Each of the controller’s buttons controls a specific aspect of fight or flight with the right analog stick reserved for evasive rolls (a Godsend). With grapples, pounces, counters, light and heavy melee strikes, and ranged attacks all at your disposal, the ability to unleash some truly hellacious combos become satisfyingly second nature as you progress.

There are a lot of cool perks inherent with being a reviewer of video games — in fact, I’d conservatively estimate the pro-con ratio to be somewhere in the 50-to-1 range. That said; one of those drawbacks is pushing through some major difficulty spikes in order to finish a game on a deadline when you’d rather step away and regroup. The result: controller tossing.

Combat has been tweaked, but with the Active Time Battle system returning it once again puts a premium on entering commands quickly. In fact, the pacing has actually been amped up a notch or two, especially when executing the game’s signature paradigm shifts. Even with the blistering pace, the game remains easy to control. About the only issue I encountered was on-screen effects sometimes making it difficult to keep track of which commands you’re inputting.

That’s not to say advancements haven’t been made, however, as the gameplay has received a number of refinements to elevate the core experience. Perhaps the most noticeable change for longtime fans is in the alley-oop game. Now connecting with a soaring teammate is no longer a virtual two-point lock as oops will be swatted and would-be dunkers regularly shoved to the ground if you try to simply bully your way with lobs down the lane.