BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Review

> BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Review

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Review
-by Steve Loung

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is the beginnings of something very special. It is an infectious mix of stunning visual fidelity, high octane music and furious gameplay mechanics that come together to make it one of the best games of 2009.

For those that may not know, BlazBlue is the latest 2D fighting game from Arc System Works of Guilty Gear fame. As such, there are some similarities between the two series. For example, they both feature similar mechanics like air-dashing, bursts, barrier blocking and rapid cancels, and some of the character designs are similar to those seen in Guilty Gear. However, that’s as far as the similarities go. For anyone walking in expecting that BlazBlue is going to be the next Guilty Gear game they are in for a rude awakening. BlazBlue is pretty much all original from the ground up. It features 12 original characters, and a plethora of both defensive and offensive options. Most notably the ukemi system and each individual character’s “Drive.” The ukemi system is a defensive mechanic that is normally seen in 3D fighting games. However, it has been adapted to work in the 2D space that BlazBlue inhabits by giving the player the option to either roll forward, backward, or just to try to get up immediately. This is interesting because it can create a mind game between the player that was knocked down and the other player, making the wakeup situation a bit more unpredictable. The Drive system on the other hand is a way that each individual character in the cast can be distinguished from each other. By pressing the Drive button, you will gain access to your character’s most unique moves. For example, Jin is a character whose powers are based off of ice. Thus, when he uses his Drive attacks they will instantly freeze the opponent for a short period of time allowing you to follow up with anything you would like to. Another interesting Drive is Rachel’s. Rachel’s Drive allows her to control the wind. This control that a player has over the wind makes for some creative strategies including using the wind to make her throw a projectile faster, or to allow Rachel to fly through the air to make a quick escape. Regardless of which character you decide to choose, you will find that they are all unique based off of their Drives alone.

Another quirk of the game’s mechanics that you should take note of is the fact that the game is highly conducive to a very aggressive form of play. In fact, it almost forces you to play in this manner because if you stay back on your heals too much then you will be hit by something called “negative penalty” in which you will take double the damage. It is also a good idea to hold onto your burst and use barrier blocking only when necessary because if you burst, or run out of barrier gauge you will be put into the “Danger” state where you will take more damage than usual. Now, to a player like myself, this is great because I love to play an in-your-face “rushdown” style. However, this style of play is not for every type of player, and the fact that the game is almost forcing you down this specific style of play could present problems to players that like to play a more defensive “turtle” style of game. In this sense, it is slightly disappointing that there is less freedom to how you can play the game, especially because one of the hallmarks of the Guilty Gear series was its incredible flexibility in play style options that were at players’ disposal.

Mastering some the mechanics that I listed above will certainly help in your enjoyment of BlazBlue, but what makes this home release so special is the fact that you don’t even have to be all that great at the fighting portion of the game to get enjoyment out of the game. The reason for this is because of the full fledged story mode that is included. As odd as it may seem for a fighting game to have an entire mode dedicated to not actually fighting, it works pretty well. The story mode is done in the same manner that visual novel games are done. Basically, the way the mode works is you read, and listen to the dialogue of characters and then you make a simple decision choosing between options that usually involve doing one thing (like pursuing someone) or the other (not pursuing him). The mode is presented with big portraits of the characters, with little animation involved. There is a small amount of fighting involved in the mode, but for the most part, you will be sitting back enjoying the story of whatever individual character you decided to choose. Now I’ll admit, I really did not like this mode when I first started playing it. However, the mode eventually hooked me because of all the different story paths and endings you can get with each character. When you are in the story mode you will notice a completion percentage besides each character. In order to get 100% for a character you will need to explore all the paths of the story, including losing to the computer, and getting distortion drive finishes. Trying to get 100% for each character can be quite addictive, and doing this will take about 3-4 hours per character, meaning you can spend 35 hours plus on the story mode alone. That’s quite a bit of content for a mode that is not even the main attraction of the game.

