--- title: "UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II [Sys:Celes] Review" description: "UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II [Sys:Celes] rewards dedicated players with deep, expressive combat, excellent learning tools and long-term mastery." url: "https://hermittalksgames.com/reviews/under-night-in-birth-ii-sys-celes-review" date: "2026-09-27T18:36:02+00:00" language: "en-GB" --- # UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II \[Sys:Celes\] Review: Built for Mastery ![UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II [Sys:Celes] in-game screenshot](https://hermittalksgames.com/images/Reviews/under-night-in-birth-ii-Review-HermitTalksGames.webp) ## GAME INFORMATION **Game Title:** UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II \[Sys\] **Platform Played:**PlayStation 4 **Available Platforms:**PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PC **Media Type:** Physical **Developer:**French-Bread **Publisher:**Arc System Works **Genre:**2D Fighting Game **Release Year:**2024 ## PLAY ENVIRONMENT **Playtime:**15 hours **Completion Status:**Completed all modes **Difficulty:**Default **Graphics Mode:**Default **Playthrough Type:**Standard playthrough **Game Version:**Latest Release **Controller Used:**DualShock 4 **Display Environment:**1080p Monitor ## QUICK VERDICT UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II \[Sys\] is one of the best 2D fighters available right now. It is fast, technical, stylish, and full of personality while providing the tools needed to learn and improve. The story mode can be difficult to follow for new players, and the single player content is fairly limited, but as a fighting game designed around mastery, depth, and long term play, this game is excellent. ![](https://hermittalksgames.com/images/SVGS/HERMIT-SCORE8.5.svg) --- ## PROS & CONS ## pros - Flexible and satisfying combo system - Excellent 2D sprite art - Strong training and mission tools - Fast, expressive, high-skill combat - Distinct and memorable character roster ## cons - Story is hard to understand for newcomers - Limited content outside core fighting modes - Can feel overwhelming for casual players --- ## STORY & NARRATIVE UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II \[Sys\] is not an easy game to enter from a story perspective. This is the final chapter of a long-running world, and the game very much treats it that way. It expects the player to understand terms like the Hollow Night, EXS, In-Birth, and many of the factions and character relationships that have been built up across the earlier games. For existing fans, this may feel like a continuation of something familiar. For a new player, it can feel like walking into the final episode of an anime without seeing the previous seasons. The world itself is interesting. There is clearly a lot of history behind its characters, powers, and supernatural conflicts. The idea of ordinary people being pulled into a hidden night world filled with strange abilities and dangerous beings has a strong visual novel energy, which makes sense given French-Bread’s history with Melty Blood and anime-style fighters. There is a sense that every character has their own reason for fighting, even if the game does not always make those reasons easy to understand. The problem is that UNI2 doesn't do enough to help new players catch up. A glossary, codex, relationship chart, or simple lore index would have made a big difference. Even a short summary of the previous events would have helped. Instead, the arcade stories often throw names, terms, and concepts at the player without much explanation. Because of that, the narrative is not the main reason I would recommend this game. It gives the cast flavour, but it does not always give them clarity. The character designs, voice acting, and battle animations communicate personality much better than the written story does. Still, there is charm here. The world of Under Night has a stylish, urban, supernatural atmosphere that fits the game’s fast and dramatic combat. It has the feeling of a late-night anime where everyone is hiding a secret, carrying a power, or waiting for one final battle beneath the city lights. As a story experience, it is not especially welcoming. As a mood piece for the wider fighting game, it works. ![under night in birth ii img 4 Review HermitTalksGames copy](https://hermittalksgames.com/images/Reviews/under-night-in-birth-ii-img-4-Review-HermitTalksGames_copy.webp) --- ## GAMEPLAY & SYSTEMS The gameplay is where UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II \[Sys\] becomes special. At its core, UNI2 is a four-button 2D fighter. It uses light, medium, and heavy attacks, along with the EXS Action button. That fourth button is not just a simple extra attack. It is tied to several important mechanics, including movement, shielding, meter control, and resource management. This gives the game a lot of depth without making the basic control layout feel too crowded. What stands out immediately is how free the combo system feels. Many fighting games follow a clear structure where light attacks lead into