Yatagarasu Attack on Cataclysm Review (PC)
Yatagarasu is a series we are quite fond of. Two years ago the team behind Yatagarasu launched an Indiegogo campaign for Yatagarasu Attack on Cataclysm, a new and improved version of the game, with which they managed to get over $100,000. Now it’s finally time to see that version in action.
This is a 2D doujin fighting game, that comes from a team of three ex-SNK veterans who have been perfecting it for the past 8 years. While Yatagarasu is already on our store, you can now play the newest version via Steam, thanks to Nyu Media.
The game was originally released in 2008 with only two playable characters, but since then it has come a long way, even more so with the newest installment. There are a ton of juicy new additions to Attack on Cataclysm. In the previous version there were 8 characters, but Attack on Cataclysm introduces three new ones; Azure, a mathematician who wants to revive his deceased mother; Kotaro, an agile girl who dreams of becoming an operetta singer; And lastly Aja, a hired assassin who wants to reform the world and who serves as the villain in the story.
In addition, Yatagarasu Attack on Cataclysm has new announcers, four more stages, upping the total to 14, and most important of all everything is finally fully localized.
What are announcers you may ask. Before each battle aside from selecting a character and his primary super attack you can choose an announcer who will comment on the match at hand. It may not add anything to the gameplay, but it does make battles feel more dynamic and important, which brings up the question why no one has ever thought of this before. Just having someone to root for you during your matches adds a new element which I’d love to see in more fighters.
The story takes place in the 1925 in Japan, where a nationalist revolutionary group staged a coup d’etat. While the story may not be much, it is there to serve as a setup for each of the battles.
The combat is a cross between King of Fighters and Street Fighter 3: Third Strike, which is not unusual considering the trio of developers. The game design and balance was done by Umezono, who was a big player in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike as well as part of the KoF 2002 team. Kotani:Tomoyuki also known as Styleos is the artist, he worked on KoF ’99 up to Kof 2001. Finally, there is Shiza the programmer who created the engine.
Battles have a much smaller focus on projectile attacks or traps, as not every character has these techniques. Because of this there is a large emphasis on parrying. Aside from the low kick, high kick, low punch and high punch you have two additional parry buttons, one for parrying low attacks another for parrying high attacks.
During backstepping you are not invincible so you will have to rely on parrying if you want to play offensively. Super jumping forward for example is a fast low pass jump which allows for aggressive play. Unlike typical 2D fighters, all characters have the same life totals, meaning not a single character will go down too fast. Still, different characters deal different amounts of damage, so you will have to pay extra attention when going against the huge grappler Chadha, or the blade wielding Aja. Similar to 3rd Strike, before each match you can pick one super move. Here however, selecting one super doesn’t mean you won’t have the other, instead you will just deal 20% more damage with the one you selected.
This game has some low resolution but beautifully animated characters, very reminiscent of the older King of Fighters games. The backgrounds on the other hand are still images, which range from impressive looking to slightly unfinished, thankfully they never deter from the battles.
Yatagarasu Attack on Cataclysm is very much a doujin title. But what it lacks in options and features it makes up in a deep and fluid combat system. Then there is an online mode where you can even host tournaments. If you are a fan of fighting games, you have no excuse not grab a copy of this game which will keep you coming for more.
Yatagarasu Attack on Cataclysm is available on Steam for only 14,99 €
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