BlazBlue

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift

Rating: T

Score: 9.5/10

                Once upon a time, a small-name game was released under the name "Guilty Gear". It was a fighting game based on chaining combos and fast-paced, flashy, and colorful fighting. It generated about a dozen sequels, but each was just reviving the series and adding continuously, which didn't seem to be what the game designers wanted. They wanted something new and original, but with similar gameplay. Thus, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger was produced. It features much of the same gameplay;  it is just as fast and as fun. However it's impossible to find on Xbox 360 on the river due to its sales in relation to shipping (it didn't sell as well on the Playstation 3, so it's easier to find for that system) . Well, it's sequel time. What does this successor bring to the table and is it worth the money? This game is available for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, and it's been on Arcade systems for a while now (but the arcade is a tad limited, and this review won't be based on it).

                So how does chaining combos make for a better game? Well, instead of spamming specials and doing small-time punch-kick-special combos like every other fighting game, you can chain up 100+ combos using timing, reflexes, specials, and sometimes even luck. None of these combos are completely reliable, since poor timing and the opponent's ability to predict your attacks will affect how well your combos work, or if they work at all. You can also Break Burst; this is when your character unleashes a huge burst of energy that launches any character close in the opposite direction and is one of the only ways to break out of combos. You also have a "Heat Gauge", which increases as you hit, get hit, and block. "Heat" stored in this gauge is used in some specials, and some advanced tactics like Rapid Cancelling.

                Even with all that, it's pretty easy to just jump in and get a few good combos, since it relies on timing more so than knowing special controller input. If you're new, you can visit the new tutorial mode to be introduced to the unique battling system. For people with a grip on the battling system but no grip on any combos, they can go to the new challenge mode which only has a purpose to keep you in a small room and teach you specials at first, and then combos of all sorts. Of course, combos can be mastered by learning timing by just visiting Training, but challenge mode is great for learning the combos that can be used in any match. Even if you can't quite get the combos down, the new "beginner mode" can be enabled to do combos since it does combos for you! Just button mash and test out the characters themselves, and not the combos. They really went all out to make it accessible for any gamer.

                The character selection is not bad. It's only fourteen characters, three of which are new (two, actually, because one is a replacement with the same moves and specials). To make up for it, they're more than just simple reskins of other characters: they all have much different combos, play styles, health, and damage output. Each character can have different dialogue mid-match depending on who's fighting. Each character is a breath of fresh air, which is much better than the character selection screen being a splash of mediocrity and similarity (much like modern Mortal Kombat games).

                The story mode is...bursting, to say the least. It jumps from character to character, so you can view all the perspectives of the main story. There's a lot to absorb, even for veterans of the series. It's best you try and care as well, since all the story mode  would be walls of text separating about 5 fights. Although the BlazBlue universe explains things (most of the time), they don't seem to explain how it connect, or why it connects, or otherwise. Usually, there's an explanation missing between explanations, which can either be filled by logically guessing, reading very carefully, or looking up online what it all means. By the end of it, you could probably write more words to ask the questions left unanswered than the game had overall text, but you'll have a grasp on the story as a whole.

                The story mode usually consists of two sprites of characters talking to each other, or one character sprite talking to his or herself. There are a few occasions it becomes a full CGI movie to showcase something important, but it's not often.

                Also attached to the story mode (kind of) is the "Teach Me, Miss Leichi" sessions. It's a fictional story loosely based off the actual story, and because it's fiction within fiction it has no bearing on the story. It's purpose is to make jokes (sexual innuendoes, slapstick comedy, you name it) and explain some of the smaller details of the BlazBlue universe (like what is the "Library" or "Librarium"?) It's quite the comic relief between the overflowing amount of explanations and stories you're bombarded with in the story mode.

                There's also an online play to test your skills. For those wanting more from the game, it also gets sick from the plague of downloadable content - New characters, new colors to try on the characters, and new announcers. The only one you "need" is a new announcer, because the one you get out of the box is an earful.

                For the few problems it has, it can't be argued it's an amazing fighting game. It's sad its predecessor is so hard to find, since this game will come to the river without many fans awaiting the release (I'm pretty sure I can actually name off all the people who were so excited for the game they pre-ordered it). It's flashy, fast-pace fighting made easier with all the new content to introduce pieces of the game one at a time. It really does have all the flashy fighting, over-abundance of story, and swift jokes any gamer could ask for.