Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel is a 2D fighting game by Examu, the makers of Arcana Heart, and published by XSEED Games. With 14 playable characters and 19 support characters from various Nitroplus branded anime, games and light novels, it may be the most niche fighter ever released Stateside. And possibly the most adorable. Every character is female and while the game is in English, the voice acting is still Japanese, making the content appeal to a specific type of gamer. But are cute girls enough carry a fighter? 

Nitroplus Blasterz is a typical one-on-one fighting game. You choose a fighter, two support characters, a stage, and win by downing your opponent in two out of three rounds. Combos can be performed, along with parries, reversals and counters. You can also trigger Blast to give yourself a temporary rush during the fight and calling in supports is similar to the Marvel vs. Capcom games. Visually it looks like a Guilty Gear game and the characters are at least unique enough to look interesting when performing their signature moves. The sprites have very fluid animation although the graphics as a whole are not “next-gen” enough if you're a graphics nerd. Still, the game is fast and runs at a stable framerate and the controls are responsive. You can also challenge a friend locally or online, and thankfully both the PS4 and PS3 versions of the game share the same online community.

Unfortunately, there's not much new to bring to the table. While the gimmick of playing as characters like Ignis and Super Sonico is appealing, the story is really basic—an outside force brings all of these characters together to fight. They must battle until they beat the boss and restore order. Standard fare for crossover games. The story can be beaten in half an hour per character, vignettes included. Unless you care about each character's interactions with their opponents and their endings, the plot itself remains the same. Clearing story mode once unlocks Another Story, which expands on the lore with a visual novel divided into ten chapters. Unless if you're actually invested in the characters and plot, it can be a bit of a slog to get through. There's a battle in each chapter but those can be skipped. Another minor annoyance about the game is there's no tutorial mode, which is disappointing for people who haven't played fighting games. Luckily there's a training mode if you want to practice pulling off combos.

While Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel is a basic fighting game, it's not casual-friendly in respects to both gameplay and presentation. Definitely geared towards hardcore otaku with an interest in adorable anime girls. Not that there's anything wrong with that. 

Hint: The two DLC exclusive characters, Senran Kagura's Homura and Arcana Heart's Heart, are available for free to download on PSN for a limited time only. They will be available for standard purchase after the end of the month.

by Ray n.