BlazBlue Continuum Shift

[bork]

Who is getting this and on which system?  I know I'm probably the only one crazy-dumb enough to be importing it this week, when it's coming out here at the end of July for only $40.

Shamelessly-stolen GAF OP:



Developer: Arc System Works
Publisher: ASW Japan | Aksys Games | Zen United
Genre: 2D Fighting
Ratings: CERO C | ESRB T
Release date: July 1, 2010 [JP] | July 27, 2010 [NA] | October 2010 [PAL]
Price: ￥7,140 | $39.99 USD
JP Site | NA Site | Euro Site

Arc System Works’ second entry into the BlazBlue franchise took arcades by storm this past November. Now, BlazBlue: Continuum Shift is finally making its way to home consoles with more characters, more music, and new content!

Screenshots:



Limited Edition:

Exclusive to the Japanese release is the BBCS Limited Edition Box Set (￥9,660).
Included in the limited edition box set are:
• A replica recording script
• An exclusive Art of BlazBlue artbook
• Exclusive disc label artwork
• Noel Vermillion Nendoroid petit figure


North American gamers won’t have limited edition of the game available when it hits shelves, but if it’s any consolation there is an exclusive BlazBlue-branded  Madcatz Fightstick TE. Individually numbered and imited to only 3000 units (1500 per console), this is truly a collector’s item for any BB fan.
Aksys Store | Amazon (PS3 version) | Amazon (360 version)


New Characters:

• Hazama – Total renaissance man. Intelligence agency captain, possible Michael Jackson impersonator, and total demonic ghost.
• Tsubaki Yayoi – NOL graduate. Introduced as an NPC in BBCT. Fights with a weapon that manipulates light. 
• μ-12 – Apparently Noel Vermilion’s true form is a robot that can blow up the world. Neat.
• Λ-11 – She’s ν-13 except less broken. Apparently they needed a plot reason and new character to explain this.
• Makoto Nanaya [DLC] – Introduced as Noel’s Librarium classmate in BBCT’s story mode, this tonfa-weilding squirrel-person will become the first downloadable character in BBCS.


New Game Modes and Features:
• Beginner Mode - Hooray for accessibility! Beginner mode won’t actually remove any of the numerous meters or gauges, but assists new players with a simplified control scheme so they can enjoy the game right away and even learn fundamentals without becoming encumbered by technical inputs.
• Tutorial Mode – Learn the mechanics unique to BlazBlue Continuum Shift
• Challenge Mode – Learn fancy combos and complete missions with specific goals to master your character’s offense.
• Legion Mode – New to a console version of BlazBlue, the formerly PSP-exclusive Legion mode. Defeat armies of increasingly difficult AI opponents in a “team battle”-type scenario.
• Rebalancing - As the game's Producer Toshimichi Mori stated, BBCS shall receive a significant balance patch a few months following release. Fighting games have received bugfix patches in the past, but something like this is unprecedented.


Returning Game Modes - Every mode from the console release of Calamity Trigger will return, including:
• Story Mode – Continues the plot of BBCT with now familiar dramatic mode.
• Arcade Mode – Conversion of the arcade release BlazBlue Continuum Shift.
• Online Versus – Arc System Works’ rock-solid netcode makes its return with lobby support for player matches.
• Practice Mode – As the name suggests, this mode allows the player to practice with numerous customizable variables.
• Score Attack Mode - Survival mode in which you accumulate points by fighting CPU opponents until you die (or beat them all).

Videos:
Japanese TV spot
Aksys Debut Trailer
Challenge Mode demo
Unlimited Characters Teaser
Noel and Tsubaki's voice actors face off

Achievement/Trophy Lists:
360 | PS3

In-depth strategy and match-up discussion:
Dustloop
BBForum
SRK

Aksys BBCS Console FAQ

[Smooth Groove]

Is this |OT|?  I don't wanna waste a post.

[bork]

Is this |OT|?  I don't wanna waste a post.

Sure, it's the new ***|OT|***. 

I'm pretty interested in the game because of the promised rebalancing updates.  That will be awesome if they really stick to it.

The DLC characters are supposedly not unlock keys, but they've got to be content that's been purposefully cut from the game to be sold for additional profit.  It also means that anyone who doesn't want to play as them will still be forced to download their data regardless.

