What is Alice Senki 2?

The Other AliceSoft Fighting Game

For those of you who know me well or follow my work, my main fascination the past couple years has been the doujin fighter series Big Bang Beat. Well, Big Bang Beat was originally based on an eroge by the name of Daibanchou -Big Bang Age-, made byt the one and only AliceSoft. However, it was not the first fighting game based on Alicesoft properties, and not even the first AliceSoft fighting game to get a sequel. That honor goes to the Alicesoft crossover fighter, commonly referred to as Alice Senki 2.

_{Even the low tiers have sauce in this game}

From Eroge to Kusoge

For those in the doujin fighter communities, you're probably well aware of this fact, but the truth is, eroges make great fighting games. Alice Senki 2 is, for the most part completely SFW (there is a brief shot of boobs in the background of an image in the opening that has stayed up on YouTube for over a decade, but I won't tell if you don't). In addition, many character designs and powers transfer over well, whether it be Rance's slower paced sword and summon combat, Hatsune's Byakuya-like anime fighter gameplan, or Menad's, uh... being not very good, I guess. Every character feels fleshed out, and all of them have something interesting going on, and with a cast of 18 characters, it's easy to find at least one that has the kind of bullshit you like.

66L

Alice Senki 2 is, for our purposes, a full blooded anime fighter. However, jumps are generally floatier, and moves are generally slower, leading to a more methodical and grounded gameplan for most characters. However, once you start the party, the combos can get pretty ridiculous and entertaining. Something unique to Alice Senki 2's basic mechanics however, is the reliance on dash attacks. Every character has an alternate dash attack for each of their three main buttons, and the dash attacks range from overheads, to pressure resets, to launchers. In pressure and combos, dash attacks are often your main form of extensions and how you access your best combos. It can take a bit to get used to this, but once you understand dash attacks, it makes combos feel fluid and fast-paced.

The part where I talk about art or whatever

Alice Senki 2 is maybe the most PC doujin fighter-looking PC doujin fighter I have ever played. 3D prerendered backgrounds, a certain type of sprite, and the design of the meters in the game, all evoke a certain era of doujin fighters, and I honestly love it. In addition, the soundtrack is surprisingly robust, and I found myself jamming to quite a few of the songs. Demon Rance's theme in particular is a vocal theme sung by the character's voice actor and is quite fun. But who is Demon Rance? Well...

4 Secret Characters

Yeah so, there are 4 secret characters in Alice Senki 2. Or rather, the more accurate thing to say would be, there were 4 secret characters. As of the last update to the game, the devs included a completed savefile, so unlocking everything is no longer necessary. The characters however, are quite interesting. All but one of them is an EX variation on Rance, Miki, and Hanny King, and while Miki and Hanny King aren't that interesting, mostly boasting an enhanced set of moves, and a ridiculous amount of health, Demon Rance is different. This version of Rance has an airdash he didn't have before, and an entirely new set of assists with an entirely new ally. While all of the EX characters are completely broken, and turned off completely in the settings by default, the obvious care that went into making them at least slightly interesting is something I have a lot of respect for. However, you may have noticed there was one more secret character I did not mention yet, and that is Nalzgis. She is a setplay zoner with 3 (yes actually) airdashes, and setplay reminiscent of old Guilty Gear Venom and Testament. She is one of the more interesting characters in the game, and honestly deserves more written bout her, but unfortunately she runs counter to everything I am good at in fighting games, so you will just have to discover her for yourself.

_{The only image available of Nalzgis from the files}

So what's the verdict?

Alice Senki 2 feels very early doujin fighter, but there's a certain sauce, a certain flair to it, that keeps getting me to play again. An incomplete Mizuumi, a dead server, and only a few passionate fans carrying the torch, this feels like a true hidden gem in an age of fighting games where it feels like every game gets its chance. So beyond just my usual "go play this game", I want to use this as a sort of call to action. Post clips, record combos onto Mizuumi, find insane tech, do whatever you feel like, because this game deserves a community. This game deserves to be picked apart, played, joked about, whatever. Please help me keep this game alive. My articles can only do so much when it comes to fighting games, as they are such a tactile genre, so I implore you if anything about this interests you, please go try it out. Make sure you move the save file from awn10006 to the main folder, and run the game in Japanese on locale emulator, and you should have no issues. Thank you for your time, now go play Alice Senki 2 and show me what you find!

-Syrkle