LBX: Little Battlers eXperience (Nintendo 3DS) Review

Little Battlers eXperience gets off to a confusing start, in more ways than one. While it's not uncommon for games to have title sequences that have little to do with the game, it's particularly out of place here. Starting off with a final attack being launched on the planet Saturn, the main cast rides its respective robots into the fray, giving a sense of a final, climactic battle about to unfold.

It really sets an odd tone right off the bat, since very little in the early gameplay seems to have anything to do with anything in the title sequence. Compounded with how the beginning jumps several steps backwards throughout the story from this sequence, it definitely leaves a few questions unanswered. While the story is actually pretty interesting as it develops, it definitely takes a few stumbling steps before really taking off, and watching it in reverse for most of the prologue doesn't help make it any more coherent.

Thankfully, most things are more straightforward than the plot, and battling with the tiny robots, or 'LBX' in-universe, is one of those. Battles take place on a large-scale 3D environment, with the camera angled behind the LBX. The camera is constantly locked on to the enemy, which works okay, but the inability to rotate the camera to see the surrounding area can be frustrating; especially when bonuses or rewards pop up behind a cliff situated in an area the camera can't reach naturally.

Battles have simple variations on the same objective, which boils down to 'defeat the enemy LBX before they do the same.' There are a couple of variations in rules, but they're largely inconsequential. The main mix-up that keeps battling fresh is the enormous variety in equipment and customisation options. Early levels aside, there's enough variety in modifications to make each fight potentially extremely different.

There would be, that is, but the fighting mechanics aren't particularly complex. Since there's a constant lock on the opposing LBX, every battle really just becomes a race to hit them as fast as possible while defending against their onslaught. While there is variety in weapons, it mostly comes down to aesthetics; whether ranged or melee, they do mostly the same job. Even with the auto-lock, it's possible to dodge or avoid attacks, but there's no real guarantee to whether or not a given attack can be dodged. Blocking then becomes the preferable option, but it's hard to want to with the slow pace the battles already take.

The controls aren't exactly bad, but they do feel a bit stiff at times. While there isn't really an input delay, the moves of the LBX fighters feel sort of clunky, and actions such as attacking or dashing feel like they have a rather lengthy start up time even if they don't. It's not offensive to the point of being unplayable, but it does sort of damper the enjoyment of what is otherwise a well-executed ARPG battle system.

At first glance, there are a lot of little details for RPG fans to enjoy here. With hundreds of customisation options available for building a team of palm-sized fighters, the large amount of variety really is the highlight. A lot of effort is definitely evident in the hundreds of weapons, body styles, and special abilities available. Given the wealth of options, it's unfortunate how they're never really used to their full potential.