is a fighting game developed by French-Bread and Ecole Software. Initially published in arcades by Sega in 2012, Arc System Works assumed publishing duties after the game's first home console release in 2014.
A sequel, Under Night In-Birth II, was released in 2024.
Versions
The first entry in the series, Under Night In-Birth, was released exclusively as an arcade game using Sega's RingEdge 2 arcade board on September 20, 2012 by Sega in Japan. In March 2013, support for Sega's ALL.Net P-Ras Multi service was added. A major revision, subsequently entitled , was released on September 9, 2013. This updated version of the game would receive a port published by Arc System Works for PlayStation 3 in Japan on July 24, 2014. A 2015 release for North America and Europe was later announced, with the North American version published by Aksys Games on February 24, 2015 and the European version released by NIS America on February 27, 2015. Exe:Late was released on Steam for Microsoft Windows systems on July 12, 2016.
A further update to the game entitled was announced on May 15, 2015. Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] was released on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita in Japan on July 20, 2017, and in North America and Europe on February 9, 2018. Arc System Works later published this version on Steam for Microsoft Windows systems on August 20, 2018.
A final revision of the game, entitled , was announced on August 3, 2019 at Evolution Championship Series. It was released for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch on February 20, 2020 in Japan and North America and February 21, 2020 in Europe. A version for Steam for Microsoft Windows was released on March 27, 2020, superseding the Exe:Late[st] release from 2018. The PlayStation 4 and Steam versions of Exe:Late[st] received updates to match the contents of this revision, while those who purchased the PlayStation 3 version were eligible to upgrade to the latest version via a limited-time discount, which ran until April 30, 2020 in Japan and North America, and April 31, 2020 in Europe. New content exclusive to Exe:Late[cl-r], such as a new playable character and additional character palettes, could be added to Exe:Late[st] through the purchase of paid downloadable content. The game was released for Amazon Luna on January 21, 2021. An arcade port of Exe:Late[cl-r] using Sega's ALL.Net P-Ras Multi service was released on April 15, 2021.
Gameplay Under Night In-Birth is a 2D fighting game with similar mechanics to Melty Blood, Guilty Gear, and BlazBlue. Characters have weak, medium, and strong attack buttons, along with a fourth one tied to the game's Grind system. Attacks can cancel into each other in any order, and they can cancel into special and super attacks.
The Grid system, abbreviated to GRD in the game, is a tug-of-war mechanic between players that rewards them for certain defensive or offensive actions. This is visually represented by an on-screen gauge called the Grind Grid, which shows the influence each player has during a match. Playing aggressively and utilizing system mechanics well increases a player's influence over the Grind Grid, while actions such as taking damage and retreating lowers their influence. At set intervals of time, the game evaluates which player has the most influence over the Grind Grid and rewards the player with various advantages, such as a temporary damage increase and the ability to cancel any attack at the cost of resources. When utilized poorly, such as failing to guard against an attack with the appropriate defensive shield, a player can temporarily be locked out of functions related to the Grind system and placed at a disadvantage.
A traditional super meter known as the EXS Gauge fills up whenever players attack or get hit. Characters can expend resources from the gauge for various functions, such as enhancing special attacks, performing super attacks known as Infinite Worths, or changing momentum from a defensive position. At low health, characters can also use a unique super attack called an Infinite Worth EXS, which are highly damaging and often feature a cinematic element when performed successfully.
Each later release after the original adds new features: Exe:Late adds Guard Thrust, a defensive option, and Force Functions, a unique character specific action that costs GRD to use. Exe:Late[st/cl-r] adds Cross-Cast Veil Off, a combo-based burst where characters with at least half a bar of super meter and Vorpal state can cancel combos into a Veil Off burst; and a prequel-based visual novel series Chronicle Mode. II [Sys:Celes] adds not only custom coloring and rollback netcode which first appeared in Melty Blood: Type Lumina, but also a Celestial variant of GRD Vorpal when players' GRD is at level six or beyond, and a dodge roll-based Creeping Edge. Additionally, it also includes an exclusive special attack function that can only be cancelled from normal attacks, either as fourth option of improved Smart Steer or A+B, akin to the first two options of Rapid Beat, and Moon Skill from Type Lumina.
Plot Every month, since feudal times, a phenomenon called the Hollow Night brings forth invisible creatures called Voids. They feed upon a power known as EXS, a latent resource within every human, and they harvest EXS from those who are unfortunate to wander into the Hollow Night. Many of these attacks end in death, insanity, or a human being transformed into a Void and the city of Kanzakai has been facing an ever increasing amount of cases of missing people due to these frequent attacks. Those who survive these encounters become beings known as In-Births, gaining the ability to manipulate their bodies' natural EXS.