[Beezy]

Dunno if I'm gonna buy it or gamefly it. Either way I'll be playing it when it comes out. I gotta try out their new character named Makoto.

[iconoclast]

I'm getting it day one when it's out here, on 360. In the next couple weeks I'm going to go back and finally play through the story in Calamity Trigger before since I never really bothered with it before.

This is also the last 2010 game that I'm really looking forward to

[Beezy]

I'm getting it day one when it's out here, on 360. In the next couple weeks I'm going to go back and finally play through the story in Calamity Trigger before since I never really bothered with it before.

This is also the last 2010 game that I'm really looking forward to

Same here. Finding all the different story branches for every character was too annoying.

[MCD]

sounds like another easy 1000.

will get, one of those days.

[bork]

Dunno if I'm gonna buy it or gamefly it. Either way I'll be playing it when it comes out. I gotta try out their new character named Makoto.

Makoto's the first DLC character...seems like kind of a waste to gamefly it and then pay to play as her.

I'm getting it day one when it's out here, on 360. In the next couple weeks I'm going to go back and finally play through the story in Calamity Trigger before since I never really bothered with it before.

This is also the last 2010 game that I'm really looking forward to

I need to play through the CT story mode at some point too.  It was part of the reason why I got the game on PSP but I ended up not bothering with it.

I'm importing the 360 version this week so I can re-familiarize myself with the game and get a one-month head start before it hits the States.

[Smooth Groove]

I like how it looked on the PC emu but the gameplay feels really slow, compared to SF4.  Will the legit home versions have game speed settings? 

Those sticks look sweet btw.  I wanna get one even though I already have a SF4 TE.  WTF do they cost so much more though?

[Robo]

Since I ended up skipping out on the first one, I'll probably pick this up for 360 whenever it comes out.

[bork]

I like how it looked on the PC emu but the gameplay feels really slow, compared to SF4.  Will the legit home versions have game speed settings? 

Those sticks look sweet btw.  I wanna get one even though I already have a SF4 TE.  WTF do they cost so much more though?

Did you have the game working properly?  BB is faster than SF4, IMO.  When CT first came out, I'd switch back to SF4 after a while and find that the game seemed slower and more "3D fighter stiff" than it used to.

Since I ended up skipping out on the first one, I'll probably pick this up for 360 whenever it comes out.

If the balance ends up being that much better than the original and they really do stick to their promise of further re-balancing, this game could end up becoming my primary fighter of choice, at least until KOF XIII that is.   

Turtlers get punished, rage-quitters are easily identified online, rock-solid AWESOME net code...there's a lot to like about BlazBlue.

[MoxManiac]

I wasn't quite sureb at first, but some friends are getting it so I am too. 360.

[bork]

BlazBlue is the one recent fighting game where NONE of my friends (locally) gave a shit about it.  I showed it to them and nobody cared.   :'(

[Beezy]

Did you have the game working properly?  BB is faster than SF4, IMO.

"IMO"? No. It's a fact that BlazBlue is faster.

[bork]

Did you have the game working properly?  BB is faster than SF4, IMO.

"IMO"? No. It's a fact that BlazBlue is faster.

I was trying to be nice.   

[Beezy]

Lol ok. I can't keep up with the speed in BB sometimes. :'(

[MCD]

just spam ICE CAR

[Beezy]

Fuck Jin. He's the Ken/Cody of BB. I refuse to use any of those blond haired bitches.

[MCD]

NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN

[Beezy]

 

[Robo]

Sadly, Cody didn't really pan out to be the Ken of SSF4.  Not spammy enough, I guess.  Juri, on the other hand...

[Smooth Groove]

I like how it looked on the PC emu but the gameplay feels really slow, compared to SF4.  Will the legit home versions have game speed settings? 

Those sticks look sweet btw.  I wanna get one even though I already have a SF4 TE.  WTF do they cost so much more though?

Did you have the game working properly?  BB is faster than SF4, IMO.  When CT first came out, I'd switch back to SF4 after a while and find that the game seemed slower and more "3D fighter stiff" than it used to.

It could be the emulator not working properly.  The emulation seems to be pretty janky.  You can't even change the freaking resolution. 

