Game of the Month: September 2018

This month, there are quite a few games that are holding my attention. I will be picking out just one to highlight as my game of the month, but not before briefly going over others that I have been playing, and maybe a couple that will be released later on this month.
Guess I’ll start with a cross-over fighting game – but not the one I intend to feature here as my game of the month. Instead, it is Blade Strangers, which features characters from Code of Princess, Umihara Kawase, Cave Story, The Binding of Isaac, Azure Striker Gunvolt and Shovel Knight.
The game is a one-on-one fighter, bringing characters such as Code of Princess‘s Solange, Umihawa Kawase‘s Kawase and Cave Story‘s Curly Brace together amongst a few others to have them fight it out in an attempt to become Blade Strangers in order to put a halt to a malevolent force known as Lina. The game has a four-button control scheme, supposedly making it accessible for both newcomers and fighting game veterans alike.

A game that received an update recently is Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 for Nintendo Switch, adding a couple of new characters in the form of Super Baby 2 from Dragon Ball GT and Kefla from Dragon Ball Super. Kefla is the fusion of my two favourite characters from Dragon Ball Super – the female Saiyans from Universe 6, Caulifla and Kale.
Kefla is fun to play as, and I have experimented with having her moves on my CaC female Saiyan.
Alongside the new characters, comes a few extra Parallel Quests, allowing you to earn new moves and equipment. It is also possible to get Towa in a swimsuit by using TP medals to purchase a gift for her and having Goku deliver it. Towa’s moves actually change somewhat with the swimsuit costume as well.

Another game that will almost certainly hold my attention for hundreds of hours is none other than Monster Hunter Generations. Ever since Monster Hunter Tri on the Wii, I have enjoyed the series quite a lot. Get past that early slog of a grind, and you’ll find yourself participating in what are effectively epic boss battles against a variety of monsters from across the franchise’s history.
For Monster Hunter Tri, I used the Long Sword, and moved onto Dual Blades for Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. I also experimented with the Bow a bit back then, but then Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate gave us the Insect Glaive to play with.
With Generations Ultimate, though, I am back to playing archer with the Bow. It works extremely well with the Adept style, too.
At the time of writing, I’ve reached the part of the game where you are able to hunt the ‘Fated Four’ – the Glavenus, the Gammoth, the Astalos and the Mizutsune. I’m grinding the Gammoth for a new ice-type Bow, and I’ll probably move onto the Astalos after that.

Before I get to my actual Game of the Month, I will take this opportunity to mention a few titles that are being released later on this month that I have an eye on.
Senran Kagura Relfexions will be released on September 13th – though I’m not too sure whether I will be picking it up or not. I’d feel more inclined if it was a main entry in the series, though I am a little curious about it.
Something I will definitely be getting is released a day after on September 14th. That is Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country. It is a prequel to Xenoblade Chronicles 2, set 500 years before that story. It focuses on Jin and Lora, but also features a few familar faces.
Towards the end of the month, Valkyria Chronicles 4 will be released. I got the demo from the Nintendo eShop and really enjoyed it, so I’ll be picking up the game when it comes out.
Finally, Dragon Ball FighterZ will also be released just a few days after that, so there are plenty of options to scratch that fighting game itch.

Whew, that’s a lot for September. With that all out of the way now, I will finally focus on my Game of the Month for September 2018.SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy is a 2-on-2 tag-team fighter, featuring fan-favourite heroines from SNK. This game is made to be more accessible than your usual fighting game, and thus has some unique mechanics.

The basic concept of hitting your opponent to reduce their health remains, but completely depleting it only stuns your opponent for a brief time. To win the match, you have to use the Dream Finish – a special move that is performed with a tap of the R button.
During fights, you can also grab items that may change the flow of battle. Some, like bombs and poison will deal damage to your opponent, whilst others are more for support – such as life up and stamina up.
Whilst the fights are tag battle, each team of two shares their health bar. The health bars are combined with spirit bars – you use spirit to perform special moves. You can still perform special moves without any spirit, but they will be weaker. The spirit bar of the Supporter gradually refills over time, so you’ll be wanting to tag between both your characters to effectively manage that.

SNK Heroines has a roster of 14 characters, with at least a couple more being added in the future – the first of which will be Thief Arthur from Square Enix’s Million Arthur.
As things stand, I’ll probably be using Mui Mui as my main character, with either Athena or Kula supporting her. Well, at least until Thief Arthur is available.

SNK Heroines offers a few different modes. These include story, quick play, survival and training. You can also fight online, should you desire to do so.
One of the modes let you customise the characters’ outfits and accessories. Each character has three different costumes, which can be further customised with accessories.
Once you’ve got a look that you’re happy with, you can have your character pose and take pictures – and maybe use one of those pictures as your avatar for the game.

SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy is a game that I have had fun playing. It doesn’t seem to hold much appeal for those who prefer their fighting games to be competitive, but fortunately I am not the type to take video games way too seriously.
It won’t really have a competitive scene, but just enjoy SNK Heroines for what it is.