PLATFORM 3DS BATTLE SYSTEM INTERACTION ORIGINALITY STORY MUSIC & SOUND VISUALS CHALLENGE Moderate COMPLETION TIME 40-60 Hours OVERALL + Great for video game historians + Improved combat over original + Entertaining localization - Longwinded core plot - Get used to fighting the same faces - A casual audience will be baffled Click here for scoring definitions

   Bet takers around the world would have been paying out tremendous sums on the likelihood of Project X Zone crossing the Pacific, and now that Project X Zone 2 has undergone a localization, very little in Japan seems too niche to make it outside the country. Like its predecessor, this is not a game for the casual player, who will be baffled and perplexed by most of the characters. It is instead for someone who recognizes Alex Kidd and Altered Beast swooping in to assist Mega Man X and Zero battle something from Sakura Wars 3. The tactical action of the game itself is an improvement over the first, but a large chunk of the appeal resides in watching this menagerie of characters getting together.

   Gold chains descending from the sky have begun appearing in a variety of locations spread across multiple time periods and dimensions, leading to another mixing of characters who normally never see each other. Reiji and Xiaomu of Shinra are unsurprisingly at the center of events, especially once their old antagonists in Ouma show up again. Plenty of other nefarious sorts are after various sorts of power or world domination, and among their ranks M. Bison and robotic duplicates of Axel Stone will be found. Fortunately a great number of personalities with reason to fight the array of evil gathers together, and shutting down the ominous world melding is their mission.

   The narrative of Project X Zone 2 is longwinded at times, and littered with unnecessary lines that express bewilderment at a new scenario or ongoing antagonism between rivals. Just like the first game, it cannot be considered canon in any of the series from which it borrows characters, and thus the events depicted here afford no opportunity for meaningful development. Plenty of sly and witty lines were inserted by the localization staff to make barreling through the text unwise, however, showing that the writing team remembers everything from 2015's Adam Sandler bomb Pixels to the laughable lines in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and a lot more too. The core tale is a snooze, but paying attention for the many witty interjections is a rewarding pastime.

   Driving away the forces of evil is accomplished via tactical combat. The many heroes form unbreakable pairs in a fight — some logical like Ryu and Ken, others more unpredictable in the vein of KOS-MOS and Fiora. The pairs get to pick between a number of support characters as an auxiliary, ranging from Ryo Hazuki to Segata Sanshiro. Each pair can attack thrice during each altercation, along with an extra strike from any nearby pairs and one more from the support character. By landing attacks, a gauge is rapidly charged that can unleash a special attack to deal more damage than any other form of assault, though the enemies have a similar form of assault charged through hitting them that bosses will happily abuse.

Well, why WOULDN'T Axel help Ichiro and Erica beat up a robot version of Mr. X?

   The basics are thus the same as those in Project X Zone, but the sequel changes things up a bit. Facing now matters, as side and back attacks deal much more damage and help put down enemies with high HP counts. Rather than using the gauge for charging special attacks to counter, now each pair's individual SP allows striking back against enemies on the offensive. SP is also employed for a variety of abilities from temporarily increasing move range to instantly breaking enemy blocking efforts, along with simply defending against an attack. Characters also learn special moves that can simultaneously strike more than one enemy, which helps with clearing out a battlefield in good time.

   Some of the battles can be tricky for those not well-versed in tactical combat, as they involve keeping enemies from reaching certain places or attending to a number of targets within a time limit. PXZ2 does not consider a pair's turn ended until the player says so or an enemy is attacked though, and this keeps things manageable. Characters can wander freely within movement zones to destroy things, and any number of items can be used between actions with no repercussion.

   Unfortunately, PXZ2 is just like the first game in recycling the same antagonists. While their HP bars are lower and the bad guys can be taken out much faster, the player should still get used to beating down Pyron, Metal Face, Vile, and numerous other enemies incessantly. No pretense is usually made about the beating just administered having any effect upon the villains, who will spout a few unrepentant words before vanishing until the next fight. Cannon fodder enemies also don't vary much, and the same ones seen with the first appearance of antagonists from a particular property will keep showing up throughout the game.

   Project X Zone didn't have a great deal to do between fights other than switching support characters between pairs, but the sequel improves considerably on this aspect. Each pair and support character earns points that can be put into strengthening moves, or into learning a number of skills that automatically take effect under clear conditions and help out. A wide range of equipment is also present, much of which has interesting side effects that make paying attention a good idea. Considering the size of the cast, delving into the menu is quite efficient.

Not pictured: the game-savvy English lingo Xiaomu has picked up in her 765 years of existence.

   Just like the first game, shifting between pairs during battle produces an effect akin to someone flipping between radio stations. The enormous gamut of tunes on offer, and the game's frequent need to change them depending upon the people being directly controlled, can be annoying. The tunes themselves are not always rendered in the best possible version, but are still compelling and offer an enormous variety. Meanwhile, the Japanese voice acting in battle has a surprisingly large variety of lines to experience while subtitles keep the words intelligible, and is of at least passable quality most of the time.

   The sprites depicted in battle have a good range of animation, and seeing protagonists dispense violent energy into the face of the opposition stays entertaining throughout. Outside of combat scenes the visuals aren't as impressive, but nothing is abhorrent to the eye either. Getting through fights faster is the primary reason PXZ2 takes less time to complete than the first, though fifty or so hours is still a noticeable commitment.

   I would dearly love to sing the unconstrained virtues of a game that lets me mention Streets of Rage when talking about RPGs, and has a character who existed in Japanese advertising beating up people who did not play the Sega Saturn. Project X Zone 2 is unfortunately not the astounding piece of software I would like it to be, and it removed all Super Robot Wars characters too. It does represent an improvement over the first, and is something that should be purchased immediately if crazy localization risks are to be encouraged henceforth.