Review: UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II SYS:CELES Is As Weird And Good As Its Name

I love being able to describe things as “buttery smooth.” It gives a sense of purity in content, simplicity, and flow. While UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes might have one of the most awkward names ever to say or write, the gameplay and experience overall is quite buttery smooth.

Any fighting game needs a few essential things: a variety of game modes, responsive combat, unique characters, and a strong sense of growth. UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes has all of those, but does some much better than others. When it comes to the actual combat, UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes knocks it out of the park. I’m genuinely surprised at how fast and good each character feels, how the combat flows with speed while being easily readable and understandable. It is super slick and honestly easy enough to pick up and just smash buttons too.

Let's get into this for a second, approachability. That is always my gripe with fighting games, that as much fun as they appear, they are often not very much fun to learn or pick up, especially for players not used to the genre or gaming in general. Even though I don’t want fighting games to heavily reward players for just breaking controllers, it would be nice if there were a bit more enjoyment for players picking up the controller for the first time. UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes is by no definition the easiest to master or play, it does allow players to get a lot out of their characters if they are remotely smart with positioning, timing and a couple of well placed button smashes.

As for the actual playable characters, the roster is quite large and robust. However, I found that a lot of the characters seemed to have identical play styles even though the move sets were relatively different. This made character selection feel more like a cosmetic change with some alterations to game play instead of deep changes and learning curves in style and substance. Don’t get me wrong, the characters have a lot of personality, but I found myself using the same moves/inputs on a variety of characters and situations. As a side note, the color customizations are many, including room for custom color combinations, which is a fun and simple addition that I want in basically all future fighting games.

Lastly, let’s address the game modes and general longevity of the game. Between a standard arcade mode for each character and regular versus modes, there isn’t much that I would want or expect. But, the tutorial mode is unbelievably good. I have never enjoyed a tutorial mode ever, but this one was fun, fast, and I went from barely understanding things to crushing enemies at harder levels in less than an hour.

UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes is not as diverse in its modes and characters as one would hope or expect. However, its simplicity and approachability for beginners with lots of room to grow for every other level of player make it a strong candidate in the world of fighting games.