This guide was initially written for the Kumite Community discord.
So if you're reading this I'm already assuming that yes, you DO want to play The Last Blade 2 video game, possibly with your friends, or even your family if your family is cooler than mine. I should put the disclaimer that I am by no means a comprehensive resource on this game, or any other game for that matter, as I am-quite frankly-not particularly good at this game. With that said, if you've just decided to look into this game, or have played it a little but had trouble understanding certain aspects of the gameplay, this post should hopefully help you out. The goal of this guide is give you some background on the game, its mechanics, and its characters, and hopefully make it a little easier to get started. So with that all taken care of, it's time to get on with the useful information! If you're still reading this paragraph and haven't already skimmed down to find the info you were looking for, hi, thanks for the attention!
What is The Last Blade 2?
Last Blade 2 is a fighting game developed by SNK, who you would probably know better as the developer of King of Fighters, Fatal Fury, Samurai Shodown, or Metal Slug. In their heyday, before going bankrupt uh, a lot, SNK made a lot of more niche fighting games, and Last Blade 2 probably falls into that category, as it's far from one of their flagship franchises. It released in 1998, which was in the midst of a very good run of games from SNK, and they seem to have recognized that it was one of their better efforts, as they've subsequently re-released it on Steam and added rollback netcode (if you are new to fighting games: that's a good thing). It's playstyle would probably best be described as falling somewhere between Garou: Mark of Wolves and Samurai Shodown. If that's not a helpful frame of reference, think Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike but with more emphasis on footsies and defense.
Where can I get The Last Blade 2?
There's two main ways you can play this game. It received a PC port from Code Mystics and is therefore available on Steam and most other online storefronts. I think it's full price is around 15 dollars and it often goes on sale. I like this game a lot, so I'm a biased shill and would recommend buying it to demonstrate your support for rollback-enabled fighting games. Also it's fun, and worth the money in my opinion.
If you don't want to spend the cash, or don't have the cash, or have elected to conscientiously object from participation in a capitalist system, that's okay too! The game is also on Fightcade! There's a few different versions floating around, so I can't give you particularly specific advice on this, but if you find a directory of games for Fightcade and download the relevant files, you should be able to set it up pretty simply.
Basic Mechanics
Last Blade 2 is a four button fighter, SNK tends to make games with four buttons, though they will often have different mechanical aspects associated with one of those buttons. In Last Blade 2 the four buttons are: Weak Slash (WS/A), Strong Slash (SS/B), Kick (K/C), and Repel (R)/Deflect (D). That last one might stick out as a bit strange but don't worry I'll get into detail in a second.
Like most fighting games, Last Blade 2 uses inputs in combination with button presses to execute special moves. For the most part these inputs are going to be pretty familiar, but some of them may appear intimidating at first glance. This is normal SNK is like this, they just do this and they usually have a pretty forgiving buffer in terms of allowing you to get some inputs a little wrong. If you're really stuck on an input you may be able to still hit it by doing the inputs slower.
Anyway, back to buttons. As you may have gathered from the names, only three of the buttons are attack buttons, those being Weak Slash, Strong Slash, and Kick, these are all pretty self-explanatory in nature but I think it's important to note that Kicks are faster and safer than Weak Slashes, but will generally do less damage. This makes sense because your foot will usually have zero blades on it whereas your sword will usually have at least one blade. Getting blocked on a strong slash, or even a weak slash can put you at risk for taking some real damage.
The Repel/Deflect (R/D) button is a bit more distinct. As the name implies, this is a defensive button. If you time it correctly, by hitting R/D you can parry an opponent's attack, generally leaving them stunned and allowing you to hit a counterattack either by hitting repel again or by activating a super or special. In this game, you can even use repel on Super moves, though usually only after the first hit (meaning you'd block the first hit, then hit repel and deflect one of the subsequent ones, though doing so will generally require you to have meter to spend on doing it. Repel also uses certain directional inputs, namely hitting Down + Repel to parry a low attack and Forward + Repel to parry a projectile. Neutral parry covers everything else. You should also note that attempting to Parry will leave you vulnerable afterwards if you do it at the wrong time, so until you get the timing down, you probably want to focus on blocking instead.
Additionally, hitting Repel when landing after getting hit allows you to land on your feet.
