REVIEW: ‘BlazBlue Entropy Effect X’ Dives Deep Into Customization And Stylish Action

BlazBlue Entropy Effect X, a 2D side-scrolling action roguelite developed by 91Act and published by Astrolabe Games, tasks players with saving the world from an ominous fate. Diving into the Sea of Possibility as one of 16 playable characters, players must craft kits and master combos to defeat the swarms of enemies and bosses the game contains. 

At the core of every successful roguelite is an addictive gameplay loop. One that empowers players even as it throws new, harder challenges at them. All the while, drip feeding buffs and bonuses, gently encouraging players to take “one more run” in the game’s compelling world. BlazBlue Entropy Effect X has this formula nailed down. 

BlazBlue Entropy Effect X nails the gameplay loop.

At its core, the combat revolves around a few easy-to-manage elements. A Basic attack, a skill, a dash, healing potions to restore life, and a jump make up the basics of how you handle enemies. Skills run off of an MP gauge that refills automatically when not being spent.

Players can also unlock an “ultimate” attack, but that must be rediscovered during each run. Now, this all sounds incredibly simple. And it is. But it needs to be to handle how much 91Act puts into the characters and how each expands upon these simple core concepts to create an addictive gameplay loop.

16 characters total fill out BlazBlue Entropy Effect X‘s fully unlocked roster. Each one brings a distinct combat style that stands out amongst the crowd. From gun wielders to grapplers and everything in between, each character creates a one-of-a-kind avenue to build interesting new kits off of. 

Each member of the BlazBlue Entropy Effect X cast feels distinct thanks to intricate playstyles.

The biggest reason this game’s cast feels so original is how deeply it delves into each playstyle. Rather than simply having shared upgrades players unlock during runs, they also unlock character Potentials, enhancing attacks, jumps, and skills, as well as unlocking entirely new attacks or follow-ups to existing ones. If a player chooses to dive deep enough into a character’s Potentials, they may soon find themselves chaining attacks into each other like they were playing a tournament fighter.

I’ve tried every character that BlazBlue Entropy Effect X has to offer, and none of them felt bad. Sure, some were definitely more my speed than others, but the game never stopped surprising me with just how fun characters could be. When I first picked up the throw-centric Bullet, I thought for sure she wouldn’t click with me. But soon enough, I was lobbing enemies around, leaping through the air, and setting foes on fire with abandon. 

Along with each character’s unique Potentials, there are a ton of generic upgrades that any character can equip during a run. These focus on different elemental types, such as electrical, light, and poison. Each set has its own focus that will complement some playstyles and strategies better than others. 

BlazBlue Entropy Effect X’s upgrades are heavily focused on offense.

What each upgrade shares in common, however, is a fixed focus on offense. While there is a smattering of defensive buffs in the game, almost every upgrade focuses on either actively damaging enemies or providing the player with better opportunities to do so via enhancements to movement or crowd control elements. 

All of this offensive focus allows the player to feel like an unstoppable engine of destruction. Only a couple of runs into the game, and I was cutting down random enemies with ease, empowered by fun, kinetic abilities that always seemed to have another twist to them waiting to be discovered. 

The final major element to BlazBlue Entropy Effect X’s customization that makes it stand out is the legacy system. After a run concludes, whether in success or not, the player will have the opportunity to save that version of the character. This version of the character can be used in a challenge mode that pits the player against a single boss enemy. More notably, though, it allows two of its upgrades, along with alegacy attack unique to each character, to be equipped by future characters. 

This system can empower players to jump into the action with their favorite upgrade sets already begun. Love the Blade Dash? Save it, along with an upgrade to a legacy avatar, and then you can start every run with it, should you wish. Then, if you really want to focus your efforts, save associated buffs to a second legacy, and you will find your power level spike wildly right out of the gate. A ton of slots in the Legcay board allow players to keep numerous combinations open, further encouraging kit exploration.

To test all the wild combinations and high-octane moves players assemble comes a strong assortment of enemies and challenges. A run is broken into zones, with each zone comprised of a series of individual areas that must be cleared before confronting a boss. Each area has its own theme and style, creating sharp contrasts from region to region. A wide variety of enemies inhabit these areas, keeping gameplay feeling fresh as well. 

Along with combat areas, players will also find several different flavors of non-combat encounters to interact with. From classic rest stops that provide healing to trials that offer players a powerful buff, but only after they survive a set number of encounters with a heavy penalty on them, these calmer rooms can change the course of a run as easily as combat can.

Beautiful 2D visuals bring the Sea of Possibility to life.

While BlazBlue Entropy Effect X does everything it can to empower the player, it also understands that runs that are too easy quickly become boring. While bosses can remain challenging for quite some time, random enemies can quickly become bumps in the road to a well-designed kit being wielded by an experienced player. 

To keep the challenge up, players can adjust difficulty levels in several areas in order to keep their focus centered. Enemy health, speed of attacks, and even a cap on how long players can take to finish regions are among the dials players have access to. This not only keeps the challenge up but also allows it to be customized exactly as the player wants. 

While exploring the Sea of Possibility, players are treated to some lovely 2D visuals. Each region is brought to life through strong color choices and unique architecture. The look of the world goes perfectly with the character designs and brightly lit abilities that play out within it. 

BlazBlue Entropy Effect X’s story is light, but intriguing.

Between runs, BlazBlue Entropy Effect X gives players story snippets, as well as a few more options to help build out kits. Static bonuses can be bought and improved from one NPC, while others allow resource exchanges to buy characters, manage their legacy avatars, or look through the upgrade trees to plan their kits. 

The story surrounding the endless action is light, but intriguing enough. The small visions the player receives for procuring Seeds of Possibility on their runs, along with the cryptic responses from their nominal leader, create an ominous atmosphere that further encourages exploration. However, no story sequence is all that long, and a skip button is present. So, if you just want the gameplay, that is a viable option.

The only major flaw that holds BlazBlue Entropy Effect X back from being top-tier is how unclear some abilities or concepts can be. There is a solid number of abilities or gameplay effects that are not easily understood until they are implemented. 

A perfect example of this was a trail I took on that said I would start each area with -100 MP. Since you start with 100, I assumed this meant you would start at 0 instead. Or more if you have buffed your MP stat. But what it actually meant was, you start 100 MP below zero, regardless of what your current max MP is. While this surpise didnt ruin my run, it did make things a little trickier than I expected. 

91Act’s BlazBlue Entropy Effect X pulls players in with fast and fun gameplay.

The only other complaints I had while playing BlazBlue Entropy Effect X came with my chosen device, the Nintendo Switch. The load times for some areas felt extremely long. Even single-screen non-combat encounters could take a noticeable amount of time to load in. The other problem comes with playing the game in handheld mode.

Some of the font choices and sizes were clearly not made with a screen like the Switch’s in mind. While there was never anything I couldn’t read at all, I had to pull the screen right up close more than a few times to read a particularly small bit of text. While neither is big enough for me to say “don’t buy it” if the Switch is your only option, they are big enough to recommend other options first. 

BlazBlue Entropy Effect X pulls players in with fast and fun gameplay that is given incredible depth thanks to a myriad of elements players can use to craft their preferred playstyles. Characters, unique moves, and upgrades galore all come together to create the kind of compelling gameplay loop that roguelites thrive on. 

BlazBlue Entropy Effect X is available now for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X/S.