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Hello everyone. I am Leviaiz (aka. Itari or rewlf2) who made one of the large-scaled LF2 versions: LF2 Story of HongBa.
As you who enjoy LF2 know, LF2 ver/mods are a collection of diverse creations which are developed from the LF2 game module.
(for DCers, the module means the game contents you made for your ver/mod)
I am here to present some ver/mod reviews for you all, to provide more understanding about them in the LF2 community.
Apart from popular games, I am open to accept requests for reviewing vers and mods.
Mind that I do not accept individual content to be reviewed.
Which ver/mod that I am to review first is generally within my discretion. Although I would try to cover most of the popular vers/mods if possible.
The grading system is as follows:
Each reviewed version/mod will be separated into a single reply.
If you want to download the vers/mods that I have reviewed, please click here.
Mind you, by taking a glimpse on the commentary of two very popular creations: Original LF2 and R-LF2, you can get most of the terms I use to describe a ver/mod.
This is notably the first stage-based mod that I will review.
This famous mod is made by Jerry Hawk from Sykeval team, a Chinese LF2 team which consist of elite players and DCers.
There was a huge amount of hype around this mod, but after I played some more of it I feel there is something wrong with JW2.
87.5 Originality
If you consider JW2 as an independent game from LF2, this can go up to 92.5,
However there is some amount of repetitiveness regarding the layout of stages.
The good points are, most of techniques used here are both cutting-edge and clean.
Even I would need some time to reproduce quality like JW2.
This score is capped to 90 for this mod (if repetitiveness is removed) because not very plenty of new features are actually inserted.
82.5 Marco Graphics
The presentation of this game is top-notched. Clear instructions, beautiful graphics regarding meteor, statue, thunder and spikes.
The downside is new character graphics are lacking, including new Dennis balls that look like button which transforms into a blue Firen explosion.
70 Micro Graphics
There are some character frames that are not properly positioned.
A number of nasty little things swarm across this mod, including the Lion Forest flashing problem which hurts eyes very much.
90 Macro systems
There is little question how this mod presents its challenges to players. The only problem is participation of computer characters is sometimes hindered by in-game system.
67.5 Micro systems
The implementation has some major problems when you take a close look onto it.
Firstly, the high unpredictability of both thunder and meteor can be frustrating to players, even when playing versus mode.
There also goes some salty traps including spike ones in jail, there is NO indication on where traps are placed, I just dash dash roll through the setup, or die trying.
Modification of character moves are not appealing even though they introduce some new elements:
Henry's green arrow D>JJ seems to have bdefend:100 but is short-lived and is generally outmaneuvered by the original critical shot
Henry's D^A summons a square of arrows rapidly raining on top of enemy WITHOUT ANY INDICATION
Dennis's new chase ball doesn't detonate immediately after pressing A
Many new moves "move" very fast
Some changes are not intuitive and not recommended at all, for instance Rudolf's moveset is so greatly changed it does not resemble 50% of original Rudolf.
N/A Balance
The addition of moves for characters can not be chained into any combo in general. The ecosystem is largely changed, the only thing I am sure to say is some changes may greatly frustrate both old-school players and newcomers.
72.5 Intuitiveness
The main reason for such a mediocre score is although its presentation is awesome, it lacks in one particular matter: clear objectives.
The instructions paragraphs are certainly easy to understand, but are packed with too much chocolate-coated wordings. There are hard times deciphering the simple objectives from fuss of paragraphs.
77.5 Replay value
Apart from its pioneering skills in stage mode, here is a list of things that discourages the player to play again:
Stage mode is painful.
Stage 1 overuses Ion storm very much and presents little apart from it. Same for Stage 4
A lot of Stages require repetitive work:
Bandit with 1000HP which must be killed in 1 minute
Spike trap
Mine trap where you must deliver a crate for HELL amount of distance, so I must repeatedly press F5 to speed it up
Some awful character change, such as that super speedy Davis D>A
78 Overall Score
Which means this mod should generally satisfy most of players who play for the first time.
LF2: Rhythm of Night is a version created by Felix from the Sykeval Team, featuring several new characters and a complete stage mode.
My impression on this version is "a much more subtle variant of Julian War 2". This version excels in new techniques about stage and characters, but has slight bias towards experienced players.
87.5 Originality
While RN presents less content regarding stage, it was one of the early creations that utilize transparency, customized characters and stage talk effectively. It is highly inspirational to future creations just like JW2.
85 Marco Graphics
RN does not present much more graphical content compared to JW2. However its absence of poorly created graphic gives it an edge over the latter.
82.5 Micro Graphics
Fine-tuning of graphics and scenes are well done. The score however cannot exceed original LF2 much since some unnecessary compromises are made to match the style of LF2:
Attack of templates and Devetal tend to skip frames as to match the templates and characters in LF2
If the swing motions are drawn with gradual arcs rather than blink transparency grids, this will be more attractive.
85 Macro systems
The major systems are supported by solid mechanics, including the defense of ancient Template mission, bike riding and the final fight.
Some minor complaints include the lack of indication of health for sealed Julian and friendly Felix in Stage 2.
The systems of the game are slightly hyped by the story of stage mode.
If you separate who do you do and how the story tells you in Stage mode, you would find that you face many generally tough pawns but the variation is slightly lacking.
For example you might find the lack of Justin in this stage, in contrast to Knight appearing over 3 stages.
This might become boring at times, but if you don't think the difficulty ratings are attached to original LF2 it's fine.
82.5 Micro systems
I cannot find any major problems apart from some fights being too difficult (as aforementioned, is not an actual issue) and too chaotic.