Segueing back over to the other buttons, it should be noted that a few button combinations have specific effects. Namely overheads/unblockables and grabs. To execute a grab you simply hit Kick and Repel at the same time, this will usually be denoted as C+D or K+R. Grabs are generally pretty short range and punishable if you miss them, but will hit a guarding or repelling opponent.
Overheads and unblockables are bit more involved. They're dependent on whether you've selected Power or Speed at the start of the match (more on that later). If you're in Speed mode, hitting B+C or SS+K will activate a short little hopping move that will hit overhead, meaning it beats an opponent who is crouch-blocking. Usually overheads are restricted to special moves or jumping moves, so this allows you to mix them into your standing offense more easily. Unblockables, which you use by hitting B+C/SS+K while in Power mode are more obvious, they're a move that you charge up (you can charge it further by holding down the buttons) that will usually take you a considerable distance across the screen and hit through an opponent's guard. These are very risky if you miss and if you try to charge them at the wrong time your opponent can just walk over and hit you and you will feel silly. If you are able to charge them, however, it will usually force your opponent to try to guess when you'll release your attack, which can put them in a bit of a predicament.
Pursuit Attacks
Pursuit attacks are basically follow-up attacks you can do after knocking an opponent away, they let you stay close and hit a move on the ground if the opponent doesn't recover fast enough. The safety of these moves is variable, some characters will back up after a pursuit attack (Mukuro can use these to jump on a downed opponent and then jump back away because he is a zoner and also a coward).
To activate a pursuit attack: Near a downed opponent
SS/B or K/C OR 
+ SS/B or K/C.Okay I've mentioned it a few times now, so let's get into the modes, I'm going to be pulling heavily from ArcadeQuarterMaster's write up on this. In general AQM is a better resource for a lot this game's mechanics than I've put here. BUT: I'm very cute and put time into this so.
Power Mode
- Normal and special attacks inflict more damage.
- All blocked attacks will inflict guard damage.
- Chain combos are impossible.
- Pressing BC will execute a devastating power attack.
- Moves in red can be cancelled into a Super Move.
- Combo Specials are impossible.
- With a full gauge or flashing low health, Desperation Moves are possible. With a full gauge AND flashing low health, Desperation Moves can be done infinitely without expending your meter.
- With a full gauge and flashing low health, Super Desperation Moves are possible.
Speed Mode
- Normal moves can be linked and cancelled to specials.
- Normal and special attacks inflict less damage.
- All blocked attacks do not inflict guard damage.
- Pressing BC will execute a swift overhead attack.
- Certain moves can be cancelled into a Super Move.
- Desperation and Super Desperation moves are impossible.
- Combo Specials are available with a full gauge.
- Hitting A -> B -> C will chain a simple combo that basically any character can do.
EX Mode
Surprise there's one more mode called EX mode! Bet you weren't expecting that. It gets a little bit of both Speed and Power, and is probably the one you'd pick in order to flex the hardest.
- Attack power is between Speed and Power types.
- Damage intake is higher.
- Rate of charging the gauge is slower.
- Chain combos are impossible.
- All blocked attacks do not inflict guard damage.
- Pressing BC will execute a swift overhead attack.
- Certain moves can be cancelled into a Super Move.
- With a full gauge or flashing low health, Desperation Moves are possible.
- Combo Specials are available with a full gauge.
The Gauge
Last Blade 2 uses a meter/gauge that's pretty similar to those you'd find in most games. It's one bar, and when filled up gives access to your special moves (in Power/EX mode) or your speed combo attack (in Speed/EX mode). However! The meter can also be spent on a number of cancel mechanics that I'll go into now. These are all potentially very useful and I'll explain them now. These are generally going to be a little more complicated than using the meter for a special move or combo, so these are probably not something to attempt intentionally until you're more comfortable with the rest of the mechanics.
There are two cancels activated using a full gauge: Guard Cancel and Super Cancel. You might have an inkling as to what these entail from the names, and you'd probably be correct.
A guard cancel expends your meter to perform a more powerful version of the parry you'd normally activate with R/D. In this case, not only do you avoid taking damage, the parry itself deals damage and leaves your opponent vulnerable to a follow-up attack from you. This cancel is available Power, Speed, and EX types, so it represents a universal defensive option in the event that you're getting overwhelmed by an opponent.
