Things I Did Recently

Author notes

23 - The Dark Side

Inkmonkey

on July 30, 2008

Really, though, that's more because The Apprentice is horribly unbalanced than because Darth Vader is underpowered (well, balance-wise at least. I personally think Canonically Darth could just forcechoke all these punks from the other side of the screen and just go on with his day, but that's not so much fun for a fighting game).

All in all the game is good. The characters feel a bit easier to use, the graphics are beautiful, and there are a lot of modes to play around in. The quality of the online mode really varies; I've had some matches that went lightning-quick, but other times the lag made the game virtually unplayable.

However, the game does feel a bit… small. There's really only one new character (Hilde, one of the rare video game characters who doesn't look like she just got second place in the "World's Skankiest Slut" contest). The bonus characters (each designed by a different prominent manga artist) are just palette swaps of existing characters. Even Darth feels suspiciously similar to Mitsurugi. The other new characters are the boss character (and I don't think that really counts) and The Apprentice, who is unbalanced to a ridiculous degree. Though I hear he's still better than Yoda, who is apparently just outright broken.

The story mode is very short, or at least, it feels like it. There are actually about the same amount of fights as in previous iterations, but it's changed by forcing you to fight 3-4 characters all at once, instead of each broken up into a separate fight. Story mode is also much more linear, which a few people have complained about, but personally I'm glad that there isn't this arbitrary maze of decisions I have to make in order to unlock stuff.

Speaking of unlocking stuff, let's get to character creation. First of all, its nice to have a bit more customization in just the bodies of the characters. You can now adjust Build (guys: amount of muscles, Girls: size of breasts) and musculature. No sliding bar for height, but whatever. It's also possible to change the pitch of voices now, adding a lot more variety.

The big change, though, is that what clothes a character is wearing actually affects their stats. This is good and bad; gives some extra customization, but it also punishes you for certain looks. If, say, you don't really like the look of shoulder pads, then you'll be short a few points during the next match you start. Luckily multiplayer, arcade, and online mode all give you the option with stat adjustments turned off, so at least if you don't want to deal with it you aren't forced to at every step.

All in all, a good game. And judging by the fact that they left a blank spot open for Yoda, there's bound to be some downloadable content somewhere down the road.