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Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy – Love Letters within Love Letters

Key Takeaways
1. The entire game geeks out infectuously about its subject matter without leaving newcomers behind.
2. A breezy script, forgiving mechanics, and snappy campaign make this easy to pick up.
3. A bit rude and crude, but therein lies the charm.

We love any piece of media that wears its heart on its sleeve.

Some play out like cover bands, and that's perfectly fine. We love hearing the stuff we already love put on remix and repeat, hitting all the right dopamine spots we've tuned to favor familiar channels.

But the intentionally-typoed Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy hits different. Even as a player with no exposure to its subject material, it's clear that this fan-driven game isn't just playing the hits, but is using the best parts of its inspirations to build a whole new identity for itself.

In short, it's the Blue Mage of monster-wrestling-centric turn-based RPGs.

( No coincidence that this game's resident blue mage – a cardboard-box robot named Robox – is an absolute standout. )

What is Kaiju Big Battel?

Kaiju Big Battel itself feels halfway between an extrapolated improv sketch and the kind of one-off event you'd see at a state-level Nerd Convention. The brainchild of then-university-students in Boston who really liked Ultraman, it broke out as a flashy costume-focused addition to a Halloween-night museum fundraiser. From there, it just kept naturally gaining popularity as an earnest, goofy display of showmanship and love for the giant-monster genre.

Nowadays, it features so many kaiju players that several haven't seen a match in years – nearly all of them following a decidedly “what you see is what you get” design philosophy. That's where the Ultraman influence shines brightest; yes, there was that one time when Godzilla fought a giant lobster and it rocked, but Kaiju Big Battel comes much more from the “pick one or two themes and build a rubber suit” school of Tokusatsu. It's a very Saturday-morning take on kaiju, and one that slots perfectly into the context of an American boxing ring or the Luchador aesthetic.

Those simple, bright, colorful storyline work oh-so-well in Fighto Fantasy‘s favor; even knowing nothing about the troupe, they're easy to understand at a glance. Who's our hero, American Beetle? An anthropomorphic boxing beetle in star-spangled shorts. Who's my new party member, “Dusto Bunny”? A dust-covered rabbit based on Japanese kaiju in particular.

While there's more depth to some characters – there inevitably will be after two decades in the ring – the most important tidbits can be found on fan-sites or in Fighto Fantasy‘s handy in-game menus. And Fighto Fantasy‘s developer has acknowledged that much of their characterization is invented for the game (with a thumbs-up from the their creator). There's no need to worry that you're missing out – I came out with clear favorites despite never hearing of these guys before starting the game!

What is Fighto Fantasy?

Fighto Fantasy is something of an officially-endorsed fangame for the whole Kaiju Big Battel brand. While the lead developer created a prototype of the game independently – earning him the championed title of “fan of the month” – that initial success earned him trust with the troupe's showrunner. The two worked very close during the game's entire development, allowing Fighto Fantasy to stay true to its roots while giving the creative team ample freedom to extrapolate on the characters' eclectic backgrounds.

And eclectic definitely describe's the game's whole aesthetic! Of course this comes through in the character and enemy design, ranging from a sentient stack of tetrominoes to boss encounters I'd rather not give away. But the levels themselves are every bit as all over the place, featuring time travel across familiar locations like ancient Egypt and wildly unfamiliar eras like 1970s Boston. With its “anything goes” mentality, Fighto Fantasy definitely embodies the same spirit as its fanciful source material.

On that note, you'd better believe that signature goofiness permeates the script. The creative team has singled out the Yakuza series as an influence on its style of zaniness, which definitely tracks with certain silly sidequests. But between the regular puns, colloquial attack descriptions, and its crisp, MS-DOS-size resolution, I was personally tasting a strong note of Dragon Quest DNA. Why else would the credits single out a dedicated jokesmith for its absolute deluge of groaners? As much as I adore a classic turn-based RPG, the wacky script is what had me diving back in for quick play sessions stuffed with sensible little chuckles.

Your Radioactive Jelly in my Stats-based Peanut Butter

And much like the perennial favorite Final Fantasy VI – and much like real wrestlers – many party members and bosses boast their own signature gimmicks. Some allies will weaponize a Rage mechanic or a classic all-attack-no-input Berserker class. Boss kaiju can be as unique, from tag-team fightos to an absolute wall of steel and stone and tentacles. This even more than the in-game “bestiary” gave me a feel for the game's massively-wide cast; you can inherently tell how a character is tricky, or straightforward, or based entirely in baked-potato-centric gags.

Yes, they do regularly get that granular. And yet, somehow, it fails to get old.

Considering the inherently colorful nature of kaiju and tokusatsu, it's a wonder we don't see more character-centric genres borrowing on that aesthetic. Sure, you have your occasional Arena Brawler, but Fighto Fantasy is out here proving that they have so much more potential.

On that note, the entirety of Fighto Fantasy can feel like something of an event match, with each different “world” taking about two hours to complete for a breezy playtime. And between its never-retreat attitude (there's literally no “Run” option from random encounters) and a checkpoint system, the game really encourages you to not hold back with your flashiest moves.

On top of that, there are oodles of bespoke gameplay elements that throw a fun twist every hour or so. I can't spoil them all, but needless to say there's direct reverence paid to the Atari 2600, Earthbound, and The Big Lebowski, all of which are displayed with Kaiju wrestling's expected, delightful lack of subtlety.

A Quick Ringside Note

While the original Kaiju Big Battel does dip into political commentary from time to time – perfectly appropriate given that Godzilla himself is a walking allegory – the version seen in Fighto Fantasy feels less like a serious Final Fantasy examination and more like a flighty charicature. But only if you don't examine it more closely than it asks for given its cheeky nature.

For example, the Boston level features a group of late-1970s protestors with an obvious and significant real-world analogue. In the game, their protests are written around incorporating Kaiju into the American military. There's a very frustrating way to read this choice, especially as its historical equivalent begs a comparison to desegregation and who kaiju – literally monters – are meant to represent.

But in the context of the rest of the game, it never felt like the writers were intentionally trying to make this level of statement. Instead, it feels like Fighto Fantasy is pulling from the same school of charicature as G Gundam: not necessarily intentioned as harmful, but some may still find it in bad taste. After all, this is about as close as the game comes to being actually critical of a group of people:

A Real Haymaker

All of this comes together to make Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy a delight for both fans and not-yet-fans. There's a lot of clear respect for and learning from the games that came before it. That much earnesty in a game with such an off-the-wall concept comes together to make a game that really makes the most out of its constituent parts, from references that sailed over my head to classic Giant Enemy Crabs all built on top of a rock-solid RPG.

For me, this may be an entry point to where I start really following the main wrestling troupe if they have even half the charm they do in this game. And even if it isn't, it's a rock-solid romp in a familiar form factor, and that's always going to be an easy recommendation from me.

( As a bonus, there' is's a sidequest where you can adopt stray cats – if that isn't a selling point, I don't know what is. )

Overall Rating:

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Quick View
Title:Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy
Release Date:October 31, 2018 (PC) / May 14, 2025 (Console)
Price:$9.99 (PC) / $19.99 (Console)
ESRB Rating:E10+ for Everyone 10+
Number of Players:1
Platforms:PC via Steam, Switch & Switch 2, XBOne, PS4 & PS5
Publisher/Developer:Electric Airship & Super Walrus Games
How Long to Beat:15 hours to reach 100% completion
Recommended for fans of:Professional Wrestling Tropes, Tokusatsu Action, and Turn-based RPGs of the early 1990s.
Geek to Geek Media was provided with a review copy of this title.

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