To me there's something deeply nostalgic about 2-D fighting games. I remember the first time I saw the Street Fighter II arcade in a local restaurant and I spent a month's allowance (a meager $5 for a ten year old) pumping quarters into the machine. In the years when the only arcade games I actually played were Pacman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game, I was captivated by these larger than life characters kicking eachother, throwing fireballs and doing flashkicks until only one of these pixelated giants stood supreme. It was glorious.
Later, I dipped my toes into the downward spiral of violence addiction that was Mortal Kombat. Though, admittedly, Mortal Kombat appealed to a child like myself because of its almost legendary 'taboo' among parents, I enjoyed playing the neutered, 'violence-free' version on my Super Nintendo. Mortal Kombat led to the ultra-violent sequel (which is still considered one of my favorite games of all time), Mortal Kombat II, which was (sadly) probably the last great landmark in the genre of 2-D fighters that I grew up with. A dozen re-hashes of Street Fighter II were made, and Mortal Kombat 3 was a disappointment on many levels, and then Killer Instinct captured my attention with its mock 3-D fighting style. The 3-D fighter quickly became prominent with the Virtua Fighter and Tekken series. Familiar franchises like Mortal Kombat took the plunge into 3-D and (arguably) failed with Mortal Kombat 4, and Street Fighter followed with the EX series that were more-or-less a bust. During my late high school and early college years, there were other existing 2-D fighting franchises like Guilty Gear and The King of Fighters, but I was never exposed to them until recently, and all during that time I was certain that the 2-D fighting game was an obsolete and possibly a dead genre.
Fast forwarding to a few weeks ago, I picked up a copy of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger off of Amazon.com for $30 new. I've only heard praise for this new fighting game, but BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger was a fighting game that seemed to, well, come right out of the Blue. There were no ties to any existing franchises to my knowledge, and there was little else I could use to make an educated buying choice than degrading myself to the praise of other critics. I had been curious about BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger for months after skimming over a handful of reviews, but when Amazon.com finally dropped their price is when I took my leap of faith. A minute after I had clicked the Checkout button, I was almost certain that I just flushed my money down the toilet and that my hopes that the 2-D fighter genre would make a triumphant return would be painfully dashed to bits like glass bottle over my head.
And I've never been this pleasantly surprised.
CHARACTERS
The characters of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger look like the horrific cosplay aftermath of a convention center mistakinly overlapping the booking dates of sci-fi, video game, and anime conventions. You have an epic clusterfuck of cat girls, ninjas, samurais, androgynous men with huge swords, giant robots, sexy female robots, lolita vampire sorceresses, hot police chicks with guns, and numerous other character classes that exist only in the deepest depths of nerd fantasy.
If there was an elf and dwarf present, I'm pretty sure that reality would IMPLODE from such a fantasy overload, and God would have to reboot the universe and populate it with androgynous underage vampire Vulcans riding dragon Gundam-robots in a quest to find "The One Ring to rule them all".
But seriously, if anything, BlazBlue's characters are as diverse as you can get, both in terms of style, as well as the huge diversity in each character's fighting style. Each character has a unique function for the 'D' button called a 'Drive Attack' which can be used in combos and some special attacks just like the A, B and C buttons. Drive attacks vary dramatically as I've outlined below with each character:
Ragna the Bloodedge
An SS-class criminal known as the 'Grim Reaper', Cloud-... I mean Dante-.. I mean Ragna fights against the government in an effort to destroy it. He possesses a grimoire said to have unparalleled power, and the bounty on his head is too high for many of the other characters to ignore. His fate is intertwined with Jin Kisaragi because of Jin's betrayal when the two were children.
Drive: Soul Eater
Ragna's sword consumes his opponent's energy when it makes contact, dealing damage and absorbing some of the enemy's health.
Jin Kisaragi
A major in the Praetorian Guard, the Librarium's top military unit. Decorated with the highest honor of 'hero', Jin frequently delves into fits of insanity when confronting Ragna and his young underling, Noel Vermillion.
Drive: Frost Bite
Freezes your opponent. Most of Jin's special moves can have the D button substituted for the normal A, B and C attack buttons to give them the ability to instantly freeze his opponents when using his special moves.
Noel Vermillion
A lieutenant in the Praetorian Guard, the Librarium's top military unit. Once a soldier under Jin's command, Noel was sent to retrieve him after his desertion, as well as intercept Ragna the Bloodedge. Though she seems unsure of herself, she is exceptionally skilled with her twin pistols.
