Game Review : BlazBlue Calamity Trigger

If there is one word that comes to my mind when I think about BlazBlue, it is : regret. Not that the game is bad, it is very much the opposite : the BlazBlue series is a blessing in the world of fighting games. I love every aspect of it. Then why regret ? Well, at the time I bought the first game (BlazBlue Calamity Trigger) (June 2010), it had not been out for long, but I was in the middle of my Master thesis (I mentioned this in this short "Happy 2012" post). Therefore, I did not dedicate as much time as I wish I did. In fact, until I got time to play games seriously again, Soul Calibur V was out. In March 2011, I bought the sequel BlazBlue Continuum Shift as a gift for my friend (AshCyber on Xbox Live) and a copy for myself at the same time. BlazBlue CS never got out of the box, simply because I felt guilty (and still feel) I did not spent enough time on the first opus yet. And time passes, I get less and less time for it. This year, I will try and get back to it, definitely. Anyway, enough about me, onto the review !

Graphics

It is extremely hard not to be amazed by BlazBlue's graphics. The baby of Arc Systems Works is a jewel that leaves you wondering how come details look so sharp and animation so smooth. Well, Arc System Works is the studio behind the famed Guilty Gear series, a reference in 2D fighting games. The game is all drawn and animated by hand, which makes the feat even more impressive.

As you can see, the style is very similar to one of Manga and Anime. Lighting effects are just about right, not too extravagant, not too dull. When they do, flashy graphics do not occur constantly like in Soul Calibur V or Tekken 6. Simply awesome ! Moreover, the introduction featuring a Japanese opening song, makes it look like you are about to watch an Anime episode :

Gameplay

General remarks

Let us make this clear from the start : the gameplay is the best of 2D fighting games I ever came across so far. However, it is certainly not as intuitive as Street Fighter IV would be. 3 attack buttons (weak, medium, strong) and 1 special button make it a bit hard to explain to non-initiated people. Apart from that, the game is not hard to pick up on : only really advanced commands may be complicated but the execution is quite tolerant : it is not too difficult to pull out even the hardest command inputs. Some moves can be triggered by using the right stick of the game pad which helps a lot. I should also say that the AI in BlazBlue is really strong, sometimes ridiculously cheated though.

Guarding is done by "stepping" backward although sometimes it is not be enough. In these situations, you need to guard with a shield which consumes a dedicated barrier bar. That bar resplenishes automatically when your character is not attacking, but you must not let it deplete completely. Your guard would then be broken, leaving you like a sitting duck. However, in really critical situations, you have the option to break your own barrier and repel any attack. This is to be used as a last resort as you are left without shield afterwards, but it can allow you to recover and reverse the situation. The shield also allows to counter more quickly than if you were doing the standard guard. Again, it is up to you to decide whether you should use it or not. This alone already makes the fight very tactical.

This shield consumes your Barrier bar but is more effective

Special Attacks : Distorsion Drive and Astral Heat

Distorsion Drive are special moves, similar to Street Fighter IV's Super Combo. It uses 50% of your heat bar (the bar at the bottom of the screen). Each character has several Distortion Drive in their move list. Since they deal a good amount of damage, using them appropriately is really advantageous. For most characters, the heat bar fills itself as you get land attacks or get hit. Haku-Men has its own specific bar and his Distorsion Drive attacks consumes star points instead.

One of Haku-Men's Distortion Drive

Except for Ragna, Astral Heat moves need to be unlocked for every other character by clearing the arcade mode with it. Astral Heat are finishing moves that can be only used in specific conditions :

You need 100% of your heat bar
You are in final round (there must be a winner after this)
Opponent has less than 20%

Just the animations are worth the effort :

Only 12 characters ?

Do not get me wrong on this : although 12 sounds like a small number compared to the recent games, the game is far richer than most of them. Seriously, Street Fighter IV may have 19 characters, but Ryu, Ken, Sakura, Dan, Akuma and Gouken are quite similar and Sagat is controlled in a fairly identical way. In BlazBlue Calamity Trigger, the 12 characters are completely different from each other : there are no 2 characters who share even the slightest similarity. This makes the gameplay extremely rich and tactical. Those who read previous articles already know that tactical richness is a very important criterion in judging a fighting game and that is why I love this game so much. For each character, combinations can vary greatly and gives you access to a wide range of options. The rest is up to you to make the best of them and the metagame then becomes tremendously complex (in a good way).

Additionally, an "Unlimited" version for each character can be unlocked, which extends the lifetime of this game. "Unlimited" versions are stronger and faster than their original counterpart.

I should mention here that I bought the Limited Edition of the game, which came with a tutorial DVD about the game as well as strategies and advice for each character. Although this is a really good idea, leaving it for the Limited Edition is somewhat a pity as this bonus disc could bring even more people to play if they know there is something to guide them. The general difficulty of fighting games is what keeps many people away from them.

Story Mode

Thought that Story Mode was the weakness of fighting games ? Think again. Although this is true for most titles, it is not the case for BlazBlue and (oh!) Tekken 6. The Story Mode here is not even a linear progress like in other games : each character has its own story and the scenario will be branching depending on your actions during the fight. dFor example, in one of her fights, the outcome will be different whether Litchi performs a Distorsion Finish (Distorsion Drive as a finishing move) or not. Furthermore, some of her stages can only be unlocked... by progressing in Arakune's story. While this does extend the game's lifetime, I question the approach. First, this forces you to play and practice with all characters, which I do not have the time for. Also I find it frustrating to be forced to play someone else, just to discover more about one character's story. Nevertheless, I would like to insist on the great effort put into making the story mode a real and proper one.

Music

The music tunes in this game are always a perfect match for the situation. Playful for "happy" characters, dark and heavy for others. It is an absolute delight.

Final thoughts

I have rarely seen a game that combines such graphical quality and gameplay richness. I can only regret I have not spent enough time on it so far. The reason is pretty much the same as for Virtua Fighter 5 : there is less incentive to play if there are no people around to challenge you at it. And if you add a Master thesis, then a new job on the top of that... At least a proof that I really like the game is this :

My Hori Arcade Stick : BlazBlue Calamity Trigger Edition

Ironically, I need it less in BlazBlue Calamity Trigger than in games like Street Fighter IV as I will explain it a future article dedicated to arcade sticks. Now, what else can I say apart from that I should really play this game more so that I can move onto :