BlazBlue --(Calamity Trigger)--

[Grayswandir]

Yes, it deserves its own special title, its that flashy.
Now, first question:
Who would win, a blonde, goth-lolita vampire with a cat umbrella and a fat, bat familiar or a blonde, buxom police officer who wields absurdly large dual pistols gun-kata style?
Second question:
Are you still even reading this after the first question?

Welcome to BlazBlue, a new release by Aksys, the creators of the Guilty Gear series.
If you've played any of the Guilty Gear games, you'll be right at home with the battle system of BlazBlue. BlazBlue uses the same battle system as Guilty Gear but they've refined it, made it faster, and changed some of the terms around. They've also taken a hint from SoulCalibur and made the right analog stick pull of special moves so that its easier for new players to pull off the fancy stuff. You have four basic attacks mapped to the face buttons, a light, medium, and heavy attack and a Drive button. Each character has unique moves (about 5 or so each...) that you can pull off with various rotations of the left stick and slapping of the face buttons, but the real fun revolves around the Drive attacks. Each character controls a different "Drive". Some control the wind, others lighting or ice, some even can suck life from their opponents. This is where all the "deep strategy" comes in, but if you're new to fighting games, its easy just to jump in and start flailing both analog sticks around and you'll be pulling off combos and throwing flashy death rays and fireballs out of your ass in no time.
There are a total of 12 characters and you'll notice simliarities between Guilty Gear and BlazBlue right from the start. There are some rather cool unique characters in BlazBlue, although the designs are "standard" over-the-top Aksys style that was made popular in Guilty Gear (the meowing, panty-flashing, Wolverine clawed, kitty-litter throwing girl comes to mind).
Controls are responsive, even on when using the analog stick (I'm playing on the 360, so this was a bonus to me because the 360 controller's d-pad is a horrible piece of work for anything precise) and they're not mapped oddly on the controller, you can even remap them if you don't like them.
Graphic-wise, the game uses beautifully animated (they really are awesome, especially on a friend's 52" plasma TV...) with 3D animated backgrounds although you always stay on a 2D plane. There's no slow-down and you'll be able to throw your character all over the screen without any problems.
Now the music...its hard to compare the music to other fighting games because its rare you get a fighting game with music this full of goodness (my personal opinion, I know, but hey, surround sound rocks with this game) All the music (except for the new opening and ending themes that were added to the console releases) was created by the person who did all the Guilty Gear music. So expect guitar, heavy beats, and heavy metal rock themes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8MJxlfC1k8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd0cJG8qzMA

My game was also supposed to come with this awesome 32-page art book...but they got overloaded with preorders for the book so mine's going to be shipped later this month (hopefully...).

Anyway, more on the game as I play more of it. If any of you have (or get) the 360 version, look me up on Xbox Live (legacytyphoon).

[Grayswandir]

in-game image.

Rachel Alucard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVypfVkSH-s
more music...

[TheBigCheese]

I never really got into the 2d fighters. They all seem about the same to me, though that probably attributes to my inexperience with the games.

It seems like most of the games are selling the graphics rather than unique gameplay. (Not a bad thing)

[Rorschach]

Game looks really cool. I'd like to play it a bit before I sink in 60 bucks for it though. Damn lack of Arcades in America.

[Grayswandir]

Its hard to make an "original" fighting game these days, I mean the concept itself is pretty simple as it is. You have to make it unique enough that its a new experience without completely throwing it out of the fighting game genre.
BlazBlue is a niché fighter. It has all the "hardcore" elements fans of the genre like but it has a really odd storyline and character designs that would appeal more towards animé fans than anything.
Although they do try to make it easier for new players to get into the game (but its not as simple as say Smash Bros...which really isn't a fighting game in the first place...).

[Untadaike]

If looks could kill...

[Grayswandir]

If looks could kill...

Hmm? Oh, my Smash Bros. comment?
Think about it, it really isn't a fighting game. Sure, you beat on each other and have special moves, but its more of a party game than anything. The game is geared towards being able to have quick, furious games, with revives and survivability. its all about the 4-player chaos of throwing items, blasting people with your specials and watching everyone die at the same time when some fool drops a B-Bomb at his feet only to revive and do it all over again. Sure you could do one vs. one matches with one life each and no items, but where's the fun in that? This can be argued multiple ways, but in my mind, Smash Bros. is party game character mash-up first, fighting game second.

[Count Roland]

yeah it's not really a fighting game, and that's not really a bad thing.

[nutcracker]

Does this have as awesome music as Guilty Gear X2 OST?
EDIT: notice, I did not read the whole post

[Kestril]

Well, let me tell you. There is a difference between competitive smash and party smash. When played competitively, (no items only certain stages) super smash brothers is what you would classify as a fighting game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsDQ0rH6QIg&feature=fvsr
at 2:06 is a pretty good combo.

With Brawl, The competitive edge is lost a bit due to the slower nature of the game.

[Grayswandir]

Does this have as awesome music as Guilty Gear X2 OST?
EDIT: notice, I did not read the whole post

Its the same musician, and yes, the music is just as awesome. :p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8SdnRLd6Es