Slave Zero X

If you like labbing in fighting games, you will LOVE Slave Zero X. If you want to buy it for the story, read someone else's review. I quit fighting games about a year ago after having invested well over two thousand hours of my life into DBFZ and Guilty Gear: Strive. I love what fighting games provide in terms of skill expression, but I absolutely hate character balancing decisions; the only time I think that I ever truly had fun in fighters was during mirror matches. This game captures everything I love about fighting games without having to involve other people and bad competitive balance decisions. The combo system is unbelievably deep and rewarding so just playing around in the training room will provide me with at least a couple dozen hours of fun. Competing with other players for high scores on the leader board will also extend my playtime after I've mastered the combo routes I want to have to style on the opponents in story mode. I didn't play the demo and I've only beaten the first level so far (#5 on leaderboards for 1-1 :D ) but I have absolutely zero hesitation in recommending this game wholeheartedly based solely on the 3 hours I have spent labbing it.

It's a beat-em-up that plays like a fighting game, moreso than they are already. If you're big into fighting game mechanics, you will love it and be able to pull off so much cool stuff. For those less inclined to fighting games, you will like it less than you do other beat-em-ups. Stylistically, it's a 10. Both the visuals and the sound wonderfully immerse you in the game world.

You can add some iframes, tighten up the parry and add a little more air control to really make this something special without upsetting the tryhard crowd that wants everything to be borderline impossible. I love the theme and building on the lore of an oldie is great but this game is too hard for all the wrong reasons.

Slave Zero X is action packed, challenging, visually striking, and highly replayable for the dedicated player, however not so much for those seeking a casual experience. The way I feel the game falls short is that it fails to guide the player early on. Unlike the fighting games Slave Zero X takes heavy gameplay inspirations from, the game does not provide any sort of combo moves lists to help the player learn or improve at the game beyond a basic tutorial slideshow covering basic mechanics. The game also fails to clearly outline or demonstrate to the player what determines chapter and combat rankings and what the game actually considers "good" play. Many players like me who enjoy dedicating themselves to a game, practicing and learning encounters to overcome a challenge, will most likely enjoy Slave Zero X quite a lot, but I cannot say that this game is for everyone.