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There was once a time when the world was engulfed in darkness. Mankind fought six battles to save their world, but lost every single one. All hope was lost for humanity, but one day the darkness was finally driven back by the swords of four heroes. Light returned to the world, and with it came peace and serenity. The world was then divided into two major countries: The Magic Kingdom and the Steam Empire. The people prospered like never before. But in recent months, rumors spread among the people that the darkness was returning. However, fate has once again brought together warriors from all over the world. Some fight in the relentless pursuit of justice. Some fight due to their conviction and faith.

Developed by ARC System Works, creators of the highly popular Guilty Gear series, Battle Fantasia utilizes RPG-stylish elements and blends them with high level gameplay. Players will also be able to pick between 12 beautifully illustrated characters by Emiko Iwasaki, and battle it out in front of gorgeous high-definition 3D environments.

Genre: Fighting

Publisher/Co-Publisher: Aksys Games / Taito

Developer: ARC System Works

Online Play:

Local Play:

September 16, 2008 –
If you were a pirate, exactly how big of a hook would you attach once you lost a hand? If you answered “enormous,” you might be a good candidate for inclusion as a character in Battle Fantasia, a throwback fighter brought over from Japan by Aksys Games. The game has some fun character design and a fighting system that even a new entrant to fighting games can learn the basics of quickly, but ultimately can’t compete with its big budget competitors.

Battle Fantasia was made by storied development studio Arc System Works. Fighting aficionados will recognize this as the group responsible for the much-loved Guilty Gear series. This new franchise brings with it full 3D graphics, but still restrains the movement to two dimensions. It’s brighter and more colorful than some of Arc System’s other work and has an instantly appealing look to it. That style is the most alluring part of an otherwise run of the mill fighter, and even it is spotty at times.

The character design in Battle Fantasia is lighthearted and appealing. There’s Urs who carries a weapon that looks like a chainsaw crossed with a light saber, the massive Deathbringer, a tiny bunny named Watson who uses a little bear trap to his advantage, the half-cat Coyori who is always worried about people looking up her short skirt and a handful of others. It’s hard not to like these characters. Just take a look at their wacky design and often equally wacky move animations and you’ll start to get hooked on the game. The background environments are less impressive and oftentimes bland and ugly, but unless you’re spectating you won’t notice this much.

Battle Fantasia is a throwback in many ways, and not all of them good. There are just 12 fighters, each fitting one of the classic molds that anybody with a history of playing games like this will instantly recognize. Each character has a small handful of moves that, again, anybody that has played 2D fighters in the past will have no trouble picking up. Most simply involve down-to-forward rolls and dragon punch motions that everybody will recognize from Street Fighter games.

This simplicity keeps the action basic, but also prevents the game from being as daunting as other modern fighters like Virtua Fighter 5. Spend just a few minutes learning the game and you’ll be ready to have fun with it. There’s a bit more depth with some combos, “Gachi” counters, and the “Heat up” system that adds a couple more possible moves. Using these properly will separate the pros from the novices, but even so this game is more about timing and calculated moves than massive combos or memorizing deep move sets.

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