The official product page on the Blade Arcus subsection of Sega’s Shining website now lists Blade Arcus from Shining EX as 1-2 players but offline only. It’s a rather quiet and sudden revelation and it’s only recently coming to light.
Word started to spread earlier today when a fan-run Japanese Twitter account dedicated to Blade Arcus news claimed the absence of online play for Blade Arcus from Shining EX. There is a Japanese Shining PR Twitter account, but it made no public statements on online play (or the lack thereof.)
While the experience of online play can greatly vary for fighting games, omitting online play altogether is to be a part of a distinct minority as fighting games go nowadays. For those who would opt to import the game, this course of action suddenly becomes a lot less attractive since it is possible that not many prospective buyers will be within proximity to each other. Online play will also allow people to challenge others across great distances, including skilled players from Japan.
At the end of the day, we’re at the point nowadays where both offline and online play are taken as foregone conclusions for healthy fighting games with the aim of developing a following.
Credit for this featured image goes to this Famitsu article.