A super cancel, in contrast, can only be used in Power type, and it's actually pretty straightforward. Super cancelling is just the act of inputting and initiating a super before the end of one of your special moves. Think of it as like, a stronger method of hit confirming that is only available in Power type.
I think that covers most of what you'd need to know with the types and the meter mechanics of the game. I'm not going to go into any sort of combo stuff with this because, as mentioned, I'm not good at this game, and if you want combo guides, you're probably already passing me in this game and making me feel insecure in my abilities; you brute!
THE ROSTER
This is the most fun part of the post! That's why I put it in big letters. I'm not going to be going in-depth with their movelists or posting a full tier list, but I will break down what each character does and is good/bad at. Some are good at more things than others. I'll also post the methods for accessing the Secret Characters, so you should stick around.
Kaede
Kaede is the protagonist. He used to have dark hair but now he has awakened and gone super saiyan. Or something. As with most protagonists of the era, he's a shoto with most of his inputs focusing on quarter circles. He's a balanced, straightforward character with decent pokes, and capabilities in most situations. He even has a command grab! Admittedly this game will have more command grabs than you think because SNK tends to avoid having characters fit entirely into one archetypical fighting style. Anyway, Kaede is a fun, accessible option, but he's not getting ANY pussy, so...
Moriya Minakata
Moriya is the rival of the game, and as you'd expect-just kidding he doesn't play like Kaede, SNK for the most part doesn't have a the protagonist's rival play anything like him. Instead Moriya is a mid-ranged zoner with great movement tools. He has a teleport that is safer than it probably should be, and that makes it very hard for his opponent to actually stay on the attack. He's also kind of a dork. If Kaede is Goku Uzumaki, this is Vegeta Uchiha and he acts like it.
Yuki
Whoops! Yuki is one of the more important characters in the game, at least lore-wise, as she's the only person able to stop the Magical Bad Thing that's happening by sacrificing herself to do so. Perhaps as a nod to this, her primary gameplay loop is dying over and over again. She has access to a pretty shoto-esque set of tools with a fireball, uppercut, and rushdown move, but they're all among the slowest such moves in the game, which makes it difficult to safely use any of them. A lot of her non-kicking buttons are also slow, and despite carrying a long stick with a knife of the end of it, she doesn't possess particularly good range with it. You can still use her and have success with her, but very often it'll be handicapping yourself somewhat to pick her, as no matter what type you pick, she'll probably feel like she's missing a tool of some sort. Her special move is also incredibly finicky and is mostly just going to put your opponent on the other side of the screen, which would be better if she was an actual zoner. With all that said, she still has viable combos and you can have success with her, it's just harder. Pick Yuki if you wanted Rock Lee to put the weights back on during his fight with Gaara.
Setsuna
This dude is edgy. He is, for the most part a fairly standard character, he doesn't have projectiles but has specials that can close the gap on opponents and hitboxes that can take up more of the screen than you'd think they do. Apart from being evil, his main trait is that he has an install mechanic. He has both a special and super form of his install. The one that doesn't use meter imbues his blade with electricity, giving him armor and a boost to his damage; it also gives him access to a new special move in this state. The super version gives him 3 seconds of invulnerability as part of 10 seconds of increased armor in addition to a a different super. In this state, the only offensive option you'd have against him is to land a throw, as he's not immune to them and it takes him out of his powered-up state. A good Setsuna can feel pretty overwhelming due to his strong buttons and access to some relentless specials.
Akari Ichijo
Akari is a li'l freak. Ostensibly she's a zoner, she has TWO fireballs, and a fascinating mobility move in which she vanishes off-screen and then a zombie spits her out in a specific direction based on what button she used to activate the move. She can then roll around like a little weirdo in a ball after being spit out. She also has a command grab. She's genuinely a fun and strong character and if you like Faust, you'll probably like Akari. Oh also she can deal 1 tick of damage with her taunt, which is unblockable, and if you win with it, that's pretty baller. She also has a move where she can transform into her opponent and will have their moveset until hit. This is not as strong as it sounds for the most part since it usually means giving her less mobility and range, but it IS weird and fun.
