BlazBlue Entropy Effect X brings the stellar roguelite by way of fighting game to a broader audience. Incorporating a massive roster with deep combat turns it into one of the genre's flashiest and most entertaining spectacles.
My eye has been on Arc System Works since Persona 4 Arena. The deep love I had for the Persona series transcended my mediocrity at fighting games.
Despite my lack of knowledge at the developer, their incredible art direction always shined through, often catching eyes on Guilty Gear characters and their smooth animation and unique looks. So what better way to ingratiate myself into the Arc System Works’ universe than a genre I’ve come to love over the past decade and change?
BlazBlue Entropy Effect X is not a fighting game. And while it does take advantage of players’ love for the BlazBlue franchise and knowledge of its roster and story, those in the dark aren’t going to truly miss out. If anything, Entropy Effect X is likely to garner the series additional fans. Instead, the game is developed by 91Act and turns the BlazBlue universe into a roguelite action title.
2D roots aren’t abandoned. Fighting game mechanics aren’t handicapped or shoved into a musty corner. The most shocking thing I discovered about Entropy Effect X was that it emphasizes BlazBlue‘s propensity for fighting and Arc System Works’ impeccable ability to make flashy and bizarre combat.
Two years ago, Will Silberman reviewed BlazBlue Entropy Effect, fresh out of its Early Access period. The game had spent months cultivating feedback from players and working towards a full release. Now the game has found its way to consoles, rebranded as Entropy Effect X to include a few updates meant to add further polish and refinements to the overall package.
What Entropy Effect X primarily does different outside of the original release is that the game’s story and hub area have been spruced up. After a run, players will have the option to speak to NPCs and work on meta-improving upgrades and parse through elements of the narrative. Meant to be less menu-based and more intuitive to the player, I appreciate a slimmed-down way to interact with the game that holds some element of personality. Additionally, all prior characters released are included in Entropy Effect X with freshly recorded voice lines and five new characters to experiment with.
While the narrative didn’t entirely grab me, there’s enough mystery evoked in the whole “figure out why the world went to hell” trope that story beats feel moderately rewarding when the player makes substatial progress. More importantly, I just found the world to be absolutely incredible to look at. While enemies can lack a bit of variety over the course of numerous runs, the bosses achieve moderate spectacle with their room-filling attacks and exponential challenge.
The most important element of Entropy Effect X is its incredible combat that builds upon roguelite genre conventions.
At its heart, 91Act has preserved the feeling of combo-based combat where the player’s knowledge of button combinations allows them to unleash flashy, powerful attacks. In Entropy Effect X, every one of the 15 characters available to unlock feels moderately different.
Those wielding steel, ones using magic, others using their fists all have a standard moveset with upgrades that can be earned during a run. But the major consideration here is upgrading a character’s “Potential” which expands their primary attacks or adds new ones. As Es, I wielded her massive broadsword that would leave the damaging specter of crests along the arc of her blade. Further upgrades would make those crests linger for more time or deal more damage. As I continued, I could unlock dash attacks, rising uppercuts, and sword slams that were all executed with different button presses. Rachel Alucard and her spooky electric magic could be amplified to have her toss out more cat-like conduits and float for longer periods of time.
Unlocking these Potentials for each character amplifies their strength and complexity, allowing the player to infuse their playtime with a sense of tangible progression. Before I unlocked my first character, I spent over ten minutes watching the short video of each one, mystified by their literal potential and what their Potential would encourage me to do.
As with any roguelite, choice doesn’t merely extend to what characters players want to use to thrash hordes of enemies through. Standard practice of incremental upgrades can be added to improve as the run grows more difficult. Special additive moves that incorporate elemental attacks can be earned. New abilities will synergize with unlocked Potential. At the end of a stage players can be given the option to select the next path they take, usually indicating the type of reward they get.
While it’s all “standard fare” for the genre, it’s done in a way that feels absolutely incredible. Despite this, I think player onboarding can be a bit tedious at first. There’s terminology the game has to explain to you or that must be researched in a codex. I did guesswork to figure out what path I would be taking and what the reward would be.
Once I figured out these quirks, however, Entropy Effect X exploded in fun. Players can inherit qualities from the characters of prior runs, giving them unique special attacks. After beating the game on the initial difficulty, two new modes become unlocked that open up difficulty modifiers that grant additional rewards and more content. Suffice it to say, Entropy Effect X uses its phenomenal mechanics to make it one of the most distinct roguelites players can get their hands on.
BlazBlue Entropy Effect X brings the stellar roguelite by way of fighting game to a broader audience. Incorporating a massive roster with deep combat turns it into one of the genre’s flashiest and most entertaining spectacles.
