Skullgirls 2nd Encore is a 2D fighting game with heart. Why does it have heart? Well aside from the fact that the Skull Heart is the centre of the game’s story, Skullgirls 2nd Encore features fully-voiced visual novel segments and amazing 2D fighting gameplay.
Players will have access to over 14 characters and since the game has now made its way to the Nintendo Switch, all the previously paywalled DLC is included in the package. That means the survival and challenge modes are in the game as well as the full story mode.
Gameplay in Skullgirls 2nd Encore is quite complex. This isn’t a fighting game where you can button bash your way to victory. Players can try to do this and will probably be met with defeat quite swiftly, especially on harder difficulties. Skullgirls 2nd Encore is all about learning your character’s moves and perfectly executing them in battle. Players will have access to light, medium and heavy attacks as well as grabs and projectile attacks. Picking the right attack for the right moment is absolutely essential to winning.
The story of Skullgirls 2nd Encore is quite convoluted, to be honest. Players who just pick a random character and jump into the story mode will probably find themselves slightly lost as to what’s going on. Only after playing through a couple of the character’s storylines will the game’s story start to make sense as it pieces itself together. This isn’t a problem though and is very reminiscent of other fighting games out there in the genre such as Blazblue.
Skullgirls 2nd Encore on Nintendo Switch is great for casual players though because players can easily pick up the game and get in a few fights while on the go. The game features an extremely in-depth tutorial system which teaches you it’s mechanics and gets you up to speed with how to pull off insane combos and block even the most deadly of attacks. After a couple of hours with the game, you should be able to hold your own against the CPU opponents.
Skullgirls is a fighting game that rewards those who dedicate time and effort into learning its mechanics and learning the different character’s movesets. The story mode assists with this as it exposes you to the different characters as it plays out. The challenge and survival modes function in a similar manner too, helping you to improve your fighting skills.
Interestingly, the game features a mechanic where you can opt to add additional characters to your fighting team or improve the damage you dish out with one specific character. This introduces another layer of complexity to the game and players will be able to develop specific strategies that play into the strengths and weaknesses of various combinations of characters.
Graphically, Skullgirls 2nd Encore on Nintendo Switch is gorgeous. The animations are fluid and look excellent throughout the game and the visual novel segments feature a lot of gorgeous stylized artwork. The soundtrack used in the game is great and the voice acting in the story is well done throughout.
Overall, Skullgirls 2nd Encore is an advanced 2D fighting game with a lot of content available that will keep players engaged for quite a while. The excellent, well-balanced combat mechanics and complexity involved with the combo system means that players will be immensely rewarded should they dedicate time to the game. The variety of gameplay modes on offer as well as the story mode rounds off the package and leaves us with a great, well-executed fighting game that both casual and competitive players alike can enjoy.
Skullgirls 2nd Encore by Lab Zero Games and Skybound Games is available on the Nintendo Switch through the eShop.
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