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Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Review

By: RJ (@rga_02)

Second Opinion By: Omar (siegarettes)

• Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax
  
• Developer - French Bread & Ecole Software
  
• Publisher - SEGA
  
• PlayStation Vita & PlayStation 3
  
• Rating - T
  

Have you ever imagined what would if feel like to pin Akira from Virtua Fighter against Kirino? Or Selvaria from Valkryia Chronicles against Mikoto? I didn’t. If you did however, your dreams can come true in Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax. A 2D fighting game featuring everyone’s favorite characters from various light novels under the Dengeki Bunko label with a few SEGA characters sprinkled in. Sounds like an otaku’s dream game. What about the rest of us though? Who doesn’t care about the Sword Art Onlines or Accel Worlds. Would this game appeal to the people who just want to play a fun fighting game?

I’ll be honest. I did not know who 75% of the roster was. I knew Akira from Virtua Fighter and his guest appearance in Dead or Alive 5. I knew Selvaria from Valkyria Chronicles. Kirino? Well I know her from various reaction images scattered across the internet. Same goes with Mikoto. Everyone else was just some random girl or guy on the roster to me. I didn’t let that discourage me from plowing through the nonsensical story mode. It was actually quite great I didn’t know most of them. My main, Selvaria, isn’t unlocked from the get-go (you have to unlock her using special requirements). That forced me to “git gud” with a character I knew absolutely nothing about. I first used Asuna from the Sword Art Online series. Her fighting style looked similar (well to me) to my main from Persona 4 Arena/Ultimax, Mitsuru, so I rolled with her. That was probably my biggest mistake, but in the end it paid off.

I came in treating this game like an Arc Sys fighter (Could be the 2D sprites fooling me into thinking that). I expected Mitsuru from Asuna, I didn’t get Mitsuru. I expected Litchi Faye-Ling  from Yukina, I didn’t get Litchi. What I got from Dengeki Bunko was something a bit more loose in controls than what you would find in a ArcSys fighter, but a bit more stiff than what you would find in a 3D fighting game such as Dead or Alive. At first I hated it but I grew to love it. This game is really easy to control. Anyone who devotes at least 30 minutes or so to the game will master the controls. Square ( A ) is your weak attacks, Triangle ( B ) would be your medium and Circle ( C ) would be your strong attacks. Build up your gauge stocks and you can perform your Climax (usually half circle + B C) or EX moves (AB). It’s fairly simple that anyone could pick it up regardless of if they play fighting games or not. My roommate who only plays Super Smash Bros was able to understand the control scheme within a few rounds and later won some online matches. 

The game is very accessible, but that shouldn’t let anyone who wants a deeper experience be discouraged from trying this game out. In addition to your Climax and EX moves there is also the Trump Card (A+C) feature. It’s a powerful but limited attack where you can deal a large amount of damage against your foes in a small period of time. After the Trump Card feature you will be super powered and able to chain more attacks. 

In addition to your basic attacks and supers you can also send out (X button/D) your assists into the field. They can deal a normal amount of damage or if timed correctly can be an asset to your chained combos.

The art of this game is simply stunning. I’m a sucker for 2D sprites and this game nails them. They do look a bit jaggy on the PlayStation Vita but on the PlayStation 3 they just look stunning, almost reminiscent of the sprites you would see in BlazBlue. The 2.5D character portraits in the story mode do look awkward at times. In my opinion, they would of have been better off if they used something akin to the portraits you would find in Persona 4 Arena.

You’ve probably noticed that I made a lot of comparisons to Arc Sys games, but I’m mean them in a good way. The game wants to be an Arc Sys fighter and in one small way, it is. It’s like simplified version of Persona 4 Arena. In that game there is a option to perform combos with a use of one button for fans of the series who just want to see the story unfold. At the same time, P4A offers a lot of depth with its fighting. Dengeki Bunko is the same. For those who want to enjoy their favorite little sister fighting they can do so in a casual way. And for others who just want a solid fighting game, this isn’t a bad choice. In the end, it’s all about enjoying the game right? Well until someone calls your main, “worst girl”.

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SECOND OPINION
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Dengenki Bunko is a game that wouldn’t have had a chance at localization a generation ago. It based on characters from the light-novel imprint of the same name, something completely foreign to us. Its a game within a tiny niche that relies on character recognition to sell itself. Still, like RJ I recognized basically none of the characters here, with most of them being practically interchangeable (there are four different school girls in uniform, FOUR). In fact, the art direction in general is discordant. Sprites generally share the same aesthetic, but each of the character portraits is illustrated in their original style, while backgrounds are rendered in 3D. Those backgrounds all match up to a particular SEGA game series, though they rarely feel representative. 

In fact, the whole game feels as if its a doujin fighter, which makes sense when you take into account that it was developed primarily by French Bread, the doujin developer behind the Melty Blood series. Its one of those details that makes it all fall into place, from the scattershot aesthetics to the story involving a the power of dreams and a malignant force absorbing a Dreamcast girl and turning into one of two final bosses based on SEGA characters. Its a high budget doujin game, essentially, and it brings that aesthetic with it the whole way through. 

Still, as RJ said, there’s a decent amount to dig into here, even if its dedication to accessibility means its throws out the web of convoluted systems seen in the Arc Sys titles its obviously cribbing from. At its best its something you can bring along to show to someone who can appreciate the absurdity of fighting as a basketball playing gothic lolita in Sonic’s Green Hill Zone. Its character roster means it’s not going to be able to channel the appeal of something like Project x Zone, but it definitely has a lot more to play around with that’s not reliant on that appeal.