Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax

Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax[a] is a 2D arcade fighting game developed by Ecole Software and French Bread and published by Sega. The game celebrates the 20th anniversary of ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Bunko imprint, featuring various characters from light novels published under the imprint.[2] The game was first released in Japanese arcades in March 2014,[3] and later released on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita on November 13, 2014.[4] The console version was released in North America and Europe in October 2015.[5][6] The game's theme song is "Belief" by Mami Kawada.

Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax
Japanese PS Vita cover art
Developer(s)Ecole Software
French Bread
Publisher(s)Sega
Director(s)Takaharu Terada
Producer(s)Ryutaro Nonaka
Composer(s)Yui Isshiki
Sega Digital Studio
Platform(s)Arcade, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita
ReleaseArcade
  • JP: March 18, 2014
PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita
  • JP: November 13, 2014
  • NA: October 6, 2015
  • EU: October 6, 2015[1]
Ignition:
Arcade
  • JP: July 28, 2015
PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita
  • JP: December 17, 2015
Genre(s)Fighting game
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade systemSega RingEdge 2

An updated version of the game, titled Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignition (電撃文庫 FIGHTING CLIMAX IGNITION, Dengeki Bunko Faitingu Kuraimakkusu Igunishion), was released in July 2015.[7] The update contains additional characters and more balanced gameplay.[8][9][10] The updated version was released on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in December 2015 only in Japan.[11] The updated version's theme song is "ID" by LiSA.

Gameplay

edit

Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax is a two-dimensional fighting game, in which two players fight against each using both a playable fighter character and an assist character. Fighting uses three main attack buttons: weak, medium, and strong, along with a support button used for summoning a player's assist character. After an assist character is summoned, players need to rebuild their support gauge before they can summon them again. By building the Climax Gauge with attacks, players can perform powerful Impact Skill attacks, and can also use Blast Icons to perform Blast Attacks, allowing them to escape from combos.[12] The home version features an original story campaign, Dream Duel Story, and online multiplayer, and supports cross-save functionality between the PS3 and Vita versions. Samples from the represented light novel series are also included as unlockable content.[13]

In the Ignition update, it adds another assist character slot, but for Blast only instead of Assist. A new system called Ignition is introduced, giving one character in each team a power-up after each round. From the second round on, if the same Ignition on the team's character from the previous round is reused, it gives an "Extra Ignition".

Character roster

edit

The initial roster features 12 playable characters and 18 assist characters from 22 light novels and the current roster is 19 playable characters and 30 assist characters. The roster features characters under the Dengeki Bunko imprint, among playable characters and assist characters that can be called while in the middle of a round to help the playable character in various ways. All characters are voiced by their respective actors from the anime adaptations, with a few exceptions. A non-playable character known as Denshin (電神) (voiced by Mao), based on the Dreamcast character from Sega Hard Girls, summons the playable characters for their aid to combat a malevolent entity (voiced by Ken Narita) from the organization Zetsumu who takes the form of the captured playable characters, followed by a form of Akira Yuki from Sega's Virtua Fighter series, with Pai Chan as his assist, as boss characters; both Akira and Pai later became playable characters in the console ports and post-Version 1.20 arcade versions.[14][15]

Eight additional characters (four playable and four assists) were added to the roster by mid-2014.[16][17][18] The second Sega guests, Selvaria Bles and Alicia Melchiott of Valkyria Chronicles, first appeared in the console ports and later added to the arcade version 1.30, along with other assist characters from other Dengeki Bunko's published series.[19][20][21] The games' various stages and their accompanying music tracks are based on other Sega titles, such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Nights into Dreams..., Shinobi, Border Break, Valkyria Chronicles, 7th Dragon and Phantasy Star Online 2.[22] The DLC characters from Sword Art Online, Yuuki and the assist Llenn, were released on December 25, 2015. DLC characters from And you thought there is never a girl online?, Ako and the assist Rusian, was included in a future update.[23]

Playable characters

edit
Character Series Voice actor Arcade revision Original Ignition
Akira Yukia Virtua Fighter Shin-ichiro Miki 1.2  bc  
Akoaeg And You Thought There Is Never a Girl Online? Rina Hidaka 2.3    
Asuna Sword Art Online Haruka Tomatsu 1.0    
Emi Yusaae The Devil Is a Part-Timer! Yōko Hikasa 2.0    
Kirino Kosaka Oreimo Ayana Taketatsu 1.0    
Kirito[24] Sword Art Online Yoshitsugu Matsuoka 1.0    
Kuroko Shiraiae A Certain Magical Index/A Certain Scientific Railgun Satomi Arai 2.15    
Kuroyukihime Accel World Sachika Misawa 1.0    
Mikoto Misaka A Certain Magical Index/A Certain Scientific Railgun Rina Satō 1.0    
Miyuki Shibaaf The Irregular at Magic High School Saori Hayami 1.1    
Qwenthur Barbotagee Heavy Object Natsuki Hanae 2.0    
Rentarō Satomia Black Bullet Yuki Kaji 1.15    
Selvaria Blesa Valkyria Chronicles Sayaka Ohara 1.2  b  
Shana Shakugan no Shana Rie Kugimiya 1.0    
Shizuo Heiwajima Durarara!! Daisuke Ono 1.0    
Taiga Aisakaa Toradora! Rie Kugimiya 1.1    
Tatsuya Shibaaf The Irregular at Magic High School Yuichi Nakamura 2.1    
Tomoka Minato[25] Ro-Kyu-Bu! Kana Hanazawa 1.0    
Yukina Himeragia Strike the Blood Risa Taneda 1.15    
Yuukiaeg[26] Sword Art Online Aoi Yūki 2.2    