medium attacks, medium attacks lead into heavy attacks, and the player slowly learns the correct route. UNI2 is much looser than that. You can often move from heavy attacks into light attacks, convert small hits into strong damage, and build combos from situations that would feel limited in other games. This gives the game a very satisfying sense of freedom. Even when you are not playing optimally, you feel like you can make things happen. A small poke can become a proper combo. A stray hit can become pressure. A simple opening can become meaningful damage. For casual play, this makes the game feel expressive and fun. You can pick a character, learn a few basic ideas, and still feel like you are doing something cool. However, this freedom should not be mistaken for simplicity. UNI2 is fast. Very fast. Characters move quickly, attacks come out sharply, and pressure can feel intense. Some characters can zone you out from far away. Others can rush you down before you feel ready. Some mixups are hard to see, and some offensive sequences can make you feel trapped if you do not understand the system. This is a game that rewards knowledge. You need to learn when to block, when to shield, when to challenge, when to stay still, when to take space, and when to accept that your turn is not coming yet. At a casual level, you can enjoy the freedom of the controls. At a serious level, you need to study. The most important system in UNI2 is the GRD system. GRD is a tug-of-war-style resource battle that runs underneath the main fight. At the bottom of the screen, each player has a set of diamond-shaped blocks. These fill or empty depending on what you are doing. Moving forward, attacking, blocking well, shielding, and charging can help you gain GRD. Moving backwards, getting hit, or having your attacks blocked by shield can cause you to lose it. After a short cycle, the player with more GRD enters Vorpal State. This gives a damage boost and unlocks Chain Shift, a powerful technique that lets you cancel recovery and convert GRD into EXS meter. It is a strange system at first, but once it starts to make sense, it becomes one of the smartest parts of the game. The GRD system changes how you think about fighting. It encourages aggression, but it also rewards strong defense. It makes movement matter. It makes blocking matter. It makes every small action feel connected to a larger battle for control. You are not only trying to hit the opponent. You are also trying to win the hidden rhythm underneath the match. This is what gives UNI2 its identity. The game is not just fast for the sake of being fast. It is built around constant pressure, decision-making, and resource tension. A good player is not only looking at health and meter. They are also watching GRD, the cycle timer, spacing, and momentum. It is complicated, but it is also brilliant. ![under night in birth ii img 3 Review HermitTalksGames copy](https://hermittalksgames.com/images/Reviews/under-night-in-birth-ii-img-3-Review-HermitTalksGames_copy.webp) ## WORLD DESIGN As a traditional fighting game, UNI2 does not have world design in the same way an RPG or action-adventure game does. Instead, its world is expressed through stages, character design, terminology, music, and atmosphere. The game has a strong urban fantasy identity. It feels like a modern city twisted into something hidden and dangerous. The stages often carry that late-night anime feeling, where empty streets, glowing skies, and dramatic backdrops suggest a world that normal people cannot see. The setting is stylish, but not always clear. The world has depth, but that depth is not always communicated well to new players. You can feel that the lore is large. You can feel that the characters belong to a bigger structure. But unless you already understand Under Night, many of the details pass by without landing. Even so, the world supports the fighting well. The atmosphere gives the game a distinct tone. It does not feel like a generic anime fighter. It has its own mood, its own language, and its own strange supernatural edge. ![under night in birth ii img 2 Review HermitTalksGames copy](https://hermittalksgames.com/images/Reviews/under-night-in-birth-ii-img-2-Review-HermitTalksGames_copy.webp) ## VISUAL DESIGN Visually, UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II \[Sys\] is beautiful. Modern fighting games often use 3D models to create a 2D look, and many of them do it extremely well. Arc System Works in particular has set a very high standard with games like Guilty Gear Strive and Dragon Ball FighterZ. Even so, there is still something special about detailed 2D sprite art, and UNI2 is a reminder of why that style still matters. The characters look fantastic. Every fighter has a strong silhouette, clear personality, and expressive animation. Minerva has wild movement and flowing energy. Seth is sharp, fast, and dangerous. Waldstein’s massive arms are almost absurd, but in a way that gives him instant presence. Linne moves with such speed and precision that she immediately communicates her rushdown identity before you even understand her full toolkit. The roster has 