As far as other modes go, there are the usual training, score attack and arcade modes that are available to you. Going through score attack and arcade mode is actually pretty worthwhile because beating them with certain characters will net you the “Unlimited” versions of those characters. Unlimited characters are basically boss versions of standard characters. For example, Unlimited Ragna will constantly be in Blood Kain mode. Going through these modes will also unlock some characters’ Astral Heats, which are the game’s most elaborate super moves. The score attack is interesting because it will upload your score to a worldwide ranking board to see how your score stacks up against other players. There is also a gallery mode where you will be able to see any cinematic and art that you saw in the story mode, as well as audio from the game such as the music heard, and even unlockable Japanese voice actor clips that you can earn from the story mode.
All of the stuff seen in those other modes are pretty interesting, but the real meat of the BlazBlue experience is what it offers on the online front. The online experience of BlazBlue is rock solid. I am happy to report that the netcode is fantastic. After play testing the game on both the PSN and Xbox Live I can say that both online experiences are really good. I did feel that the Xbox Live connection was a little better, but I suspect it is because I was primarily playing against people in Japan while testing the PSN connection. So, as long as you are playing someone within the same continent as you, your games should be relatively lagless regardless of the console you own.

As far as online options go, there are the standard options that you can do like compete in ranked matches or in non-ranked matches. Ranked matches have a filter function so you can choose to fight with people only within a local area, people at the same skill as you, or are weaker/stronger than you. The way that the game tracks how skillful a player you are is through a level system. After every win or loss online you will gain experience towards a new level. This level system is also tied to the “D-Card.” The D-Card is basically your online calling card. It displays your gamertag, who you main, and how skillful you are with your main. It also tracks how many incomplete games you were a part of, which can be slightly misleading because an incomplete game will be given to you even if you did not quit a game early. Still, it is a good way to keep track of rage quitters online because those with many incomplete games will have their names in red telling you to avoid them. The non-ranked matches are actually more interesting because you can create a lobby with up to 6 people and watch the other people fight while you wait your turn to fight. I think this is a great feature because it captures an arcade feel even though you are online. In these non-ranked matches you can also create a room with specific parameters or look to filter in and out specific things like making a room for beginners/experts only, banning or allowing the use of unlimited characters, astral heats and easy specials (special moves you perform with the right analog stick), and how long rounds are and how many rounds you want. Ranked matches come with the pre-set of a 99 second clock, best out of 2 rounds and banning the use of easy specials, unlimited characters and allowing astral heats. On top of what you can do in just ranked and unranked matches, the BlazBlue online experience also lets you save the replays of matches you just played, and better yet, lets you download the replay data of other players online. This means that you can go back and look at any mistakes you made, or you could look at the number 1 player and see how he/she plays so you can pick up some tips to improve your own game. The replay data will be saved to the hard drive, and can be viewed in replay theatre. All of this comes together to create one very robust online package that no fighting game has ever come close to achieving.

Of course, all of this talk about the online experience, the base fighting mechanics and the story mode would probably be for not if the game’s presentation was not up to snuff. Fortunately, the way the game looks and sounds is probably its best feature. BlazBlue looks absolutely spectacular. The game is vividly colourful with large sprites that practically pop out of the screen, complimented by large, beautiful backgrounds that seem almost alive. Everything about the game looks fantastic, from the way that the outrageous super moves animate with the greatest of fluidity, right up to the still art that you see in the story mode. What makes this game’s visual style even more striking is the fact that the game is practically entirely 2 dimensional, and benefits greatly from it because of the anime art style that is employed. The game’s high definition look cleans up the sprites and makes the action on screen look like something you would see in a shounen anime. The art style may not be for everyone, but it certainly fits with the game’s high energy feel.
Complimenting the adrenaline rush vibe that the game is going for is definitely the game’s soundtrack. The Guilty Gear series was notorious for its heavy metal music, and the same high pitched guitar riffs and screaming solos make a return in BlazBlue, albeit with a slightly more orchestral feel to it. Regardless of the instrumentation at work, the music is incredible and fits very well with the fast-paced action that is usually happening on screen. Of greater significance on the sound front, is the voice acting. You can have the option to change the language to Japanese if you wish to hear the game in its originally recorded form, but the English cast does a great job. There will be a few odd lines here and there that will be unintentionally funny, but for the most part I found that the English voice cast performed very admirably. Besides, as soon as you hear Taokaka say “Boobie Lady” once, you will never get tired of it.

In conclusion, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is definitely one of the best games released this year, and probably the best fighting game experience you will find on console this year. I say this not because the game’s fighting mechanics are the best ever seen (because they aren’t), but because of the amount of content that is packed into this home release. Simply put, because of the addictive story mode, and the incredible online experience you should own this game. It looks great, sounds great, and plays great with lots of room to improve. Ultimately, how well the game does on the competitive circuit will determine if there will be another BlazBlue, but like I said at the start of this review, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger has the beginnings of something special. We can only hope that this is a series that will continue to grow and release new titles for many years to come.