Assist characters

edit
Character Series Voice actor Arcade revision Original Ignition
Accelerator and Last Ordera A Certain Magical Index/A Certain Scientific Accelerator Nobuhiko Okamoto and Rina Hidaka 1.2    
Alicia Melchiott Valkyria Chronicles Marina Inoue 1.2  ab  
Boogiepop Boogiepop Kaori Shimizu 1.0    
Celty Sturluson Durarara!! Miyuki Sawashiro 1.0    
Dokuro Mitsukaia Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan Saeko Chiba 1.2    
Enju Aiharaa Black Bullet Rina Hidaka 1.15    
Erio Tōwa Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl Asuka Ōgame 1.0    
Floretia Capistranoae Heavy Object Shizuka Itō 2.0    
Haruyuki Arita Accel World Yuuki Kaji 1.0    
Hinata Hakamadad[25] Ro-Kyu-Bu! Yui Ogura 1.0    
Holo Spice and Wolf Ami Koshimizu 1.0    
Iriya Kanaae Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu Ai Nonaka 2.15    
Izaya Oriharaa Durarara!! Hiroshi Kamiya 1.2    
Kazari Uiharuae A Certain Magical Index/A Certain Scientific Railgun Aki Toyosaki 2.15    
Kino Kino's Journey Aya Hisakawa 1.0    
Kōko Kaga Golden Time Yui Horie 1.0    
Kojou Akatsukia Strike the Blood Yoshimasa Hosoya 1.15    
Kuroneko Oreimo Kana Hanazawa 1.0    
Leafa Sword Art Online Ayana Taketatsu 1.0    
Llennaeg Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online Minami Tsuda 2.2    
Mashiro Shiina The Pet Girl of Sakurasou Ai Kayano 1.0    
Miyuki Shibaaf The Irregular at Magic High School Saori Hayami 2.1    
Pai Chana Virtua Fighter Minami Takayama 1.2  bc  
Rusianadeg And you thought there is never a girl online? Toshiyuki Toyonaga 2.3    
Ryūji Takasuad Toradora! Junji Majima 1.1    
Sadao Maō The Devil Is a Part-Timer! Ryōta Ōsaka 1.0    
Tatsuya Shibaaf The Irregular at Magic High School Yuichi Nakamura 1.1    
Toma Kamijo A Certain Magical Index Atsushi Abe 1.0    
Tomo Asamaae Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere Ami Koshimizu 2.15    
Wilhelmina Carmel Shakugan no Shana Shizuka Itō 1.0    
Zeroae Grimoire of Zero Karin Takahashi 2.15    

Other characters

edit
Characters who appear for certain playable characters' Special and Super Moves
Character Series Voice actor Arcade revision Original Ignition
Heivia Winchellae Heavy Object Kaito Ishikawa 2.0    
Milinda Brantiniae Heavy Object Eri Suzuki 2.0    
Airi Kashii[25] Ro-Kyu-Bu! Rina Hidaka 1.0    
Alas Ramuse The Devil Is a Part-Timer! Unknown 2.0    
Maho Misawa[25] Ro-Kyu-Bu! Yuka Iguchi 1.0    
Saki Nagatsuka[25] Ro-Kyu-Bu! Yoko Hikasa 1.0    
Notes
  • ^a : Available as extra, post-arcade and console release content.
  • ^b : Unlockable, but unplayable in Arcade and Dream Duel Modes in original game's console version.
  • ^c : Akira and Pai were originally non-playable in pre-console release arcade versions of original game.
  • ^d : Also appears for certain playable characters' Special and Super Moves.
  • ^e : Introduced in Ignition.
  • ^f : Both playable and assist characters. If certain playable characters are selected, certain playable characters will instead be assist characters and cannot be selected as the same character who has already been selected from the playable roster in Ignition.
  • ^g : Downloadable characters in "Ignition".

Reception

edit

Awarding it 4 out of 5, Hardcore Gamer described it as "a love-letter to anime and Sega fans".[32] In contrast, PlayStation Lifestyle awarded it a score of 5.5 out of 10, writing that "although solid enough as a fighting game, the emphasis here is certainly not on gameplay and can often leave newcomers disconnected from the fun."[33] Destructoid said that it "may be too simplistic for most hardcore fighting game fans to enjoy as anything more than an ephemeral lark, but also perhaps still too complex for those that find the genre intimidating."