24 base characters, with additional DLC characters expanding it further. More importantly, the characters do not feel like slight variations of the same idea. They all have their own rhythm. Some are fast and aggressive. Some control space. Some are strange, technical, or hard to read. This makes the game exciting to watch and rewarding to learn. The visual clarity is also strong, especially considering how fast the game can be. Attacks are flashy without becoming unreadable most of the time. Supers are dramatic, movement is sharp, and character animations carry a lot of impact. The game does not have the huge cinematic budget of some larger fighting games, but it does not need it. Its beauty comes from craft. It feels handmade, precise, and full of character. ![under night in birth ii img 1 Review HermitTalksGames copy](https://hermittalksgames.com/images/Reviews/under-night-in-birth-ii-img-1-Review-HermitTalksGames_copy.webp) ## SOUND & MUSIC The sound design in UNI2 supports the pace of the fighting well. Hits feel sharp, movement has energy, and the voice work gives each character a strong identity. The Japanese voice acting fits the anime style naturally, giving battles a dramatic and sometimes theatrical feeling. The music matches the game’s urban fantasy tone. It has energy without feeling messy, and it gives matches a strong sense of momentum. It is not always the first part of the game I think about, but it works well in the background and helps maintain the atmosphere. The audio presentation is clean, stylish, and fitting. It does exactly what it needs to do for a fast 2D fighter. ## PERFORMANCE UNI2 performs well and feels responsive. For a fighting game, this is one of the most important things. Inputs need to feel immediate, matches need to run smoothly, and online play needs to be stable enough for serious practice. The game’s rollback netcode is a major strength. Online play feels much more reliable than older delay-based fighting game experiences, and that makes UNI2 far easier to keep in regular rotation. A fighting game lives or dies by whether people can keep playing it, and good netcode helps give the game a longer life. The menus and core modes are straightforward. Training mode, mission mode, arcade, online play, and replay functions are all easy enough to access. The presentation is not as luxurious as bigger-budget fighters, but it is functional and efficient. For a game aimed at players who want to learn, practice, and improve, that matters more than spectacle. ## DIFFICULTY Difficulty Rating **7 / 10** UNI2 is a difficult game, but not in a careless way. The basic controls are not hard to understand. You can press buttons, chain attacks together, and enjoy arcade mode without needing to master everything. The flexible combo system makes casual play more welcoming than the game first appears. The difficulty comes from everything underneath that surface. The speed is demanding. The defensive choices are demanding. The GRD system is demanding. Matchup knowledge is demanding. Learning when to shield, when to challenge, when to respect pressure, and when to take space takes time. The game also has a lot of character-specific situations where you may not understand what happened until you watch the replay and study it. For casual players, this can feel like homework. For fighting game fans, it is part of the appeal. What helps is the quality of the teaching tools. Mission mode gives each character practical routes and examples. It does not just teach one basic combo and leave you alone. It gives you low starters, overhead routes, anti-air conversions, corner combos, stronger versions of earlier routes, and advanced techniques involving Chain Shift and supers. This is exactly what a modern fighting game should do. It gives players a path. It does not make the game easy, but it gives you the tools to improve. Replay Takeover is another excellent feature. Being able to take control during a replay and test different answers to a situation is incredibly useful. If you were trapped by pressure in a match, you can go back and test whether you could have shielded, used an invincible reversal, moved differently, or interrupted at a specific moment. For serious players, this is one of the best learning tools a fighting game can offer. ## REPLAY VALUE The replay value depends heavily on what kind of player you are. If you mainly play fighting games for story modes, unlockables, single-player content, or casual arcade runs, UNI2 may not hold your attention for a long time. There is content here, but not a huge amount outside the central fighting systems. The story is not very beginner-friendly, and the arcade mode is not strong enough by itself to carry the whole experience. If you enjoy learning fighting games properly, the replay value is excellent. The roster is varied, the systems are deep, online play is strong, and the training tools encourage long-term improvement. Learning one character properly can take a long time. Learning multiple matchups can take even longer. The GRD system also means that there is always another layer to understand. This is a game