However, the videos I've seen on youtube don't show the game moving that fast either.  The special moves are fast but walking/jumping seems pretty slow.  Maybe it's due to sprites instead of polygons?

I guess I can check out the PSP version to confirm. 

[bork]

It could be the emulator not working properly.  The emulation seems to be pretty janky.  You can't even change the freaking resolution. 

It's not really an emulator.  You are literally playing the arcade version (which uses PC hardware) on your PC.  I have read that performance can be affected by what type of hardware you have, no matter how good your rig is.  I can run the game at full speed on my NETBOOK if I overclock it; normally I just use the simple background replacement though.  And that's the key here...did you try using that?  It replaces all the backgrounds with a static "training stage" style background.  Should improve performance if the game is running too slow.  It runs at 720P for me BTW.

However, the videos I've seen on youtube don't show the game moving that fast either.  The special moves are fast but walking/jumping seems pretty slow.  Maybe it's due to sprites instead of polygons?

I guess I can check out the PSP version to confirm. 

It really is a faster game than SF4. 

[Smooth Groove]

No, I haven't try the patch.  I'll try it but I really wish there was a legit version for the PC though.  Kinda ridiculous if my rig can handle SF4 at 300fps in 1080p but not Blazblue. 

It doesn't run in 720p for me.  It's some weird resolution like 1280x960.  Maybe that's the problem?  I know Nvidia hardware have some problems with non-standard resolutions. 

[bork]

No, I haven't try the patch.  I'll try it but I really wish there was a legit version for the PC though.  Kinda ridiculous if my rig can handle SF4 at 300fps in 1080p but not Blazblue. 

It doesn't run in 720p for me.  It's some weird resolution like 1280x960.  Maybe that's the problem?  I know Nvidia hardware have some problems with non-standard resolutions. 

Basically what I read was that the Taito-X2 system that BB runs on is a Windows XP PC with tech that is dated and really nothing any PC today couldn't handle, but the games are made to run on that specific hardware set-up, and if you have something that isn't close enough to it, you'll have issues.  Whether that's bullshit or not, I don't know.

A legit version will probably end up hitting the PC at some point.  I can't remember if they decided to scrap the STILL unreleased BlazBlue Calamity Trigger PC port in Europe and go right for Continuum Shift or not.

In a way, I wonder if the game getting "emulated" on PCs was a good thing -for us at least-.  The home version is getting a crapload of new content over the arcade version.  But it has to suck for Arc System Works.  Forget people playing it at home.  There are people who can easily pirate it and make bootleg arcade set-ups out of it, and that's got to be a much bigger concern for them.  You'd think companies would stop supporting the X2 after this debacle, but games are still being made for it.  I've heard that other games have already been dumped for use on PCs too, but no one has released them yet.

[TEEEPO]

DAY ONE.

[bork]

One thing that needs to be said again for those who didn't play BlazBlue Calamity Trigger:

The online is FUCKING AMAZING.  It's the equivalent of GGPO on consoles (yes, I know Final Fight/Magic Sword use it).  It puts every single other fighting game to shame.

[bork]

Mine has already shipped...will likely get it on Wednesday!

[iconoclast]

Challenge mode video that shows the new characters, looks good:
[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

Hopefully they will just stick to bread-and-butter combos you can use in a real match situation instead of throwing in a bunch of complex, hard-to-execute, and completely impractical combos like S/SF4.

[bork]

People who have the game now are getting a message saying something to effect of "it's before the release date, isn't it?  Those who 'flying game' [I don't think it's referring to piracy, but stores breaking release dates] will be swallowed up by the darkness!" from Arc when they boot up the game.   

Nothing happens after that though.  Weird joke.

[Enl]

Had I not been blindsided by this release and had already put money down toward loli Cave shooter, I would've probably picked this up. Maybe I'll snag this in the next few weeks if the online competition is still active then.

[bork]

Enl, this doesn't come out in the States for like a month. 

[Enl]

Heh, read that as June 27th. 

[Beezy]

Any Makoto vids?

