Fighting Layer EX PC version teased

Fighting EX Layer is making the dramatic leap from PS4 to PC to challenge Street Fighter once more. Lesser-known fighting devs Arika (creators of the underrated Street Fighter EX games) recently whipped up a bit of hype with this all-new game and its mostly-fresh cast, plus the surprise return of several Street Fighter EX characters. In a little teaser video posted to their YouTube channel last night, Arika let slip the existence of a Steam-bound PC version. They don’t know if it’ll be out this year, but it’ll definitely be 4k – go take a peek below.

I’ve not played Fighting EX Layer, but my brother (fighting game expert of the family) has. He reckons it’s a spiritual successor to Street Fighter EX, minus the Capcom characters. Cast-wise, the fighters are an interesting and fun bunch and it’s nice to see Street Fighter’s Skullomania back in action. Terry Bogard from Fatal Fury is also due to make a guest appearance. The game does have some ideas of its own, especially in its “Gougi” system – by picking special perk ‘decks’ with conditions for activation, you add another layer to your character’s options in a fight.

And here’s the latest trailer, fresh from the Tokyo Game Show last week.

As with Street Fighter 4, the game puts 3D character models on a 2D plane, but the feel of the combat is a little twitchier, with characters able to cover a lot of distance very quickly. Aerial attacks also move in strange physics-defying arcs. There’s something very old-school about the design of it all. The past couple years have been a bit surreal – after decades of the PC being a wasteland for fighting games, now it’s a universally shared battlefield. We’ve even got Soul Calibur (now featuring Geralt from The Witcher) headed to PC. Fighting EX Layer has some stiff competition lined up.

There’s no store page or PC release date for Fighting EX Layer yet. The game launched on PS4 back in June, albeit rather bare-bones. Unless Arika plan on rolling out DLC characters a second time (unlikely), the PC version should be a somewhat beefier package at launch.