Skullgirls 2nd Encore Review

Skullgirls 2nd Encore is set in a fictional world called Canopy Kingdom; a country reminiscent of 1940s post-war America. In a time where corruption is king, several individuals and organisations are on the hunt for the Skull Heart artifact; a special artifact that grants one wish to a woman. Unfortunately, if a woman with an impure soul tries to acquire and use the device, her wish will be corrupted and becomes a Skullgirl. Seven years after the Grand War, three nations have launched a war against the newly transformed Skullgirl, Marie. The game’s story mode tells each character’s motive to obtain the artifact.

Skullgirls 2nd Encore is a 2D fighter with a control scheme akin to Capcom’s flagship Street Fighter series where you can attack using Low, Medium and Hard Punch and Kick and create combos to earn your way to victory. Additionally, each character has their unique design and attacks and special moves are also pulled off using the same scheme as the SF series where you need to do quarter circle forward or backward mixed with a punch or kick buttons. You get the idea. And obviously, as you’d expect, depending on the type of attack, (low, med or hard) the result in damage will vary.

Unlike 3D fighters such as Tekken or Soul Calibur or even the abysmal Easy/auto control scheme from Street Fighter VI, button mashing will get you nowhere meaning players will need to buckle down and do a bit of practice in order to master your character(s)’s moveset and combos. Another little quirk which reinforces the requirement for practice is that characters do feel a bit stiff and as if they wear cement boots. It’s definitely not a fun killer, but it does require a bit of adjusting to.

The game’s arcade mode does have a bit of a twist. Instead of a traditional one-on-one or two-on-two, you can choose up to three characters but their attributes will change accordingly. If you pick one character, your fighter will be able to sustain more damage because the A.I. will either have one, two or three characters. So to be fair, your single character will have about the same amount of defense as three. You can also call upon one of the characters as support for additional damage. Once you’re done with the story, you can play against friends or CPU, hone your skills in Tutorial or try your luck at Survival mode.

Skullgirls 2nd Encore also features a unique presentation visual style akin to Cuphead and Bioshock, atmospherically speaking. It looks great in its 16-bit aesthetic with a 40-50s era visual ambiance. The cutscenes are beautifully drawn and told like a comic book storyboard where you have to read the various interactions between characters. The loading screens are peppered with black and white hand drawn characters. The game’s soundtrack feature a big band 50s sound; it’s a nice touch and change from the traditional hard rock tracks found in most fighters. Unfortunately, there are no voiceovers. A missed opportunity to bring the characters to life during cutscenes.

The game’s biggest issue is the balancing. Given I hadn’t played this game in quite sometime (played the Switch version a few years back), I decided to jump in on Easy just to get re-acclimated with the feels and controls of game and dear god, the first enemy combo’ed me instantly without any chance. I had to double check because I thought it was on Hard. And no, it was on Easy. So the games does feel unbalanced a bit. Again. Practice is a must.

Skullgirls 2nd Encore is a great entry in the fighting and perfect for both casual and hardcore fighting fans alike. While longtime fans of the genre will want to deep dive into its combos and intricacies, newcomers looking for something new will need a bit of practice to get acclimated to the mechanics. Despite its steep learning curve, the gameplay is addictive and rewarding and its unique cast of characters make it stand out. Don’t miss this one.