We’re in an incredible stacked period for fighting games, and I couldn’t be happier. Capcom titan Street Fighter 6 is barely half a year old, while Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is delivering an incredible experience and promising crossover DLC characters. Then you’ve got the gargantuan release of Tekken 8 approaching in mere days – but it isn’t alone. Amongst all of these impressive sequels, another is dropping this week. The UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH series has long been the best-kept secret of modern fighting games, boasting some of the most fluid, dynamic, and hype-building gameplay in any fighter. UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes is all that and then some.
At first glance, this game might not visually come across as a true sequel – but much like the recently released Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, despite identical graphics and character models, numerous things under the hood have been changed to make this feel leagues different than any previous iteration of Under Night In-Birth. Despite being a 3-button fighter where every character only has a handful of special moves, there’s a gargantuan amount of depth and mastery to this series thanks to the layers of mechanics happening in parallel to the combat – and this sequel adds even more, on top of giving every character at least two new moves. That might not seem like a huge amount on paper, but in a game like this, where every character’s kit is so versatile already, these new moves add astounding amounts of new options to everyone’s arsenal.
Let me back up a bit, though. In Under Night In-Birth, there’s a shared Grind Grid, or “GRD”, meter at the bottom of the screen – it fills up if you move forward, block, land attacks, or hold down the GRD charge button – and depletes if you move backwards, get hit, or do special attacks that use GRD. There’s a looping timer that fills every few moments, and whoever has more GRD when it does enters a special Vorpal state – from there, you’ve got buffed attack damage and the option to trigger even more systems and special attacks. UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes shortens the timer a bit to fill every 14 seconds now, but on top of that, there’s a new “Celestial” mechanic – enter Vorpal with 6 or more GRD, and all 12 GRD bars automatically fill up for you.
If you’re new to the series, I don’t blame you if half of that made no sense. In the big picture, here’s what UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes has done to make the game feel fresh – in previous iterations, you could ignore the entire Vorpal system and just focus on character combos and GRD management to win the battle through sheer grit. In the sequel, though, changes like Celestial Vorpal, the shortened timer, and a new risk/reward dodge mechanic called Creeping Edge, make it almost mandatory to engage with the game on every system level. GRD management matters for more than just special attacks now, and your GRD can be significantly filled or depleted in an instant if you aren’t smart about keeping it full when Vorpal triggers. I found myself truly learning and embracing parts of Under Night In-Birth with this sequel that I never had before, and it made me a more attentive and effective player without me even trying to improve.
Now, mechanic changes and new moves are nice, but it wouldn’t be a fighting game sequel without new characters. UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes adds three – a charismatic high-schooler with a giant weaponized shield, a mature secret-agent huntress dual wielding giant pistols, and the floating super-powered big bad guy of the main story. Big-bad Kuon shares a lot of thematic and mechanic similarities to floating charge-character Vatista, except he doesn’t use charge inputs, and is a bit more melee-focused, making him a great choice for rush-down players who know how to control their space.
Shield-swinger Tsurugi is incredibly unique, though – besides some obvious abilities to block projectiles and armor-absorb attacks, his character-function puts him in a stance that you can continuously transition into a huge amount of different attacks or abilities from, making him really fun to play and really frustrating to fight against. Flirty gun-girl Kaguya is probably my favorite of the trio – despite rocking guns she’s much more focused on medium-range combat and great at jumping around unpredictably, not too unlike Noel Vermillion from Blazblue. She has some special moves that make her mix-ups insanely unpredictable, giving you lots of tools to create some really unique combos.
Other changes and additions under the hood really help UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes sing – the sequel is the first time the series has had roll-back netcode, and my time playing online so far has been pretty much flawless. Experiences may vary, but so far it feels like a definite improvement over prior entries. While the game doesn’t have super interactive 3D lobbies like some of its peers, it does have some cool functionality that sets it apart from other fighters. You can download other players’ fight replays, and while watching them, hop in at any moment to control the player and change the outcome of the fight.
On top of customisable character colours, re-recorded voices, remastered songs, and some new stages, there’s plenty in this package to prove worthwhile for fans of the franchise. I’ve loved every version of Under Night In-Birth that I’ve played, and this sequel is no exception – it’s easy to pick up, hard to master, and incredibly fun at every level of play. Of all the fighting games coming out right now, do not sleep on this one.