BlazBlue: Continuum Shift

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BlazBlue: Continuum Shift is the update and continuation of last years masterpiece, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, this little gem was crafted by the brilliant minds at Arc System Works. Fans of the original or fans of the Guilty Gear series will no doubt want to purchase this, if for nothing else at least for the story mode, you have never experienced a deeper or more complex story in a fighting game...the thing is, it's actually interesting...unlike Street Fighter(which I love, don't get me wrong).

You will get a lot for your $40, newly added Tutorial Mode, Challenge Mode and Legion Mode from the portable version are present. The tutorial is a great place to learn the basics if you are new to BlazBlue and it is the best way to learn the advanced techniques as well. The new challenge mode is pretty much like challenge mode in SFIV and SSFIV. There are 10 challenges per character, each challenge is comprised of several different tasks though, once you get to the advanced combos for a character of your liking it could take you a very long time to clear the challenges. These games are easy enough to play at a casual level but it will take a lot of patience and skill to hang with some of the people you will meet online.

There are 3 new characters right off the bat, Tsubaki is a Valkyrie of sorts, fights with sword and shield and has a drive attack that charges her moves for added strength, she is a very simple character to use and I would recommend her to newcomers. Hazama, better known to veterans as Terumi, is another story. Hazama is tricky but unbelievably good, his drive attack sends chains out at his opponent both for attacks and to rapidly close the distance between players. He is fast, dangerous and unpredictable...and also serves as the final boss of arcade and Story mode for most characters. Lambda replaces Nu as the Murakumo unit in this game, hardly any difference. The true form of Noel Vermillion is also a playable character but I have yet to unlock her. As of now there are at least 3 more characters planned as DLC. Makoto, a...foxie lady (excuse the pun if you get it) that uses tonfa, I have only seen clips of her and have no idea how she plays. Valkenhayn, Rachel's butler and one of the Six Heroes, will join and I can almost guarantee that he will play like Slayer from Guilty Gear. Platina (Sena and Luna) is another future character, due to her split personality I expect her to be like A.B.A. from Guilty Gear.

All characters have a robust, branching Story Mode that will take you many hours to complete. The story picks up right after Calamity Trigger's True End, there is a brief summary for those that didn't play the original. Japanese and English audio are present and accounted for, thank goodness. Online returns of course, you can once again save and upload replays of your best matches if you so choose. There are a few new stages, a few new songs and sadly, a new announcer...not nearly as funny when she says Rebel 1, Action! The character portraits have all been redrawn and they look AWESOME, more like Guilty Gear art and less like anime. The sprites seem improved too, at least Ragna and Hakumen seem to have a few more frames of animation and slight color differences, all welcome changes. The gameplay is top notch, if you like high flying, air dashing combo-laden madness then BlazBlue is 100% for you.

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Besides the old SNK King of Fighters games, it is my personal opinion that, only Arksys has been able to create such complex 2D fighting games; this developer took all the experience from the Guilty Gear series and developed BlazBlue, which is a game that requires a lot of skill to pull out all the combos that are available, thus is focused for the hardcore gamers. This brings the first big problem in Continuum Shift, there's too much content that was brought from the previous title, and it feels this game is just an expansion rather than a new game.

This version has a detailed Training and Challenge section that teaches newcomers how to pay the game like pros and the Challenge is an excellent benchmark for gamers, if you cannot complete at least 30% of them, then you know that when you play online your chances of winning are not that good. It is highly recommended that this ought to be the starting point for beginners.

The story mode is the best I've seen in any fighting game series, there's an average of 3 endings per character and it's very well written, although sometimes it feels it drags more than what it should. The narrative is really good but not the presentation, for instance there is a turning point that determine which ending you will see and then there's an option to save; but if you want to view the other branch of the story, then you need to back track and read it all over again; now, doing this for 14 characters feels like the game is punishing the player. One personal suggestion for Arksys would be to have the save point before the turning point.

Online mode is good but has a minor flaw, if the opponent withdraws the match, you won't get the points; instead the game will show a status of incomplete. It happened a few times that when I had beaten very high ranking players they would abandon the match to avoid losing points. This is not fair by any means, and as with any competitive sport or game, this situation is not acceptable.

