As a fan of fighting games and beat em ups, I was interested to check out Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[cl-r] and what it had to offer, especially as this was doing so well at the biggest fighting game tournament EVO.

Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late is actually the third update for Under Night In-Birth and features various enhancements to the gameplay. The version I played was on the PlayStation 4 and I super appreciated the fact that I was able to use my PlayStation 3 arcade stick in order to get the full experience. 

Want to get a feel of the characters and their backgrounds? Arcade Mode is best for this as you can get some quick matches in and learn a lot about how certain characters play a role in the overall lore. Wish to go even deeper? Then Chronicles mode is the one for you. This includes 22 chapters and goes really in-depth with the Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late roster.

In order to brush up on the game and its mechanics, I jumped right into the tutorial which props to the team is quite detailed, going from beginner moves all the way to learning some of the more advanced techniques that will really give you the edge in battle if used properly. If this is a game that you will be looking to spend quite a significant time in, the tutorial is definitely a good place to start.

I'm going to sound like a hypocrite, because I began my play through with a different mode as one of my favourite aspects of fighting games are all the cool combos you can pull off and thanks to Missions mode, you can do exactly this with the character of your choice. To be honest, its through this mode that I settled on the two characters that impressed me most; Hyde and Enkidu.

Combos can definitely get difficult as it goes along, however if you get stuck, you can always have the CPU demo this to give you a better idea on how to pull it off. The game does introduce a mechanic called smart steer for specific combos in which you can simply press the same button over and over again and your character will pull off some flashy moves.

The gameplay overall has felt pretty good. There is enough there that a total newbie can have a good time with enough complexity for someone who really wants to dig in. To really step your game up you will need to spend a good amount of time in training mode in order to understand what your best moves are, what kind be simply thrown out and what can't be, along with being able to capitalise on certain situations to inflict the most damage.

This is besides making good use of your EXS and GRD gauge and knowing when to enter the Vorpal State. Once all these different pieces a put together, you will find yourself with a pretty competitive fighter.

Other modes include Time attack which challenges you to run through the roster of characters as quick as you can and Score Attack which is similar, but with the exception of points being involved. Lastly there is Survival where you fight against waves of opponents and stack wins until you are defeated. Depending on the results of the previous battle, you will recover a little bit of health to aid you going forward.

All three of these modes allow you to register your ranking online, so you can compare your skills with the rest of the world.

I did wish to take my newbie skills online, however I was not able to get into a match and so unfortunately this is not an area I can really comment on. There were options for both Ranked and Player matches, along with being able to customise the speed and connection status you are willing to engage with.

The game also includes a gallery which you can view character specific ending and unlock different pieces of artwork. During your play through you will earn in-game currency which you can use to unlock this also.

If there is one way to describe Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[cl-r], is that it has the high energy you would normally expect from Anime fighter mixed with the more tactical approach that you would expect from the Street Fighter series. It is definitely an interesting blend, but a most welcome one. 

If you are a fan of the genre, Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late is a game that you will want to check out!