Developed by Arc System Works (the team behind the Guilty Gear/BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger family of 2D fighting games) and published by Aksys Games, Battle Fantasia is a one-on-one 2D fighter set in an unsual-for-the-genre location: a fantasy world. The locale and pseudo-RPG elements that the game toys with ultimately have no true bearing on the game itself other than a cool aesthetic quality. However, the fighting action, character design and music is quite good, making it one of the better 2D fighting games on the PS3 and Xbox 360.
Battle Fantasia is a tale of several heroes trying to stop a great evil from destroying the world. Yup, the typical RPG. But it’s told via a text-heavy in-game storybook and fighter locations are plotted on an ancient-looking map, which gives the game a nice sense of history. By default, there are twelve characters to choose from, which represent the typical shoto and charge 2D fighting game archetypes.
Thankfully, the character designs help keep things interesting; it’s obvious that they were creafted with loving care. Unlike Guilty Gear or BlazBlue: Calamiy Trigger, Battle Fantasia’s combatants are made of high resolution polygons instead of sprites. The fighters move gracefully as they fight, jump, and use specials, and each as a distinctive move set and outfit/gear to make them really stand out.
The backgrounds are richly colored and detailed, but pretty static; rowdy onlookers (like the ones in King of Fighters XII) would’ve given the game more atmosphere. When two characters face off, there’s a pre-battle interaction a la SNK Playmore’s fighting games.
The action isn’t as deep or complex as Arc System Works’ other fighters, but that’s not necessarily a negative. In fact, I perfer Battle Fantasia‘s more streamlined approach as its far more accessible. There are two punches and kicks, a handful of specials and supers, a Heat Up mode that powers up your character’s moves,a throw, and a parry button.
The latter isn’t a requirement to success, but it adds an extra defensive element that can prove remarkably useful when fighting foes later in the game. Tapping the parry button deflects a blow; tapping while pressing forward on the D-pad deflects the incoming blow and immediately follows up with an attack. The parry window time is slightly more forgiving than Street Fighter III‘s, but it still takes skill and timing to pull them off.
The amount of health is different for each character, and is represented by numerical hit points under each health bar. Likewise, when a blow lands, the amount of damage removed is displayed. Despite differing health point totals, damage appears to scale evenly, so there aren’t any lopsided mismatches. This is about as deep as the RPG elements go.
Battle Fantasia‘s soundtrack is comprised of sweeping orchestration that’s in stark contrast to Guilty Gear‘s metal. It’ s pretty generic orchestration (there’s no Hans Zimmer-level tracks), but it fits the fantasy world well.
All in all, Battle Fantasia is a very solid fighter. It doesn’t do anything particularly different from other 2D fighting games, but it’s well-designed and lacks major flaws. My biggest gripe? Battle Fantasia doesn’t take its RPG shell far enough. I would’ve liked to have seen some level ups and new power acquisitions. Still, if you’re a fighting fan who wants a different spin on the genre, Battle Fantasia (which can be purchased for well under $20) is a worth addition to your library.