built for people who enjoy mastery. It rewards patience. It rewards repetition. It rewards players who are willing to lose, watch replays, test answers, and return with a better understanding. In that sense, UNI2 has very strong long-term value. ## RECOMMENDED FOR Recommended for: - Players who love 2D fighting games - Fans of anime fighters - Players who enjoy fast, technical combat - Players who enjoy mastering complex systems - People who like deep training modes Not recommended for: - Newcomers who dislike learning systems - People who want a simple story mode - Anyone looking for a slower, more grounded fighter ## PERSONAL EXPERIENCE What I enjoyed most about UNI2 was how quickly it made me feel like I could express myself. I tend to enjoy rushdown characters, so Linne was the first character I naturally gravitated toward. What surprised me was just how fast she actually is. Her movement speed lets her close distance almost instantly, and even with a simple strike and throw gameplan, she feels exciting to play. At first, I did not need to understand every advanced system to have fun. I could look for small openings, get in, apply pressure, and feel the speed of the game. That is one of UNI2’s biggest strengths. It has a high ceiling, but it does not feel lifeless at a basic level. Even simple play can feel sharp and stylish. Over time, though, the game makes it clear that simple play is not enough. Eventually, you need to learn proper routes. You need to understand how your character opens people up. You need to learn how to deal with zoning, pressure, shields, GRD cycles, and matchups that feel impossible at first. That is where the game becomes more serious. It asks for study, but it gives back a lot in return. The mission mode helped a lot because it gave structure to that learning process. Instead of searching outside the game for everything, I could see practical combo routes, understand what situations they were for, and slowly build a better idea of how a character is supposed to function. Replay Takeover also feels like a feature every serious fighting game should have. Losing a match is one thing. Being able to go back, take control, and test what you could have done differently turns that loss into useful information. It makes improvement feel more direct. For me, UNI2 is not a game I would play just once and leave behind. It feels like a game to keep installed, return to, and slowly understand over time. ## FINAL VERDICT UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II \[Sys\] is a brilliant 2D fighting game. It is stylish, fast, expressive, and deeply rewarding. The combat system feels free at a basic level, but full of depth once you begin to understand GRD, Vorpal, Chain Shift, shielding, meter, and matchup control. It is the kind of fighter that gives you immediate excitement, then slowly reveals just how much more there is to learn. Its biggest weakness is accessibility outside the fighting itself. The story is difficult to follow for newcomers, and the game does not do enough to explain its world, terminology, or previous events. Its single-player content is also limited compared to larger fighting games. If you are not interested in training mode, online matches, replay study, or long-term improvement, there may not be enough here to keep you invested. But for players who love 2D fighters, UNI2 is excellent. It has a strong roster, beautiful sprite art, deep mechanics, great teaching tools, rollback netcode, and Replay Takeover. It respects players who want to improve. It gives them the tools to study. It rewards patience, discipline, and repeated practice. UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II \[Sys\] is not the easiest fighting game to enter, but it is one of the most satisfying to grow with. --- Details Written by: Joshua Hawkins Published: 29 May 2026 Hits: 53 ## Schema ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://hermittalksgames.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Reviews", "item": "https://hermittalksgames.com/reviews" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II [Sys:Celes] Review: Built for Mastery", "item": "https://hermittalksgames.com/reviews/under-night-in-birth-ii-sys-celes-review" } ] } ``` ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://hermittalksgames.com/reviews/under-night-in-birth-ii-sys-celes-review" }, "headline": "UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II [Sys:Celes] Review: Built for Mastery", "description": "UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II [Sys:Celes] rewards dedicated players with deep, expressive combat, excellent learning tools and long-term mastery.", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://hermittalksgames.com/images/Reviews/under-night-in-birth-ii-Review-HermitTalksGames.webp" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Hermit Talks Games" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joshua Hawkins", "url": "https://hermittalksgames.com" }, "datePublished": "2026-05-29T01:06:08+01:00", "dateCreated": "2026-05-29T01:06:08+01:00", "dateModified": "2026-09-23T14:56:01+01:00" } ```