- PC port literally unplayable at launch
- Introduces a new main villain, but since Chronicle Mode got gutted his story has to be told through the fucking Arcade
- Aesthetically a massive downgrade from the first game - the new portraits and UI look like ass in comparison
- No crossplay
- Still lacking in in-battle/post-battle character interactions (don't care if it's a nitpick, shit like this was one of my favourite things in games like Blazblue.)
- Still no English Dub (more of a neutral observation than a negative, though it was expected.)
- Player match room system kinda sucks

± Colour customisation, but still kinda limited since it's an exact copy of MBTL's

+ The actual gameplay is still fun, though good luck finding many people on a similar skill level to you on PC if you're a newer player because most people jumped ship from the shitty port.
+ Miyashiro Erika Wagner

Overall this game kinda makes me mad and I wish I had gotten a refund before it was too late.

Honestly has my favorite system mechanics in any fighting game.

The characters can be quite absurd to play against, but the replay takeover feature makes labbing against them a lot easier.

Only real complaint would be lack of singleplayer content (and releasing 1 day before Tekken 8), but else this game is great.

I quite remember something Sun Tzu once said to me in coversation. It ran along the lines of "We are so back, my friend!"

Under Night 2 is a perfect game among the bounds of its own features and whims. I could not ask more from a sequel to an already fucking great game. I will, however, address the large network-based elephant in the room, and perhaps its release date was also a case. With a solid week of shady network and having each update being fifty-fifty on whether the matchmaking works or doesn’t work. It’s a weighted coin flip, really, and I wish it wasn’t because the times I was allowed to play in a room or in unranked, I enjoyed it a lot. The success of this game has been stunted, to my personal theory of mine, by the release of two much larger games within the same week, one even being a fighting game. However, I cannot deny the fact that Under Night as a franchise was already niche and therefore has a harder time breaking the market.

The gameplay is perfect, an art piece of its own caliber. It helps that this really is a sequel, an iteration of the previous with some changes given to individual fighters here and there. Perhaps it is my own bias, or more likely my lack of experience, but the new fighters feel like the toolkit is much stronger than the legacy cast from the previous game. All but personal thoughts at the end of things. The arcade mode is very straight forward, doesn’t do anything new within that regard, but still good. The movement is lovely, the flow of combos, based on buttons, is great, I feel like the command list is a bit cryptic, and I know this is a nit-pick but having the option to have the UI of the buttons to be the buttons on the controller someone uses still annoys me. The music has a few standout pieces but none that can ring back and forth in my head, making it memorable.

With wonderful art, great movement, hell, maybe the best movement in the fighting game market as of recent memory and interesting yet still doujin fighter-esque plot, I would recommend picking up this game. As a warning, if you play on steam, wait a few more updates to see if the online net play improves. If you are reading this in the future, as of the first day of February in 2024, then perhaps its fixed now, ill leave on a hopeful note.

this review will ignore the fact that the online doesn't work too well right now

the game is good however I'm not sure it's worth 50$ for rollback net code some characters and QOL
It's a fun game however I feel like there's something missing
I'll still probably put hundreds of hours in tho

Really solid fighter. I adore the interactions that his game focuses on. Plus the combo system is super easy to pick up, but really has some depths to let you grow. The characters movesets and visuals ooze personality. The 2D pixel art visuals are solid as hell. The tutorials go from teaching you about the fundamentals of fighting games, to straight up showing you how to utilise option selects.

Overall really solid as hell. Has rollback netcode. Only really held back by having an iffy PC port and the character Byakuya (pls remove).

Odd game; having done all of the arcade modes and playing catch-up before release on the plot, this really feels like a proper conclusion to a majority of the cast. Ending in either death or a return to normalcy, Sys:Celes feels purposeful in wanting to be the end of the Hollow Night: but it also feels like the prelude to a larger conflict in this world. I feel that in both, I can respect that Under Night's focus is not in story, but can also make its characters reach a proper, satisfying end point.

Gameplay's perfect however: everything feels fine-tuned to perfection, making every character feel stronger both with Sys:Celes's new universal mechanics and unique new moves. I found a new main in Kaguya, someone feeling perfect for my playstyle, but I also feel every character continues to be fun. It's a game I feel I can pick randomly and still have a great time with friends, but also feel that I can happily commit time and effort to improving as a player. And the inclusion of rollback is a welcome addition; the online's playable! It runs very well! Sys:Celes feels like a perfect end point to Under Night as a series, but I'm also ready to see in what ways it continues to grow with its DLC.