter of personal preference. You can mute the voice, however it will also mute the in-game characters rather than just the narration. That's not good.

Story

Skyseyes

The story is very fragmented, and will reveal itself as you proceed through the main games "training" in search of phenomena, which eventually reveal more puzzle pieces as to where you are, who you are, and what you need to do.

What I've recently learned from what I've been able to uncover is that you, like 70% of humanity, are trapped within a consciousness device, enduring ongoing training for a corporation called Skyseyes. You do as directed, while others start to fill you in on secrets and conspiracies, leading to the fragmented memories unlocking over time.

I actually find it pretty intriguing and mysterious, which adds to the drive to keep fighting for a better rank in order to move through the main story, which continues to reveal more and more of the characters' past and the world you are in over time.

Presentation

Excellent
It's not often that I sit here and think to myself, "Wow! This looks great!" The art style is consistent throughout. It has a cybernetic aspect to it while also feeling natural. The controls are responsive, and the depth of each unique character inspires you to try various builds each time to acquire their associated special move combo skill set.

Available Characters
Most characters are missing from the roster. However, the developers want to release the others at a later date, specifically in Q1 of 2024. This is more of a potential than a fact because you can never completely trust a developer's word for what they can deliver in such a short period of time when it comes to their roadmap promises.

The character design and skill sets are all done well.

Ragna, for example, is a close range melee fighter who, while short on health, has a reasonable level of self sustainability as long as you can keep continual back to back combos. While Hakumen has little to no mobility but a massive health pool with devastating knockback and knockdown combos to keep you alive and well.

I am a One Trick Pony. I normally only play one character in these types of games. So it's strange to see me stretching out and attempting each character numerous times, merging their powers to offer the best of both worlds for their strategy.

Potential
Throughout your attempts to get a better rank in order to continue the story, you will encounter moments of possibility, a type of augmentation that lets you to select one of three effects to enhance yourself for each of your runs.

Some will be Common, Uncommon, Rare, or Legendary, all of which will add further defensive layers or provide extremely powerful bonuses to your current character's run. Until, finally, you fail and succumb to the ever-increasing threats and superiors.

Events
There are only a few events. Bosses, gambling, shops, and normal / extreme stages. While this is true, they do differ from time to time to avoid being repetitive. It did feel that way during a few of the Extreme Stages, but not frequently enough to annoy me. Here is hoping the developers make more options for the future versions.

Gameplay

Fun

The diversity of events, bosses, and monsters, as well as the escalating difficulty, make this game tough to put down because it encourages you to do better the following time while also building up your characters for the Mind Challenges, which are enhanced versions of the Mind Training you will be undertaking.

The better you preform, the higher your rank, which in turn more Mind Challenges become available. The more challenges you complete, the more the story progresses which feels rewarding and well put together from the players perspective.

Mind Challenges
The challenges are only available once for each character in a standard training run, so do your best to put together a character that is powerful and reliable.

You can only participate in a challenge if you have a sufficient rank. After that, you can use any rank character in that challenge, even if it is significantly more difficult running a rank 100 in a rank 500 challenge. It offers various ways to approach.

Features

Build Depth
The number of potential combos every run is on a similar level when compared to other fighting games. Using the analogue stick in tandem with hops and dashes to constantly chain skills unlocked through potential rewards. There are a lot and each character has a different set number of possible unlocks from 12-26 skill sets.

Prototypes and Evotypes

Each character begins as a Prototype that may be enhanced by acquiring Potentials and Tactics. Tactics supply Prototypes with multiple elemental attack forms, whilst Potentials improve a character's action powers. Over 100 Potentials and over 200 Tactics are included in the Early Access version which offers so much diversity!

Incentive

After each run you are awarded more currency to purchase Mind Upgrades and other gameplay features, which boost your chances of achieving a better rank on each run by adjusting your chances of drops, events, and overall sustainability. Everything feels rewarding, not just through gameplay.

Conclusion

I would like to see more

That is, events, characters, abilities, and bosses. They are currently laying a strong foundation. The game has a nice pace, everything feels amazing, and each character seems distinct in their agile movement / sluggish response owing to their aesthetic on who they are as a character. Aside from the strange story that eventually comes together, I have no complaints about this game besides the fact that it's not fully out.

The cost is really affordable in comparison to what you get. In its current state, it costs $20 and provides around 10-15 hours of playtime. A bargain if you ask me!

This concludes my views of this game; while my opinions may be met with criticism, that is what distinguishes gamers; you don't have to like the same things as others, nor do you have to agree with them.

If you want to catch me on one of my streams or locate me on social media, you may do so at the following locations, I'm always playing something new.

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- Pawkt