Drive: Chain Revolver
Pressing the D button followed by a regular attack button can start an extremely fast and effective combo chain. As long as every odd-integer in the combo is the D button, the chain will continue for up to 5-6 attacks in a row.
Game Tip: Holding down and tapping the D button repeatedly will make Noel do a high/low series of attacks that are extremely hard to block. Spam this combination often to get in quick kills and to piss off your opponents to no end.
Iron Tager
A member of Section Seven known as The Red Devil, Tager's war torn body was repaired with machinery and advanced technologies. Slow and powerful, Iron Tager is the obvious 'tank' character in BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger.
Drive: Voltic Battler
Tager can magnetically charge his opponents and specific attacks can pull the enemy closer towards him as they are executed, forcing characters into close-quarter combat.
Rachel Alucard
The current head of the Alucard vampire family, Rachel is a prim, proper, and spoiled observer of the events of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger. Rachel is an overseer and is aware to the time paradoxes and alternate realities that occur during BlazBlue's storyline.
Drive: Silpheed
Rachel can push and pull gusts of wind in eight directions using her Drive. While it may not sound like much, the wind can alter the direction of herself, her enemies, and even projectiles attacks. A separate gauge is in place to regulate overuse.
Taokaka
Taokaka is a member of a clan of cat-humanoids (...fucking anime...) that lives under the city. Though not especially bright and often aloof, she is energetic and loyal, especially to Litchi (who Taokaka affectionately calls 'Boobie Lady'). Though probably one of the more annoying characters (with every word like 'new' changed to sound like the word 'meow'), she is also the most charming and genuinely funny in an air-headed 'Harley Quinn' sort of way.
Drive: Dancing Edge
Pressing the Drive button will launch Taokaka in any direction you choose, claws out. It's a quick and effective dive move that you can use to catch our opponent off guard.
Litchi (aka 'BOOBIE LADY')
A popular doctor in Orient Town, Litchi Faye Ling is a scientist who is searching for Arakune for unknown reasons. Litchi is also a friend to Taokaka and the Kaka clan, who all playfully refer to her as 'Boobie Lady'.
Drive: Mantenbo
Litchi has two fighting styles, with and without her staff. Pressing the Drive button a first time will essentially plant her staff on the ground (and during which possibly causing damage to the opponent). Pressing the Drive button a second time will retrieve her staff while attacking her opponent in the process.
Arakune
An anamorphic creature made up of insects and ooze, Arakune has been corrupted with magic and forced to live in the deepest depths under the city of Kagutsuchi. Arakune craves power and will consume powerful enemies to absorb their strength.
Drive: Crimson
Arakune actually 'curses' his opponents. When an opponent is cursed, all of the buttons you press will summon insects that act as projectile attacks. The curse is lifted off of an opponent if the opponent successfully lands an attack against Arakune.
Bang Shishigami
A leader of a clan of ninjas, Bang is a 'Vigilante of Justice' and comedic relief character who can actually back up his mouth with his fists. Bang is the most overblown, flamboyant anime-stereotype of all time. His Distortion Drive attacks even come with their own Power Rangers-esqe theme song.
Drive: Burning Heat Burning Heat?... Nevermind.
Bang's Drive attacks block incoming attacks but also unlock the four gates of Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan, which taps into Bangs hidden potential (ie: 'makes him extremely fast').
Carl Clover
A boy genius and first-class vigilante. Carl is infamous for his mysterious doll, Nirvana, a relic from an old war that Carl has been (disturbingly) been calling 'Sister'.
Drive: Automation
While the Drive button is held, Carl can control Nirvana's movements. Button combinations and joystick movements prior to releasing the Drive button will unleash Nirvana's own special attacks. Sandwiching an opponent between Carl and Nirvana will put your opponent in a very dire situation.
Hakumen
One of the Six Heroes of legend, Hakumen disappeared from the war and people assumed he was gone for good. However, he has been biding his time in the depths of the city of Kagutsuchi, waiting for something. Hakumen is the stereotypical lone samurai or 'ronin' character.
Drive: Automation
Hakumen's Magatama (special attack bar) is unlike the other characters' Heat Gauge. Using the drive button to counter opponent's attacks will accumulate magatama which fuel his most devastating attacks.