After surviving a Void attack, high school student Hyde Kido develops his own power after narrowly escaping with his life thanks to the assistance of his impromptu savior, a mysterious girl named Linne. She explains that on-top of being an In-Birth, she has been alive for the past 500 years and has been seeking a way to end her life permanently, with Kanzakai being her most recent stop on her journey. She explains that Hyde's newly developed ability holds promise in being the one to finally end her cursed existence and she has him make a promise to end her life when the time is right. Before that however, Linne has her sights set on stopping a group of In-Births in town known as Amnesia, led by a woman called Paradox, from ascending to become a Re-Birth, a powerful existence that surpasses ordinary In-Births.
Other groups of In-Births out in the Hollow Night prepare to make their way to Paradox's Altar for their own reasons. The Licht Kreis, a foreign group of In-births intent on policing the usage of EXS around the world has returned to Japan to investigate the city's growing case of Voids and In-Births while the ancient group of In-Births known as the Night Blade continue to patrol their ancestral homeland.
By the end of the Exe:Late sub-series, Hyde and Linne confront Amnesia's leader, Hilda the Paradox and bring an end to her plans. However, the true mastermind behind Hilda's movements, among many others, Linne's older brother, and the original wielder of Hyde's sword, Kuon the Aeon has yet to show himself during the Hollow Night. He would reveal himself a month after Hilda and Hyde are defeated. For months, Hilda temporarily becomes a Zero Vessel and loses her power, before she regains it back. When Kuon makes his true plans that will lead to the destruction of the world, Linne goes on a journey to confront him alone.
Characters The original release of the game included ten playable characters, with two more being added post-launch before the game was retitled to Exe:Late. The roster currently has a total of twenty eight characters as of Under Night In-Birth II [Sys:Celes] and one of its Season Pass DLC, with two guest characters from other fighting games. Most of these characters who are added after the original title originally either non-playable or being referred by most of them in previous entries. The game has Japanese-language voice acting. Some characters who first appeared in Exe:Late to Exe:Late[st] later appeared in BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, where they received English voice actors for the first time.
Introduced in the original release and Exe:Late subseries : A second-year high school student and the protagonist of the series. He is attacked by a Void on his way home from school, is saved by Linne, but still awakens as an in-birth. Feeling indebted to her, he joins her cause in stopping Hilda's plans, and agrees to eventually cede to her wish and end her immortal life. He gains the ability to wield the legendary blade called the Insulator that holds the power to kill immortals. Despite his newcomer status, Hyde is able to contend with more experienced in-births due to the Insulator's power. Hyde is successful in ending Hilda's plans and bring about a relative peace to the city before Kuon's return brings about the Final Night. Hyde is childhood friends with Yuzuriha, friends with Orie and Tsurugi, a rival to Seth, and Vatista's caretaker. : The ancient immortal princess of the Night Blade who has roamed the country for the past 500 years. She was cursed as an immortal alongside her older brother, where Linne's soul transfers to a new host body against her will every time she dies. Linne and Waldstein arrive in Kanzakai, which was close by to the ancestral home of the Night Blade 500 years ago, to investigate the rising cases of in-births and EXS-related activity. Linne and Waldstein identify Amnesia and its leader Hilda as targets to deal with unless Hilda completes her goals of becoming a Re-Birth and becoming a larger threat. During her investigation, Linne runs into Hyde and later saves him from a Void attack but she fails to prevent him from becoming an in-birth. However, Hyde's ability holds the potential for Linne to permanently die so she decides to train Hyde with Wald, making a promise to Hyde for him to one day end her life. Linne's current body is that of an elementary school student. Linne was also involved with a young Seth 10 years prior to the story where Seth promised her that he would be the one to save her from her immortality. : A giant and brutish half-Void who fights with weaponized armed claws. He has some wisdom gained from his centuries-long life. He is a former high-ranking member of Licht Kreis before his defection to Night Blade after a war between two organizations, particularly after Kuon saved him from becoming a Void-Fallen. Honoring his oath to Kuon, Waldstein served as Linne's guardian and father-figure for over 500 years. With Kuon's return, his duty of protecting of Linne comes to an end and Waldstein joins Kuon's plans to bring out the Immortalize, if only to have his rematch with the man who once both defeated and saved him. : A delinquent and solitary third-year high school student. His prowess has gained the attention of many in-birth organizations across the city, but his severe aversion to groups has him antagonize nearly everyone he meets. He uses a red substance in battle which he thinks is his blood, and thus suffers from placebo wherein he feels weakened should he use his powers for too long. Carmine was scouted by Gordeau to join Amensia to which Carmine vehemently refused and promised to show up and beat them down for the trouble. Carmine is later defeated by Kuon and Carmine swears revenge on him.