The gameplay is in one word awesome, and mastering any character to the point that you can pull a nice combo is truly rewarding, but this requires a lot of practice and time, therefore this game is not for casual gamers that just want to play for a couple of hours.

Buy BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Now

Blazblue is a wonderful, fast paced fighter. Like most fighters, players choose one of several characters from a large roster, each with their own style of play and special moves. However, Blazblue sets itself apart with it's crazy, unique cast of characters. Each has a very distinct feel to how they fight, making every character feel like an entirely new game to play.

In terms of personality and appearance, each fighter stands apart just as well. Hakumen, the mysterious knight. Hazama, the manipulative man with Michael Jackson's sense of style and grace and an internet troll's enjoyment of toying with others. Rachel, a young girl with a cultured disposition who is actually hundreds of years old. Entire paragraphs can be written about each character.

The story is surprisingly good for a fighting game. It mixes lighthearted humor with drama and enjoyable character interactions. Where most games shove their stories aside and carry just enough of it to justify why you have a ninja and a robot fighting each other, Blazblue manages to be intriguing enough to hold your attention and keep you going.

Not that it needs to. The game itself is refined and balanced. As stated earlier, each character is a new experience, though the simple basics of the game remain the same. Learning the ropes is easy, as the game includes a tutorial with it's own humorous dialogue narrated by a mocking Rachel. Part of the fun of any fighting game is mastering the characters themselves, so the simplified basics and thorough tutorial lets you get straight to the fun part.

Actually learning the characters is the challenge. After finding which characters you prefer to play, you have a large variety of both 1-player and 2-player modes to choose from as you learn them inside and out or jump right into playing with your friends and rivals. Any fighting game is much more complex then it first appears. The goal is to control space and predict the best way to counter your opponent's move/counter. The AI is well rounded, being hard enough to make battles fuel your adrenaline, but not painfully unfair to newcomers like most fighting games. You'll enjoy playing with friends, on your own, or online against other players across the globe.

In terms of the presentation, graphics and sound, Blazblue continues to amaze. The sprites are crisp, clean, and all around cool to look at. The animated cutscenes during the story mode are just as high quality, though the a certain character's expressions near the end can get weird at times. The music grabbed my attention right from start. Where most games have nothing but rock songs that all blend together after you listen to them long enough, Blazblue has something for everybody. It has rock still, but it also has plenty of classical sounding pieces and mixes in other music genres to make every character's theme as unique as the character.

Overall, this is one of the best games of the year. There is humor throughout, contrasting with character driven action and drama. Each story mode has multiple endings, and there is a humorous segment at the end of any ending not the best obtainable that provides advice to get there, courtesy of an irritable non-player character. The game play is fun and intense, and you can choose a new character whenever you find yourself getting bored with one character's fighting style. Music and graphics are sweet, sweet candy for the eyes and ears. If you like fighting games, have interest in the genre, or found fighting games too hard to get into, this is the game for you.

Read Best Reviews of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Here

In 2008, BlazBlue came out in the midst of a year in which a ton of other fighters were also hitting store shelves. Contending with the likes of Street Fighter IV, Tekken 6, SoulCalibur IV and Super Smash Brothers Brawl, BlazBlue was not exactly a stand out in a year filled with a lot of high caliber sequels. Nevertheless it became a small hit. The original game, Calamity Trigger was fantastic. It had slight balancing issues, but it was a solid game. The only major problem was the unusual lack of fighters. Continuum Shift is somewhat like the Super Street Figther IV of BlazBlue. Except there's a lot more. This is a little bit more than an expansion, however. There are new stories and chapters to explore and new game modes. You won't find any characters acting strangely different, but if you played Calamity Trigger you'll find that there is much more here than just an expansion. In fact, BlazBlue Continuum Shift is almost a sequel in its own right.

Fighting game and story are not exactly terms that go hand in hand. In fact, most fighting games are not well known for their stories. They certainly aren't well known for being big on narrative, dialog and the like. BlazBlue is a different beast entirely. The game actually has a story. And the story is actually quite a major element in BlazBlue. To begin talking about it here would take some time. Continuum Shift's story takes off from where Calamity Trigger left off. And yes, if you haven't played Calamity Trigger you are going to be lost and confused in the story of Continuum Shift. It doesn't recap a whole lot of the events which have already taken place in the previous game. The story is mostly told through still-life portraits and skits very similar to the first game. Two portraits of the characters face one another and speak. Mostly with voiced dialog that is sometimes fine to listen to... and other times it's hilariously bad.