How some battles are chaotic:
Attacks and movement of Specialized Templates can be really quick, to nearly unavoidable level
In the defense of Ancient template mission, I couldn't find an effective way to keep bandits from touching the ancient because the field is too crowded, in 1 player stage
Stage 1 features way too many bandits and hunters at the same time, and you have no friendly unit to cover your back
In stages featuring regular fight, pawns seem to spawn too much
Fights that don't feature large-scale battles are good.
N/A Balance
The only character that can be compared with a fighter is Felix, who is more powerful and has actual strength near to Bat.
Specialized templates share some problem of too quick moves, so they are not really capable to be put into the fighter pool unless some modifications are done.
Devetal is a good example of new Boss.
So in the end, this version does not give any character that can directly substitute a fighter.
But if I must give marks according to individual characters:
Felix - 62.5 as fighter (Too strong), 85 as subboss/boss
Specialized templates - 55 as fighter, 70 as pawn/subboss (Too quick moves, can be much better if they follow the LF2 model)
Devetal - 87.5 as boss
80 Intuitiveness
This version features extensive instruction regarding both the moves of characters and in-game stage objectives.
However players must admit controlling the new characters are complex, despite a full list of move damage is given.
The learning curve of new characters except Devetal may be steeper than of fighters, but are generally rewarding.
Players still have full control on how and when he wishes to learn.
85 Replay value
The replay value of this version lies on familiarizing with new characters, along with new systems and the plot of the stage mode.
Unfortunately new characters are placed at different level from fighters. It's fun but is incompatible.
Some interesting and memorable fights are alternated with slightly boring fights, but the latter does not pose much concern if the player is willing to grind.
The plot... could have some improvements. It's completely okay for a small-scale game though.
84 Overall Score
This version has quality work and is well balanced in most aspects.
Combined Effort (CE-LF2, full name is LF2 ver. Combined Effort) is an enormous collection of character moves, tweaks and backgrounds.
Since this version is not an "experience" but a "collection of technologies", I would take a different angle on commenting CE.
80 Originality
Generally speaking, new moves and backgrounds of this version are inspired by other games. There also exists some repetitive moves and backgrounds.
Those were nice tries in the early days.
75 Marco Graphics
Character moves are a mixture of high and low-quality graphics.
Taking Firen as example, there are two Fireball attacks and two rolling magma attacks. My concern is the over-usage of flame and ground fire in original LF2 for new moves, but the presentation is okay.
65 Micro Graphics
Quality of many graphics in CE are not properly restored after resizing.
Some moves use oversized graphics or are not well positioned. Nevertheless new content of this version has become a popular inspiration and plagiarized target.
N/A Macro systems
A character strength list is not expected in this version.
Unlike MVC, the over-abundance of moves in this version makes characters party goers instead of warriors.
It's better to admire at the various creations inside CE than trying to balance them out.
There is literally no new system introduced here because new moves are triggered by the old input key system and most tweak outside the game does not affect character battle at all.
N/A Micro systems
72.5 Balance
Damage of characters are generally balanced although pawns may sometimes pose serious threats.
Some moves are significantly stronger than others due to inappropriate MP consumption.
However because you can chain simple combos with new moves, this version still holds up valid fights between fighters.
Just don't expect your everyday battle against noobs or AIs.
75 Intuitiveness
Characters generally use basic key inputs for their moves, nothing special.
Moves are straightforward.
Many backgrounds in other hand are below par, they have issues of unclear coloring and z-boundary. And sometimes poorly illustrated and pixelated.
80 Replay value
While this version has large amount of content, it could be messy to find your favorite moves and backgrounds.
And from a glimpse of it, CE looks like some kind of lacking due to various mistakes.
This version however is an unorganized treasure which has inspired many upcoming creations.
76 Overall Score
Reviewing himself is a deed of corruption
I am... going to review my version.
Yes. I will try to keep my opinion as few as possible by including as much feedback as possible.
LF2: Story of HongBa (abbr. LF2Hongba) is a version which features lots of new characters including several bosses, about 20 new backgrounds and a stage mode.
This version is controversial in a bunch of matters as explained below.
87.5 Originality
This version has little change on fighters so I will talk about that later.
Originality of this version can be split into character and background part.
Characters are not very independent of original LF2, since the elite characters use moveset alike the pawns. Their moveset are however interesting enough to attract some players. Even though some moves are vastly different from that in LF2, they might share some common properties, like Dante's Radiating arrow has very different properties compared to Henry's DJA, but the usage is similar.
Characters who deviate from original characters very much played better job. New concepts introduced into LF2HongBa are generally accepted.
Backgrounds in other hand are very diverse. Ranging from realistic to cartoon styles, BGs which largely differ from LF2 style have be frowned by some players, while other player would praise them. BGs that are similar to LF2 are well accepted.
80 Marco Graphics
In general BGs in this version are well illustrated. Some of them are well animated, which is rare among LF2 creations. The quantity of memorable backgrounds gains reputation among other vers/mods. (tl;dr I'm giving an incredibly shameless 90 here)
Graphics of characters are not quite stable though, New characters are recolored and reconstructed from original LF2 characters and lots of projectile sprites are cheap creations, which drag the score of this mark. (tl;dr: it's a 70 for characters)
85 Micro Graphics
Transitions are generally good, there exists small amount of sudden or strange movement/instances which are notable when watched closely.
A few graphical weaknesses of LF2 are also fixed here.
87.5 Macro systems
This version features a large number of systems, while this may expand the content of the game, the score depends on how these systems are conceived.
AI: New characters can pose some threat but not as much as old ones
BG effect: A nice little addition but does not weigh much in overall
New armor: I feel I'm hyped, cold water bucket to myself... There actually exists some strange matters inside the armor, but to clearly explain it:
There are unexplained invulnerability frames and shielding objects inside my armor (which is cheating)
Stage-specific structures: A fun feature which expands fighting into point capturing/defense
New bosses: Each of them is distinctive enough even though derived from earlier creations
Elites: Their mechanisms are interesting and different, some of elites are similar to their pawn counterpart but they are suitably empowered.
