Blade Strangers is a game developed by Studio Saizensen and published by Nicalis. Studio Saizensen is known for titles like the
Shining Hearts,
Code of Princess and other games that were never localised outside of Japan. Nicalis is a bit more known for titles like
Cave Story and
The Binding of Isaac.
Now thanks to Nicalis, Studio Saizensen is bringing us Blade Strangers, which is a 2D fighting game that harkens back to the 2D fighting games during the 16 and 32-bit era like
Street Fighter Alpha,
Marvel vs Capcom,
Guilty Gear and many more in the same vein.
The roster in
Blade Strangers consists of characters from both Nicalis and Studio Saizensen like
Code of Princess,
Cave Story and other original characters. One interesting detail is that this game's character models are actually 3D models that were then converted into 2D sprites, which makes the animation process a bit easier since the 3D model is easy to animate while the 2D sprite needs to be drawn frame by frame.
A malevolent force known only as Lina is devouring data from a vast, interdimensional network of servers overseen by sentient computers called ”motes.” In desperation, the motes summon heroes from a variety of parallel game worlds to face off against each other in one-on-one combat. The tournament victor has the potential to be awakened as the Blade Stranger—the savior who can vanquish Lina and protect the motes from further harm!
Blade Strangers hasn't been given an official release date but is expected to come out for the PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC this Summer.