Sega has announced today that the light novel crossover fighting game Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax will be localized for the West. It is a 2D fighter featuring 14 playable characters along with 23 support characters, mostly from popular Dengeki Bunko light novel franchises. The video game will release on the PS Vita and Playstation 3 this summer. It will be available digitally and at retail in North America, and have a digital-only release in Europe.

I’ve had a Japanese copy of the Vita game for the past couple months, and overall I’ve found it a fun title. Fans of the various franchises represented will especially get a kick out of it–and soon English-speakers will be able to fully enjoy the story modes as well, and the various banter that ensues between the crossover characters. For example:

Misaka: “A vending machine isn’t something you throw!”

Shizuo: “It’s not something you kick, either!”

You can find subbed videos such as this one online, if you’re curious to see how the gameplay looks. And if you wish to look at the full character roster, here is its Wikipedia entry.

All in all I have to call this a rather pleasant surprise, as I hadn’t imagined there would be much chance of a title like this ever getting an English release. The various properties represented are apparently popular enough though for Sega to warrant the localization effort and deal with any necessary licensing issues. I’ll be curious to see if the light novel excerpt gallery will be included in the game, which seems like it would be a nice way to help spread awareness of the original source material for the various franchises.