[MCD]

oh beezy

[bork]

Jesus fuck, I'm getting raped online.  One guy kept matching up with me and mirror-matching me every time.  He stopped when I picked Tager...did much better against him, but he'd still just obliterate me with Tsubaki in the end.  I forgot how you can get yourself combo'd for like five seconds straight, helpless to do anything about it.  At least the damage isn't all fucked up anymore though.   

[MoxManiac]

Tager is mine! Don't you touch him!

[bork]

Tager is mine! Don't you touch him!

Tager is still at the bottom...we need all the POWER OF SCIENCE users we can get!

[Smooth Groove]

No, I haven't try the patch.  I'll try it but I really wish there was a legit version for the PC though.  Kinda ridiculous if my rig can handle SF4 at 300fps in 1080p but not Blazblue. 

It doesn't run in 720p for me.  It's some weird resolution like 1280x960.  Maybe that's the problem?  I know Nvidia hardware have some problems with non-standard resolutions. 

Basically what I read was that the Taito-X2 system that BB runs on is a Windows XP PC with tech that is dated and really nothing any PC today couldn't handle, but the games are made to run on that specific hardware set-up, and if you have something that isn't close enough to it, you'll have issues.  Whether that's bullshit or not, I don't know.

A legit version will probably end up hitting the PC at some point.  I can't remember if they decided to scrap the STILL unreleased BlazBlue Calamity Trigger PC port in Europe and go right for Continuum Shift or not.

In a way, I wonder if the game getting "emulated" on PCs was a good thing -for us at least-.  The home version is getting a crapload of new content over the arcade version.  But it has to suck for Arc System Works.  Forget people playing it at home.  There are people who can easily pirate it and make bootleg arcade set-ups out of it, and that's got to be a much bigger concern for them.  You'd think companies would stop supporting the X2 after this debacle, but games are still being made for it.  I've heard that other games have already been dumped for use on PCs too, but no one has released them yet.

You're right.  Game is definitely not running right in Windows 7 x64.  The PSP port was much faster.  Guess I'll have to get the console version to play it for real. 

[bork]

The console version is better anyway.  It's got a shit-ton more features.

[bork]

I got Mu but have no idea how to use her correctly.  Got destroyed by two V-13 players.  One of them seemed very cautious, so either he didn't know the match-up (likely) or there's something I was missing about the character.

The second V-13 player killed me pretty badly, but then I ran into him again and raped him with Tager. 

[bork]

So the game is out on these shores now.  Anyone pick it up?  Got the PS3 version today.  Looking forward to making use of the game's tutorial and challenge modes, which are said to be the best since VF4 Evo on PS2.

[Beezy]

Broke atm. I'll get it for the 360 as soon as I can.

[Robo]

I'll probably pick it up at some point over the weekend.

[bork]

Tempted to buy it for a second time on 360 to have it all in English, but I guess with enough play time on the PS3 version it won't matter.  Will be hitting the tutorial/challenge modes up on PS3 for a bit before returning to play on 360.  I need the practice, BADLY.  Getting raped now that it's out over here.  BB's quite the combo fest compared to say, Street Fighter, and it's not as much my thing.  It's no fun getting trapped in a loop that you can't get out of.  Feels like one slip-up and you're completely fucked against some players.

[iconoclast]

I bought this yesterday, but I spent the day finishing a bunch of other games (including BBCT) instead of playing this. Calamity Trigger's story is actually kinda enjoyable so I'm kinda interested to see what happens in this. The pacing still kills me though (6 minutes of story, 30 second match, 6 minutes of story, etc)

[Robo]

I was just out at Best Buy to buy this, and as I was standing there holding the game in my hand, I found a sheet of paper stuffed in the game rack with a coupon for $20 off Bioshock 2, so I bought that instead.  :'(

[iconoclast]

Makoto and the version 1.01 DLC is out on 360. Going to buy her in a second.

PS. The challenges in this game are really hard. I find it hard to believe that some of these are true BnB combos that you'd use regularly, but at least it's better than SF4's challenge mode. And sometimes it's not completely obvious what you're doing wrong. Like in some of Lambda's challenges, you need to dash in order to get into the right position for the next move, but a dash isn't listed in the commands. And this Litchi combo I just did was even more confusing (her 5th challenge I tihnk), since you have to slightly delay the second hit of her air combo or Bang will ukemi before you can follow up. Took me like 45 minutes to figure that out.

