Fighting EX Layer: 5 Quick Facts You Should Know

Regular readers of our little site of wonders will know that your boy is a big fan of the old fighting games, even if I’m not very good at them. Whether it’s constantly being pounded online on Third Strike or constantly badgering SEGA to make a new Virtua Fighter game, fighting games are never far from my mind.

One such game that has captured my attention since it was announced last year is Fighting EX Layer, which launches on PS4 next week. If you don’t know anything about the legendary pedigree of this game, or what the final product will look like, here are some quick facts you should know about.

 

1. The Premise

Fighting EX Layer is a 2D fighting game developed by ARIKA, who are perhaps most famous for their Street Fighter EX series. Fighting EX Layer is a spiritual successor to that series, with the same six button layout of the Street Fighter games, along with features like Delayed Hyper Combos that allow you to chain special moves together.

 

2. The Release Date

Fighting EX Layer will be launching on PS4 on June 28th in “dozens of regions”, including Japan, the UK and the US. If you’re looking to get some practice in with some of the characters, you better clear your schedule for next weekend. Or don’t. Maybe you’re just some fighting game god who can learn any game instantly.

 

The Roster

At the time of launch, the base roster will consist of 12 characters, 13 if you buy a specific edition of the game, which we’ll get into in a bit. The roster includes:

Allen Snider
Blair Dame
Darun Mister
Doctrine Dark
Garuda
Hayate
Hokuto (DLC)
Cracker Jack
Kairi
Sanane
Shadowgeist
Shirase
Skullomania

If you’re wondering how DLC character Hokuto will factor into things, keep reading.

 

The Editions

At launch, Fighting EX Layer will feature two editions: Standard and Light. The Light edition of the game will include the base 12 characters along with 5 Gougi decks, while the Standard edition will feature the 12 characters plus Hokuto and an additional 10 Gougi decks. The difference between the two editions is about $20 ($39.99 for the Light, $59.99 for the Standard), which seems like a lot for just an extra character and 10 extra Gougi, but they could add an extra level of strategy unseen in other fighting games.

 

The Gougi System

The Gougi system is unique to Fighting EX Layer, though kind of similar to the Gems system in the often maligned Street Fighter X Tekken. Before a fight, players pick from a set of Gougi decks which give you extra buffs during the fight depending on what you do. A feat like landing 10 special attacks will grant you extra damage, and so on.

The trick with the Gougi system is finding a deck that matches up with the game plan of your character. For instance, the grapples of Darun Mister mesh well with the Juggernaut Gougi deck, which can grant the user super armour, allowing you to get in on your opponent to do massive damage.