Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax

Editor's Notes

Digital PS3 version reviewed. Online matchmaking was not tested for this review.

Introduction

Fighting games have been back in style these last few years, but this particular year seems a bit dry for the genre as the community prepares for 'Street Fighter V'. Thankfully for fans that want a new experience this year, Sega has localized the 2D fighter 'Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax'. This anime crossover offers a bit of a different gameplay approach than most titles of its genre, trying to make a splash in a combo-laden world of fighting games.

The Game Itself: Our Reviewer's Take

'Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax' gives players little introduction before throwing them into the fray. A goddess has transported a bunch of characters from different universes to fight an evil entity that is attempting to devour everything. Those looking for any kind of story should not be looking here for a satisfying plot. Instead, it's just an excuse to place popular characters from a variety of anime series to be in the same game together. Anime fans will recognize some of these series, including 'The Irregular At Magic High School', 'Sword Art Online', and 'Durarara!'. Those that are unfamiliar with these series, though, probably won't get too much enjoyment out of 'Dengeki Bunko's' cast.

The fighting mechanics are actually a bit different from most games of the genre, though. Instead of relying on high combos counts and precise button inputs, 'Dengeki Bunko' instead relies on simple button presses and a bit of resource management. Simply repeatedly tapping one of the four attack buttons, or pressing just a direction and a button 'Super Smash Brothers' style will unleash most basic combos for characters. On top of that, though, there are assist characters, which will rush in and do an extra attack, the attacks depending on the direction pressed and the character themselves.

Additionally, fighters can unleash a certain type of special attack, called a Trump Card, with a press of the button. After this, the character gets a nice attack and defense boost for a short amount of time. However, these Trump Cards are very limited—players can only do this twice a match (not a round), so between this, the typical rising special attack gauges of fighting games, assist characters, and more, there's a lot to keep track of at any given time.

The real question though is, is all the trouble of learning these special mechanics, which can be difficult to grasp, worth it? The answer is not really simple. Being a crossover title, 'Dengeki Bunko' has trouble appealing to anyone other than those that are fans of the majority of the anime series represented here… which makes the game's localization downright baffling, since the most of these shows have not seen an English release. It also makes the game itself hard to recommend to most gamers; since only a small pool of people are going to be invested enough in 'Dengeki Bunko' to buy the title in the first place, the online community is going to stagnate quickly. The only way this title could rise above that is with some seriously unique and satisfying gameplay… and while it's not bad, ultimately 'Dengeki Bunko' falls short.