Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
When it comes to Arc System Works and Eighting’s upcoming adaptation of Hunter x Hunter into another fighting game, one would be forgiven for not being sold on it quite yet. There’s still a lot to be seen about Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact. However, at EVO 2024, I was given a small opportunity to try it hands-on for my first time. After some time spent exploring the characters and systems, I think Eighting is bringing a solid degree of quality here and this isn’t a game players should be letting slip by them, especially Hunter x Hunter fans.
Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact follows a 3v3 format of tag-team vs fighter. Players can select from a variety of characters from the anime and manga, and the roster that was available to me for this demo was as follows:
You can pick any of the characters to make up your three-character team, and your opponent will do the same.
Nen x Impact is very simplistic in its input design. Much like games like Dragon Ball FighterZ, character each have a variety of autocombos, launcher attacks that push the opponent up for aerial combos or back for wall bounce combos, and a button that handles a variety of special moves with different inputs. Of course there’s a bar and once you’ve got it filled, you can deploy super moves. You can also call your other characters in for assist attacks or switch out with them to bring a fresh character. Basically everything you’d expect from a team-based tag fighter is here as far as mechanics go.
As far as how it plays, this is where Nen x Impact surprised me. I haven’t been incredibly wowed by the trailers I’ve seen so far, but the game is feeling good once you're actually playing it. It has a certain degree of floatiness to the movements and jumping, but feels like it has just as much weight when it comes to clashes, moves hitting, and overall engagement. I really enjoyed Kurapika’s ability to swing long range chains and catch approaching opponents off guard, as well as Machi’s ability to weave threads around her opponents with some of her attacks and set them up for big damage with further abilities that utilize those threads. Meanwhile, Gon has a fishing pole attack that can yank his opponents towards him, effectively letting him bounce them out and pull them back in like a paddle ball. Good times.
I will say that Uvogin felt a bit too strong in this build of the game. He has a move that powers up most of his attacks and it turns him into a devastating wrecking ball. A lot of the characters, including Hisoka, Leorio, Killua, Netero, and Meruem felt fair to fight as or against, but Uvogin was acing large portions of my team once he had that strength buff in play. It was a little overwhelming, but I hope Eighting balances things a bit leading up to the game’s launch.
Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact is expected to launch sometime in 2024, so we’ve got a bit of time yet before we see what the final thing will look like, but I was refreshingly surprised by what I played. It feels like Eighting has a good understanding of what makes a vs fighter fun and they are putting those ideas to impeccable work in Nen x Impact so far. This game climbed onto my fighting radar for 2024, and I would say it should be on the community’s as well. Stay tuned to see more as info comes out such as a release date later this year.
This preview is based on an early private demo build offered by Arc System Works at EVO 2024. Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact is expected to launch sometime in 2024 and will come out on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC.