BlazBlue!!

[SOLDIER #819]

I wasn't even thinking of buying this can of awesome sauce until a friend mentioned that it had online play. Being out of the loop and forgetting that fighters nowadays were all modern-like, I jumped at the idea of having another game to play with friends. $60 and a week later, I'm liking it a tonnnn. It's a very solid and well-rounded game.

I started off playing it without even really reading through the instruction manual (still haven't completely), other than the character bios. Then I just read through their moves lists while doing parts of story mode (which is both awesome and/or hilarious at times) and practiced as I went. I'm not very good and more or less still experimenting with the characters, but I think it'd be cool to practive with Ragna, Noel, and Rachel more. Litchi and Bang (BANG BANG BANNNGGG) are also awesome.

Really, even though apparently the roster is small compared to Guilty Gear or other mainstream fighters, the various fighter archetypes are present and Drives really add a good sense of depth. Having only 12 characters actually gives me a bit of relief... since I think I'd feel overwhelmed with anymore. And if you even glimpse a tournament video... it just looks like a completely different game. So insane.

So has anyone else played the game or thought of buying it? If neither, you should consider it! If the former, what has your experience been with it? Favorite characters?

Please don't tell me Shadow's the only one! I bought it for the PS3, by the way. It'd be cool to have a few more friends to play with and hopefully grow a bit together.

[Victoria]

Yeah, please don't let us be the only ones playing this game for the PS3. I've been looking forward to this game since it hasn't even had a name yet.

My main characters are Litchi and Taokaka. I got this soon after it came out, and bought the Limited Edition. (Well, it's the only edition out right now anyway. Same price as regular edition but with a really good tutorial/tips/strategy DVD/BlueRay included, and the OST.)

I'm still practicing with my main characters, and trying out the combos and stuff from dustloop.com and such.

[loaf]

My friend told me about it a long time ago. Then one day Sheena told me about it and my friend had it. I mainly only use Arakune, but I like playing Hakuman and Ragna. It's a fun game and I like it better then any other fighting game I've played.

[LocoColt04]

Anyone who isn't playing this on PS3 is insane.
The 360 doesn't even have a remotely viable D-pad.

I've become somewhat brutal with Jin Kisaragi. I'm still having a hard time picking a favorite... Taokaka is pretty high on the list, as is Bang. Bang is sick once you get the hang of him.

[Cain Highwind]

Anyone who isn't playing this on PS3 is insane.
The 360 doesn't even have a remotely viable D-pad.

Then lock me up and send me off to the asylum. I have no interest in this title whatsoever.

No seriously. Everyone was talking about Guilty Gear X/X2 like they are talking about BlazBlue now. OMG HI REZ SPRITEZ! ROCKIN' SOUNDTRACK! I actually got hyped up from all the reviews, played it, and felt very underwhelmed. Within maybe two hours I had already shelved it and went back to playing KoF 2000 for PS2. It just felt so hollow. I wasn't into the characters at all, had an annoyingly steep learning curve, and just wasn't FUN at all (except for the few times with Friends where we'd just go crazy with Gold and Shadow characters). So I refuse to let myself be fooled by this game, because it just screams of being the same shallow, one trick pony.

You kids have your fun, I'll be taking TvC and KoF XII thanks.

[SOLDIER #819]

Those of you who have it for the PS3, let's be friends? PM me or something if you care to. LOCO. Loaf? Well, if you don't I'll just get impatient and VM you.

Cain, your post makes me sad. It would have been cool if you had enjoyed it, with you seeming to like the fighter genre a lot in general. I didn't find it hard to get into, but I don't really have a reference point to go off of. Saying it's shallow, however, seems strange (to me). How do you mean?

[Cain Highwind]

Those of you who have it for the PS3, let's be friends? PM me or something if you care to. LOCO. Loaf? Well, if you don't I'll just get impatient and VM you.

Cain, your post makes me sad. It would have been cool if you had enjoyed it, with you seeming to like the fighter genre a lot in general. I didn't find it hard to get into, but I don't really have a reference point to go off of. Saying it's shallow, however, seems strange (to me). How do you mean?

Yeah sorry I hate to be "that guy". I'm just still a bit bitter over my disappointment from Guilty Gear X2.

As for what I mean by shallow. Well I said hollow too. And well, I really did like parts of the presentation. The slick menus, the bright vibrant colors. I disliked the artwork, I didn't like the blaring rock music, which just didn't sound very distinguished or memorable to me. I didn't find the characters interesting at all, the sprites moved so stiffly. Omega Gear (remember him) and I would clash about this. He thought I was nuts preferring older SNK titles over the "clearly technologically superior" Guilty Gear. It's like the Xeno series, some people LOVE it, and some like me just don't "get" it. It just rubs them the wrong way.

Ironically, the creator of GG and BB and his team used to be part of SNK, and they created The Last Blade series which is one of my most cherished and loved Fighting Game series.

I'll take your advice and rent it sometime or buy it when it becoms uber cheap, but I'm just saying I've got my eyes on TvC and KoFXII much more than this. BB's sprites are indeed cleaner and HD, but they've still got GG's lack of detail and animation (not to mention over the top flashiness that just seems like overkill to me) KoF XII's are still a bit behind (their sprites are at GG's 640x480) they've got old school pixels but some breathtaking detail and fluidity that's just about on par with SFIII:TS only higher res.

[SOLDIER #819]

This is me being Captain Obvious, but it's really okay by me if you don't like it. More often than not I'm in your position so I understand that it's easy to end up hating something you've really looked forward to.

I sort of agree with you on the music... they have a certain rock theme going where the tracks tend to really blend together after a while. Some would say it's background music and serves its purpose and others would say it's distinct. I personally have trouble telling the difference, but I haven't really sat down and listened to it. I'm too busy wanting to throw the controller at the TV to do that.

I think the graphics look great, however. I don't have much experience with sprite fighters, but I think the lack of "fluidity" has more to do with the way the system is structured rather than some flaw with its animation. Some of can moves look quite fancy, but the main idea seems to be to chain various moves together into combos at seemingly eye-blink speed. There just aren't enough frames to make the flow of battle seem graceful without slowing the game down considerably.

Not to go too off topic, but how does Street Fighter and King of Fighters handle combos nowadays? Is it as fast or heavy as Guilty Gear? I think that could be the key difference. It may be more appropriate to hate its system rather than the graphics... which is probably worse!

Edit: And now I will bother everyone for PS3 usernames. Feel free to ignore me.

[Victoria]

BlazBlue isn't shallow at all. It's a completely different pony than Guilty Gear.
I understand what you mean about Guilty Gear. That shit is totally unbalanced. (I don't care what anyone says.)

BlazBlue is a lot more simple to play, and only has 12 characters to choose from and each character is really unique. The story mode is rather nice as well.

At least give BlazBlue a GameFly/rent before you say it's "Shallow".

Edit: All fighters have a steep learning curve if you want to play competitively online. However, if you just play for fun, most are pretty easy.

[Unknown Entity]

I've done my research on this game, and I'm kinda pissed that it's not got a release date for over here. =/

It does look pretty cool, and even though I'm not all that big on fighting games (the only one I ever liked was Mortal Kombat to be honest), I was hoping to pick this one up... and totally tan your hides in it!

IF it does come out over here, you guys will all be too bored of it and I'll be on my own lmao. XD

EDIT: Sheena dearest told me 30th of October it'll be out here. Heh... practice now guys - I'm on my way! =P

[Musashiden]

I saw a preview for it in GI, and it definitely intrigues me... and as someone who has figured out how to master the Xbox 360 d-pad for fighters, that and I don't yet own a PS3, when I get it, it'll have to be on the 360. I'll basically eat up anything Arc throws at me (except for the new GG... RTS? REALLY?), though, so this game is a given.