Yatagarasu Attack on Cataclysm

Fighting game fans will appreciate Yatagarasu's classic presentation, simple-yet-rewarding gameplay, and highly stable/flexible netcode. A small game made by a small and dedicated team, Yatagarasu is a love letter to fighting games of a bygone era. If you like honest, deep, and stylish fighting games, don't pass this up.

So, total disclosure - I've been working on this review since launch because it's quite a tough game to rate. In short, it's the weirdest blend of incomplete yet perfect that you can imagine. The fighting is razor sharp and, for a 24/7 fighter fan, that's all that matters.
A lot of gamers and reviewers are making the obvious comparisons between 98/2002 Kof and Street Fighter III: Third Strike, but I feel it's more like a combination between KoF's unspoken cousin, Garou:MotW and an early Samurai Shodown title. There is a lean towards big juggles and weapon-enhanced pokes that I haven't felt in a long time and the polar differences between L and H normals and specials means that the art of constructing a decent combo will literally keep you up at night.
The character selection is sparse, but mechanically the range features something for everyone, even mix-charge fans like myself. Furthermore, despite the complaints I've seen online, my cheap, fake, Chinese fightpad hooked up automatically, as did my notoriously PC-unfriendly RAP VX-SA fightstick - something that some fancier PC fighters have struggled with.
The hitboxes are tight and tidy, which again separates it from its KoF siblings, and it means that you'll often find yourself trading and, as a result, relearning trade-tactics, even at a low level. Other nice features include KD recovery and the much desired KoF hop options. There's 2 buttons dedicated to the game's Third Strike inspired parry system, which I feel would have been more valuable as a direct rip-off - utilizing the forward & aggressive crouch positions like its origin. As buttons, it just feels a little detached, but it's still an appreciated feature that forces you to bet on your reads.
Infact, with the ranged pokes, the parries and the KD recoveries, its fair to say that they've really captured that old-school "reads" mentality. Every throw, every hop, every meaty is a solid statement that you know the fight better than your opponent - something that's missing or diluted in modern fighters.
Next up, the online is pretty slick. Despite lacking its previously promised GGPO inclusion, I've been getting some pretty great, seamless fights in, with only the occasional "underwater" match occuring. Furthermore, you can view pings, adjust frame delays and mess around with a bunch of other stuff to customize your online experience for the better.
Another good sign of a thoughtful online mode is the ability to dip into practice mode without leaving a lobby, so you can work on those special cancels between bouts.
So, as an exercise in making a perfect fighting game, there you have it - Yatagarasu AoC is about as good as it gets. It takes inspiration from the greats, melds them together and comes out with something that's nostalgic yet new, punishing yet rewarding.
However, that's coming from the perspective of somebody who cut their adult fighting teeth on the alpha series and Third Strike and, as others have mentioned, this game is a bit of a love letter for fighter fans of that era.
Mechanically, it's all there, and that's all that matters to me, but if you put it up against almost any other fighter, the presentation of the entire thing is pretty jarring. From the minute you hit play it feels like you're in some kind of debug mode on an arcade cabinet, with a range of options and essentially dipswitch functions being the first thing you come into contact with.
The menus and in-game navigation is also pretty funky and learning your way around training mode options and the two different, but never explained, arcade modes may leave the casual fighter fans and the capital G gamers yearning for a more polished experience.
Personally, I like it and see it as another shoutout to the kind of player that knows the smell of burning silicone on a CPSII board, but it's not something for everyone.
Likewise, the characters are almost at a Mortal Kombat level of pallete swappy (and a little goofy), but their styles are unique, they match up nicely with their movements and the hitboxes and hurtboxes are all in the right places, so the game exercises as a great fighter, regardless of how creative the character design is.
There are some nice, thoughtful design features in amongst the rough bits like the assist commentary and the Samurai Shodown style hype-factory of an announcer, that will keep putting a smile on your face throughout with their comedy one liners and old school Akihabaran hatred towards throw tactics.
Jumping straight into this game, guns blazing, it took no time at all to find a few links and combos with some bite, with the standard KoF build of jump in heavy, crouchy-standy mix-up into a special/overhead. Specials can often beautifully cancel into other specials, but there's no meterburn or drive cancel cost to do it, which will undoubtedly lead to some awesome acrobatics when Yatagarasu picks up competitively.
My verdict here, despite its presentation, is that Yatagarasu is a top tier fighter. If you're begging for a new era of Third Strike and the like, this could be it. It keeps that old techy stuff alive, it's a future classic, it's both beauty and the beast. Just make sure to look for the diamond beyond all that mud.

Yatagarasu: AoC is a good game in a bad game's shell. The ui is clunky, audio mixing is broken, online play at the moment requires port forwarding, and lobbies require a lot of micromanagement. That being said, the game itself plays smoothly and feels like a fusion between Third Strike and King of Fighters--the latter isn't surprising since it was created by three former SnK developers. It's a 4 button fighter with a parry system--red parries included--guard crush, and the hop attack that third strike uses. Combos are generally designed around being fun to execute as well. Beyond just combos the neutral game can feel really rewarding also. Good reads lead to big damage while poor usage of super jumps and parries lead to counter hit states meaning momentum can swing pretty quickly.

Aesthetically, Yatagarasu borrows a lot from the era of vintage sprites and the creators do a very good job of bringing that style into a more modern setting. Unfortunately, the resolution is locked at 640 x 480 so it can, understandably, be hard to appreciate.

Cutting this short, Yatagarasu plays well but has some very clunky problems in the way it presents itself and if you hated Third Strike you're going to hate this game.

I've had more fun with this game in a few hours than in days of SFIV (on PS3).
It feels like a mix of Street Fighter: Third Strike with a little of KoF.
pros:
- Good, simple design that allows anyone to pick it up.
- Good net-code.
cons:
- Not many characters to choose from (i don't really care as long as they are balanced)
- low resolution (if you are expecting a hi res game, look elsewhere)
This is my new main fighting game, at least until SFV releases.

If you have no friends and/or bad net, don't bother. Yatagarasu thrives on multiplayer experience and is nothing without it.
If you have friends and/or awesome net, maybe you'll find a in-depth fighting game that can be alot of fun to learn.
Maybe.
I wouldn't know. I have bad net.

If you like street fighter 3, then this game doesn't disappoint. It does have a parry like system but it is done by pressing a button for high and low attacks. It's a bit of a learning curve. Wished this game had gotten a sequel with better sprites. The story is kinda eh with some characters. Haven't been able to play anyone online to test the network play so that's kinda a let down, but it is fun!

I for one was pretty unimpressed by the graphics of this one. But once you read into the game's history and the direction it is going for its a great nod to the classic fighting games on yesteryear. YTG is a great and simple fighting game but always fun. Matches are at a good pace and combos are a lot easier to pull off than your SF4 FADC tight links etc. Sure the game has tight links in places but they are not really required. Netcode is amazing with the ability to adjust the input delay at the character select screen with O and P. O = decrease delay (best at lower pings), P = increase delay (smoother gameplay at higher pings). This feature alone should be in every single fighting game.
Pros:
Cheap
Simplicity of combat with a added complexity of parrying to step your game up
Good cast of characters and commentators
Netcode adjustments are pretty amazing
Cons:
For a game released in 2015 can't it at least be in 16:9 with some trim on the sides like guilty gear for instance?
Can be hard to find matches online with such a small player base (accurate to early access)
Overall UI isn't great but then you are not in the menu's for much of the game so its not game breaking