Blade Strangers is a 2D fighting game crossing over some major indie game characters with those of Japanese studios Sanzensen and Nicalis Works. The story mode describes the multiple realities housing these characters as a network of computer simulations running over infinite dimensions, but a threat to the stability of the network demands that the powers-that-be bring together potential champions.
Not only are we treated to characters from cult hits such as Code of Princess, Gunvolt, Umihara Kawase and Cave Story, but they're joined by Shovel Knight and Isaac from The Binding of Isaac too, which is a strange mix to say the least. The game features a couple of original characters too, and altogether you'll have 14 colourful oddballs to choose from.
The studio took the deliberate decision to simplify the controls in order in to entice players of all levels. Special moves are little more complex than a single button press combined with a direction, but as is often the case with these types of games, that just opens up the attack options to everyone instead of hiding them behind fiddly controls. This is especially advantageous on a device such as the Nintendo Switch, which has no d-pad for finessing those commands.
The fights themselves are also geared toward fairness. If you're knocked to the floor, you have a few seconds of invulnerability to allow recovery, saving you from being spammed into submission. Most attacks can be countered with the proper timing, but I did notice myself mashing buttons from time to time as I learned each character's move-set.
That's not to say there's no strategy here. As is now pretty standard, you have a power gauge that builds as you take damage, with different attacks becoming available as you power up to a maximum of three bars. You also have a Heat Up bar which builds up once you've taken enough damage and allows for lightning fast combos once it hits the maximum level.
The game has multiple modes, including Story, Arcade and Training, covering the basics as we've come to expect. Story mode takes place over 7 fights, and won't take long to finish even for middling players.
The game is out on PS4, Steam and Switch, so as you'd expect Nintendo's handheld hybrid is the weakest of those options. Having seen some gameplay side-by-side, I have to say I'm quite happy that the Switch holds up well, with just a few seconds added to load times from what I could make out.
As always, the major draw here is the character roster, and in the case of Blade Strangers it's very, very niche. Okay, Shovel Knight and Isaac are a little more mainstream, but the other characters are from decidedly Japanese games with scattlogical success in the West. As a pretty entrenched J-gamer, I'm in my element! Even if you don't know the character backgrounds, they're all appealing and fun to cycle through, so I'd recommend the game whatever your familiarity with the cast.
Overall, Blade Strangers is a fun, easy to learn brawler with a lively cast and colourful graphics. It's a pleasure to play on the Switch, and at time of writing it's a paltry £17 on the Nintendo Store. I can't fail to recommend this for that sort of money, so jump in and get your fight on!
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