Juzoh Kanzaki
It's Akari's adoptive brother! Or something like that. He's a big boy and he hits like a big boy. His supers do a lot of damage, which is pretty par for the course for him. He's a big risk-reward guy built on mixups and punishing rather than stringing together long combos or pressure strings. He does have command grabs and a fun move where he runs across the screen huffin' and puffin' his way over, which is also his mixup starter. Fun fella this guy.
Hibiki Takane
This is probably the most popular character from The Last Blade franchise. She's also got a very cool mechanic with her arcade mode where her personality will shift based on whether you're "killing" your opponents (winning with the last hit being a sword slash as opposed to anything else). Other than that she's got a fun mix of a counter throw, rush down options, and poking. She uses her sword less than most of the sword users in the game, usually the Strong Slash will whip the blade out, doing a lot of damage but having a long recovery afterwards because she puts the sword away afterwards. She's a lot of fun, and challenges you to play defensively and punish the opponent.
Hyo Amano
This horny motherfucker! He has a curious playstyle that's kind of focused on getting in and out. Wink. He has mostly decent normals and a rekka-type thing that you can activate by simply mashing, he just swings that thing around. He's not really a mechanically complicated character but a lot of his rhythms and patterns can feel like trying to clap the off-beat of a song. The fact that his supers are projectiles while his specials and normals are more based on mix-ups and rushing can make him feel a bit tricky. This does mean he can keep an opponent off-balance, you just need to make sure they're more off-balance than you are. His arcade mode ending actually includes a cool thing where it branches based on what gender you identify as, which is neat, but ultimately kinda just boils down to whether he will flirt with the player or not.
Keiichiro Washizuka
Do you like shotos? Do you think maybe shotos would be more fun if instead of a hurricane kick type maneuver they simply ran across the screen with a sword and stabbed a dude? Well that's this guy. He also has a charging mixup in that you can finish charging with either a high, low, or medium attack. He's also uh, old? Stern? I'm not gonna lie this dude is fun to play but he's probably the least interesting personality in the game. Sorry Keiichiro Washizuka, at least your name is cool.
Kojiroh Sanada
What if Keiichiro Washizuka was a butch girl? Well that would be an improvement. Kojiroh Sanada is conceptually designed to fill the same role on the roster. Both of these two have really similar anti-airs, fireballs, and charge across the screen. Kojiroh's charge is designed as a cross-up instead of a mixup though, she can cancel it, perform a grab that tosses the opponent away, or just end up behind you and start swangin that thang. Both her and Keiichiro are genuinely well-constructed characters that can be fun to play, but I prefer Kojiroh because I am a lesbian. Also she leans more nicely into the Speed type rather than power, as her moveset tends to offer faster options for a little less damage compared to her older counterpart. These two are part of the same army in the story, in case you were wondering, so their similarities do have a lore justification.
Genbu no Okina
Look at this li'l dude! Ah man, y'all are fighting swords and lasting blades or whatever but he just wants to fish for god's sake! He's a zoner, mostly. With a funky long range command grab that makes use of his fishing rod. So yes, that does mean this is the origin of Isabelle in Smash. I have no proof of that but I'm right and I should say it. He also throws turtles as projectiles, and calls in hurricane for his super. Truly this is the embodiment of Women Want Me Fish Fear Me. Except maybe not the women part. A lot of his moves aren't safe on block which is why you want to be doing them from far away. You don't cast a line at your own feet if you want to hook a shark after all. Or something. I don't fish.
Mukuro
Fighting games need freaks. I was really tempted to just call that the whole description but that's not super informative. Mukuro most certainly is a freak though, I mean, look at him. His name means corpse. Or something like that, Dangan Ronpa tumblr fans would know I bet. Anyway, Mukuro's moveset is an odd mix of movement options and slow, multi-hitting moves. He has dashing command grabs as well as a move that imitates those grabs while actually just putting him behind his opponent. Many of his specials involve tossing his dual-blades around, which can lead to a ton of damage when they connect with an opponent, but can be very heavily punished on whiff because he has to wait for his blades to return to him. Also: sometimes he bites.