New moves for Fighters: Some look underwhelming and difficult to use, some are powerful. Luckily they do not affect gameplay much, players who do not like them can skip the moves.
In overall, most of systems in the game are capable to expand LF2 in a constructive manner.
80 Micro systems
There are a few characters who might suffer from bugs, including Elite Sorcerer (Sore).
The arrangement of Stage mode may be slightly haphazard, although difficulty is suitable, indications of objective and stage talk can be difficult to follow.
Supplies may be highly unstable starting from Stage 3-5, provided the new armor is more tricky than it seems (which is proven by several testers) and difficulty of stage sections are raised quickly.
Characters are presented well. While some characters are a bit stiff their firepower compensated for that. They generally do not encourage cowardly tactics and are predictable.
77.5 Balance
10 Fighters are barely adjusted, so the Balance score would revolve around how 9 elites fit with the fighters.
Most of elites are slightly weaker than the latter.
They are dangerous when controlled by human and can dish out attractive amount of damage or crowd control, and are not much easier or harder to learn compared to fighters.
To sum it up, the balance of new character pool does not differ much from that of 10 fighters in LF2.
New bosses in other hand, are generally stronger than the original bosses. The new armor incorporated although effective, can be frustrating to fight against since it is much more unstable and even stronger than existing defenses in old LF2.
85 Intuitiveness
The new characters largely use input keys similar to fighters. There is also a quick-key feature for easy combos.
Complicated matter about defense system, stage talk and structures are well explained.
Some sections of stage mode may get confusing, but in-game instructions are enough to cover that up.
Although you would be screwed if you intend to ignore instructions.
92.5 Replay value
While not everything will go as intended in this version, the large selection could attract widespread attraction, and the selection covers plenty of aspects.
It is possible that a player is only attracted to a certain character or BG, but a wider player base means they can share their opinion on a common subject.
The plot is overwhelming because of insufficient clues throughout the game, but is still worthy considering its fighting part alone is both challenging and attractive.
Finally new characters could match standards of original fighters, and with different bosses, this would increase lifespan of the game by players exploring possibilities.
84 Overall Score
Anyway, if I would take time to revamp those lousy projectile graphics, this version would get *apparently* better.
Re-review of Fighter Hero, (New) LF2 haha v20 and LF2 neuer stern (RIOT update)
https://lf-empire.de/forum/showthread.ph...#pid209783
As you who enjoy LF2 know, LF2 ver/mods are a collection of diverse creations which are developed from the LF2 game module.
(for DCers, the module means the game contents you made for your ver/mod)
I am here to present some ver/mod reviews for you all, to provide more understanding about them in the LF2 community.
Apart from popular games, I am open to accept requests for reviewing vers and mods.
Mind that I do not accept individual content to be reviewed.
How do I define individual content (Click to View)
For instance, one character that has unique features which causes all other characters to have a special bdy in order for that feature to take effect does not count as a version or mod. If all characters have a specific system that makes the game unique, the whole game is considered a single version.
The reason for not reviewing individual content (at least in this post) is because readers will try to compare individual content with full-grown vers/mods, but the former could be much more affected by the nature of original LF2, which means the scores of individual content is much more biased towards the original. This will be unfair for developer of smaller-scale creations.
The reason for not reviewing individual content (at least in this post) is because readers will try to compare individual content with full-grown vers/mods, but the former could be much more affected by the nature of original LF2, which means the scores of individual content is much more biased towards the original. This will be unfair for developer of smaller-scale creations.
Which ver/mod that I am to review first is generally within my discretion. Although I would try to cover most of the popular vers/mods if possible.
The grading system is as follows:
Grading system (Click to View)
Each section has a mark grading from 0-100, the higher the better.
You can think for each 2.5 point interval, an alphabetical grade is issued, for instance, 90 indicates A-, 92.5 indicates A
Since 4 intervals of 2.5 equals 10, the complete number-to-alphabet grading will be as follows:
100 - S
97.5 - A++
95 - A+
92.5 - A
90 - A-
80~87.5 - B grades
70~77.5 - C grades
60~67.5 - D grades
50~57.5 - E grades
under 50 - Fail, will not further investigate on that section
You can think for each 2.5 point interval, an alphabetical grade is issued, for instance, 90 indicates A-, 92.5 indicates A
Since 4 intervals of 2.5 equals 10, the complete number-to-alphabet grading will be as follows:
100 - S
97.5 - A++
95 - A+
92.5 - A
90 - A-
80~87.5 - B grades
70~77.5 - C grades
60~67.5 - D grades
50~57.5 - E grades
under 50 - Fail, will not further investigate on that section
Which aspects of a ver/mod will be graded (Click to View)
These sections are subject to future change, and feel free to contact me if there are bias on my grading.
Originality
Marco Graphics
Generally more beautiful graphics score better
Micro Graphics
Smooth transitions, no dirty pixels, graphical harmony matter here
Macro systems
A game that presents its dominant systems well, like a gun-fighting game which has guns that are easily distinguished and each gun has its use.
This is not equivalent to balance.
Micro systems
How well the system is implemented, and how few glitches/overpowered techniques are derived from it.
Balance
This quite depends on how does a ver/mod represent its characters. For a fighting game for LF2. There should be a pool of generic characters who have similar strength. If some mods have different measures I will discuss those new balances more in depth.
Intuitiveness
This can put up a great challenge for anyone who designs a large mod/ver. However do not underestimate this part even for small games.
Replay value
I shall boast about replay value of my version *Cough* sorry.
This indicates a bunch of things:
1. How the learning curve will be presented to players and is a new player willing to play more, just to learn its new techniques?