What makes BlazBlue's story interesting is that it has an enormous cast of characters. And the experience all the story has to offer you'll have to play as them all at some point. You'll begin by playing a short scenario as Ragna. The main character. Once he's done with you'll unlock other characters whom you can play through their story. And each character has different arcs that add to the overall story at hand. Playing as one character will eventually unlock the story mode of another. The story can also branch off depending on the choices you make. Each character's story has a good, bad and humorous ending. The "good" ending is obviously what you're aiming for. And if you get the bad you'll be taken to a short, humorous skit that will give you hints on the right choices to make otherwise. You'll want to get the "good" endings for characters, however, because the story is actually interesting. The characters also help it shine. Each character has their own story, personality and background and you'll no doubt find a favorite. Likewise, a lot of the staged battles through story mode are not simply just there to make sure you'll battle, but because there's an actual purpose to the battle. There is only one real issue with BlazBlue's story. The first and most obvious is that it is extremely dense. This is especially true if you haven't played Calamity Trigger. The story is going to feel convoluted at times and there can be a lot to swallow. It's an interesting story, but there is a lot to sit back and take in. This causes some of the exposition and skits between fights to be exceedingly long at times... where it's them mostly just trying to explain something to you.

Because of BlazBlue's intent on developing every character it has in the cast you can't really expect the game to have a huge cast of characters. This isn't the type of fighter where you can easily read up on a character's bio or anything. Because of all the detail put into each character's personality, story, background and relationship to the other characters, BlazBlue isn't really teeming with a giant roster here. Continuum Shift brings back the original twelve from the first game. It adds in three new characters right off the bat, and three more you can download (which is actually quite annoying seeing as how you'll have to pay for the downloadable characters). It's not a huge fighting roster by any means, however what it lacks in the fighting roster it'll more than make up for in the gameplay department.

BlazBlue is a grand fighter mainly because it expects you to come to the game ready to do battle. It is a game that is not exactly inviting to those unfamiliar with the genre. While Continuum Shift throws in a nice Beginner Mode for players unfamiliar with the game and genre (making sure that whole combos are assigned to one button), it is still much more aimed at fighting game enthusiast. This is especially true because BlazBlue is one of the few games on the market where every character is truly unique to control. Since every character has various special moves and weapons that they can use, it takes a lot of investment to actually learn particular characters. The combos and how you string them together really add to this as well. BlazBlue is not a game you'll learn in just a simple sitting. The more advanced moves and combos aren't exactly obvious at first (and the game's mission mode is more likely to help you discover them than the training mode is). It's actually fun to experiment with the characters because of this. Many other fighters have huge rosters but resort to having clones at some point (SoulCalibur IV and Super Smash Bros. Brawl definitely suffer from this issue) instead of characters that actually act unique. The result of this is that each match can be intense and furious because not only is knowing your moveset important... but so is knowing your opponents. And you'll be amazed at how smoothly battles will flow.

Aside from the game's story mode, there is also an arcade mode, which is usually just a more condensed story mode for the character you choose. It has you going in a gauntlet against ten fighters. The last of whom will usually be in "Unlimited" mode which gives them an enhancement to their abilities. It can sometimes be more amusing than story mode because you don't have some of the long intermissions.

There is also the mission mode which will help you learn the game. And each character has a ton to go through. They'll start off teaching you basic moves and combos, but pretty soon you'll know how to string it all together. There is also a practice mode (self explanatory) as a score attack mode. Regardless of how you see it, there is actually quite a bit to do in BlazBlue Continuum Shift. The single player experience is broad. And the more of it you do the more artwork and bonuses you'll unlock. And you'll be surprised at just how much there truly is to unlock in this game.

The newest addition to Continuum Shift is the Legacy mode. You'll move along a path where you'll be able to recruit fighters to join you as you conquer a grid. It requires a bit of strategy as taking a lot of damage in one fight may impair you for the next. Legacy Mode is just like the original game, but it's certainly more challenging. And BlazBlue is not very easy on its own. The game is more than willing to punish anyone who hasn't taken the time to learn it. This is one game where button mashing will get you nowhere.

