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Message: [QUOTE="Aziamuth, post: 70401, member: 16"] [ATTACH type="full" alt="1739179937662.jpeg"]23797[/ATTACH] “Hey, man, you should give this game a try, it has Sai from Akatsuki Blitzkampf?” “Oh, yeah? Let’s see…” That was the exchange I had with a friend regarding this innocuous fighting game. It started as something small but quickly evolved into something truly magical. Accompany me on this small journey on Power Instinct Matrimelee, a fighting game like no other. [HEADING=1]INTRODUCTION[/HEADING] [ATTACH type="full" alt="1739180001768.jpeg"]23798[/ATTACH] [CENTER][I]Being weird is in its blood.[/I][/CENTER] Power Instinct Matrimelee is the fifth game in the Power Instinct series. Developed by Noise Factory, who acquired the license from Atlus (yes, THAT Atlus) and published by SNK Playmore, this fighting game was released worldwide on the arcades, as well as the Neo Geo AES. There’s also a PS2 port that didn’t come out of Japan. The story is simple: a king from some country is offering the hand of his daughter in marriage (and for women, the hand of his older son) as well as the succession of the throne. For this end, he sets up a martial arts tournament where quirky fighters from all around the world gather to earn this fantabulous prize. Chronologically, the game is set a year after the events of Power Instinct 2, and has no characters from the previous entry, Groove on Fight. However, don’t ask me anything about those games, as I haven’t played them. And that’s all I can say! There’s not much to the history if you have only experienced one entry. If anything, it’s an excuse to experience earlier entries. [HEADING=1]PRESENTATION[/HEADING] [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" alt="1739180049070.png"]23799[/ATTACH] [I]"HAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"[/I][/CENTER] The presentation of Matrimelee is something else. The sprites are very pleasing, well animated for the most part (the character Olof has some weird animations for his normal attacks, in my opinion). In a way, they remind me of Akatsuki Blitzkampf ([URL='https://retrogametalk.com/threads/akatsuki-blitzkampf-ausf-achse-or-how-to-do-simplicity-correctly.45/']read my articles![/URL]). It doesn’t reach the visual flair of 3rd Strike, but it’s pretty good. In my opinion, the backgrounds are more memorable; not so much because of variety (about 60% of them are concerts), but rather because of the details that are there. Jimmy’s stage feature gameplay of Rage of the Dragons and Kanji’s stage is a karaoke bar. There’s a particular concert stage that features a woman singing about gyoza. Honestly, quite incredible. As for the characters, they are quickly distinguishable. Sure, some of them are pretty basic (Chinnen is a typical Buddhist monk, Reij could be a Street Fighter/King of Fighters character and White is a hecking T. Hawk clone), but others are memorable and instantly catch the eye. To name a few: [LIST] [*]Not one, but TWO grandmas. I believe they are twins. [*]One guy dressed as a dog who speaks gibberish. [*]An old man whose level 1 super is beating you down with a cane and then farting on you. Also, can summon his old man spirit as a fireball. He is The Real Thing, after all. [/LIST] Aside from goofy ones, you also have other fighters that just look badass. Keith, for example, is a rockstar that does the Shining Wizard as his grab; Olof fights only with kicks because of injuries in his hands; and Jimmy… well, Jimmy is the protagonist from Double Dragon with a cool re-design. Just like in Akatsuki Blitzkampf, you’ll quickly find a main purely from a visual standpoint. What irks me, however, is that, for some characters, their portrait looks nothing like their sprite. The most notable examples are Keith and Kanji, whose hairstyles look NOTHING like they should. I don’t know which one is the canon. [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" alt="1739180230228.png"]23800[/ATTACH][ATTACH type="full" alt="1739180413215.png"]23802[/ATTACH] [I]WHO ARE YOU????[/I] [/CENTER] The music is… music, certainly. In line with the rest of the game, it’s goofy as hell. Notwithstanding, the music is associated with stages, and most characters share stages, so there’s no sense of identity like in other games. This normally isn’t a problem (Tekken 5, for example, also does this), but the thing is that there’s only 9 stages, and one of them is shared by FIVE characters, so it makes the music feel scarce. At the same time, it has [URL='https://youtu.be/uRK3HlL0gdI?si=WoYI3Auqe1TMd70k']the best character select music ever[/URL], so there's that at least. [HEADING=1]GAME FEEL AND MECHANICS[/HEADING] [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" alt="1739180984366.png"]23804[/ATTACH] [I]That little fellow in the middle is the nefarious Kuroko, receiver of beatings.[/I] [/CENTER] I simply must praise Power Instinct: Matrimelee for its gameplay because it feels so GOOD! A complaint I have about older fighting games (and newer ones, to an extent) is that they often feel clunky when performing combos. That’s not the case with Matrimelee: transitioning from a normal to special feels fluid and flawless. To counter measure this, some inputs can be a bit awkward to perform, especially on some characters. There’s a presence of links (timing attacks to perform a combo) but they’re not very hard and usually not necessary because some buttons can be chained one after the other. Overall, it plays very well and comboing is easy. Mechanically, the game takes elements from King of Fighters while also adding its own twist to it. Pressing A+B makes your character do a dodge roll that’s invincible, while pressing C+D does an attack that knocks the opponent back (just like KOF’s blow back). You can also do proximity grabs with a direction + heavy punch! And even do short and long hops to mix up your game! It’s all very familiar if you’ve dabbled with SNK games before. But where’s the aforementioned difference? Introducing: the referee! Also known as “Kuroko”. This NPC will appear in some stages and can be called by pressing B+C. From that point onward, both characters will have a permanent meat shield absorbing all projectiles and even physical attacks. But don’t think it’s a mere defensive obstacle, oh no. The referee can also be used offensively, because if they receive a powerful enough attack and get launched, the referee can damage the opposing player. They can also be used as a literal shield by holding them and then throw them directly without hitting them. Poor thing… The meter is interesting, not so much in how it’s used but in how it’s built. Appropriately called “Stress Meter”, this meter is built by having your attacks blocked or by receiving damage, but not by dealing damage. When one bar is filled (up to three) your character will go psycho mode and create an aura around themselves that’s unblockable and launches the opponent. This is completely unavoidable: it simply happens and there’s nothing you can do about it. Afterwards, you can use said meter to do supers or guard cancels, like in other fighting games. To finish this section, I want to talk about taunting. In Matrimelee it’s useful! On its own, it gives a lot of meter, so it’s great on okizeme (when the opponent in knocked down). However, were the opponent to taunt when you’re doing it, you’ll enter a state called Bloodline Battle. When this happens you must press the button that appears on screen faster than your opponent. Do so and you’ll deal damage. Do it enough times and you’ll launch your opponent. Quirky mechanic just like the rest of the game. [HEADING=1]CONCLUSION[/HEADING] [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" alt="1739180252098.png"]23801[/ATTACH] [I]The loser gets their face painted.[/I] [/CENTER] Power Instinct: Matrimelee is far from being the most complex fighting game, and unlike Akatsuki Blitzkampf it doesn’t fully embrace the simplicity due to some of the inputs. However, it has a fluidity that no other game achieved at the time, making it very pick up and play even by those who don’t have much experience in fighting games. Nevertheless, Matrimelee stands out with its quirkiness, making it an experience that tends to be funnier than fun (it’s still fun, don’t get me wrong!). Unfortunately, it’s extremely niche, with the Fightcade room being barely populated, and its only Discord server being very inactive. Still, please do give this game a chance if you’re mildly interested in fighting games. Also, it's in English! [/QUOTE]

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