But anyway, the game is awesome.

[bork]

Nice, they released it early!

That also means American and Japanese PS3 players will finally be able to play each other.  The U.S. version shipped already updated to 1.01, but with Makoto still locked out, and no option to play on 1.00.

EDIT: LOL, 360-only.  Guess PS3 players have to wait until Thursday.  They didn't even get the content from last week yet.   

Downloading on 360 now...

[bork]

So just like Mu, Makoto is not playable in Arcade or Story.  I can understand the latter, but it just reeks of laziness not even putting them into the basic arcade mode.

[bork]

Also, ranked matches are still listed as being on 1.00.  WTF? 

[iconoclast]

Yeah, I was surprised to see you can't play her in Arcade. So lame. I haven't unlocked Mu yet either so I didn't know that. You can play her in score attack at least, which is what I'm trying now for the first time, and goddamn the AI is no joke in here.

Anyway, Makoto is really fun. I might even switch over to her permanently.

[bork]

Makoto and all the rest of the DLC is also now up on PSN.  I couldn't find it on the PSN store but was able to access it from in-game.

And so yes, the PS3 version is at 1.01 for ranked, and 360 is still at 1.00.  That means no Makoto in ranked on 360.  WTF Arc? 

Yeah, I was surprised to see you can't play her in Arcade. So lame. I haven't unlocked Mu yet either so I didn't know that. You can play her in score attack at least, which is what I'm trying now for the first time, and goddamn the AI is no joke in here.

It really is lame.  I wouldn't care except that it means you can't play her in arcade if you're playing custom battles online and waiting for people to join.  But she does have her own tutorial and training exercises.

Anyway, Makoto is really fun. I might even switch over to her permanently.

Same here.  I'd been using Taokaka and Makoto feels like a more-fun close-range fighter.  Although I do miss that insane mobility Tao has...

I got RAPED when I tried fighting a Tager, though.  Could not figure out how how to approach him with Makoto.

[iconoclast]

Just spent 2 hours straight getting raped by Unlimited Hakumen in score attack with Makoto. Didn't win a SINGLE round. How anyone could design such shit is beyond me. He does 3000-4000+ damage combos everytime he hits you, he reads your inputs and counters everything you do like this is a game a from the 90s, and he has like twice as much health as regular Hakumen. So to summarize, fuck score attack. /vent 

Same here.  I'd been using Taokaka and Makoto feels like a more-fun close-range fighter.  Although I do miss that insane mobility Tao has...

I got RAPED when I tried fighting a Tager, though.  Could not figure out how how to approach him with Makoto.

I really only played Tao in BBCT, but I was never particularly good with her. I love her style, but I think she is just too advanced for me to play right now with her loooong and complex combos that can get pretty hard to execute. I've mainly been playing the challenge mode and getting a feel for all the characters before I decide which ones I'll settle on, and right now Makoto, Ragna, and Tsubaki seem to fit me.

[iconoclast]

BlazBlue has the best achievements icons. I just noticed this one is the kira pose that Ranka does in Macross Frontier: And another good one:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

Still, the gaijin 4koma icon from BBCT will never be topped.

Going to start story mode in a minute. Hopefully they improved it some.

[Purple Filth]

BlazBlue has the best achievements icons. I just noticed this one is the kira pose that Ranka does in Macross Frontier: (Image removed from quote.) And another good one:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

Still, the gaijin 4koma icon from BBCT will never be topped.

Going to start story mode in a minute. Hopefully they improved it some.

i hear you don't have to lose to increase the clear percentage any more.

[Jansen]

anyone here main the inbred?

seriously tho we should have a blazblu bore night. you guys would get to destroy me since i suck ass at fighting games.

[bork]

Yes...BB Bore night with the three...of us.   :'(

I finally got a win with Makoto!     Ever since I dropped Litchi and Tager and switched to Tao (and now Makoto), I've been on a massive losing streak.

[Jansen]

yeah that sucks.

i thought blazblue was a bit more popular on the bore.

[Bebpo]

I already gave my hard earned money for the original.  Don't feel any need to pay more for minor updates ala GGXX#special_plus^2

I'll buy Blazblue 2