E3 2017 - Nicalis and Studio Saizensen Present Crossover Fighting Game Blade Strangers

Published: June 12, 2017 9:29 PM /

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Have you ever wanted to pit Cave Story characters against Umihara Kawase from the Umihara Kawase series, in a fighting game? Well, if you're me than maybe you have, but chances are you're only familiar with Cave Story. Regardless, publisher Nicalis have announced that they're collaborating with Studio Saizensen (of Code of Princess, and yes, Umihara Kawase fame) to create Blade Strangers, a fast-paced 2D fighting game crossover between the two companies' various IPs. During a segment yesterday on the official Twitch E3 stream (thanks, NintendoEverything), Nicalis stressed that the title will focus on ease of input, while still allowing for fast gameplay similar to older fighting game greats from SNK's back-catalog.

Other bits of information floated about the game include the fact that the title's various sprites were originally converted from 3D models of the characters before being touched up as 2D sprites by hand, the title will feature music from the same composer that worked on Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, and that the game will be coming to PC, PS4, and Switch in Q4 of this year.

Quick Take

I'll be honest here, half the reason I'm really excited for this game is because 1.) I absolutely adore Cave Story and 2.) I absolutely love the Umihara Kawase series (I actually reviewed the first game in the series for one of our Rewind Review Weeks a little under a year ago). While I can't say that in and of itself will make this game good, I do like fighting games and the idea of getting to play as either Curly Brace or Umihara Kawase herself (alongside other Nicalis and Studio Saizensen characters) means that Blade Strangers has, at the very least, piqued my attention. I'm looking forward to see how the game works out in the long run, and I hope to become the #1 Umihara Kawase player in the west when the game hits PS4, Switch, and PC in Q4 2017.

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James Galizio TechRaptor
| Former Staff Writer

Former Staff Writer for TechRaptor, technology and games in particular have been my passion my whole life, and to contribute to the industry has been my… More about James