2. Will a player feel... ashamed to play it again? Or any emotion involved?
3. Would the game actually please the player after all the hustle?
4. How much new value is inserted apart from being a ver/mod, and is it probable that a new player accepts the value?
How will I sum up the marks
I will take out two radical (having most variance from the mean) individual marks and calculate the mean from others.
Originality
Marco Graphics
Generally more beautiful graphics score better
Micro Graphics
Smooth transitions, no dirty pixels, graphical harmony matter here
Macro systems
A game that presents its dominant systems well, like a gun-fighting game which has guns that are easily distinguished and each gun has its use.
This is not equivalent to balance.
Micro systems
How well the system is implemented, and how few glitches/overpowered techniques are derived from it.
Balance
This quite depends on how does a ver/mod represent its characters. For a fighting game for LF2. There should be a pool of generic characters who have similar strength. If some mods have different measures I will discuss those new balances more in depth.
Intuitiveness
This can put up a great challenge for anyone who designs a large mod/ver. However do not underestimate this part even for small games.
Replay value
I shall boast about replay value of my version *Cough* sorry.
This indicates a bunch of things:
1. How the learning curve will be presented to players and is a new player willing to play more, just to learn its new techniques?
2. Will a player feel... ashamed to play it again? Or any emotion involved?
3. Would the game actually please the player after all the hustle?
4. How much new value is inserted apart from being a ver/mod, and is it probable that a new player accepts the value?
How will I sum up the marks
I will take out two radical (having most variance from the mean) individual marks and calculate the mean from others.
A list of versions and mods I have reviewed (Click to View)
Original LF2
R-LF2 v.March 2011
Julian War 2 v1.13F
Rhythm of Night v1.02
Combined Effort v0.1
Story of HongBa v1.5
D.R.LF2 v5.0
DRS-TD v6.0
BX-LF2 v2.0
SDL-LF2 v2.0
X-LF Omega The Final
LF2 New Alpha
Fighter Hero
R-LF2 v.March 2011
Julian War 2 v1.13F
Rhythm of Night v1.02
Combined Effort v0.1
Story of HongBa v1.5
D.R.LF2 v5.0
DRS-TD v6.0
BX-LF2 v2.0
SDL-LF2 v2.0
X-LF Omega The Final
LF2 New Alpha
Fighter Hero
A list of versions and mods I plan to review (Click to View)
NTSD (Settling Dawn)
NSNA (Naruto Shippuden: New Age)
TTS-LF (version made by Nanaya and some other guys)
Seed-LF (the version made by Nanaya and can be downloaded here)
Kate-LF2
Killer-LF
Sidestory II
Hot Blooded High School edition
Special Version
Mokou-LF
NeoStage
One Piece
Reborn RBMT
NeuerStern
Project C
LF2Mega
NSNA (Naruto Shippuden: New Age)
TTS-LF (version made by Nanaya and some other guys)
Seed-LF (the version made by Nanaya and can be downloaded here)
Kate-LF2
Killer-LF
Sidestory II
Hot Blooded High School edition
Special Version
Mokou-LF
NeoStage
One Piece
Reborn RBMT
NeuerStern
Project C
LF2Mega
If you want to download the vers/mods that I have reviewed, please click here.
A list of crappy creations I will NOT review (Click to View)
C-LF
Gundam-LF2 (made by Philip something)
LF3 or any LF* where * is a number larger than 2.01
LFO-LF2
Pili LF2
R-LF2 201X edition
R.R.LF2
SM-LF2
SRW-LF
Any ver/mod that is bats*** insane or has power rating comparable to Reality LF v193 (my nauseating first creation ever)
Any ver/mod that I deem has plagiarized too much
Gundam-LF2 (made by Philip something)
LF3 or any LF* where * is a number larger than 2.01
LFO-LF2
Pili LF2
R-LF2 201X edition
R.R.LF2
SM-LF2
SRW-LF
Any ver/mod that is bats*** insane or has power rating comparable to Reality LF v193 (my nauseating first creation ever)
Any ver/mod that I deem has plagiarized too much
85 - Original LF2 (Click to View)
Firstly, I will set a benchmark here.
Little Fighter 2 itself is beginning of every version and modification created, and it has both become a significant inspiration and limitation of most of the vers/mods.
I will delve into the game from my angle to explain how too many of our creations are affected by it.
85 Originality
LF2 is based on a setting of commoners wielding magical or physical powers that fight each other in a rather casual environment.
A lot of ideas for character designs come from other games and ideas, including Dragon Ball, Street Fighter and KOF.
However what makes LF2 a vast success is its smooth combination of generic fighting game with multi-player combat and its weapon system.
The latter two can be considered a single matter, because there were already some arcade games that feature characters from the three kingdoms taking on multiple enemies with weapons and spells. However those arcade games only allow 1-2 players.
LF2 adds the instance of weapon and more playable characters, along with versus features inherited from older games. (LF1 and Fight)
75 Marco Graphics
Graphics in LF2 are limited to 256 colors in each sprite sheet, due to limited computation power at that time. It ensured smooth performance.
Its graphical design from first sight isn't totally appealing though, some cheaply drawn backgrounds and copies of moves from SNK and Capcom games might not attract people until the word spreads.
80 Micro Graphics
There are some sprites that have frames efficiently skipped because players might now often see them, for instance:
Motion of using weapon for Bat, Knight and Justin
Justin's >>JA
Many of sprites for using weapons are reused
It is not a serious issue.
Meanwhile, most characters have smooth transition frames, but some major characters do reuse sprites which might both remind a player he is using a weapons "properly" but also wonder why that motion is reused.
90 Macro systems
The system is smooth. Most of the matters are easy to learn and each character has a rewarding long-winded learning curve. Characters also share some basic similarities that encourage players to try more.
A few questions on the systems are lack of instructions (The usage of chain moves are now properly explained) and lack of in-depth explanation for in-game properties, such as attack damage of each weapon.