ν-13 (Nu)
Often simply called 'Nu', ν-13 is a mysterious cybernetic girl who can seemingly bend time/space to her will. Her special attacks are mostly centered around forming blades of energy that she hurls at her opponents from nearly every conceivable angle. ν-13/Nu also has the uncanny ability to create gravitational fields around enemies that will drastically slow their movements and attacks within range.
Drive: Sword Summoner
ν-13/Nu can summon projectile-like swords that attack her opponents from any distance and at nearly any angle.
Game Tip: When fighting against ν-13 in harder difficulties, distance is NOT a good thing, as she will pin you in the far corner of the screen and barrage you with Sword Summoner at every angle, breaking your blocks with ease and making it nearly impossible to escape.
Game Modes
Arcade Mode: A typical series of battles against ten computer opponents. Story elements occur before and after battles 4, 8, 9, and 10 where opponents are pre-selected based on the character you choose to play as. Like most fighting games, and ending occurs after winning each of the ten fights. Winning BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger with characters unlocks artwork and the endings in the Gallery.
Story Mode: BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger shines with a very deep and complex story mode. Playing out much like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" style of story, the selected character progresses through BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger fighting character-specific opponents and possibly making some minor choices between fights. Based on who you win or lose to, and based on which options in the story you select, each character has multiple outcomes. Not only does winning progress the story, but in some instances LOSING a fight can further a storyline. Select characters' endings are also dependent on performing Dynamic Drive attacks to finish off specific (or all) opponents during Story Mode.
The incentive to play through Story Mode is to earn 100% completion on each character to unlock the Story Modes for the boss characters, Hakumen and Nu (ν-13), as well as unlock Xbox Achievements and Playstation Trophies. Unfortunately, it requires winning and losing to every character, and playing through every possible story choice to complete. Nothing will piss you off worse than having a 99% completion on a character and not knowing which enemy you didn't lose to, or which option you didn't select. I suggest playing through Story Mode once through, saving after every battle, then losing every battle in reverse order via your saved games. Otherwise you'll be popping Ibuprofen like Pez.
Versus Mode: Standard Player 1 vs Player 2 or Player 1 vs CPU offline match. The only problem is, because of the heavy anime influence, it'll be a harder challenge trying to find a friend who won't wrinkle his or her nose when you ask if they want to play BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger.
Score Attack Mode: The hardest fucking fighting game mode of all time. Score Attack Mode is similar to Arcade Mode, however if you are defeated, the mode ends. No continues, no second chances. To make things EVEN HARDER the entire Score Attack Mode difficulty setting is a notch ABOVE 'Hell', the hardest difficulty. IF you beat ν-13 (and she was a real cheating bitch in Arcade "Hell" difficulty) without dying, then you face off against Unlimited Ragna, possibly the hardest character in the game. If you manage to complete Score Attack Mode, then you earn a huge Xbox Achievement, or a gold Playstation Trophy. Bragging rights indeed.
Training Mode: Standard practice mode.
Network Mode: You can fight other players online through a few different options. Ranked Match basically scores you in comparison to all of the other BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger fighters in the world, whereas Player Match is an unranked friendly match.
Gallery Mode: Artwork, videos, endings, and other goodies. Surprisingly, this is one of the few in game galleries I've actually taken a liking to completing. Items in the gallery are unlocked by finishing Arcade and Story Modes with each character, and through the acquirement of Xbox Achievements and Playstation Trophies.
Replay Theater: Record yourself or a friend's match and play it in the Replay Theater.
STORY
In the past, humanity was on the verge of extinction from a creature called The Black Beast. Six heroes created a grimoire, a fusion of magic and technology, to defeat the Beast and save the world. After the war, the Novus Orbis Librarium (aka. 'Library' or 'NOL') was created to govern the world with the use of Armagus. The use of Armagus in society created a widening socioeconomic gap between those who can and cannot use Armagus. The Ikaruga Civil War broke out when the Ikaruga Union rebelled against the Library. Library won the war and imposed a facist rule over the world, punishing any rebellion with death.
In December A.D. 2199, years after the Ikaruga Civil War, a branch of the Library was utterly destroyed by an SS-class rebel named 'Ragna the Bloodedge' also known as the 'Grim Reaper', in an attempt to destroy the entire Library. The Library immediately announced the largest bounty ever, available to anyone who could capture him. Interestingly, Ragna possesses a powerful form of Grimoire known as Azure, though rarely referred to as 'BlazBlue'. Now everyone is after Ragna not just for his bounty, but also his powerful grimoire.
