BlazBlue Entrophy Effect Review – A Blazing Good Time

People who know me know that I have an unhealthy obsession with Roguelikes, Anything where I can die over and over again, making a little more progress with each run is something I’m into, which is weird since I was never much of a Soulslike player. Those same people would also know that I love fighting games, even owning about six fight pads/sticks, though I have only ever been good at one or two actual games, at least enough to care about frame data. One of those games was the BlazBlue series, which fell between being better than mid-tier players and nowhere near as good as pro players, as the series had an incredibly large gap between the two. So in this regard, BlazBlue: Entropy Effect, developed by 91Act, the roguelike BlazBlue spin-off, feels like a game with an audience of one in mind, how many people could have asked for this, especially with the core fighting game that spawned it having ended nearly a decade ago, with Arc System Work having moved back to Guilty Gear.

Yet here we are, with a game that actually works. That somehow blends the bizarre science fiction of the series with a unique take on fast-paced and punishing fight to the finish, even blending in the combat of the fighting game as well. In fairness, Entropy Effect does not actually take place in the BlazBlue universe that has been established thus far, making it a good point for players who have never heard of the series to jump in. Even without a massive story, here it could lead players back to four insanely deep narratives in the core series. Players take the role of a robot in a dystopian future, running training simulations in a computer that, surprise, surprise, is quickly revealed to not be what it seems. The core of the narrative serves to send the player on an exploration of this hub area to complete tasks that hopefully answer all the questions our little robot has. What many of these amount to are tutorials explaining the many mechanics the core loop will have.

Where the BlazBlue cast comes into play is in the training program that the robot will constantly load into. The game has a massive roster even before you factor in the three DLC characters that have been released. For the purposes of this review, I was given a code for Rebecca Alucard, who has only recently been released (I was happy since she was one of my three mains in the fighting series), and I purchased Bullet (Another of my three mains). The characters are unlocked with tokens, and the player is given the opportunity to buy them in any order they like. Ragna and Noel, usually being presented as the leads in the series, I was happy to see I could just skip them for my actual main Kokonoe, rather than having to unlock through constant play, burning me out just to expand my experience.

My first run was with Rachel, who, after smashing my way through the first area, felt like she had that DLC overpowered nature to her. It was very easy to unleash several of her area combos, such as her lightning rods, to knock enemies into and drain their health, and this was from the start. Then I switched to Kokonoe and discovered the ability to easily segway into her missile strikes was even more op than Rachel. That’s kinda the fun, though. This game will throw a lot of enemies at you, from areas with just enemies that spawn as you run through to other stages that force you to match wits against a set number of enemies to progress. Unlike most games in the genre, I didn’t even get obliterated by the first boss as one is likely to do. First run ended around area three, which is not hard to do.

On top of this, upgrades will make your character even more indestructible. Each area is presented in a 2D sidescrolling format that offers a reward to help buff your character. These range from exchange points to buy useful upgrades at later points, or upgrades to your Max MP or HP. Abilities like potential are worth working towards, upgrading your base abilities like your jump and attack, but also unlocking other moves. Some of these moves are combo abilities that, if you are familiar with the fighting titles, are combo skills that might have seemed to be missing. Beyond those, you can unlock special skills that attack wide areas or deal high damage that drains some MP, a stat that is easily replenished, allowing these skills to become a viable and reliable part of your arsenal.

This isn’t even to mention the elemental powers that affect every aspect of your combat, and are stackable with a lot of variety. My eventual winner run came down to a tentacle ability that comes up from the ground near enemies, as well as an icicle dash that leaves freezing ice whenever you dash, making you a DPS powerhouse even when you are playing defensively. While all of this while gelling with your playstyle, the game can be very easy. It is not built around winning one run, or even ten, but there are moments you will greatly overpower yourself with a character you’re good at and just tear through a run. The first time I won, even the bosses could not slow me down, clearing the first two with a perfect clear, meaning I did not get hit, and trust me, this is not a brag, I never do that.

These abilities can often be annoying too, due to big blocks of text that are stat-laden with buffs of upgrades. Completing an area that buffs your toxic skills might just reward you with three skills for different aspects of your character build. Each move and skill your character has can have an elemental skill or effect attached, which leaves you gaining new usable cards well into the run if you play like me. On the converse, you are just as likely to get three options that upgrade an ability, leaving you with three blocks of text that give minor differences, and you need to decide which you want, which can break up the action more than the rooms that offer no action. After each run, your build is graded, and you can save some skills you equipped, allowing your next run to take in two legacy builds with them, making you even more powerful as you go on.

Bosses, for their part, are fun cap-offs to the multiple areas that you will encounter, and often the only things that can actually stop you unless you have a particularly bad run. Most of these enemies involve easily telegraphed attacks that the player needs to dodge (why those icicles come in so handy), as you open up the enemy for attack. These bosses do have stages, though, such as a sand boss that shrinks into the background and throws sandstorms at you, BlazBlue series regular Arakune, who poisons the floor, forcing you to take to higher ground. Later bosses adhere to the throw everything but the kitchen sink at you mentality. Shockingly, though they remain easy to read even then. In a few areas, I didn’t even reach at least two different bosses, though I’m still not sure if this is random or a series of conditions that need to be fulfilled. Most runs saw the same bosses pop up more often than not, so at least be prepared for repetition.

Once you complete your first run, don’t fear, as stated above, this just opens up the game further by adding difficulty slides that up your rewards for each run, but also the risk, not to mention you probably have not completed the narrative for your little robot friend, yeah, you forgot about him didn’t you? There is a lot of replayability baked into the experience, earning more difficult effects for future runs, and the large cast that all play unique, with different brands of overpowered. With this, though, comes the risk of repetition, needing to fight through an experience that you are probably well familiar with by the time you reach this point. Thankfully, the game remains fun even in its repetition.

Verdict

BlazBlue: Entropy Effect manages to somehow convert the fighting franchise to a 2D sidescrolling platformer without losing the charm at its core. The characters, and there are plenty to choose from, all feel like the characters should if they were facing off against each other, with some minor amount of change to make them function in their new surroundings. Within that is a fun roguelike that keeps your earning abilities and upgrades run after run, and gives you the flexibility to take those builds even further, though at the risk of simply breaking your character when the next run starts. There is a lot of repetition as you dive back into it after victory or defeat, but even through this, the game remains fun, banking on the over-the-top powers of its cast of characters to great effect. Would I have liked the game to start pushing back harder earlier in my playthrough? Yes. Does it matter, though? Not really. I’m enjoying the craziness far more than I thought I would, hoping this helps breathe new life into the BlazBlue series as a whole.

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