To cut to the chase, this game is spectacular. It is by far the best fighting game I have played, and is probably one of the best video games I have experienced. I started playing during the very worst of the COVID lock down, and I found that no matter how much I played, there were always new things to learn, new interactions, new assists, new combos, and so on.
The customization is beyond what i had ever seen before. There are around 30 different colors for each character, many of which are delightful pop culture references, as well as interchangeable English and Japanese voices for each character, meaning that if you like English Fillia and Japanese Valentine, you can play with both of their respective voices at once.
The vast customization are not just cosmetic, they also play heavily into the actual gameplay of skullgirls. You can choose how many characters are on your team (1, 2, or 3) as well as pick your character's assists from ANYWHERE in their movepool! any move you see in the game can be used as an assist, excluding air moves and supers. So if you want to use Valentine's full screen heavy bypass, you can do so, and if you really want to use Big Band's basic light kick, well I guess you can do that too. These factors lead to a near infinite number of different teams, and you can find which one best fits you and your playstyle.
In the grand scheme of skullgirls gameplay, your highly customized team is kind of like your character creation in an RPG. If you like to play more defensively, then maybe you could pick an assist like Big Band's invincible beat extend to keep people off of you, or Fillia's Hairball to push them away from you on the ground. If you want to go on a more offensive approach you could pick a fast character like Fillia or a close combat grappler like Cerebella to get in on them, backed up by a good lockdown assist like Squigly's drag'nbite or Robo Fortunes beam. This is an incredibly oversimplified version of team building, but the point is is that your assist choices and playstyle are going to heavily affect your gameplay. No 2 teams/players are the same, and you will get to discover and develop your playstyle through trial by combat.
The single player game modes are about what you would expect. each character gets a small personal story mode in which you will get to find out more about the character, as well as the world around them. I found these smaller story modes to be very interesting compared to longer form story modes like mortal kombat. It was interesting to learn about bits and pieces of the world from each character's perspective. For example, learning about the Medici mob through the eyes of Cerebella, walking muscle and loyal member of mob, might be different from Ms Fortune's perspective of them, as her close friends were literally torn to shreds by them for a mysterious gem. All in all, while the story modes may not be mechanically revolutionary for the genre, the world building and simple yet effective character development it uses more than makes up for it.
The multiplayer aspect of skullgirls is what has kept me highly motivated to play and learn, as it is some of the most fast paced, chaotic, and intense gameplay i have ever taken a part of. the game moves fast. VERY fast. there will often be many projectiles/assists on the screen at once, and some characters have blindingly quick options that you will have to watch out for, including brutal mix ups both in neutral and in combos. If this all sounds scary, IT IS. There is an INCREDIBLY steep learning curve to even know what is going on at a given time, and it certainly doesn't feel good to get decimated by someone and not even know what you did wrong. As much as I adore this game, I can't with good conscience say that this is a beginner friendly game, at least not for the online multiplayer. There are dozens of knowledge checks that one must know of every character, and at times it may feel like there is nothing you can do to stop your opponent from mauling you until you die. However, if you are a seasoned fighting game player or you are very determined, the gameplay is crisp, satisfying, rewarding, and spectacularly crazy.
Skullgirls combat systems work pretty differently than most fighting games. There are 6 buttons instead of the normal 4 that you might find in other games. In addition, instead of having hitstun decay like other fighting games (your moves have less and less stun time the further you get into a combo) skullgirls has a green bar, called undizzy, that builds up the further you get in your combo. Once the bar is filled, the player getting comboed can burst and get out of the combo. I like this system a lot, as I personally find it frustrating when certain moves don't connect in certain combos. In the undizzy system, your moves properties will always remain consistent. This system promotes the use of resets; intentionally dropping your combos in order to mix up the opponent and start a new combo, partially draining the undizzy bar. These resets are where a large amount of the knowledge checks come from, as you can be mixed anywhere in a combo. it is essential that you know your options of escape and ways to mitigate these resets. you won't only be mixed in combos, the offensive pressure that some characters have is off the charts, and you will have to make use of the pushblock mechanic to keep them off of you. all in all, Skullgirls gives you the tools to viciously mix people to an insane degree, but asks that you learn excellent defensive habits in turn, making for an intense battle of skill that will leave your brain going at 300 mph. If you are ready to get down and dirty, both in the lab and in battle, then this game is for you.
Some miscellaneous things I should mention; the soundtrack is spectacular, and I find myself listening to its early 1900's jazz inspired pieces both in and out of battle. The music perfectly compliments the beautiful stages which are full of character and personality, along with some special guests you might recognize from other games, as well as cameo's from skullgirls pro scene such as Sonicfox, Sev, and Swiftfox Dash. There are also DLC characters currently being made for the game, and while the season pass might look expensive at first, the characters are hand animated, and have countless hours of effort poured into every frame. These characters are of the best quality one could ask for, and are worth far more than their cost. It warms my heart to see that the game is still kicking after 9 years, creating new content and characters as well as foster and maintain a healthy community. Not many fighting games can boast such a dedicated fanbase and development team.
This game was very important to me throughout quarantine and beyond. It has been my hobby to fall back on when times were tough and it provided me with endless (aka 1000 hours) entertainment. I have not yet encountered a fighting game that can boast better quality, nuance, or longevity, and I am highly skeptical that I will find one that I like better than skullgirls. I HIGHLY recommend that you try this game. You can often find it on sale, and it's worth it for the single player content alone. I recommend that you try going online, as that is where the game is at its best in my opinion, but I will reiterate that it may be pretty brutal, and will require a lot of work. That being said, if you have the determination to work at this game, it will be worth all of the effort and more when you get to utterly outplay and ultimately crush your opponent in spectacular fashion.
Play Skullgirls!!!