So that's the prologue story to BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, and it is also the easiest part of the story to comprehend. The character stories and the events of the actual game, however, are about as easy to follow as a 'connect the dots' game made by a severe dyslexic. BlazBlue's storyline involves an overwhelming deal of 'if' scenarios that involve character-based multiple events and outcomes that are explained by loose parallel universe and alternate timeline theories. Since giving any further examples would be considered spoilers, I'll refrain from saying any more than "Character A beating BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is just as correct as Character B, C and D."
*Pops an Ibuprofen*
However, again, this makes for a compelling Story Mode that will at least keep you entertained for several hours, and then leave you scratching your head long after you turn off the console. After completing the available Story Modes for the twelve main characters, the boss characters' (Hakumen and ν-13) story modes are then unlocked. Completing all fourteen stories unlocks the "True Ending", which plays as a more linear Story Mode where dying is not an option. The True Ending is complete with some decent animated sequences, longer story scenes, and some tough challenges. The ending does its best to tie up a few of the dozen-or-so loose ends by reinforcing one of the base storylines and providing a handful of twists that aren't really all that unforeseeable, let alone fully understandable.
*Pops another Ibuprofen*
On the downside, some of the story elements (while decent as a whole) are still annoyingly overblown (any scene with Bang Shishigami or Hakumen rambling on in their 'honor' or 'justice' monologues) or just TOO comical to be funny (The entire "Teach Me Miss Litchi" bonus section).
*Pops another Ibuprofen*
But all in all, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger told a better story than nearly 99% of the other fighting games on the market, and the presence of the solid Story Mode enhanced the replay value of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger by leaps and bounds.
GAMEPLAY
BlazBlue is a traditional 2-D fighter where two characters participate in a duel on a two dimensional plane. Apparently since calling a round a 'round' makes too much sense, rounds are called 'rebels", though I have a heavy suspicion that the word was intended to be "level" instead of "rebel" but the stereotypical "L" to "R" Engrish mistlansration can't be helped... One match can consist of one to five "rebels". To win a "rebel", you just have to beat the crap out of your enemy until their health bar is depleted, or by having more remaining health after the clock runs out. If you have ever played a fighting game, you know how this works.
Every character has a weak, medium and strong attack; buttons "A", "B" and "C" respectively. Also every character has a "unique" technique, called a Drive attack ("D"), which is different for each character. Combos can be executed through careful input of regular and drive attacks. Interestingly enough, as combos become longer, each attack will do less damage than normal to give the opponent a chance to retaliate. Grabs/Throw attacks can be executed by pressing the "B" and "C" buttons at the same time. Occasionally, some attacks use portions of the player's "Heat Gauge" at the bottom of the screen. The Heat Gauge is filled by either dealing or receiving damage, and when at a certain percentage, special moves called "Distortion Drives" can be performed. When a distortion drive is successfully performed and connects with the opponent, it deals massive damage and is visually flashier than normal attacks.
Astral Finishes are finishing moves that can be executed only if the conditions are right: You must be playing in the final round, your opponent must be at 20% health or lower, and your Heat Guage must be at 100%. When those conditions are met, you can execute your character's Astral Finish, however some additional conditions vary from character to character (ex: distance from opponent, midair, etc). Astral Finishes must be unlocked by playing through Arcade Mode with a character. You can consider these moves sort of like a flashy 'Fatality', though without the gore and obvious implications that you killed your opponent. Every character has one Astral Finish move, but BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger must be set at "Console" instead of "Arcade" in the options menu in order to enable their use.
Along with attacks, every character has two types of block. One is the regular block that can be broken with a "guard crush". That can be achieved by being more aggressive towards an opponent, therebuy pushing the "guard libra" gauge under the timer all the way to the opponent's side. The "guard libra" acts like a scale and a failsafe against opponents who do nothiing but block or "turtle". If the opponent keeps blocking, then their guard can be broken, leaving them open for attack. The second type of block is a barrier block, which is initiated by blocking while holding the "A" and "B" buttons at the same time. A barrier block cannot be broken like a normal guard, but there is a limit on how long one can be held, which is indicated by the barrier gauge. If the barrier gauge empties, then the player will receive 150% damage from every attack until it regenerates to half-full.