90 Micro systems
Hitboxes are carefully placed in this game. The details of LF2 are very precise, except for a few in-bound problems that Marti and Starsky didn't solve: Louis getting stuck when hit during a jump, taking a weapon when getting hit doesn't go to injured frame, nor do being iced when landing.
80 Balance
The balance of this game slightly drags behind from other aspects, a lot of rules are required to maintain a fair environment, despite the presence of wide z-width and randomly dropping weapons.
Character damages and properties are okay, but some moves can be balanced much better by adjusting MP consumption carefully.
To compare with games nowadays, if some game similar to LF2 is made today, a comprehensive damage table can certainly help developers to balance the game better.
85 Intuitiveness
Some matters were not properly mentioned, including the catching mechanism and MP regeneration.
Other major matter are easily memorized by playing the game.
Having common properties for major characters helps too, for instance Rudolf has vrest >>JA while most fighter have arest >>JA, but the jumping method and attacking areas are very easy to follow for every character.
90 Replay value
LF2 is well known for its long-term replay value, via its learning curve and a large list of playing styles: Battle mode, Versus, Stage and Survival.
Its replay value is hampered by its slightly lacking graphics, but the simplicity reduced its effect on reducing its value.
85 Overall Score
Little Fighter 2 itself is beginning of every version and modification created, and it has both become a significant inspiration and limitation of most of the vers/mods.
I will delve into the game from my angle to explain how too many of our creations are affected by it.
85 Originality
LF2 is based on a setting of commoners wielding magical or physical powers that fight each other in a rather casual environment.
A lot of ideas for character designs come from other games and ideas, including Dragon Ball, Street Fighter and KOF.
However what makes LF2 a vast success is its smooth combination of generic fighting game with multi-player combat and its weapon system.
The latter two can be considered a single matter, because there were already some arcade games that feature characters from the three kingdoms taking on multiple enemies with weapons and spells. However those arcade games only allow 1-2 players.
LF2 adds the instance of weapon and more playable characters, along with versus features inherited from older games. (LF1 and Fight)
75 Marco Graphics
Graphics in LF2 are limited to 256 colors in each sprite sheet, due to limited computation power at that time. It ensured smooth performance.
Its graphical design from first sight isn't totally appealing though, some cheaply drawn backgrounds and copies of moves from SNK and Capcom games might not attract people until the word spreads.
80 Micro Graphics
There are some sprites that have frames efficiently skipped because players might now often see them, for instance:
Motion of using weapon for Bat, Knight and Justin
Justin's >>JA
Many of sprites for using weapons are reused
It is not a serious issue.
Meanwhile, most characters have smooth transition frames, but some major characters do reuse sprites which might both remind a player he is using a weapons "properly" but also wonder why that motion is reused.
90 Macro systems
The system is smooth. Most of the matters are easy to learn and each character has a rewarding long-winded learning curve. Characters also share some basic similarities that encourage players to try more.
A few questions on the systems are lack of instructions (The usage of chain moves are now properly explained) and lack of in-depth explanation for in-game properties, such as attack damage of each weapon.
90 Micro systems
Hitboxes are carefully placed in this game. The details of LF2 are very precise, except for a few in-bound problems that Marti and Starsky didn't solve: Louis getting stuck when hit during a jump, taking a weapon when getting hit doesn't go to injured frame, nor do being iced when landing.
80 Balance
The balance of this game slightly drags behind from other aspects, a lot of rules are required to maintain a fair environment, despite the presence of wide z-width and randomly dropping weapons.
Character damages and properties are okay, but some moves can be balanced much better by adjusting MP consumption carefully.
To compare with games nowadays, if some game similar to LF2 is made today, a comprehensive damage table can certainly help developers to balance the game better.
85 Intuitiveness
Some matters were not properly mentioned, including the catching mechanism and MP regeneration.
Other major matter are easily memorized by playing the game.
Having common properties for major characters helps too, for instance Rudolf has vrest >>JA while most fighter have arest >>JA, but the jumping method and attacking areas are very easy to follow for every character.
90 Replay value
LF2 is well known for its long-term replay value, via its learning curve and a large list of playing styles: Battle mode, Versus, Stage and Survival.
Its replay value is hampered by its slightly lacking graphics, but the simplicity reduced its effect on reducing its value.
85 Overall Score
58 - R-LF2 (Click to View)
This replay will focus on the last update of Reinforced-LF2 (download link here, this update is newer than that hosted on fileplanet)
Reinforced-LF2 made by Conrad Leung is the beginning of branching in developing LF2, namely the reinforced branch.
This version inspired countless number of vers/mods which boast for overpowered and graphic-heavy moves.
Mind that I will introduce plenty of new terms in this commentary, so it is recommended to read review of this and original LF2 to get the grip out of most other commentaries.
30 Originality
The very unimpressive originality score is due to its frequennt plagiarism and repetitive use of the very same game system.
For instance, Louis has three versions of D>A and Woody has three versions of D>J, where both their input keyset and their increment in move power are very similar. Even hell moves of Firen, Freeze, Louis and Woody share the same dragon head.
Most moves are derivations of original moves or some moves from other mods, only stronger and longer.
60 Marco Graphics
There is not much to say for those images ripped from original LF2, so I skip to the part of other graphics.
This version puts up acceptable raw graphics but failed to animate them.
For instance, the thunder created by Knight are not animated at all, just shaded by different contrast.
What seems to be well animated are supposed to be ripped from other sources, so CL shouldn't even take credit for that.
80 Micro Graphics
While the overuse of repetitive graphics hamper this score, CL did a good job in transitions, if you look closely on parts that are not directly ripped.
50 Macro systems 60
While R-LF2 introduced new move set and hell move system, it has demolished a vast amount of values in the original LF2 without properly creating new values:
Proper combo system no longer exists
Weapon system is useless now
Fighting in general is less rewarding because everyone tries to spam hell move
Fighting bosses is no longer rewarding due to extreme defenses (e.g. Bosses get invulnerability after getting hit will prolong fights very badly)
(Added note, also -10 marks)In general the game is at the brink of being unplayable.
50 Micro systems
R-LF2 is more appealing at first sight than to be played for long, due to its lack of diversity.
Adding a chasing dart for Rudolf is considerable, but not throwing twelve of them at the same time and with state: 15.
Many normal moves suffer from being unavoidable, including spamming Energy Disks.
60 Balance
If you only determine balance by damage dealt by each character, it's a 75.
The problem is there is no proper buildup and strategy for this game.
A bunch of characters become very nasty when their health drop low, in return players intend to use hell moves to finish the other.
This has become a major route to end a battle, or worse, spam projectiles to prevent anyone coming close.
75 Intuitiveness
Every move of character has been described fairly well. However, the gameplay is less than intuitive than it seems.
Some characters have insane amount of crowd control and many moves are either lagging or unbalanced even within the same character.
Some moves share the very same sprites and even movements, making them hard to distinguish.
50 Replay value
The actual replay values of R-LF2 are well-written readme and discovering hell moves. The learning curve of this game has been suppressed to a low level which will push players away once they spam enough of hell moves, because the stage mode is a pain in the a**.
58 Overall Score
Reinforced-LF2 made by Conrad Leung is the beginning of branching in developing LF2, namely the reinforced branch.
This version inspired countless number of vers/mods which boast for overpowered and graphic-heavy moves.
Mind that I will introduce plenty of new terms in this commentary, so it is recommended to read review of this and original LF2 to get the grip out of most other commentaries.
30 Originality
The very unimpressive originality score is due to its frequennt plagiarism and repetitive use of the very same game system.
For instance, Louis has three versions of D>A and Woody has three versions of D>J, where both their input keyset and their increment in move power are very similar. Even hell moves of Firen, Freeze, Louis and Woody share the same dragon head.
Most moves are derivations of original moves or some moves from other mods, only stronger and longer.
60 Marco Graphics
There is not much to say for those images ripped from original LF2, so I skip to the part of other graphics.
This version puts up acceptable raw graphics but failed to animate them.
For instance, the thunder created by Knight are not animated at all, just shaded by different contrast.
What seems to be well animated are supposed to be ripped from other sources, so CL shouldn't even take credit for that.
80 Micro Graphics
While the overuse of repetitive graphics hamper this score, CL did a good job in transitions, if you look closely on parts that are not directly ripped.
50 Macro systems 60
While R-LF2 introduced new move set and hell move system, it has demolished a vast amount of values in the original LF2 without properly creating new values:
Proper combo system no longer exists
Weapon system is useless now
Fighting in general is less rewarding because everyone tries to spam hell move
Fighting bosses is no longer rewarding due to extreme defenses (e.g. Bosses get invulnerability after getting hit will prolong fights very badly)
(Added note, also -10 marks)In general the game is at the brink of being unplayable.
50 Micro systems
R-LF2 is more appealing at first sight than to be played for long, due to its lack of diversity.
Adding a chasing dart for Rudolf is considerable, but not throwing twelve of them at the same time and with state: 15.
Many normal moves suffer from being unavoidable, including spamming Energy Disks.
60 Balance
If you only determine balance by damage dealt by each character, it's a 75.
The problem is there is no proper buildup and strategy for this game.
A bunch of characters become very nasty when their health drop low, in return players intend to use hell moves to finish the other.
This has become a major route to end a battle, or worse, spam projectiles to prevent anyone coming close.
75 Intuitiveness
Every move of character has been described fairly well. However, the gameplay is less than intuitive than it seems.
Some characters have insane amount of crowd control and many moves are either lagging or unbalanced even within the same character.
Some moves share the very same sprites and even movements, making them hard to distinguish.
50 Replay value
The actual replay values of R-LF2 are well-written readme and discovering hell moves. The learning curve of this game has been suppressed to a low level which will push players away once they spam enough of hell moves, because the stage mode is a pain in the a**.
58 Overall Score
78 - Julian War 2 (Click to View)
This is notably the first stage-based mod that I will review.
This famous mod is made by Jerry Hawk from Sykeval team, a Chinese LF2 team which consist of elite players and DCers.
There was a huge amount of hype around this mod, but after I played some more of it I feel there is something wrong with JW2.
87.5 Originality
If you consider JW2 as an independent game from LF2, this can go up to 92.5,
However there is some amount of repetitiveness regarding the layout of stages.
The good points are, most of techniques used here are both cutting-edge and clean.
Even I would need some time to reproduce quality like JW2.
This score is capped to 90 for this mod (if repetitiveness is removed) because not very plenty of new features are actually inserted.
82.5 Marco Graphics
The presentation of this game is top-notched. Clear instructions, beautiful graphics regarding meteor, statue, thunder and spikes.
The downside is new character graphics are lacking, including new Dennis balls that look like button which transforms into a blue Firen explosion.
70 Micro Graphics
There are some character frames that are not properly positioned.
A number of nasty little things swarm across this mod, including the Lion Forest flashing problem which hurts eyes very much.
90 Macro systems
There is little question how this mod presents its challenges to players. The only problem is participation of computer characters is sometimes hindered by in-game system.
67.5 Micro systems
The implementation has some major problems when you take a close look onto it.
Firstly, the high unpredictability of both thunder and meteor can be frustrating to players, even when playing versus mode.
There also goes some salty traps including spike ones in jail, there is NO indication on where traps are placed, I just dash dash roll through the setup, or die trying.
