Video Game Review: Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[cl-r]

Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[cl-r]

PQUBE

Fighting

Switch

Fighting games seem to have a massive wall that blocks new players from exploring the genre. It could be the high skill floor that most of the games have or the usual lack of single-player content. It certainly doesn’t help that players are guaranteed to need hours of time reading and watching online guides to find acquire a decent level of skill. It’s just a heavy investment. Despite the way that it looks and the ridiculous complicated name, Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[cl-r] is a fighting game that new players should not be afraid of trying out.

Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[cl-r] is a 2D fighting game that builds on a previous couple of reiterations in the series. For those who are familiar with other games by Arc System Works, this game will look instantly familiar, even if you haven’t been exposed to the franchise yet. Unlike games like Guilty Gear and Dragon Ball Fighter Z, the Under Night franchise hasn’t broken into the mainstream yet despite being adored by fighting game fans. It has crisp animations, clean combat, and fantastic balancing, making this entry one of the best fighting games on the Nintendo Switch.

Like most games in the genres, players have various combat inputs with the face buttons and can block by stepping back. At a glance Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[cl-r] doesn’t look too different from other modern fighters, but it has a few neat systems under the hood. There are four attack buttons and combos string together incredibly well. Each character feels unique and comes with a new playstyle to learn. Combos aren’t overly difficult to pull off but will require some practice.

Even fighting game newbies will be able to get a decent grasp on the game’s mechanics thanks to a fantastic tutorial system. Every aspect of the game is covered in the tutorials, making the game understandable even those who rarely play games at all. While players will need to rely on community guides to truly become competitive, anyone can become competent just by going through the tutorials and spending some time in the game’s practice mode.

For those who just want to enjoy a good fighting game and not worry about competition, there are plenty of solid single-player modes in Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[cl-r]. There are training mode missions unique to each character to help players master the mechanics of their favorite fighter. There are also the expected modes like Arcade, Story, and other trials. The multiplayer scene is where players can test their skill, and the online servers hold up surprisingly well on the Switch.

Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[cl-r]’s aesthetic mirrors the developer’s other games, with sharp anime art full of style. The visuals are crisp despite this title being a repolishing of an old game. The lines clean and the colors are bright. The lighting looks fantastic, bringing life to this game’s world. The character designs are neat and diverse, ranging from edgy to cute. When docked there are clearly some compromised visuals to keep the game running at a high frame rate. In handheld mode, the game simply looks stellar.

The music is full of energy, doing well to match the speed and intensity of the battles. The characters are all voiced in Japanese without any other dubbing option, which isn’t exactly surprising for this kind of title.

For fans of the series, this version has a few upgrades, including a new character and thousands of balancing changes. Fans will be delighted at how well the developers are listening to feedback to make this one of the most polished games in the genre. Still, it might be hard to justify $40 for what boils down to a fancy patch. For new players who are looking for a solid fighter though, all of this content makes this game a no brainer.