BlazBlue Calamity Trigger

[Leonil]

very disappointed to see that there is no blazblue thread, when it's practically the most anime based fighting game available right now. An pretty damn fun at that.

Introduction

Arc System Works not only developed a cult-classic fighter entitled “Guilty Gear”, they are responsible for developing, what is now, my favorite fighter to date, and probably the deepest, most amazing 2D fighter we will see this year.

I never expected BlazBlue, or any 2D fighter for that matter, to break the barrier of nostalgia I had with the release of Street Fighter IV. It takes a game with superb fighting mechanics, character design, music, storyline, online fighting system, and overall polish – and BlazBlue has that covered and then some.

The stories behind each character in Calamity Trigger, and the characters themselves, are undeniably more interesting than anything I’ve seen since “Guilty Gear”. A Cat, ghost, huge cyborg, giant sword wielding reaper, and a dual-pistol packing “hottie” are just 5 out of the cast of 12, that spin together BlazBlue’s over-the-top, Uber-Japanese story; which is one of the best plots I’ve come across in a fighter – ever.

The cast of BB: CT is tiny in comparison to most recent fighters, but its size clearly allowed the developers to make a “tightly-balanced” fighter. Balancing playability is never an easy task when designing any game, but ASW nailed it. Not only can button-mashers pick this up and leave feeling like they’re ready to take on the world, the amount of strategy and fighting technique a “core” fighter fan can dig from BlazBlue is out of sight. Tie that with the fact that each of the 12 characters’ are COMPLETELY unique (in fighting design and aesthetics) from each other, and the lists of offensive and defensive techniques sky rocket past the competition’s.

By unique, I don’t mean 1 character fires blue fireballs and another red. I’m talking about one certain character having specials that drain enemy health back into his, while another’s special freezes enemies in place, or teleports objects through portals into the arena. BlazBlue’s cast list contains no “carbon copy” characters and shines a light on how good Arc System is at character design. Weither its speed, jump height, block reaction, or attack timing, you can instantly see the difference between controlling one character to another.

Network play brings 6 players together to fight amongst themselves, with full spectator mode and recorded fight replays. I have yet to experience any lag issues during my player and ranked matches, and finding a fight room is as simple as can be with BlazBlue’s server browser. The ranking system rarely ever matched me with enemies that are out of my league, so worrying about “holding your own” in the online playing-field is never necessary.

The truth is BlazBlue, to me, goes way beyond expectations. While there still are game aspects to bash, it mainly comes down to personal taste. The thousands of hand-drawn frames in Calamity Trigger may be looked upon as “light” anime, but that doesn’t make them unappealing to the eye. I honestly think BlazBlue has the most beautiful hand-drawn art I’ve seen in a fighter yet. The soundtrack has a 1980’s Japanese hard-rock theme to it, and again if that’s not your thing – then you’ll be disappointed by it. It just so happens that I really enjoy it. The huge amount of storyline that intertwines the characters of BlazBlue is ridiculous, but still very enjoyable; who plays fighting games for storylines anyway?

2009 has “unofficially” marked the return of the fighting genre. It’s not that fighters stopped being developed in years prior, but the overall number of great fighting experiences this year is overwhelming. Leaving me with a hard decision of picking a fighter to really sink my teeth into and home my skills in. BlazBlue quickly became that game.

The truth is this title kept me from actually finishing this review, and posting it for you to read. It pulled me back for more when times became frustrating because the challenge always seemed to end in a near win, and I knew I had made the mistakes that lead to my demise. If you’re a gamer looking to get back into a 2D fighter that has everything you enjoy from Street Fighter and a whole lot more, Calamity Trigger needs to be in your game-library. BlazBlue not only revitalized my addiction to fighters and drove me to build a custom arcade stick, it is already a “classic ” in my heart.

-Jeffrey d

about as well as anyone could put it

[rideru]

i've played it. it's fun but i don't understand what's so special about it, my friends are raging about how it's the most awesome fighting game and stuff. i really don't see it.
it's an average fighter, some cool specials, a sort of interesting story, nice visuals, pretty good music, sharp controls. but for me it didn't quite spark. i prefer soul calibur, maybe because of the heavy customization.

[Leonil]

the thing that makes blazblue so highly preferred among fighter lovers, is the depth of the game. the char's acually have storys and dreams and aspirations. you can relate to at lease one of the chars.

also the creativity is in the freeness you have with the game, form having the option of pick you character, and have a fair chance of winning with him, to going into training and making combos.

YouTube - [BlazBlue] Multi-Character Combo Video - 蒼�銃創

that normally gets the point across to people who say it's no big deal :3