BlazBlue

[Taylor]

I was going to append this to the end of the SFIV thread, but when I noticed that grew to 7 pages I thought maybe it would warrant a thread of its own. Maybe not.

Lots of fighters are being released currently but this is my favourite of the lot and has been for a while. It’s kind of a spiritual sequel to the Guilty Gear franchise* and it shows. But it seems much more accessible this time around, especially at the entry level, and hopefully the fighter comeback will mean more players. I’ve only been playing it in the arcade but it has a home release now – unless you live in Europe where you options are to import (360 version is region locked) or wait until the EU release, which has been historically about 13 months...

It’s also being reviewed quite well, and not just in terms of score but the text itself. Which is promising, Guilty Gear seemed to get reviewed as “I don’t understand, lol character design,” but this is getting a more serious look. In fact even cynical me can't help but like the review and gamer reaction to it. There's also a lot of praise for the story mode, something Daisuke Ishiwatari said was a focus to broaden their home appeal, especially with female gamers(!), in Dodging, Striking, Winning: The Arc System Works Interview.

Anyone else picked this up, or thinking of doing so? My PSN is in the thread...

[gametrailers]52354[/gametrailers]

* Arc System Works lost the license in some vague legal mumbo-jumbo.

[Sentura]

honestly i dont think this is a game for a broader audience than any other generic anime game. it's way over the top with the special moves and everything, maybe even more so than anime standard (which is already far over the top). it wasn't even entertaining to watch; most of the time you couldn't see what was going on or who was winning in terms of combat moves.

street fighter is the only real anime game that stands out from the crowd by not being extremely over the top; and in my opinion, that is what makes it fun to play and entertaining to watch. it'll be a niche market, like it's spiritual predecessor.

i won't be picking it up. it's got everything i dislike about anime from what i've seen in that review. if you strip all that away, it's just a modified street fighter clone.

[Taylor]

I hear everybody is entitled to an opinion.

[⌐■_■]

looks like something you can have fun with, and i like the artistic direction

[Sentura]

I hear everybody is entitled to an opinion.

...wasn't that what you wanted? i even described why it most likely won't be a big thing in the western gaming world; with or sans good reviews. besides, hype > reviews.

yeah my cynical self is more cynical than your cynical self

[Zyn]

Been watching webstreams of people playing this and SF4, and it's far more interesting to look at BlazBlue as I am sick and tired of watching people constantly turtle in SF4, while in BlazBlue you seem to be asking for to get your ass kicked by turtling. Each character is different from another, and really have different playstyles, as some are defensive and some are made for rushing and constantly put pressure on the opponent. Only from the watching the streams and that I have not played the game yet, the BlazBlue characters "Ragna The Bloodedge" has quickly become my favorite for being a rush character and interesting moves. Or it could be just that he looks similar to Dante in "Devil May Cry", a game series I like, that I like Ragna.

I'd give this is a spin ... if I had any of the consoles this is available on >_>

PS: I suck at fighters.

[Taylor]

I hear everybody is entitled to an opinion.

...wasn't that what you wanted? i even described why it most likely won't be a big thing in the western gaming world; with or sans good reviews. besides, hype > reviews.

yeah my cynical self is more cynical than your cynical self

I completely agree with your observations that it will be just as niche as its predecessor, and mostly because it is anime-stylised and over the top. I think you’re mistaken when you describe it as a modified street fighter clone, or street fighter itself as an “anime game,” though. The whole entertainment and confusion thing is fine, it’s subjective and there’s no point having an unhealthy argument about it.

Been watching webstreams of people playing this and SF4, and it's far more interesting to look at BlazBlue as I am sick and tired of watching people constantly turtle in SF4, while in BlazBlue you seem to be asking for to get your ass kicked by turtling. Each character is different from another, and really have different playstyles, as some are defensive and some are made for rushing and constantly put pressure on the opponent. Only from the watching the streams and that I have not played the game yet, the BlazBlue characters "Ragna The Bloodedge" has quickly become my favorite for being a rush character and interesting moves. Or it could be just that he looks similar to Dante in "Devil May Cry", a game series I like, that I like Ragna.

Cool! Well, GGXX#Reload did get a PC release I think. But I wouldn't hold out

Yeah, turtling is never a good idea in Arc Systems Works games, you can still play a keep-away or trap character (I don't mean Bridget), but if you want to stand there and block you're in trouble. Guard crushing isn't too hard (especially with Ragna), you can combo off throws and overheads, charged moves get very block-unfriendly properties, and Negative Penalty places a damage multiplier on people who just run away and refuse to fight back. If you want some awesome match streams you can look here, it gets updated periodically.

I played Taokaka in the arcade. I wanted to learn Carl but he's hard to play and it didn't seem cost efficient at the time. Though, now they've give Bang a BGM to his power up super, I kind of want to learn him enough for the comedy value.

