Arc System Works, more known for publishing and developing games like Guilty Gear, BlazBlue and Persona 4: Arena, has a knack for releasing fast-paced, unique fighters that seem to cater to an niche crowd. FK Digital-developed Chaos Code is no different. Released in Japanese arcades back in 2011, the game has now been released on North American PS3s. So how does this quiet Taiwanese game stack up against more well-known fighters?

Chaos Code’s story takes place in a time where an unlimited energy called Chaotics. The world completely relies on this energy for everyday life. The creator and founder of this energy talks about a way to harness this energy to rule the world, and will give a reward for anyone who finds the Chaos Code. The Chaos Code is believed to be the ultimate power, and some even believe it to even grant wishes. Suddenly, the world is at war to attain this power.

Much like Guilty Gear, the game is extremely fast-paced, and most of the gameplay revolves around landing carefully-placed normal and special attacks to produce high-damaging combos. A main feature of the game is the ability to edit your special move set by selecting two of four pre-selected special moves in addition to your regular command list. You then select between two movement options, or bounces, putting a bigger focus on speed or technical play.

To further change the flow of battle, each character also has a Destruction Chaos move that eliminates half of an opponent’s life gauge if it connects, as well as an Exceed Chaos move that removes the limitations on command moves and lets everything cancel into each other. The game feels like a good blend of Guilty Gear’s heavy combo play and BlazBlue’s controlled speed. The four-button fighter lets users become more creative with their combos, and see which combination of commands and movements work best.

Unfortunately, Chaos Code packs a distinct lack of variety. Outside of the typical Story, Versus and Practice modes, the game only adds a Survival mode, and at this point, you’re limited to local play. (There are plans to patch in an online mode in the future.) The game also has translation issues. There are a lot of blatant typos, and awkward sentence structure is present throughout the game. (Again, FK plans to eventually patch all the typos and errors in a future patch.)

Chaos Code definitely isn’t for everyone. The game is easy enough for beginners to do basic combos with little effort, but it definitely caters for the hardcore crowd that loves doing long, drawn-out, complicated combos. If you’re part of that niche, you’ll definitely find something to love in this game.

Pros: Fast-paced action, interesting cast of characters
Cons: Lack of modes, overabundance of typos and translation errors