The game isn't without flaws. The voiced skits can be annoying. Not because the voice acting is bad, but because there are some moments that are questionable. When you see some snippets of dialog there is usually an action in asterisks afterwords (something like *thud*) and for some odd reason the voice actors made sure they had to actually say these sound effects. And believe me, there's nothing more strange than watching a voice actor say, "THUD" after just groaning in agony. The difficulty can also be all over the place. One moment you're in a relatively simple battle, and the next you're in an extremely unfair one. What can also be annoying is the story mode. In order to unlock everything you'll be required to get every character's good and bad ending. And this entails playing through each character's story mode at least three times. And the humorous endings in particular are REALLY long skits that are so absurd the humor runs dry sooner rather than later. There's little wrong with the actual gameplay though. While the small roster of fighters may grate on some gamers, it's important to understand that the game's cast of characters are actually developed through story and narrative. In the case of BlazBlue's cast, less is actually more. The character's are endearing. If you pick up and play BlazBlue, you're GOING to find a favorite.

In terms of its visuals, BlazBlue is a pretty looking game. In a world where 3D has begun to dominate the fighter, looking at the detail presented in BlazBlue is amazing. The artwork doesn't look any different than Calamity Trigger at all. Even more the stages you'll do battle on are exactly the same. But the art style is impressive and gorgeous. The amount of detail they managed to fit into each area is amazing. The character art styles are the most impressive. BlazBlue is, for the most part, pretty in-your-face about its presentation. If you didn't like what you saw in Calamity Trigger there's nothing here that will appeal to you. The music is actually strangely addictive and fun. There are some metal tunes here, but a lot of them sound appropriate and chaotic for each battle. Every character as their own theme and stage. As well as music that plays for certain battles. For example, there is a particular theme that will play whenever Ragna and Jin fight one-another... or if Ragna and Rachel do battle. It's mostly amazing stuff. You can also change the music before each versus round with a friend.

BlazBlue is a great fighter, but it's an unapologetic one. This isn't a fighter that's going to babysit the player. It expects you to have an idea of what you're doing. You'll be able to learn it just fine. It manages to be inviting but it's not long before it takes away the training wheels. This is one of the things that makes BlazBlue work. Especially if you decide to take the fight online. You're going to run into several players who will be unapologetic.

If you're a fan of the fighting genre, you're likely to love BlazBlue. Certainly it doesn't have a huge roster of fighters, but it does have a great cast of characters that are well developed and a story that will more than make up for that. Likewise, the game is just all around fun to play. Becoming something that is enjoyable for any veteran of the fighting genre. If you like fighters... you need to play this game.

Want BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Discount?

Writing reviews (or at least something like reviews) is not really something that I'm in the habit of doing. One reason for this is that there are already plenty of professional reviewers that can do a much better job of it than I can. Nevertheless in the case of Blazblue I think I just might have something to contribute. Although I don't think I'm really all that good at writing reviews and such so I hope you'll keep that in mind and please try to bear with me.

First off I would like to address one of the issues surrounding Continuum Shift. I understand that there are those who have taken issue with Aksys Games for allegedly misusing the concept of DLC.

Now let me draw primarily upon my own personal opinion for a moment:

There currently seems to be an industry wide trend of companies using the concept of DLC in perhaps questionable ways. Some people even hate the very idea of DLC. But personally I don't think that it's that big a deal at all. And I also think that the issue of whether or not a piece of content should be included with the original release of the game is largely a moot point. The reason for this is that it always comes down to consumer choice. If one finds any given piece of DLC to not be worth it, then simply don't buy it. On the other hand if it is worth it then so be it. And besides it's always an option to simply try and wait for DLC to go on sale, however long a time that may be. I honestly don't know how these companies decide on their prices. But whatever the case I personally try not to sweat the small stuff. I try not to get all worked up over relatively small amounts of money. But of course that's just me.

Okay I'm done with that for now.

There seems to be a bit of a debate going on about whether or not Continuum Shift qualifies for the "sequel" label. I believe that it does. I think Continuum Shift has enough new content for that, most importantly the story aspect. I think it has way too much new story to not be called a sequel.

