Fighting games are often viewed as quite daunting and inaccessible to newcomers to the genre. Between precise inputs that are required to perform special moves, combos, game-specific mechanics, and the varying strategies used by each character in a game's roster, fighting games are one of the most complex yet rewarding video game genres on the market. However, due to their complexity, many players quit the genre before they've grasped a game's mechanics.
That's where Fantasy Strike comes in. Recently made free to play on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC, Fantasy Strike is a simplified yet mechanically deep fighter that aims to allow players to pick up and learn the game with ease. Containing tutorial videos for each character's play style, Fantasy Strike also does away with special command inputs to allow players to readily and easily access their moves. So today, we're going to examine Fantasy Strike's roster and see which characters are the most worth using!
10 Quince
Added to FantasyStrike in July, Quince is a character designed around illusions and misdirection. Quince's arsenal includes numerous moves that temporarily create intangible clones that are meant to distract and confuse one's opponents.
While these clones are primarily used for mind-games, one of Quince's supers, Patriot Mirror, causes these clones to deal damage, allowing Quince to apply absurd amounts of pressure to one's opponent.
9 Lum
Lum is a gambling panda whose gameplay is heavily influenced by his chance-taking background. While most fighting game characters are designed around their consistency, one of Lum's key moves is Item Toss, a move that randomly produces one of many items. These items can be used to create unpredictable openings in one's defenses. Additionally, Lum has access to a useful aerial projectile in the form of Melon Toss which can be used to make space between Lum and a foe. When it comes to throwing off an opponent, few characters compare to Lum.
8 Argagarg
If a player is looking for a character with incredible range, Argagarg may be the character of their dreams.
Argagarg is an aquatic druid who can stretch his limbs in order to attack foes from across the screen. In addition to his phenomenal normals, Argagarg is adept at controlling space, capable of summoning waves that can push opponents away from him. Argagarg is even capable of poisoning foes, pairing well with his other zoning capabilities, slowly draining foes as they're kept at bay.
7 Geiger
Geiger is a character heavily inspired by Street Fighter's Guile, and has a nearly identical set of moves. While Guile must hold backwards to charge his moves in Street Fighter, Geiger has a unique gauge that forbids him from using his special moves if he'd recently walked forward. As Geiger's special moves are among some of the strongest in the game, this balances Geiger whilst making him one of the most defensive characters in the game.
6 Midori
Midori is a powerful blend of a classic grappler and an "install character," with access to a parry that can build his super meter. This allows him to transform into a dragon, completely changing his move set. In that form, Midori becomes absolutely terrifying, possessing insane damage potential and many of the most impressive moves in the game. While Midori is normally an above average member of the roster, once he taps into his dragon form, one would be hard pressed to find a more imposing character.
5 Setsuki
While Fantasy Strike may only contain two traditional rushdown characters, both of these characters are capable of dishing out absurd amounts of damage. Setsuki is one of the rushdown characters and is a ninja with incredible mixups.
Setsuki has many means of approaching foes, such as Ninja-Port and Starlight Tumbler. Ninja-Port is a notably potent mix-up with numerous applications. While Setsuki may have low health, few characters can dish out damage as quickly as she can.
4 DeGrey
A lawyer accompanied by a spirit, DeGrey is a versatile character with a great deal of potential. Capable of stunning foes with his spirit from afar, Degray can deal substantial damage with his easy to execute combos, often implementing mechanics such as wall bounces. DeGray also has two situational super moves that can come in handy when successfully reading an opponent, one being a standing counterattack, and the other being a high-priority anti-air attack.
3 Valerie
Like Setsuki, Valerie is a speedy rushdown character who excels at quickly closing out games and mixing up opponents. Where Valerie excels over Setsuki, however, is in her consistency and her supers. Valerie has many safe and reliable moves that allow her to get up close and personal with her opponent, allowing her to start applying the pressure. As for her super moves, both are incredibly safe projectiles that can chip opponents or help Valerie set up for a combo.
2 Jaina
One of Fantasy Strike's resident zoners, Jaina has a great deal in common with Ryu and Ken of Street Fighter. Capable of reliably harassing foes with fireballs while both standing and airborne, Jaina is one of the more difficult members of the roster to approach, especially as her projectiles are chargeable.
Additionally, Jaina has an anti-air move in the form of Dragonheart, a maneuver reminiscent of a classic dragon punch. While this move deals damage to Jaina as well, it has a large hit box and a great deal of priority.
1 Grave
While one may expect the poster-boy of Fantasy Strike to share similarities to the aforementioned Ryu, Grave has many unique and interesting mechanics under the hood. Grave has one of the most reliable projectiles in the game in the form of his Thunder Cloud, and he can take airborne foes down with his powerful Sword Slice.
Where Grave really comes into his own is his wind mechanic. He is capable of controlling space by creating large gusts of wind that push an opponent either towards or away from him. While this wind is active, many of his moves such as Thunder Cloud become even more deadly.