ONLINE
My online time for BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is less than a total of five online rounds. The reason being is that BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger has probably THE most hard-core players out of any fighting game I can think of (outside of Street Fighter IV, I believe). Everyone I managed to fight was at least a level 30 ranking over my measly rank of 1. Needless to say I got my ass roasted handed to me on a shishcabob stick three times of the five, the two times I did win were due to my spamming of Noel's Chain Revolver combination. The others cremated me because they all chose ν-13, who –with her sword-manifesting- is the biggest cheating whore of any video game ever. However the two rounds I did manage to win jumped me from a level 1 to a level 12 almost immediately. I am not too thrilled of the point system in BlazBlue's online because it seems extremely lopsided where it is nearly 'winner-take-all', leaving poor chumps like myself eating the dust of the BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger masters with little hope of advancement.
GRAPHICS
For a modern, High Definition 2-D sprite game, the graphics can't really get any better than BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger. One of the things that turned me off the "HD" game Marvel vs Capcom 2 was the fact that very little was actually "HD". The sprites were rehashed and upscaled from their arcade/dreamcast/playstation originals, making them stand out like a sore thumb against their bright, crisp, vibrant and "TRUE HD" backgrounds. In BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, the sprites (though still sprites with some jagged edges) were detailed and 'clean' looking for the greater-part. While BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger takes a back seat to the clean look of "Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix"; SSFIITHDR gets its ass handed to it in the overall animation department.
The sheer number of individual sprites for each character is mind-blowing, and the complexity of each is even more impressive. In most fighting games a punch is just that, a punch. It doesn't matter if you do it weak, medium or strong, a punch still looks like a punch with some minimal differences between each to set them apart. Even more discouraging are games like the earlier Mortal Kombat games where characters not only play alike, but their basic attacks also look extremely similar.
In BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, every type of attack has its own flair. A basic weak attack will look completely different from one character to another, yet perfectly fit with that specific character. The result is that each character has his or her perfectly unique fighting style in terms of gameplay and also graphically.
Ragna's "Carnage Scissors"
The Dynamic Drive attacks and Astral Finishes in BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger steal the show. Each character has 2-4 Dynamic Drive attacks, plus 1 unlockable Astral Finish attack to aid them in fights. When executing a Dynamic Drive attack, the background switches to a complex mesh of even more complex glyphs and symbols that move in the background. However, your eyes will be locked on what it is your character is performing to care. Combining 2-D and 3-D special effects, your character will go absolutely ape-shit against your enemy in varying but equally spectacular ways. The Astral Finishes are the cream of the crop in the special effects department as they not only obliterate your opponent, but they look fantastic in the process.
... Oh yeah, the background stages look pretty, too.
Seriously, if you can pause long enough to look at a few of the backgrounds (especially Taokaka's Village) there is a ton of movement and effects occurring that people rarely notice. Instead of 'layering' 2-D backgrounds to simply shift left and right depending on the characters' positions, each building or object is actually a 3-D object In other words, in Taokaka's Village, you can see three sides of a building you are fighting in front of. Coupled with special effects like lights, or flower pedals, or other 2-D characters interacting in the background, select stages have a great deal of life to them. The best example (and also the stage that is rarely seen outside of Versus Mode) is 'The Circus' where 3-D animatronics of animals and circus clowns perform on a lit stage.
HOWEVER, the biggest complaint about the graphics in BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is in the presentation itself: IT'S JAPANESE ANIME. Through and through. Despite that 2-D hand-drawn look of the sprites, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger lends itself to a lot of stereotypes and bullshit of Japanese anime. For instance, the characters, while individual, still fall into anime clichés: A cat girl (Taokaka), a giant robot (Tager), two feminine guys with huge swords that are obsessed with eachother (Ragna and Jin), a boy and his robot friend (Carl Clover and Nirvana), the sexual fetish clusterfuck (Litchi), and the 'noble Samurai/Ronin hero character' (Hakumen and (loosely) Bang Shishigami).
