The Last Blade 2 - PS4

During the 90s and 00s, SNK, in the Neo-Geo system, gave us some of the best fighting titles anyone can think of. SNK’s fascination with fighting samurais gave us instant classics such as the Samurai Shodown series and, of course, The Last Blade. After years and years of tribulations, The Last Blade 2 was finally ported to the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4. It was 1998 when the game first saw light and, today, 18 years later fans can finally relive all those sword-wielding moments with a roster that has, if anything, been improved.

Perhaps one of the most interesting features of this new version of the game is the fact that not only allows compatibility between both the handheld and the console, but is has a cross-buy, cross-play and cross-save system. This means, if you buy either version, you receive the other one. Players can either participate in local multiplayer battles or battle against people using any version they desire online, and, finally, any progress made in one version is transferred immediately to the other one. This is truly a welcomed feature and fans everywhere will sure appreciate it.

The graphic system, somehow, manages to look as amazing as the first time you played the game; it has been described as “pixel perfect emulation”, and the game truly lives up to those words. There is no conversion issue between old formats and the HD these new systems offer; quite the contrary, the game manages to look pretty cool on any console you choose to play.

As we mentioned before, the game’s roster, as good as it was, was enhanced, by including four new characters to the previously 12, and adding an extra pair of hidden ones. This amounts to a great total of 18 characters. After that many years, a revival that increases its roster by a whole third is something quite uncommon. As a matter of fact, there are relatively new fighting games that can’t manage to include 18 characters in its roster.

Combat is what makes a fighting game stand out from the rest and The Last Sword 2 combat system was left without any change, something players will for surely appreciate. You can, for instance, decide your sword style; choose between power, speed and extreme in order to better fit your gaming style. Every character will play differently depending on which style you choose, so keep that in mind; two characters will not be the same if they have different sword styles. Power comes with an increased damage, but at the cost of speed; while speed increases mobility of the character, but reduces the damage inflicted; finally, extreme enhances both abilities, but at the cost of receiving more damage than usual. Once you’ve grown accustomed to your sword style, deliver a final blow to your enemies using the Super Secret Slash, Hidden Secret Slash or an Enigma Frenzy Attack. As with any fighting game, timing is of the essence when using these special moves. Timing is also indispensable is the Repel mechanic, by which you can effectively counter your foe’s attacks and deliver a counteroffensive move.

SNK Playmore’s success with Metal Slug 3’s port was the main inspiration for this game to hit consoles the way it did. It is possible this success will be repeated, because of the cult following the game acquired throughout the years.  If this happens to be true, then we, hopefully, will be seeing a whole group of games we used to play in arcades hit newer consoles in the months and years to come.

The Last Blade 2 is a must-play title if you’re into fighting games, samurai games or if you want to make a trip down memory lane. The cross-platform compatibility functions are really something amazing and they should set a standard for most games of this kind.

Sarwar Ron, NoobFeed
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