Rekka Lee
Ok so...the name may give you a certain impression of what Lee brings to the table. And uh, yeah, you would be correct. Lee has access to an aerial rekka that most of his offense is built around. You can initiate it on a standing opponent or a launched one and it offers a lot. His normals are pretty simple to use, and you'll mostly be focused on converting them into the aforementioned rekka for combos. He also has a couple of moves based around his fan, one in which he twirls a little, with a brief period of invulnerability and then performs one of four moves based on your inputs. If this sounds familiar it's because Anji Mito does it, it's the same move and this one I'm actually pretty sure came directly from
Last Blade 2.
Zantetsu
These got a lot easier to write once we got past Mukuro, as Zantetsu, like Lee, is pretty much exactly what your first impression would lead you to believe. Zantetsu is a ninja. If you've played other fighting game ninjas (Chipp Zanuff, Zeku, Galford, Hanzo Hattori, etc.) you already have an idea of what Zantetsu will play like. He is fast, with a number of moves that come out quickly and allow for extended follow-ups including a command normal projectile in which he throws kunai on the floor in front of him (this hits downed opponents as well, to maximize the end of a combo). He has several projectile attacks in general, which will usually be situational in their use. He also has a teleport, a few different moves that close gaps with his opponent, and that one command grab that every ninja has. You know the one. Well, maybe you know the one. If you don't, play Zantetsu because he has it more than once and then you will know.
Shinnosuke Kagami
Did you want to play a zoner but don't know how to fully keep your opponent from getting in on you? Did you want to play a shoto but wish you didn't have to keep track of as many moves? Well Kagami may be the chose for you. He has a fairly basic set of specials and supers, with the only real complicating factor being that one of each is done from the air. And also that one of them cancels into a unique install that sets your sword on fire for the follow up. And also that he has a special that just charges your super meter. And also one of them is a command grab. Also he can feel a little glass cannon-y against certain characters. Other than that though! Despite looking really evil he's pretty much just a neutral observer of things in the game.
Shigen Naoe
Get the fuck in loser, we're going grappling.
So this is Kouryu. If you're playing in a competitive setting, you probably won't be allowed to play as Kouryu because he's the boss character of an SNK game. As such, he's not really fair. Kouryu has a built in mechanic that's similar to EX Mode, but instead of simply gaining advantages and disadvantages of either type, he just switches between them. That's fucked up, what the fuck Kouryu. He's actually otherwise fairly straightforward to play as, but has no animation to distinguish when he is blocking high or low, and a couple of mix-ups that can hit overhead or low from the same starting point, which gets to be a bit much really. With all that said, by SNK boss standards, Kouryu is pretty tame, and even I'm able to beat him on the first try with some characters so like, this isn't the same as picking Omega Rugal, but it's a little bit like putting the bumpers on at bowling and also yelling at the other bowlers that you're afraid of their bowling prowess. Little bowler baby lookin' ass.
Hagure
Hagure is Akari's little paper ghost dude. That li'l stinker sure does love mischief. All this does is transform you into the same character as your opponent at the start of the match. Pick him if uh, you want to do a mirror match but with a little bit more happiness in your heart.
Kotetsu
Kotetsu is Shigen's daughter. The one dangling from his arm in this picture. Pick her if you want to play Shigen but also want the satisfaction of picking a girl. This will also just mean you get a funny little intro to the fight involving Kotetsu. What a little rapscallion she is.
Kaede (before awakening)
This is the flex on 'em pick. Well actually Yuki is the flex on 'em pick, but if you're concerned about flexing TOO hard you can pick Kaede (loser form). He more or less has the same moveset as his blond haired form but just has fewer frame advantages on most of his attacks. Several of the multi-hit moves will have one less hit on them, which is bad. He still has a full shoto kit though, which is good!
Conclusion
Thank you so much for reading this far. Hopefully this has helped familiarize you with some of the base mechanics of
The Last Blade 2 and possibly helped you decide which character you'd want to try out first. I do recommend trying out the whole roster though, there's not that many characters and they basically all feel pretty nice to play. If you're looking to find people to play with, I'm going to plug my own discord now, the
Kumite Community, which is a fighting game Discord server that runs tournaments for all skill levels across multiple games. We'd love to have you! Unless you're a jerk, in which case uh, I hear that the SFV discord is bumpin' right now.
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