And even if YOU can get past the anime look and feel and realize that there is a solid fighting game underneath, your friends probably WON'T. While almost any of your friends will be willing to play against you Street Fighter, Tekken, Soul Calibur or Mortal Kombat, if they have ANY prejudices against Japanese anime, getting them to at least TRY to play BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger with you is like being in a "Pray-Away the Gay" camp: You can hope all you want, but they'll still think that you're a fag. If you want to introduce BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger to a group of friends who fall into the Madden and Halo crowd (aka: STUPID FRATBOY DICKS) it'd be best to have them first see it while you are in the middle of a fight so they get a taste of the stylish action that BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger can provide.
SOUND
The sound in BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger doesn't slouch. The music not only fits with characters and themes, but it hits hard. The soundtrack for BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger honestly gives me a sense of nostalgia for the hard-hitting, eclectic and diversely themed soundtrack to the fighting game Killer Instinct: Each song has some distinct theme behind it, meaning that no two songs sound overly similar as far as instrumentation, and each song has an upbeat and adrenaline pumping rhythm. While it will probably not be as memorable as the Street Fighter II theme, BlazBlue's intro theme hits harder with its heavy beat and blazing guitars.
Another fascinating aspect is that some character matchups actually have their own theme songs, meaning that if you and a friend are playing a Versus game as Ragna vs Jin, Litchi vs Arakune, or whatever match-ups have strong Story Mode ties, you'll hear that specific track in the background, regardless of the stage you are fighting in.
The downside to BlazBlue's music is that it may be just a little too eclectic in some tracks. To a lot of people, the use of a pipe organ during the character select screen is a rather boring choice. Also, the overuse of chorus singing can eventually drive a guy insane.
*Pops another Ibuprofen*
The only thing that will drive you into a blind, insane fit of rage is hearing the pipe-organ/chorus theme music for the final battle between you and ν-13 again and again and again as that cheating whore wipes the floor with you Rebel after Rebel after Rebel. If you have a copy of the BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger soundtrack, and if you've ever played the game on "Hell" difficulty for an extended period of time, ν-13's theme song will make you physically nauseous and will give you a massive migrane.
*Pops another Ibuprofen*
DIALOGUE
While some of the writing and dialogue did drive meow crazy, it was pretty solid for the meowst part. The in-fight dialogue actually changes depending on who is fighting who. For instance, if Bang Shishigami is fighting Litchi, every time Bang gets his ass handed to him by Boobie Lady, he screams, "Miss Litchiiiiii!" in agony. If Ragna and Jin are fighting, the teow will often exchange their normal dialogue with screams of "Jin!" or "Brother!". It's an extremely nice touch that I now expect to hear from all 'next-gen' fighting games.
I call into question the relationship between two androgynous men who chronically obsess over each other.
The voice actors did a meowst admirable job neow and again, even if the scripts did get leowsy in places in regards to some dialogue regarding heow a few of the characters interacted with the others. I don't kneow where they screownged up the voice actors for BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger but some of the characters were spot-on. The voice actors of Ragna and Jin sounded legitimately like badasses and psychopaths (respectively), and Litchi and Rachel's voices actually sounded genuine and not overly cheesy for dubbed English voices. It wasn't purrrfect, however. In meow opinion some of the voices didn't fit with the character, like the iron giant, Tager, who sounded pretty dapper and well-spoken for a robotic hulk with an underbite that neow amount of dental insurance would ever cover.
V-13's robo-voice annoyed the piss out of meow, but that was mostly due having to hear the blue cheating whore drone a meownotone "...Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading..." before every repeat fight because she previously cheated meow out of meow victory. Arakune has is another poorly written string of dialogue, but by design. Because Arakune is an insane anamorphic being that can't hold his shape let alone his train of thought, "Mos f hi dial ounds ike thi an it isses th fuc ut of e. Keeehehehehehehe!!". Goddamn, it sounds like Scooby Doo trying to talk with a meowthful of the peanut butter he licked off of Shaggy's balls.
A lot of conversations sound this one-sided and unintelligible...
There is one other character that has less than purrrfect dialogue that becomes so ear-piercingly annoying you actually feel 'more stupider' listening to it. But you don't need meow to tell you who it might be...
Meow.
