Some bugs and glitches have been reported, but a lot have been fixed via patches. The Vita version is fine, as far as I know.
However, the translation is
UNCHANGED and still very out of character.
- Release Date: 5/24/16 (US & EU)
- Pricing: $14.99 / 13.49€
- Platform: PlayStation®4, PlayStation®Vita (Cross-Buy & Cross Play)
- Genre: Fighting Game
- Developer: SNK & Code Mystics
Disclaimer: While I am by no means an expert on The Last Blade, it is my favorite SNK fighter, so I gathered all the relevant info I could find. Any updates or suggestions for content are fully welcome.
The Last Blade 2 was released in 1998, a sequel to 1997's
The Last Blade, a tale of swordsmen and families torn apart by war in Bakumatsu-era Japan.
Combat in The Last Blade revolves around weaponry-based duels, though nearly every character has melee combat options as well.
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/lastblade/lastblade.htm
Bakumatsu Roman: Gekka no Kenshi ("Moonlight Swordsmen"), also known as The Last Blade everywhere outside of Japan (except in Korea, where it's called The Last Soldier), is one of SNK's lesser known fighting franchises. Never quite garnering the mass popularity of The King of Fighters, nor even the cult following of Samurai Shodown, The Last Blade is destined to wander eternally shrouded in obscurity. Perhaps it was the combined factors that it was released on a ridiculously expensive console and wasn't pushed into arcades in the same frequency that Samurai Shodown was, or maybe it was simply that people never gave it a chance. Whatever it was, it was an injustice, because Last Blade is quite possibly SNKs finest endeavor.
Rather than being set between the Azuchi-Momoyama era (mid 1500s - early 1600s) and late Edo period (early 1600s - early 1800s) like most samurai fighting games, when the samurai were at their prime, The Last Blade takes place during the solemn Bakumatsu era at the end of the 19th century. Bakumatsu means End of the Bakufu Period, and as its name implies, it was the sometimes tragically viewed era when ancient Japanese culture and tradition were being discarded in favor of the Western lifestyle. The sword was replaced with the rifle, the kimono with the tuxedo. The samurai, who were the very essence of honor and discipline, weren't even allowed to carry their swords into towns, and many were exiled from civilization, forced to earn a living as bounty hunters and hired assassins.
The somber setting and fairly intriguing characters gives The Last Blade a very distinct feel. While some would simply call it a Samurai Shodown clone, it's almost nothing like SNK's first weapon fighting series, from both an aesthetic and physical standpoint. However, a few of the characters are similar to characters in Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin manga/anime - which makes sense, considering they both take place in the Bakumatsu era.
(Please view the
HG101 article for full bios, or feel free to peruse the
SRK Wiki for moveset details.)
Because [The Last Blade] is a weapons-based fighting game, one would assume it plays something like Samurai Shodown, but it doesn't. Not in the slightest. In fact, it doesn't really play like any other 2D fighting game. It plays more similarly to Soul Calibur, with two attack buttons, a kick button, and a repel button. Blocking is still done traditionally, by holding the joystick backwards. The repel is far more effective than the block, though. It repels the enemy's attack and creates an opening for your own. But this requires true mastery to wield correctly.
Unlike Soul Calibur, however, The Last Blade focuses greatly on long chain combos. The buffer time makes doing combos a wonderful task for the experienced, as you can pretty much punch in the entire button string for a combo you know before you even get the second or third attack out and it'll flow through without a hitch. Almost every character has a great combo string, and you can pretty much pick any character in the roster you think looks cool and be a great player with them, because it's probably one of the most balanced fighting games ever.
Another great aspect of the fighting engine is the Sword Gauge. After selecting a character, you can choose from two different fighting styles; Power or Speed. Somewhat like the Slash and Bust system from Samurai Shodown III, the Power and Speed styles greatly change how a character works. With Power as your style, your character is very strong and can use a special super desperation move, but their potential for chain combos is very limited, usually losing pace after 3 or 4 hits. With Speed, your character is able to pull off 8, 9, 10 hit combos with very little effort, and they can also use their gauge to go into a custom combo mode similar to the X-Ism style from Street Fighter Alpha 3, but the strength of their attacks is toned down considerably.
Please provide your GAF name, PSN name, and character(s) of choice(optional) for addition, ideally in this format:
Code:
sir_bumble_bee - sir_bumble_bee - Hibiki
LiveFromKyoto - Agent_Of_Atlas - Lee Rekka
dkeane - dkeane - Setsuna, Moriya, etc.
hikarutilmitt - hikarutimitt - Hibiki / Yuki
Elta - gunsolo - Hibiki
yella - oldyella - Mukuro, Setsuna, Moriya, Kojiroh Sanada
Kuksune -Kurtsune89
Shinriji - Shinriji - Yuki/Kagami
Nestunt - Nestunt (GMT+0)
Opening Video (Original)
PSN Trailer
Themes
Art
Our beloved The Last Blade Series artist Tonko recently illustrated a new visual of “LB2” for a recently held fighting game tournament here in Japan! In celebration of this upcoming Neo Geo classic headed to PlayStation Store, we hope you enjoy her cute and super-deformed style in this new hand-drawn visual.
Reviews (TBA)
FAQ
Will it be censored?
SNK already has confirmed that blood will be optional, so presumably, it can be played just like the original.
Should I play Last Blade 1 first?
Well, good luck finding it! (Er, never mind, apparently it's very cheap on digital formats.
there's an arcade perfect port on wii vc for $10. enjoy!
Shinriji said:
Last Blade have better balance, story, stages and soundtrack IMO. And a less bullshit final boss.
Will it use the old 'translation'?
Yes. Sadly, you can expect this and much more:
Thanks to
SNK for bringing this back, HG101 for details and media, and SCEA for supporting classic swordplay.
This story...
has not yet ended.
