Full video review: https://youtu.be/d_VtMJoQQ8s
UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH is back yet again. This time though, we went from changing the game’s subtitle to slapping a 2 on the name. And yeah, it’s still just as fun, and.. well, difficult.
Gameplay
UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH is basically an anime fighter along the same vein as Guilty Gear or BlazBlue. I would say it’s more difficult than Strive, but maybe on par with BlazBlue. I don’t know - that’s all subjective anyways. That said, I liked the past two entries in this series and yeah, I like this one too, but it’s not without its issues.
Starting with the good though: The movement. This is probably my favorite thing about the game. It just, flows so well, if that makes sense. You have so many options to dash, jump, and move around the screen that once you get the hang of things, it is a very fast-paced and satisfying experience. That and the characters themselves are pretty solid, for the most part. Plenty of variety there - grapplers, zoners, rushdowns, all of that - and I always like a good fighting game where more than a handful of characters click with me. That said, Merkava is still my favorite. He’s just so noodly and fun to play.
Tutorials
The game also does a really good job with its tutorial system. There are over 100 different tutorials, each with demo videos and a walkthrough to help you through them. And then on top of that there are character combo guides and general strategy guides for each and every character. It goes to great lengths to get you into the experience, which is definitely warranted given just how hard a fighting game this is.
Multiplayer
If you’re looking to hop into the game and don’t already have friends to play it with - you’ll be subjected to the game’s online mode. On one hand, there’s actually rollback netcode which is super nice for a niche 2D fighter like this, but on the other, there are not that many active players just hanging out in the game’s online lobbies and when you do find a match, it’s likely going to be someone way higher rank than you. People call this series a Discord fighter - meaning you have to hop on servers dedicated to the game to find matches - and that still holds true with this sequel - even if the online playerbase is double that of the last game, averaging around 200 online at any one time.
I spent some time in singleplayer, but honestly, those modes just aren’t that great. The arcade mode is pretty standard, but comes with a boring storyline and the time attack and score attacks are just vaguely different ways to play the arcade mode basically. Multiplayer is pretty much a necessity for this one and the most fun I had was duking it out with friends locally - and this is definitely one I’ll be keeping installed for that very reason.
Various
I’m still not a fan of how tight diagonal inputs are, it just doesn’t feel right to me, but pretty much everything else is solid. The art is just as great as its always been, the music is excellent, the stages are cool and really just remind me of the Fate series, and the level of polish on top of it all is really impressive given the size of its developer.
Overall
UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes is worth a recommendation, but maybe not for the general audience. If you’re not already into fighting games, definitely pass on it, and if you’re not specifically into 2D anime fighters, then probably pass on it too. It’s got quite the learning curve, but is fun to play with friends and the addition of rollback netcode actually makes the game playable online too - even if the playerbase is small. The PC port apparently had issues on launch, but playing a couple months later, I can’t say I had any issues, so there’s that too.
UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH is back yet again. This time though, we went from changing the game’s subtitle to slapping a 2 on the name. And yeah, it’s still just as fun, and.. well, difficult.
Gameplay
UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH is basically an anime fighter along the same vein as Guilty Gear or BlazBlue. I would say it’s more difficult than Strive, but maybe on par with BlazBlue. I don’t know - that’s all subjective anyways. That said, I liked the past two entries in this series and yeah, I like this one too, but it’s not without its issues.
Starting with the good though: The movement. This is probably my favorite thing about the game. It just, flows so well, if that makes sense. You have so many options to dash, jump, and move around the screen that once you get the hang of things, it is a very fast-paced and satisfying experience. That and the characters themselves are pretty solid, for the most part. Plenty of variety there - grapplers, zoners, rushdowns, all of that - and I always like a good fighting game where more than a handful of characters click with me. That said, Merkava is still my favorite. He’s just so noodly and fun to play.
Tutorials
The game also does a really good job with its tutorial system. There are over 100 different tutorials, each with demo videos and a walkthrough to help you through them. And then on top of that there are character combo guides and general strategy guides for each and every character. It goes to great lengths to get you into the experience, which is definitely warranted given just how hard a fighting game this is.
Multiplayer
If you’re looking to hop into the game and don’t already have friends to play it with - you’ll be subjected to the game’s online mode. On one hand, there’s actually rollback netcode which is super nice for a niche 2D fighter like this, but on the other, there are not that many active players just hanging out in the game’s online lobbies and when you do find a match, it’s likely going to be someone way higher rank than you. People call this series a Discord fighter - meaning you have to hop on servers dedicated to the game to find matches - and that still holds true with this sequel - even if the online playerbase is double that of the last game, averaging around 200 online at any one time.
I spent some time in singleplayer, but honestly, those modes just aren’t that great. The arcade mode is pretty standard, but comes with a boring storyline and the time attack and score attacks are just vaguely different ways to play the arcade mode basically. Multiplayer is pretty much a necessity for this one and the most fun I had was duking it out with friends locally - and this is definitely one I’ll be keeping installed for that very reason.
Various
I’m still not a fan of how tight diagonal inputs are, it just doesn’t feel right to me, but pretty much everything else is solid. The art is just as great as its always been, the music is excellent, the stages are cool and really just remind me of the Fate series, and the level of polish on top of it all is really impressive given the size of its developer.
Overall
UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes is worth a recommendation, but maybe not for the general audience. If you’re not already into fighting games, definitely pass on it, and if you’re not specifically into 2D anime fighters, then probably pass on it too. It’s got quite the learning curve, but is fun to play with friends and the addition of rollback netcode actually makes the game playable online too - even if the playerbase is small. The PC port apparently had issues on launch, but playing a couple months later, I can’t say I had any issues, so there’s that too.