*Pops another Ibuprofen.* *Accidentally cut finger on Post-it note... CAN'T STOP THE BLEEDING!!*
Meanwhile, other characters like Hakumen and Bang Shishigami are so horribly longwinded and over-dramatic that you'll grow a blister on your thumbs for pressing the 'next' button to skim over their conversations. Never the less, all of the characters have likeable personalities because BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is actually self-aware of such dialogue through the outloud thoughts of the opponent characters. For instance, everyone knows that Bang Shishigami is an idiot and a blowhard, that Arakune's words are unintelligible, and that Taokaka is ... just being Taokaka.BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger and story's self-awareness makes a lot of the shitty, annoying, and long-winded dialogue much more swallowable, rather than if it were to widely accept the unusual and unrealistic behaviors of typical Japanese anime bullshit.
OVERALL
BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is a wild ride and a great addition to any fan of the fighting genre, though most powerfully with the fans of 2-D fighting games. BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is one of those rare games that -while still having impressive visuals- actually focused on core gameplay and story than most modern games, fighting or non. The graphics, again, are amazingly detailed and intricate for a 2-D fighting game, and BlazBlue's eclectic soundtrack is just as impressive. The English character voices are good for the most part, however, the dialogue for characters like Arakune and Taokaka can get annoying very quickly. The Story Mode is complex but it will keep you playing BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger for several hours after you've completed the standard Arcade Mode and/or faught rounds with other people.
However, the anime presentation of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger will make it hard to encourage friends to play a few "Rebels" against you, and publically enjoying this game will make you look like a fucking 'weeaboo', 'wapanese', or an anime nerd in general.
Therefore I suggest that you treat playing BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger like you would treat masturbating: You can have a blast playing with yourself, but do it in a dark, concealed room and never speak of it publicly.
Graphics
8.0
A great score for a 2-D sprite fighter. Every attack is comprised of unique and highly detailed art that literally hands Super Street Fighter II HD and Marvel vs Capcom 2 their own asses. No two attacks look the same in BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger. The backgrounds are lively with a colorful blend of 3-D and 2-D elements. The sprites still have a jagged look to them.
Sound
9.0
A solid, SOLID soundtrack. Some of the best battle themes of any fighting game. Voice acting was actually surprisingly good for both the Japanese audio and the English dub. I never got 'annoyed' by any of the voices, so that's a plus.
Gameplay
8.5
Every character has a unique style, so no two characters play alike. Drives are an interesting game mechanic that makes all of the characters worth playing. Online will feed you your own ass. Lots of modes and options to play with.
Story
7.0
Unique in nearly all aspects. Every character has some motivatoin which is deeply explored in the Story Mode. The story as a whole gets confusing and too entangled at times, leaving you not sure what is and isn't "cannon". Dialogue gets annoying with some characters.
Replay Value
9.0
Replay value in BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is off the charts, for both online gamers and those who like single-player modes. Rich Story Mode, many unlockables and achievements, solid online gaming, and a great 2-player fighting game. May not be easy to find friends who will play a heaviily anime-based game with you.
OVERALL
8.0
High marks for a 2-D fighting game. Overall a great fighter with impressive graphics, strong replayability, and a good story driving it all. A must-have for fans of the 2-D fighting genre.
Your opening paragraphs mirror my own teenage years at the arcade fighters
so if you think that BlazBlue Calamity Trigger is worthy of your time then
it is worthy of mine.
BEDLAM-BURNS
01 Mar 2010, 10:19
This game looked really gay. Every one says that it is as good or a better
fighter than Street Fighter 4 but you are right about not many of my
friends would want to play it. Even King of Fighters just looks like a
better game and not so animey as Blazeblue. Should I just rent it once and
try it?
yamatoken
16 Mar 2010, 00:52
Is a good game BlazBlue. i play online and help you out ok? yamatoken game
tag.
tekkenfan2010
12 May 2010, 10:26
A funny witty and informative review. If you want a friend to fight in
BlazBlue my xbox live account is arukosan7.
Ray
22 Sep 2010, 03:35
I still don't quite understand your reference of halo games with
fratboys.?.? I always thought halo was considered a sci-fi fantasy
game...Not much room there for frat boys prayin on females with major self
esteem issues...unless they are making the delta star-trek house an
official one(roflmao). Other then that I loved your review and it actually
makes me want to buy this game asap.
LaughingMan
25 Sep 2010, 11:41
Thanks Ray. Check it out, it's a great fighter.
About the Fratboy joke, I have VGCats.com to blame:
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=285
Personally i prefer more Guilty Gear Accent Core Plus (ArcSoft too), is
more dynamic and have a lot of characters more than Blazblue (i hope this
game goes to pc someday)
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BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Review