Modification of character moves are not appealing even though they introduce some new elements:
Henry's green arrow D>JJ seems to have bdefend:100 but is short-lived and is generally outmaneuvered by the original critical shot
Henry's D^A summons a square of arrows rapidly raining on top of enemy WITHOUT ANY INDICATION
Dennis's new chase ball doesn't detonate immediately after pressing A
Many new moves "move" very fast
Some changes are not intuitive and not recommended at all, for instance Rudolf's moveset is so greatly changed it does not resemble 50% of original Rudolf.
N/A Balance
The addition of moves for characters can not be chained into any combo in general. The ecosystem is largely changed, the only thing I am sure to say is some changes may greatly frustrate both old-school players and newcomers.
72.5 Intuitiveness
The main reason for such a mediocre score is although its presentation is awesome, it lacks in one particular matter: clear objectives.
The instructions paragraphs are certainly easy to understand, but are packed with too much chocolate-coated wordings. There are hard times deciphering the simple objectives from fuss of paragraphs.
77.5 Replay value
Apart from its pioneering skills in stage mode, here is a list of things that discourages the player to play again:
Stage mode is painful.
Stage 1 overuses Ion storm very much and presents little apart from it. Same for Stage 4
A lot of Stages require repetitive work:
Bandit with 1000HP which must be killed in 1 minute
Spike trap
Mine trap where you must deliver a crate for HELL amount of distance, so I must repeatedly press F5 to speed it up
Some awful character change, such as that super speedy Davis D>A
78 Overall Score
Which means this mod should generally satisfy most of players who play for the first time.
84 - Rhythm of Night (Click to View)
LF2: Rhythm of Night is a version created by Felix from the Sykeval Team, featuring several new characters and a complete stage mode.
My impression on this version is "a much more subtle variant of Julian War 2". This version excels in new techniques about stage and characters, but has slight bias towards experienced players.
87.5 Originality
While RN presents less content regarding stage, it was one of the early creations that utilize transparency, customized characters and stage talk effectively. It is highly inspirational to future creations just like JW2.
85 Marco Graphics
RN does not present much more graphical content compared to JW2. However its absence of poorly created graphic gives it an edge over the latter.
82.5 Micro Graphics
Fine-tuning of graphics and scenes are well done. The score however cannot exceed original LF2 much since some unnecessary compromises are made to match the style of LF2:
Attack of templates and Devetal tend to skip frames as to match the templates and characters in LF2
If the swing motions are drawn with gradual arcs rather than blink transparency grids, this will be more attractive.
85 Macro systems
The major systems are supported by solid mechanics, including the defense of ancient Template mission, bike riding and the final fight.
Some minor complaints include the lack of indication of health for sealed Julian and friendly Felix in Stage 2.
The systems of the game are slightly hyped by the story of stage mode.
If you separate who do you do and how the story tells you in Stage mode, you would find that you face many generally tough pawns but the variation is slightly lacking.
For example you might find the lack of Justin in this stage, in contrast to Knight appearing over 3 stages.
This might become boring at times, but if you don't think the difficulty ratings are attached to original LF2 it's fine.
82.5 Micro systems
I cannot find any major problems apart from some fights being too difficult (as aforementioned, is not an actual issue) and too chaotic.
How some battles are chaotic:
Attacks and movement of Specialized Templates can be really quick, to nearly unavoidable level
In the defense of Ancient template mission, I couldn't find an effective way to keep bandits from touching the ancient because the field is too crowded, in 1 player stage
Stage 1 features way too many bandits and hunters at the same time, and you have no friendly unit to cover your back
In stages featuring regular fight, pawns seem to spawn too much
Fights that don't feature large-scale battles are good.
N/A Balance
The only character that can be compared with a fighter is Felix, who is more powerful and has actual strength near to Bat.
Specialized templates share some problem of too quick moves, so they are not really capable to be put into the fighter pool unless some modifications are done.
Devetal is a good example of new Boss.
So in the end, this version does not give any character that can directly substitute a fighter.
But if I must give marks according to individual characters:
Felix - 62.5 as fighter (Too strong), 85 as subboss/boss
Specialized templates - 55 as fighter, 70 as pawn/subboss (Too quick moves, can be much better if they follow the LF2 model)
Devetal - 87.5 as boss
80 Intuitiveness
This version features extensive instruction regarding both the moves of characters and in-game stage objectives.
However players must admit controlling the new characters are complex, despite a full list of move damage is given.
The learning curve of new characters except Devetal may be steeper than of fighters, but are generally rewarding.
Players still have full control on how and when he wishes to learn.
85 Replay value
The replay value of this version lies on familiarizing with new characters, along with new systems and the plot of the stage mode.
Unfortunately new characters are placed at different level from fighters. It's fun but is incompatible.
Some interesting and memorable fights are alternated with slightly boring fights, but the latter does not pose much concern if the player is willing to grind.
The plot... could have some improvements. It's completely okay for a small-scale game though.
84 Overall Score
This version has quality work and is well balanced in most aspects.
76 - Combined Effort (Click to View)
Combined Effort (CE-LF2, full name is LF2 ver. Combined Effort) is an enormous collection of character moves, tweaks and backgrounds.
Since this version is not an "experience" but a "collection of technologies", I would take a different angle on commenting CE.
80 Originality
Generally speaking, new moves and backgrounds of this version are inspired by other games. There also exists some repetitive moves and backgrounds.
Those were nice tries in the early days.
75 Marco Graphics
Character moves are a mixture of high and low-quality graphics.
Taking Firen as example, there are two Fireball attacks and two rolling magma attacks. My concern is the over-usage of flame and ground fire in original LF2 for new moves, but the presentation is okay.
65 Micro Graphics
Quality of many graphics in CE are not properly restored after resizing.
Some moves use oversized graphics or are not well positioned. Nevertheless new content of this version has become a popular inspiration and plagiarized target.
