MCM Impressions: UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe:Late [ST]

Having done a review of the base game UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe:Late, I have quite a bit of experience when it comes to this franchise. This MCM impressions is more meant to see what the new content is (that was available at MCM October 2017). Featuring four new fighters/characters, I’ll try to give a rough breakdown of what each one does and what they excel at. Though with no information in regards to a western release beyond “coming 2018”, whether or not it’ll be a new game or DLC expansion is yet to be confirmed.

In general, the four characters remain as consistent as the main cast and bridge the gaps of certain characters in terms of their arsenal and ability to chain combos together. Nothing has been visibly changed in terms of the core combat, still relying on the three attack inputs and the special button. The UI has been revamped slightly, with nearly all of the options greyed out, during the demo, nothing stuck out as being brand new. Regardless, the inclusion of the four characters and the potential storylines that’ll be built by this expansion is tantalising for fans already.

Bringing the pain and fun back into fighting games with a glee.

Mika, for all intents and purposes is a loli-knight with giant gauntlets. Her size says a lot, being as nimble (if not more) than Linne while her giant gauntlets left even Waldstein and Akatsuki reeling. Her ability to perform dangerously fast attacks means she’s built for heavy and light attacks. Medium attacks aren’t always ideal and the change in timing is somewhat key to the difference of frame cancelling someone and being able to frame lock them for an extended period. In terms of core weakness, her ability to close distances doesn’t have any form of invulnerability. Medium to long ranged characters are going to tough hard-counters to beat, Vatista and Wald being some obvious examples. However, this counter is heavily reliant on remaining on the offensive, especially characters who rely on strong zone controlling.

Wagner is kind-of a mix of Orie and Linne. Her main attack and combo pool rely on close to close-mid distance. This distancing isn’t always ideal, and when facing against Hyde or Hilda, the results can be punishing. Lacking the ability to close distance, her move set can lead to some insidiously lopsided fights. However, when you get the distance right she is a nearly unstoppable force. Her shield bash and uppercut/smash down is dangerous against the likes of Hyde and depending on the situation can be followed up into a 10+ hit combo. However, I couldn’t discern if her ability to reward skill matches her difficulty.

Dishing out punishment with brutal style.

Phonon, is honestly just brutal. Her bread and butter whip attacks are nearly vitriolic at times and can keep Hyde on the floor, matching the move set of Eltnum. Her moveset is capable of reaching close to mid-far, but overextending can lead to some punishing openings for the opponent as I discovered a few times with Hyde being able to close the distance, and perform a sweeping combo attack. Her main downside is that as relentless as her ability to keep the player down, keeping them down is a challenge. A few times when Hyde was blocking at a close-mid distance, her opening is wide enough for Hyde to frame lock and decimate her health with the recovery time feeling less snappy than any of the other characters.

Finally we have Enkidu, if Mika is dominant because of her speed, Enkidu is the near unmovable wall. His ability to chain basic attacks, and its relatively lenient timings, can force Hyde into a weak defensive position. This can be dominated thanks to his ability to perform attacks mid-air effectively. This dominance is further compounded thanks to the right in your face attacks which have relatively low (if not non-existent) advances. His bottom-right attack was often close enough to hit and keep the offensive, even if you manage to knock your opponent further back. Comparatively, it’s hard to say who’s “better” when compared to Mika. However, needless to say if you enjoyed the stated characters styles above, there’s a very good chance upon trying them out, you’ll want to see how far you can push them through their paces.

UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe:Late [ST] is slated for end of 2017.