With every fighting game that releases, there’s always some sort of attempt to bring something new to the genre. Some failed to innovate, while others pushed fighting games to a level like never before. Releasing this year, The Hidden Ones is the latest arena fighter that takes a different, yet interesting approach to the arena fighter sub-genre. In fact, The Hidden Ones recently had a Pre-Alpha Test that left quite a few impressions on me. There’s a lot to talk about from this test, so for any readers interested in experiencing the full game, be sure to read this write-up of the Pre-Alpha Test below!
Surprisingly Solid Story Mode Experience
For those unaware, The Hidden Ones is a video game adaptation of a Chinese comic and anime called Hitori no Shita: The Outcast. While I won’t delve too much into the story, it is very interesting and exciting! After all, the plot does revolve around secret organizations and powerful fighters in a dangerous world of martial arts and mysticism, so you’ll always be left on the edge of your seat.
Of course, this is a fighting game, so you’ll encounter many fights within the story mode. However, fighting won’t be the only thing you’ll do, as this story mode adds a bit more flare to the experience. There are cinematic boss battles, quick-time event scenarios, stealth missions, and much more. You also have a lot of moments where you can walk around and talk to nearby NPCs. It isn’t an open-world story mode, but the linearity allows the plot to progress smoothly, and you never feel like your time is wasted.
Additionally, The Hidden Ones’ characters are great, each with distinct qualities and personalities. Not even an hour into the story mode, and I already fell in love with multiple characters. There’s a point in the story where a big moment happens for a character, and it made me quite emotional. Furthermore, the English voice acting is stellar, and it feels like the voice actors put a lot of passion into their roles. I’m super glad that the developers put effort into this story mode, and I look forward to seeing how it all plays out in the final release.
Addicting Combat, But Could Use Some Work
As stated previously, The Hidden Ones is an arena fighter similar to the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm games. This fighting game sub-genre uses 3D movement with auto-lock mechanics, has large stages, and is often based on anime properties. These games are usually very simplified so that fans of the anime property can jump right in and have a fun time. Naturally, this is the same case for The Hidden Ones, but this game has a surprising amount of depth!
This game can be played with a keyboard, gamepad, Hitbox, and Arcade Stick. It’s also playable on iOS and Android for those who like fighting games on the go. Before getting into battle, the player must pick three characters and up to three assists. The Hidden Ones is essentially a 3v3 game where you can use assist characters like in Marvel vs Capcom or Dragon Ball FighterZ, but your main three characters can’t be switched out during the fight. When a character gets defeated, the opponent’s health bar increases a bit, and your next character will come out to fight. For any King of Fighters players reading this, it functions the same way as those games.
Explaining The Mechanics
Every character in this game has powerful tools in their arsenal, so let me give a quick review of them. Basic attacks are your auto-combos that don’t have variance like the Naruto Storm games where there are different directional ones. But you can extend your combos to do more damage by doing the “Cancel” mechanic and implementing your special moves within them. Don’t like getting combo’d by your opponent? You can just use the “Break Away” mechanic that breaks you out of the opponent’s combo and puts you in a safer position. Get enough meter and you can also do your mighty ultimate attack! You can also use “Break Away” to escape ultimates if the opponent tries to do it within their combo. But be aware that your special moves and “Break Away” have a cooldown timer, so don’t waste them!
How the Game Is Played
In the neutral game and in okizime situations, you’ll generally see players use special moves, basic attacks, and the block button. Thankfully, all these options can be beaten if you predict the opponent’s next move with the correct answer. For example, special moves will always overpower basic attacks, so if you fight against someone who always uses basic attacks, it’s a good idea to use special moves more. If you fight against someone who uses a lot of special moves, the block button will parry and punish their special move. However, unlike in most fighting games, blocking will not beat basic attacks in this game. When a basic attack makes contact with a block, it will automatically turn into a grab. So yes, basic attacks do defeat blocking in The Hidden Ones.
This causes the game to be more neutral-focused, as players are a bit more cautious about getting too close to their opponents. For me personally, this makes the game very addicting. Just like in every other fighting game, you’re trying to condition the opponent and make them predictable so that you can exploit them in the coolest way possible. The Hidden Ones has a powerful combo system and fair mechanics, making this strategy very effective. What makes the game even more tense is that you have five stamina stocks that the dash button, “Break Away” mechanic, and the combo “Cancel” mechanic use. No matter what, you should always think before you use your tools in this game.
The Hidden Ones Pre-Alpha Test Impressions – Constructive Criticisms From Me
Overall, I respect the developers’ vision of how they want this game to be played. As stated previously, the game seems more neutral-focused while also explosive on offense. Because you’ll see a lot of players using their special moves and the “Break Away” mechanic, I do think that the game should allow us to see the opponent’s cooldowns. It would be nice to know when the opponent has something available so that you can make well-informed decisions. Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising does this perfectly, so I don’t see why The Hidden Ones can’t do the same.
I also have an issue with how you progress in the story mode. Once you finish a story chapter, you’ll be told to complete certain tasks within the game before unlocking the next chapter. This involves doing daily missions, similar to how gacha games function. This practice is also the same way Dissidia Final Fantasy NT did their story mode, which I’m not a fan of. Some people just want to sit back and comfortably enjoy the story mode without any sort of interruptions like that. I hope the developers reconsider this approach to the design of the story progression.
Regardless, The Hidden Ones has a lot more strengths than weaknesses. For a free-to-play title, this is honestly pretty fascinating! I look forward to seeing what the final release looks like and if the developers will make any drastic changes. Just know this: it’s a good time to be an arena fighter fan.
Thank you for reading our impressions of the recent The Hidden Ones Pre-Alpha Test! Please look forward to more fighting game content here at Final Weapon!