N/A Macro systems
A character strength list is not expected in this version.
Unlike MVC, the over-abundance of moves in this version makes characters party goers instead of warriors.
It's better to admire at the various creations inside CE than trying to balance them out.
There is literally no new system introduced here because new moves are triggered by the old input key system and most tweak outside the game does not affect character battle at all.
N/A Micro systems
72.5 Balance
Damage of characters are generally balanced although pawns may sometimes pose serious threats.
Some moves are significantly stronger than others due to inappropriate MP consumption.
However because you can chain simple combos with new moves, this version still holds up valid fights between fighters.
Just don't expect your everyday battle against noobs or AIs.
75 Intuitiveness
Characters generally use basic key inputs for their moves, nothing special.
Moves are straightforward.
Many backgrounds in other hand are below par, they have issues of unclear coloring and z-boundary. And sometimes poorly illustrated and pixelated.
80 Replay value
While this version has large amount of content, it could be messy to find your favorite moves and backgrounds.
And from a glimpse of it, CE looks like some kind of lacking due to various mistakes.
This version however is an unorganized treasure which has inspired many upcoming creations.
76 Overall Score
84 - Story of HongBa (Click to View)
Reviewing himself is a deed of corruption
I am... going to review my version.
Yes. I will try to keep my opinion as few as possible by including as much feedback as possible.
LF2: Story of HongBa (abbr. LF2Hongba) is a version which features lots of new characters including several bosses, about 20 new backgrounds and a stage mode.
This version is controversial in a bunch of matters as explained below.
87.5 Originality
This version has little change on fighters so I will talk about that later.
Originality of this version can be split into character and background part.
Characters are not very independent of original LF2, since the elite characters use moveset alike the pawns. Their moveset are however interesting enough to attract some players. Even though some moves are vastly different from that in LF2, they might share some common properties, like Dante's Radiating arrow has very different properties compared to Henry's DJA, but the usage is similar.
Characters who deviate from original characters very much played better job. New concepts introduced into LF2HongBa are generally accepted.
Backgrounds in other hand are very diverse. Ranging from realistic to cartoon styles, BGs which largely differ from LF2 style have be frowned by some players, while other player would praise them. BGs that are similar to LF2 are well accepted.
80 Marco Graphics
In general BGs in this version are well illustrated. Some of them are well animated, which is rare among LF2 creations. The quantity of memorable backgrounds gains reputation among other vers/mods. (tl;dr I'm giving an incredibly shameless 90 here)
Graphics of characters are not quite stable though, New characters are recolored and reconstructed from original LF2 characters and lots of projectile sprites are cheap creations, which drag the score of this mark. (tl;dr: it's a 70 for characters)
85 Micro Graphics
Transitions are generally good, there exists small amount of sudden or strange movement/instances which are notable when watched closely.
A few graphical weaknesses of LF2 are also fixed here.
87.5 Macro systems
This version features a large number of systems, while this may expand the content of the game, the score depends on how these systems are conceived.
AI: New characters can pose some threat but not as much as old ones
BG effect: A nice little addition but does not weigh much in overall
New armor: I feel I'm hyped, cold water bucket to myself... There actually exists some strange matters inside the armor, but to clearly explain it:
There are unexplained invulnerability frames and shielding objects inside my armor (which is cheating)
Stage-specific structures: A fun feature which expands fighting into point capturing/defense
New bosses: Each of them is distinctive enough even though derived from earlier creations
Elites: Their mechanisms are interesting and different, some of elites are similar to their pawn counterpart but they are suitably empowered.
New moves for Fighters: Some look underwhelming and difficult to use, some are powerful. Luckily they do not affect gameplay much, players who do not like them can skip the moves.
In overall, most of systems in the game are capable to expand LF2 in a constructive manner.
80 Micro systems
There are a few characters who might suffer from bugs, including Elite Sorcerer (Sore).
The arrangement of Stage mode may be slightly haphazard, although difficulty is suitable, indications of objective and stage talk can be difficult to follow.
Supplies may be highly unstable starting from Stage 3-5, provided the new armor is more tricky than it seems (which is proven by several testers) and difficulty of stage sections are raised quickly.
Characters are presented well. While some characters are a bit stiff their firepower compensated for that. They generally do not encourage cowardly tactics and are predictable.
77.5 Balance
10 Fighters are barely adjusted, so the Balance score would revolve around how 9 elites fit with the fighters.
Most of elites are slightly weaker than the latter.
They are dangerous when controlled by human and can dish out attractive amount of damage or crowd control, and are not much easier or harder to learn compared to fighters.
To sum it up, the balance of new character pool does not differ much from that of 10 fighters in LF2.
New bosses in other hand, are generally stronger than the original bosses. The new armor incorporated although effective, can be frustrating to fight against since it is much more unstable and even stronger than existing defenses in old LF2.
85 Intuitiveness
The new characters largely use input keys similar to fighters. There is also a quick-key feature for easy combos.
Complicated matter about defense system, stage talk and structures are well explained.
Some sections of stage mode may get confusing, but in-game instructions are enough to cover that up.
Although you would be screwed if you intend to ignore instructions.
92.5 Replay value
While not everything will go as intended in this version, the large selection could attract widespread attraction, and the selection covers plenty of aspects.
It is possible that a player is only attracted to a certain character or BG, but a wider player base means they can share their opinion on a common subject.
The plot is overwhelming because of insufficient clues throughout the game, but is still worthy considering its fighting part alone is both challenging and attractive.
Finally new characters could match standards of original fighters, and with different bosses, this would increase lifespan of the game by players exploring possibilities.
84 Overall Score
Anyway, if I would take time to revamp those lousy projectile graphics, this version would get *apparently* better.
https://lf-empire.de/forum/showthread.ph...#pid209783