Developer: Yatagarasu Dev Team
Publisher: Nyu Media
Platform: PC
Yatagarasu: Attack on Cataclysm – Review
As the popularity of indie games keeps on growing, so do the amount of fighting indie games. After such a long history of popular fighting games like King of Fighters, Street Fighter or even Melty Blood, Nyu Media released a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo for their newest Yatagarasu Attack on Cataclysm. Prepare to dive yourself in a simple, yet satisfying fighting game with a total of 11 playable characters.
Story
In Yatagarasu: Attack on Cataclysm, a coup d’état has been committed by a Japanese revolutionary group. The government sent out an order to an information organization called ‘Igasei’, stating that they want to activate Yatagarasu and make an end to the Coup. The game offers a total of 11 playable characters, each having their own role in the situation that is going on in Japan. We did our best to portray a small background for all of the characters, which have a very different story to them.
Azure is a half Arabian and half Britain who lost his family and country when the conflict broke out. He wants to bring back his deceased mother to life by combing shinto rituals and mathematics, and so he traveled to Japan after learning about the world while studying alchemy. He became impressed by the ninja and trained to become one.
Hinukan Kou has the ability to control fire and is a ninja of the Hattori squad. His master and to him a mother, Hattori Hanzo Uruka, taught him martial arts at a young age. By command of Hanzo, he is on a mission to gather information which he will bring back no matter the cost. Juzumaru Tsunetsugu is an Ainu warrior (old Japanese folk) who makes a point of importance to chivalry. The Hattori took him into mainland Japan and is now a low ranking ninja who sworn loyalty to Hanzo and trusts her completely.
Aja Salisbury was born in the United Kingdom and was an intelligence officer for the Conservative party. After the rise of a radical party, she had nowhere else to go and fled to England’s ally, Japan. She wasn’t able to escape her political ties, and after losing hope in humanity lives her life as an assassin. After a certain incident she wishes to reform the world.
Hina is a ninja from the Togakushi clan, a clan of lower ranking compared to the Hattori. She is angry at the Hattori for having little respect for the Togakushi. Her ally, Shimo, is a low ranking ninja who will one day be asked to become the leader of the Togakushi clan. She has the tendency to stay away from people despite her powerful latent abilities and despite being a master of iai (sword-drawing style).
Next up we have a few less important characters. The first is Jet, a half Japanese who has been discriminated his whole life due to him being a half. He prefers fighting with his fists just like his father and appears and disappears whenever he likes. He is more of a comedic character. Then we have Kazama Kotaro, a student that wants to become a worldwide star and make the world a better place. And third, Chadha, who was a rebel and grew up as a thug but calmed down after his marriage. He disappeared for a long time, but made a new appearance with a strange mask and manner of speaking. He takes advantage of his huge body.
And last but not least we have Crow, a young man who is similar to Kou but is shrouded in mystery. He seems to know Uruka pretty well, but more is not known about him. He seems to be an antagonist who has a fair amount of interest in Kou.
Graphics
Yatagarasu goes back to the roots of 2D-fighting games, and seems to be heavily influenced by games like Street Fighter III and King of Fighters as 3 former SNK/King of Fighters developers have worked on developing it. Each individual character has a unique and good design, each having their own unique personality. Their moves and special are very well animated and the fluency of the game put players at ease.
Aside from that there are several stage backgrounds available that capture all kinds of different scenarios very well.
Sound
The music in this game is also done amazingly well, as is has been composed by the same people who did the music for Melty Blood and the more recent Under Night In-birth. Each soundtrack is very enjoyable to listen to and even capture the different stages well. They are made by Raito and sung by the doujin songstress LIQI@.
Gameplay
Gameplay-wise, the game offers pretty much the same as most fighting games do. The first thing that the game offers is the arcade mode. As you would expect from an arcade mode, you choose which character you want to play as, and keep on fighting an enemy one after the other while reading through the storyline of those characters. There are two different arcade modes, but the only difference is the story. In the first arcade mode you see the interaction between the characters, while in the other you see the interaction between the character you chose and an organization not appearing in the first arcade.
Other available modes are a versus mode, which allows players to challenge each other in local play. Then we have the training mode, where you can practice your skills with a controllable dummy through settings. Sadly there isn’t a tutorial in the game itself, which would’ve come in handy as some gameplay elements aren’t explained at all, like how to make a throw or what the parry buttons are for.
There is also a network mode available, allowing the player to test their skills against one another through the internet. Players will be able to either set up their own lobbies thanks to an IP based system, or just hop into available public lobbies.
Fighting-wise, the battle system is more focused around a system where players will fight each other in short intervals of trades, instead of the more combo-based gameplay that is present in games like Guilty Gear or Tekken. You have 4 different buttons: low kick, high kick, low punch, high punch and two more unique functions called Low Parry and High Parry. When parrying an opponent’s move, the player is able to input an action to counter the move you have parried. This allows the player to take advantage and make a comeback. Players who are more experienced in fighting games will win more than people that simply do the same thing over and over again.
There is also a drawback when you fail a parry, as you will get into a certain state where you take additional damage as well as more chances to get stunned. In other words, this is a risk-reward game mechanic. This system alone makes the game a worthwhile fighting game to play, with a skill cap high enough to make the game very competitive when playing against others.
Another thing that is pretty unique to Yatagarasu is the ability to choose a commentator when playing the game. You can choose between a lot of different ones, making the game more enjoyable as they give advice or comments during a fight, sometimes with a tone that makes you crack a smile.
Conclusion
Overall, Yatagarasu: Attack on Cataclysm lacks the option for players to learn more about the game mechanics like parrying and not offering too much gameplay elements that are different from other fighting games. However, the story, sound and graphics are done very well while the gameplay offers enough depth to it to thoroughly enjoy thanks to its parrying system and the ability to choose a commentator during the fights. If you are a fan of fighting games, then you should definitely take notice of this one, as you will most definitely enjoy it.
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