Battle Arena Toshinden 3

Happy 2020 everyone!  I figured I would kick the year off with a game that has nothing to do with 2020 in any way, shape or form.

I have to say, I had no idea this game existed.  I knew Battle Arena Toshinden got a sequel, but I didn’t realize it had two (actually three, the fourth game only came out in Japan and PAL regions).  The series is certainly obscure, it hasn’t had a new release in North America since 1997.  That being said, it’s a series that holds special place in PlayStation and general fighting game lore.  It was a PS1 launch title and the focus of many of Sony’s early ad campaigns.  It was also one of the first truly 3D fighting games and the first to have a sidestep button.  It may not have been the best game ever made, but it was an important one. 

When you think about it, it actually makes sense that this game would get a sequel.  A forward thinking, borderline revolutionary game with some flaws seems like the perfect candidate.  The controls were a little simplistic, it was limited in its combo engine and a little slow and stiff.  Iron out some of the flaws and you could have a true classic.  Unfortunately, that isn’t what happened.  BAT3 regressed in every possible way, to the point that it is almost unplayable.

I guess the graphics were slightly improved.  The character models are smoother and everything is way less blocky.  Unfortunately, the backgrounds are drab and dull.  They may be a little more detailed, but gone are the bright colors and wide open environments of the first game.  Everything is cramped and claustrophobic, with all the action taking place inside enclosed areas for the first time in the series.  It’s difficult to explain, so here are some comparative screenshots:

 

vs.

 

BAT3 may technically be “better,” but it looks substantially less appealing to the eye.

And the controls? Oh god the controls are abysmal.  You have to absolutely slam on the D-Pad just to get your fighter to take a step forward.  Everything is incredibly delayed and the attacks only register when the feel like it.  The dodge buttons are a little better, but it almost makes it worse that the sidesteps and dodges are so snappy and everything else is so unresponsive.  Each character has one button special moves, which is good because any special attacks that require a command are almost impossible to pull off successfully.  I should also mention that you can increase the frame rate to be faster at the expense of the graphics.  It’s only an option in theory, as the graphics aren’t that much worse and the low frame rate option makes an already slow game unplayable.

The worst offense here though is the sound.  As I’ve already discussed, the first Battle Arena Toshinden was a very flawed game. One thing it absolutely nailed though was the soundtrack.  It’s incredible and its one of the things that really showed what the PS1 was capable of.  The voice samples weren’t perfect, but they were pretty solid as well and all of the voices fit their characters.  But BAT3 did a complete 180.  The soundtrack is boring at best and terrible at worst.  It’s barely audible in most cases and what you can hear just isn’t good.  They even recycle tracks from the first game which stand out for all the wrong reasons.  The voice samples are even worse, none of the characters sound good and none of the voices are fitting at all.  Ellis is supposed to be a 20-year-old former ballerina, why does she sound like she’s been smoking a pack a day for the last 30 years?

I can’t say the updates are all bad.  One of the biggest issues with the first game was the limited roster and BAT3 has nearly double the characters unlocked from the start.  It also has tons of unlockable characters, which is nice to see in a fighting game.  None of the unlockable characters are interesting, but at least they aren’t just palette swaps.  There are also a few more modes, whereas the first game just had arcade and versus.  There’s also more of a storyline here, so that’s a positive even if that isn’t that important in a fighting games.

But at the end of the day, adding more stuff isn’t that helpful if you just add more stuff to a game that already sucks.  The first BAT game is an interesting curiosity that is fun to play through for nostaliga’s sake, but BAT3 isn’t worth your time.  After playing this, I see exactly why the series died out (and from what I hear, the 4th game is even worse), especially when compared to franchise starters like Soul Blade/Edge.  I see little to no redeeming qualities here, avoid.

3/10

Play this if:

You like unlocking fighting game characters

You care about the storyline of a fighting game that hasn’t had a new entry in 25 years.

Avoid if:

You prefer fighting games where the characters do what you tell them to

You don’t have time to wait a half hour for a video game character to walk across the screen