The PlayStation 3 version of Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax sold 34,671 copies within its first week in Japan, placing it at number six on the video game sales chart, while the PlayStation Vita version sold 25,607 copies in the same week, placing it at number nine on the chart.[34]

See also

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Japanese: 電撃文庫 FIGHTING CLIMAX, Hepburn: Dengeki Bunko Faitingu Kuraimakkusu

References

edit
  1. ^ "Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax release date set". Gematsu. July 29, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  2. ^ 電撃文庫創刊20周年大感謝プロジェクト [Dengeki Bunko 20th Anniversary Celebration Project] (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
  3. ^ "Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- Launching in Arcades in February, Dengeki Bunko FIGHTING CLIMAX to Follow in March". Shoryuken. January 17, 2014. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  4. ^ "Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax dated in Japan". Gematsu. August 6, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
  5. ^ Stephen Akana (January 29, 2015). "Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Coming to PS3, Vita This Year". PlayStation.Blog. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  6. ^ Stephen Akana (January 29, 2015). "Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax coming soon to PS3 and PS Vita". PlayStation.Blog. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  7. ^ "Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignition launches in Japanese arcades on July 28". Gematsu. July 23, 2015. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  8. ^ "【速報】『電撃文庫 FIGHTING CLIMAX』のアップデートを検討中!? 第2回全国大会決勝で寺田貴治さんがポロリ". ASCII Media Works. April 24, 2015. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  9. ^ "New Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax Game Coming This Summer". Anime News Network. May 25, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  10. ^ "New Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax adds Heavy Object reps". Gematsu. June 8, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  11. ^ "『電撃文庫 FIGHTING CLIMAX IGNITION』がPS4/PS3/PS Vitaで12月17日に発売! 初回特典はカスタムテーマ" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. September 8, 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  12. ^ "Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax Arcade Game's Gameplay Video Streamed". Anime News Network. October 15, 2013. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  13. ^ "Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax Fires Up A Glance At The Console Version". Siliconera. September 7, 2014. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
  14. ^ "Final Dengeki Bunko FIGHTING CLIMAX Location Tests Underway, First Screenshots of Virtua Fighter's Akira and Pai Released". Shoryuken. February 28, 2014. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
  15. ^ "【速報】コンシューマ版『電撃文庫 FIGHTING CLIMAX』に『バーチャファイター』のアキラがプレイアブル参戦". ASCII Media Works. August 30, 2014. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  16. ^ "Toradora's Taiga, The irregular at magic high school's Miyuki Join Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax". Anime News Network. May 9, 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  17. ^ "『電撃文庫 FIGHTING CLIMAX』に新キャラ追加! 『ストライク・ザ・ブラッド』雪菜と『ブラック・ブレット』蓮太郎が参戦" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. June 26, 2014. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  18. ^ "Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax adding Black Bullet and Strike the Blood fighters next month". Gematsu. June 24, 2014. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  19. ^ "速報】『電撃文庫 FIGHTING CLIMAX』PS3/PS Vita版に『戦場のヴァルキュリア』のセルベリア&アリシアが参戦!【TGS2014】" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. September 19, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  20. ^ "『電撃文庫 FIGHTING CLIMAX』にドクロちゃん&一方通行&臨也がサポートキャラとして参戦決定!" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. October 5, 2014. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  21. ^ "Dokuro-chan, Accelerator, Izaya Join Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax Game as Support". Anime News Network. October 5, 2014. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  22. ^ "Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax - Playstation 3 / Vita". Anime News Network. December 4, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  23. ^ "『電撃文庫FCイグニッション』に『ネトゲの嫁』よりアコが参戦! "ゲームの電撃感謝祭2016"で最速体験" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. March 8, 2016. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  24. ^ "Sword Art Online's Kirito Joins Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax Game". Anime News Network. February 9, 2014. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  25. ^ a b c d e "5 Ro-kyu-bu! Players Appear in Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax Game". Anime News Network. January 29, 2014. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  26. ^ "『電撃文庫FCイグニッション』期間限定無料DLCで『SAO』のユウキが登場! 『GGO』からレンもサポート参戦" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. December 8, 2015. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  27. ^ "Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Critic Reviews for PlayStation 3". Metacritic. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  28. ^ "Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax for PlayStation Vita Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  29. ^ "Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax". Game Rankings. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  30. ^ "Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax". Game Rankings. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  31. ^ "Review: Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax". Destructoid. October 7, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  32. ^ Storm, Bradly (October 6, 2015). "Review: Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  33. ^ "Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Review – Fighting for Relevancy (Vita)". PlayStation Lifestyle. October 8, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  34. ^ Romano, Sal (November 19, 2014). "Media Create Sales: 11/10/14 – 11/16/14". Gematsu. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
edit