thinking about the last blade 2 (lazy grammar edition)

gahh such a good game
it's from that era of "new generation" fighting games
games like tekken 3, street fighter 3, art of fighting 3, garou mark of the wolves, and the king of fighters '99. (lotta 3s)
the last blade series is a successor to samurai shodown, adding a new deflect mechanic where at a press of a button, you go into a counter state for about a second. if anyone were to attack you during that second, you deflect their attack then are given back control to follow up with some nice hits.

the soundtrack is a bit same-y but the combined efforts of the soundtrack give it an identity like no other fighting game, featuring a heavy usage of strings, woodwinds, and a piano with plenty of delay.
the arranged album is also very good but i cannot imagine it playing during gameplay, not even in a remake. perhaps instead some ps2 era 3d fighter instead.

overall, great ass game.