Developer Arika surprised a lot of people with the release of newly announced Fighting EX Layer: Another Dash for Nintendo Switch today in Japan. Fans in the West don’t have to wait much longer.
The game comes as a free download that includes Arcade Mode and local offline multiplayer with four playable characters. Those enjoying the game can purchase the “Full Pack” for 2,800 yen, or about $25, to unlock access to Training Mode, online casual and rank, as well as an additional 14 characters. The full pack also gives all color options for fighters. While not available now, online spectate mode will come in a future update. An exact release date for North America and Europe was not given, but is set for sometime in April.
The surprise drop comes just over a month following the announcement of the Switch title at the Japan Fighting Game Publishers Roundtable. The game is separate from Fighting EX Layer which is currently available for PlayStation 4 and PC on Steam. Another Dash replaces the gougi system with a new EX system. Arika also stated the online netcode features a backstep interrupt netcode which is based on delay netcode. Arika hopes to replace it with its own rollback netcode that is currently in testing.
For those unaware, FEXL is a spiritual successor to Japan exclusive Fighting Layer and the Street Fighter EX series. It released in June 2018 for PS4 and later released for PC and Japanese arcades. Arika supported the game after release with additional game modes, guest characters, and even free DLC characters. FEXL received rollback netcode in an update back in August 2020. As for crossplay between PS4 and PC, there’s been no news since it was revealed the feature was being tested internally. Fans will need to wait and see, but if it ever releases, it could be a surprise drop like this.
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