[Sentura]

I think you’re mistaken when you describe it as a modified street fighter clone, or street fighter itself as an “anime game,” though.

correct me if i am wrong, but isn't there an anime movie about street fighter? besides, every fighter is pretty much a modified clone of the previous version, why should this one be any different? that there is an easy to learn hard to master curve built-in? how is that not a modification?

[Taylor]

There's an anime, there's also live action films. Street Fighter is, if anything, influenced by western art and comics. You can tell because Zangief has muscles on his lips.

You might as well extend your logic and say all fighting games, Street Fighter inclusive, are clones of Karate Champ. You need to draw the line somewhere, and the differences between BlazBlue and Street Fighter are huge.

[Zyn]

When I watch streams (with chat) where people play BlazBlue, and whenever the BGM for Bang plays, the chat explodes into a massive SPAM ARMAGEDDON, with nothing but "BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG"

._.

[Sentura]

There's an anime, there's also live action films. Street Fighter is, if anything, influenced by western art and comics. You can tell because Zangief has muscles on his lips.

look dude, if there's an anime about it, then it's an anime game. i'm sure connoisseurs such as yourself have keen ways of telling apart exactly how much a game is anime, but for people that have no expertise whatsoever in the field, it's an anime game through and through. perhaps a hyped anime game, perhaps one influenced by western art and comics; but an anime game none the less.

You might as well extend your logic and say all fighting games, Street Fighter inclusive, are clones of Karate Champ. You need to draw the line somewhere, and the differences between BlazBlue and Street Fighter are huge.

of course. there are huge differences between halo and killzone too, but aren't they essentially the same game, gameplay wise (give or take vehicle sections)?

[Taylor]

look dude, if there's an anime about it, then it's an anime game. i'm sure connoisseurs such as yourself have keen ways of telling apart exactly how much a game is anime, but for people that have no expertise whatsoever in the field, it's an anime game through and through. perhaps a hyped anime game, perhaps one influenced by western art and comics; but an anime game none the less.

There is an anime loosely based on Romeo and Juliet, does that then mean it is an Anime Shakespearean Play? And nobody, especially connoisseurs of the famous playwright and his works, can argue any different because I had no expertise in this field when making this claim?

Guilty Gear, BlazBlue, Melty Blood and Arcana Heart – these are what you would throw under the umbrella of an 'anime game.' Street Fighter on the other hand has Marvel included in its biggest spin off and western comic book artists redrawing its sprites... One of the biggest complaints towards Guilty Gear I've heard from Street Fighter players is its anime style.

And is this really worth arguing about?

of course. there are huge differences between halo and killzone too, but aren't they essentially the same game, gameplay wise (give or take vehicle sections)?

BlazBlue and Street Fighter are not 'essentially the same game.' If your definition of clone is so amazingly broad why bother bringing it up?

[Skjalg]

Not to make this argument more off topic, but it seems like sentura isnt the biggest fighting-game enthusiast.

is there a word for a game-racist? (like saying blazblue and sf looks the same is like saying all koreans look the same)?

if not, then we should invent one right here !

[Sentura]

There is an anime loosely based on Romeo and Juliet, does that then mean it is an Anime Shakespearean Play? And nobody, especially connoisseurs of the famous playwright and his works, can argue any different because I had no expertise in this field when making this claim?

Guilty Gear, BlazBlue, Melty Blood and Arcana Heart – these are what you would throw under the umbrella of an 'anime game.' Street Fighter on the other hand has Marvel included in its biggest spin off and western comic book artists redrawing its sprites... One of the biggest complaints towards Guilty Gear I've heard from Street Fighter players is its anime style.

And is this really worth arguing about?

maybe it isn't worth arguing about, but i do it for sport (yes i actually find doing this entertaining). besides, we were talking about games here, not plays that arguably existed long before the invention of the anime drawing style. there are still things street fighter does that could be considered over the top, and it is still portrayed in a style that either is or strongly reminisces the styled used in anime movies, comics or otherwise. like i said, it may not be as anime as e.g. guilty gear, but it's still anime.

PS: popular opinion never equals truth.

BlazBlue and Street Fighter are not 'essentially the same game.' If your definition of clone is so amazingly broad why bother bringing it up?

i bring it up because it's true. it's not amazingly broad to consider two fighting games to be fighting games; because that's just what they are. if you disagree you're saying that a fighting game isn't a fighting game, which to me doesn't make any sense. to put it in another way, if e.g. street fighter (or any other 2d/3d fighter out there) had an SDK associated with it, guilty gear, blazblue etc. could be derived from them.

Not to make this argument more off topic, but it seems like sentura isnt the biggest fighting-game enthusiast.

i enjoy fighting games. perhaps not to the point of enthusiasm or fanboyism, but i still enjoy them. to put it like a programmer: i base their equality in the same sense as you would compare two classes inheriting the same interface: they can still both be called by that interface.

[Erratic]

i base their equality in the same sense as you would compare two classes inheriting the same interface: they can still both be called by that interface.

Jesus christ...