Some have claimed that Continuum Shift doesn't have a lot of new content but the fact of the matter is that Continuum Shift has a sizable amount of content that it's predecessor doesn't have, most notably it's new story, and there is A LOT of story and lore to go through. That's new content. Some people may not care for it but that doesn't change the fact that it's still there and the previous game doesn't have it. And whether or not all the content is worth the price you pay, or whether everything is overpriced or not, is entirely up to you. It's all subjective and depends on how much you care for and value what you're buying.

But in any case Continuum Shift does actually have a respectable amount of content that it's predecessor doesn't have including:

-New Game modes like the Tutorial mode, Challenge mode, Legion mode, and Beginner mode

-4 new playable characters, although one of them needs to be unlocked. There are also at least 3 more on the way via DLC

-15 new stages

-New Fighting Mechanics such as a new break burst system and new fatal counter system, among other stuff

-New moves for all characters

There are also a number of general changes. One of the most significant is the fact that the story is 1.5 or 2 times bigger than in the previous game: Calamity Trigger. All of the characters have been rebalanced but if you're not happy with the changes there is not necessarily any need to worry. Because this time around the game is patchable for character balance so, at least in theory, there could be future rebalancing if demand for it is great enough.

There is more that makes Continuum Shift different from Calamity Trigger but I really don't think it's necessary for me to give the full rundown because there are apparently other places on the internet that have already done that. And besides I think I've already gotten my point across. Although some people may not see it as a sequel in no small part because it doesn't fit their own personal definition of what a sequel is or what a sequel should be. But I would encourage anyone reading to take a look at the facts, specifically all of the stuff this game has that it's predecessor doesn't, and decide for themselves.

Continuum Shift is a great fighting game but if you want info that focuses more on the gameplay aspect of it I think that the professional reviewers can do a better job with that than myself so instead I'll just focus on what I consider to be the best part of Blazblue.

In my opinion the best part of Blazblue, what most effectively set's it apart from other fighting games, and what most effectively sets Continuum Shift apart from its predecessor is the story.

Now the story of Blazblue seems to be somewhat of a point of polarization. Some people love it while others hate it. This applies to both gamers and professional reviewers alike. Professional reviewers are by no means united against Blazblue's story and some have given it positive marks. But some people have made highly subjective claims such as Blazblue's story being weak, or poorly written, or throwaway with no real effort being put into it. I for one disagree strongly and completely.

There is a HUGE amount of story and lore in the Blazblue Universe, maybe even enough to rival at least some RPGs. What's equally impressive is the fact that it's all kept coherent with both Calamity Trigger and Continuum Shift. It's obvious that a lot of careful thought went into everything and there is still the fact that Blazblue puts so much more emphasis on it's story than other fighting games. Blazblue may very well include a number of anime conventions and/or tropes but that by no means indicates or means that effort wasn't put into it. One can plausibly describe other fighting game stories as weak, poorly written, poorly conceived, and/or and having throwaway stories that don't have any real effort put into them but not Blazblue.

Let me say that I am actually not a fan of fighting games. I have dabbled in franchises like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Soul Calibur but I've never really been a fan. And part of the reason for that is that I generally like my video games stories. So when I heard about Blazblue, a fighting game that supposedly did story well, I was naturally curious. But when I got into Blazblue I was amazed at how well done the story was. It's not just that I liked the writing, or that the characters were interesting and/or likeable (in numerous cases I found them to be both), or the sheer scope and detail of the lore, or the interesting addition of the branching story paths. What really impressed me most of all was the coherence of it all. Usually in fighting games there are numerous character play-throughs' with there own simplistic storyline scenarios but they're generally independent of each other with maybe only one or two actually being canon, or part of the formal and official story, and the rest of them being simply "what if" stories. A good example of a franchise that works like this is Mortal Kombat.

But in Blazblue it's all canon. Each of the character stories are canon and they're all part of the same large and complex story. This is done largely through the use of what I would call a clever plot device, or at least a clever use of said plot device. And it's not even limited to the story mode either. The arcade stories, while much more simplistic, are also part of the overall whole.

