Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] – Playstation 4 Review

Powah Dunk | February 8, 2018 | Review | No Comments

Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] is the latest title in the Under Night franchise by the talented teams at French Bread & Ecole Software, famous for titles such as Melty Blood & Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax. Will this be a worthy addition to the ever growing “Fighting Game” genre or just another cheap throwaway?, Read on to find out!.

Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] is the follow up title to Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late which released on the Playstation 3 back in 2015. As always with fighting games, rather than a full on sequel the [st] part of it means extra additions for the game, new characters, bit of new story, you know the script by now.

For those unaware of what exactly Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] is, lend me your ears. Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] beyond the confusing name is an Anime Fighting Game, set in a fictional modern day city, the game centers around the event of the “Hollow Night”.

The story of the game is told in 2 ways, through it’s functional and fun arcade mode with character interactions, the odd cutscene and the character ending & the Chronicles mode. The Chronicles mode is a “Visual Novel Lite” with little to no choice, it’s through this mode you’ll find much more about the cast and the “Hollow Night”.

The writing is top tier and engaging, it easily pulls you into the narrative like a good Manga and keeps hold of you for the 3/4 hours it takes to see each tale. The animations are none existent which is a shame and the art is a little spotty at points, overall it’s perfectly serviceable and gives you more lore than you can shake a stick at!.

Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] features a full Japanese dub with no option of an alternative dub. The sound track is an absolute blinder, each track perfectly suits the tone and feel of the game.

From heavy metal to pleasing memories and even neon smothered this game caters to all, You’ll be hard pressed to find only 1 song you like.

So how does Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] play? really really well actually. One of the main issues I find with Anime Fighting Games is that there is nearly always a barrier to overcome for entry, Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] is initially quite pick up and play.

To test this is actually tried the multiplayer with someone who rarely plays the genre, certainly ALOT less than I do & as I thought he actually did quite well. The moves are all very easy to learn and pull off in battle, each character despite having a gimmick controls well & most importantly they are all fun.

Naturally there is a tonne of depth for the most hardcore of fighting fans, the Grid system which features of a tug ‘o war power system & Veil Off which powers up your character and allows moves to be chained into which wasn’t initially possible.

Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] also features 4 new characters to the roster over the previous release, a full and indepth tutorial mode & combo challenge which will teach you all the Bread & Butter combos for your chosen warrior.

Finally the game features a bare bones yet fully functional online, Ranked & Casual modes & one of the best netcodes around, I’ve yet to witness any lag or disconnects. Throughout the game you can earn points to buy unlocks such as Icon and Titles & there a several different colour pallets for the roster referencing other famous fighters.

Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] is stuffed to the brim with content, be it with it’s stacked roster, copious modes included the rather generous Chronicles mode or just the pure thrills of exciting, smooth and fun combat. Videos do not do the controls and feel of the game justice, trust me on this one.

Would I recommend Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st]? Yes, Yes I would. Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] features more than enough single player content, alongside the tools to improve your ability, a stable online and generally looks and feels amazing. It’s one of the best anime fighters and truth be told I’ve spent more time and enjoyed this title more than another recent fighter of the genre.

Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] is a niche within a niche though and sadly may not see the player base it truly deserves, if you have the slightest like of Fighting Games I really would suggest you take a look at this title, it’s an utter gem.