Versus games are wild, and that’s super obvious when you look at HunterXHunter Nen Impact . Making its gameplay debut at EVO Japan, the game’s more modest scale belies a hidden beast- one that harkens back to the days of Marvel Vs Capcom.
For those of you who made the smart choice not to spend your 20s dipping your feet into fighting games, it goes like this: every fighting game is like a million cogs. Things work because the system works. By having tag fighting, that is, the ability to call in other characters to do certain moves, the variable suddenly multiply the possible game states. It’s why games like Skullgirls and Marvel Vs Capcom are so lauded- they’re insane games that have personality to them because it’s impossible to smooth out every possible wrinkle.
On the other hand, there’s also been more recent attempts to make this genre more approachable- that is to say to not have you sound like a crazy person when explaining it to your friends. Some good examples of these would be Blazblue Cross Tag Battle or Power Rangers: Battle For The Grid. These streamlined both systems and inputs to make games were not as mechanically intense, but also had that same chaotic scramble associated with the tag fighter sub-genre.
It’s Gonna Take You For A Ride
From movements, animations, the general strategy of “get them in the air then start the scum cycle”- HunterxHunter Nen Impact really feels like a call back to that genre. While it may sport a smaller roster than its predecessors, Yuuki Takahashi, the game’s director says it allows there’s still a lot of depth to the game players have yet to uncover.
“As you spend more time, you’ll discover more and more possibilities in the game. I hope you enjoy it after you discover more of its depth”.
Getting to play the game myself, a lot of it just feels… correct. I have a lot of love for Marvel Vs Capcom, and it’s that way the characters move that feels just right. Hitboxes are just janky enough to feel deliberate- unassuming attacks are bigger than they look, and it feels like in future we’ll have just as many moves out of HunterxHunter Nen Impact that make you question what it truly means to be a low or overhead.
That’s not to say it doesn’t have some concessions for newer players though- it’s got Granblue Fantasy Versus’ autocombo system, with a light, medium or heavy autocombo depending on which button you press as well as an assist autocombo.
“What we aim for is an easier way to play the game”, Takahashi says. “I don’t want to make it not a fun game, so they keep the fun elements, especially for fighting games, but our aim is` for you to have an easier time with the game and hope for you to enjoy the game at the same time. We’re trying to do the game for a more general audiences”.
And here’s the biggest strength of Hunter X Hunter Nen Impact- for every thing it simplifies, it feels like it adds something new. While Marvel Vs Capcom 3 locked you to one move per assist character, Nen Impact instead has directional assists- meaning each character has three possible moves, meaning at any time you have six possible assists as long as you have a full team.
There’s also old favorites like Over Gear (which works suspiciously like X-Factor),Ejection Attacks (Snap Back) and even team supers (here called Unison Arts). Basically, it’s exactly the appeal of tag fighters. There’s a million moving pieces, and an array of tools targeting specific pieces to break your opponent’s machine before you do.
The Road To HunterxHunter Nen Impact And Its Release
Of course, there’s still a lot of questions to go before the launch of HunterxHunter Nen Impact. One of the new tidbits of information concerns the game’s roster- it looks like the game will be launching with only 16 characters, a far cry from many other entrants in a genre built around playing with teams of three.
A lot of it will come down to how uniquely they can make these characters play. As is the short bursts of hands-on time are far from enough to get to the root of what makes characters tick. And yet, we can already see better players coming up with corner loops and resets to create an oppressive game. At this rate, we could very well see a strong passionate community dedicated to HunterxHunter Nen Impact, made from a mix of anime fans eager to play as their favorite characters and tag fighter fans eager to do some sick team combos.
It’s interesting to see the way this game is being marketed- Bushiroad Games has utter confidence in the team at 8ing’s work. Despite being adapted from one of the biggest shonen anime series, a lot of focus is being placed on the actual gameplay. I’ll confess it’s part of what drew me to HunterXHunter Nen Impact myself- I’ve never read the source manga but I’d be damned if I miss the potential second coming of Marvel Vs Capcom 3.
