It’s been a hot minute since I’ve played Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact. Part of that is because there are oodles of games to review (let alone play for fun, lordy my backlog…), but the other reason is that I wasn’t the most satisfied with it in its current form. Yes, Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact has some fluid tag combat that are equally as accessible as they are fast-paced. Yes, it’s a game with several good ideas. It’s just somewhat of a missed opportunity in revitalizing the tag fighter genre with a great IP.
I digress. This review is about the season pass, which is currently available for $19.99. It comes with four characters (Neferpitou, Phinks, and Shizuku available at time of writing), and an alternate costume for Chrollo. In terms of how passes go, it’s heavy in the new character department while light in the cosmetic/stage space. For references’ sake, Mortal Kombat 1’s “Kombat Pack” is $10 more and features 6 fighters and 5 kameos. Street Fighter 6’s Year 4 Pass is ~$29.99 comes with 4 additional characters and four colors. Guilty Gear -STRIVE-‘s Season Pass 4 is usually $25 and has several new characters and stages. On value alone, Nen x Impact’s Season Pass is more affordable with its $5/character proposition.
As part of the review process, I tested the three available characters: Neferpitou, Phinks, and Shizuku. I’m pleased to say that all three of them add combat and playstyle variety to the Nen x Impact roster and are quite fun to play.
Neferpitou is a cat-humanoid character and is one of the main antagonists of the Chimera Ant arc. She clearly lives up to her feline fantasy thanks to her fluid combo strings and cat-scratchy attacks. She ended up being my favorite character out of the three in the Season Pass (as of June 2026). She has several long-reaching attacks while her Phantom Step acts as an excellent gap closer. What’s most surprising was her revive function (I…Can’t Die…! Terpsichora): If I had 500% aura and was KO’d, I’d come back to life with 50% health and enhanced powers. It’s as though Neferpitou was designed with Nidalee (from League of Legends) and Phoenix (from Marvel) in mind.
Phinks is a member of the Phantom Troupe who was originally introduced in a pharoah outfit but ended up in a tracksuit. In Nen x Impact, he’s here in his tracksuit aesthetic. Playing as Phinks is weird at first because he walks slow (even when dashing) yet strikes quickly. I usually assume that attacks mirror movement speed, but Phinks ends up packing a punch. He’s not the most creative in the combo department – most of his Artes have identical windup animations (literally winding up a punch in a clearly visible fashion). I wish his moveset was a smidge more creative, even if it came at the cost of stepping away from lore accuracy.
Finally, we have Shizuku, a vacuum wielding member of the Phantom Troupe. She was added to the Season Pass back in April and is one of the wilder character archetypes I’ve seen in a fighting game. She uses her vacuum, Blinky, to pummel opponents to a pulp. In Nen x Impact, this results in her having multiple low attacks. The overrepresentation on low attacks makes her easy to predict and block, especially since her Artes have long windup animations. While she’s goofy to play, she’s less satisfying than the other two characters.
Zeno was just announced as the fourth and final character on the season pass and comes out next week. We didn’t get a chance to try him out, but his Dragon attacks look devastating in the trailer. I can’t wait to try him out when he’s officially in-game!
It’s a bit too early for us to assign a review score (given Zeno’s current absence), but the three characters I tried out in Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact are quite fun. I wish they were included in the original game, frankly – they elevate the roster’s character variety and shake up the meta in meaningful ways.