Of course all of this also means that there is really nothing mindless about Blazblue's story. It actually requires, or at least strongly encourages, you to think. Some people claim that it's hard to understand. But I also strongly disagree, I would say that Blazblue's story is not hard to understand, at most it just requires at least a little patience. Although it may appear to be hard to understand because of the unusual way in which it's told. Overall the story mode of Blazblue is kind of like a puzzle. Each character play-through is simply one piece of a large and complex puzzle. It might seem at least a little hard to understand at first but with each play-through you receive another piece of the puzzle and you're gradually and steadily able to gain a greater and greater understanding of everything. So it's not that the story is hard to understand, it's just that the understanding tends to come gradually as opposed to quickly like other games.

To help this process along there are also the "Teach Me, Miss Litchi" segments. These are expository sketch comedy pieces. Unlike the arcade and story modes these are technically not part of the Blazblue canon but nevertheless they are definitely not to be taken for granted. They generally involve numerous characters (most prominently Litchi) of Blazblue teaching Taokaka about the world they live in (or at least trying to). And as Taokaka learns (or at least tries to) so does the player. As the introduction of the first episode of "Teach Me, Miss Litchi" points out the purpose of the segments is not to further the story, but to facilitate your understanding of Blazblue. Overall these segments are an excellent way for you to familiarize yourself with the Blazblue lore and gain a greater understanding of the Blazblue universe, and you might even have a few good laughs along the way.

And to top it all off when you've played through all of the character stories the true ending is unlocked. Essentially the other play-throughs and endings develop everything, and the true play-through and true ending moves it all forward. And it's all kept coherent on top of that. This is done in both Calamity Trigger and Continuum Shift and it's a great accomplishment.

As for the actual story, I'm not going to spoil anything but it does have a lot of stuff that one might expect from a good story like action, drama, suspense, melodrama, a lot of quirky comedy, intrigue, tender and/or sentimental parts, and even a little romance (Litchi is on a quest to help someone she loves and Bang has unreciprocated feelings for Litchi). The story is full of meaningful and interesting dialogue, good characterization, and rich character interaction. And it also has a great deal of information and lore backing it all up. And let me emphasize again that it's kept coherent.

Overall Blazblue's story is great and this is also one of the main reasons why Continuum Shift is so important. A while ago I heard that a traditional story structure for Japanese manga is a four part formula. In the first part the story begins, in the second part the story expands, in the third part the story reaches a climax, and in the fourth part the story gets wrapped up. This is the formula that was used for the original four .hack (pronounced dot hack) video games for the PS2. I can't help but wonder if this is the formula that the creators have in mind for Blazblue. What I do know is that Calamity Trigger started everything and in Continuum Shift everything expands in a big way. The dialogue is even more interesting and meaningful, the character interactions are richer, and the characterization is just as good if not better. On top of that there's more story in general and Continuum Shift is generally much more informative than it's predecessor and that's not even taking into account the new episodes of "Teach Me, Miss Litchi", now called "Teach Me, Miss Litchi: Reloaded".

In my opinion, Blazblue is awesome. I love Continuum Shift just as I love Calamity Trigger. Even so I know that it's safe to say that, like many other games, Blazblue is not for everyone. Nevertheless I wholeheartedly recommend Continuum Shift to absolutely anyone who cares about the stories in their video games. Not just anime fans and not just Blazblue fans. Although it's also safe to say that both of the games are a must-have for anime fans. However for those who like their video game stories and are interested in Continuum Shift, I strongly recommend that you pick up and play through Calamity Trigger first if you haven't already. Yes, Continuum Shift's story mode does include a summary of the events of the first game and Continuum Shift also thoughtfully includes the first set of "Teach Me, Miss Litchi" episodes in addition to the new episodes. But nevertheless if you skipped over Calamity Trigger you would still be missing out on a lot of stuff in terms of dialogue, characterization, and character interaction and the like. I know from experience that hearing or reading about something can be a very different experience than actually experiencing it firsthand.

So I guess that's it. But before I finish up there are one or two more things I would like to say. Naturally anyone is free to comment on this review if they want but if you actually want to debate with me then I'm very sorry but I really can't accommodate you. You see my only goal here was to say my piece and now that I've done that I'm going to get on with my life. For those who have taken the time to read this I would like to say thank you very much for your time and I hope that you've found my words helpful.