[Review] Project X Zone 2
System: 3DS
Release date: February 16, 2016
Developer: Monolith Soft
Publisher Bandai Namco
The original Project X Zone that released back in 2013 was a pleasant surprise to fans of Capcom, SEGA, and Bandai Namco alike. It brought characters from each respective publisher into a strategy RPG format where they band together and go across space and time to defeat villains across multiple series, as well as original characters, to save the world from collapsing into itself through the constant overlapping dimensions colliding. Project X Zone 2 doesn’t veer to far from the original, featuring a lot of the same characters, maps, stories, and more. It almost makes this feel like more of an expansion than a true sequel, but that’s not such a bad thing. The fan service of bringing all these iconic characters into one game is what keeps an experience like this special, and the humor on top is a bonus throughout.
Project X Zone 2 could, in some cases, be seen as just a simple copy paste of the original title. While that may deter some players of the first entry, sometimes more of the same isn’t such a bad thing, and for the sake of Project X Zone 2, it works to its favor. There’s not much that Project X Zone 2 offers that hasn’t already been seen in the first release, but bringing back all the iconic characters and including newer ones – such as Lucina and Chrom from Fire Emblem – makes this another fun ride to hop onto from start to finish.
The controls are basic and easy to pick up for new and experienced players alike, offering a simple one button command that unleashes awesomely animated visuals that are exciting to watch, colorful, and fun to execute by simply pressing A, followed by any direction on the d-pad. Once enough experience is built through fighting and defeating multiple enemies on the field, you can then use a special attack that is unique to each team by pressing the Y button. Seeing specials be used is an event in itself and is a spectacle no matter which group of characters you choose to do it with.
The story brings back the whole “How did we get here? Who are you?” fiasco by once again having enemies and different planes of existence overlap with each other. Yes it’s redundant, but even the characters are aware, which adds some comedic relief and slight fourth-wall breaking. For those that would like to jump into Project X Zone 2 without going through the first title, this one does a nice job of keeping you up to date with everything that transpired.
Project X Zone’s story was never necessarily a redeeming factor, with the first one feeling almost forced in a way, but the gameplay and basic leveling system is really what makes it fun and special. They’re not meant to be necessarily difficult, and Project X Zone 2 – much like its predecessor – is another easy title to get into and master, with no real prior knowledge needed for the genre. It’s much more enjoyable when you’ve played several of the games that the characters in the title are from since there are a good amount of references and elements borrowed, from the enemies to levels. However, every character is introduced well enough that you can gather pretty quickly who they are and what they’re going to be like even if you’re unfamiliar with them or the title(s) they starred in.
The only real difference between Project X Zone 2 and its predecessor is the improved sprites. Both in battle and out, the art when conversing or the sprites while navigating feel a lot bigger and brighter, giving the action more of a kick. Ultimately, however, this is another portion of the game where it’s hard to truly speak about without making it sound like it’s just critiquing the first title.
While Project X Zone 2 doesn’t necessarily offer anything that differentiates itself from the first, and feels like an expansion rather than a true sequel more than anything, it’s still a fun title that fans of the SRPG genre should take up, as well as those looking into getting into the game. If you haven’t played the first release, you can easily play this one and still get a feel for what the previous entry was like. Project X Zone 2 feels like the “definitive” edition of the first. And as stated earlier, while that may deter some players for picking this up at full price, just know that at the end of the day you’re still getting all the fun and fan-service the original had to offer, with hours among hours of gameplay in a crossover world to get lost in and fun characters across a massive collection of precious IP from Capcom, SEGA, and Bandai Namco.
While some could argue that Project X Zone 2 took the Pokémon approach to it’s sequel by virtually making the same world, story and gameplay while only changing a few things like its UI and characters, it still has a special charm that the original had. It offers a ton of humor and is accessible to veteran SRPG players and new alike. Project X Zone 2 is an easy pick-me-up that you can’t help but smile at while playing – especially if you’re an avid player of Capcom, SEGA, and Bandai Namco games – since it’s so cool to see all these beloved and iconic characters get partnered up together and take down the evil that threatens to destroy the world. Having Dante and Vergil from Devil May Cry fight alongside Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine from Resident Evil or Zephyr and Vashyron from Resonance of Fate alongside Yuri and Flynn from Tales of Vesparia in a game that’s not in the usual fighting genre we’ve seen plenty of is immensely cool and is a treat for players everywhere.
