Anyway. Enough out-of-character ranting. The final chapter will give a quick run-down on the characters you can play as in Blazblue, simple descriptions of their drives and playstyles, and characters from Street Fighter who resemble their playstyle. This will hopefully help you choose who you try to play as when you pick up the game. Note that I'm not including the secret character Mu-12, or the two DLC characters Makoto and Valkenhayn; given you have to unlock and pay for them respectively, it's probably just as well they're left out unless the scene grows serious. So, without further ado, let's get started.
Ragna the Bloodedge
The game's main character, Ragna is a rushdown character with great-ranged normals and excellent combo ability. His Drive, Soul Eater, allows him to perform powerful attacks with the D button, and regain small amounts of health every time one of these moves connects. Play with Ragna typically involves hitting with one of his great normals to start pressure, then pressing the enemy relentlessly with hard hitting combos. If the table is turned, though, Ragna has some of the worst defense in the game.
Try if you like: Balrog, possibly Ryu because he has an uppercut.
Jin Kisaragi
Ragna's brother and rival, Jin is the closest thing Blazblue has to a Ryu clone. His Drive is Frost Bite, allowing him to freeze enemies with his Drive moves and combo them afterwards. He can also perform Drive versions of his specials for 25 points of gauge, like EX moves in SFIV.
Jin's good pressure and mixup make him an all-rounder, comfortable in all areas but lacking in specialties.
Try if you like: Ryu, not having to learn new specials
Noel Vermillion
The game's main heroine, Noel wields two massive pistols in combat. Her Chain Revolver drive allows her to perform dangerous combos and mixups, but most of these are unsafe if punished correctly. She has to work hard to get her damage, but when she gets it it's heavily rewarding.
Play if you like: Difficult to find a comparison, but in terms of difficulty comboing Guy comes to mind.
Rachel Alucard
An enigmatic vampire, Rachel's playstyle involves setting traps for the opponent and forcing them to keep their distance unless she wants to apply pressure. Her Drive, Sylpheed, allows her to manipulate the wind, either sending herself flying forward or back to maintain control of distance.
Rachel used to be one of the highest tier characters in Calamity Trigger, but is now generally accepted as the weakest. She can still win - it's just very, very hard with her low damage output and requires incredibly precise play.
Play if you like: Testament from GG. There's really no Street Fighter equivalent.
Taokaka
Taokaka is the jumping-around-all-over-the-place character. Her drive is the Dancing Edge, which lets her fly around in all directions. Tao is also the only character who can use her taunt effectively, in a high-level combo known as the taunt loop which does excellent damage but has only a few ways to combo into.
Play if you like: Vega, inducing aneurysms in opponents because you WON'T STAY STILL GODDAMMIT
Iron Tager
As you may guess from the fact he is so FREAKING HUGE, Tager is the game's grappler character. The Voltic Battler drive allows him to magnetise opponents, pulling them in to his attacks and effectively making his range even longer.
Tager is undoubtedly one of the highest tier characters in the game, but has difficulty dealing with characters who can attack from a distance like Hazama and Litchi.
Play if you like: Zangief, Hakan, Mike Z
[This video also gives you a chance to see how America sees this game. I can't say I expect Glasgow to ever have this sort of scene, but it would be pretty damn awesome.]
Litchi Faye Ling
Besides having undoubtedly the largest rack of the series, Litchi's game is all about incredible normals, corner pressure and wakeup hijinks. Her Drive is the staff Mantenbo, which she can control with her mind and use to improve her range and send flying across the stage on her behalf. Litchi is execution intensive, even by Blazblue's standards, but the pressure and damage she can produce are well worth it.
Play if you like: Chun-Li, or any other other well-endowed Chinese women.
Arakune
Arakune's rough on the eye, and rougher on the opponent. His combos typically don't do much damage, but his game plan revolves around his drive, Crimson; if he hits with enough of his Drive moves, his opponent is cursed, and he can unleash all sorts of horrible combos and mixups on the opponent. 8000 damage combos are common if Arakune can land a good curse combo, so the main game for his opponent is to avoid getting cursed no matter what.
Play if you like: No real Street Fighter equivalent, but play if you like the look on your opponent's face when he realises he's about to get utterly wrecked. Also, you'd better have the exec to go with that.
Bang Shishigami
Bang is exactly what he looks like - a ninja with a giant nail. He has great rushdown and okizeme, and his Burning Heart drive allows him to super-armour through enemy attacks and start combos if used correctly. He is also so THOROUGHLY HOT-BLOODED that he can bring his theme song into the game if he activates a super.
Play if you like: Rushdown, being top-tier, SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS.
Carl Clover
Yes, he's about 12 years old, but Carl is still a force to be reckoned with. The Automaton lets him control his 'sister', the robot Nirvana, to fight alongside him. Carl has the hardest execution in the game, basically needing you to control two characters at the same time, but if you can space your opponent right, it'll earn you incredible mixups and combos. Without his sister at his side, though, Carl struggles to fight on his own.
Play if you like: Challenging yourself with difficult combos.
Hakumen
A mysterious warrior with an unknown past, Hakumen wields a massive sword to smite his enemies. His Drive is the God Slash, allowing him to counter oncoming attacks and punish with extreme prejudice. Combined with his incredible pokes Hakumen is a force to be reckoned with, but he is a bit on the slow side.
Play if you like: Sagat, Gouken
λ-11 [Lambda-11]
Though not as blatantly overpowered as her CT counterpart Nu, Lambda is still a dangerous opponent. The Sword Summoner drive does exactly what it sounds like and sends blades hurtling through the air towards the opponent. She is good at keeping opponents out and under control, but if they manage to overcome her assault and approach she's less able to defend herself.
Play if you like: Guile, or turtling in general.
Tsubaki Yayoi
Tsubaki's playstyle is almost paradoxical. On one hand, her close-up combos and pressure are excellent, but on the other she needs to keep her distance from the opponent and charge her Install Gauge to use her drive abilities for the truly damaging combos. Playing Tsubaki requires the player to carefully choose between these two priorities.
Play if you like: Cody, Makoto
Hazama
Hazama's playstyle is potentially devastating. At full range his Ouroboros drive allows him to attack from anywhere on screen, and at close range he can mixup and combo usefully as well. He also has one arguably the best reversal super in the game, beating out almost everything and leading to huge damage. At mid-range, though, Hazama struggles.
Play if you like: LONG-DISTANCE RUSHDOWN, being a troll, Michael Jackson.
So, you've picked a character you want to try playing. Now what?
Well, first of all, Continuum Shift has an inbuilt Challenge Mode similar to SFIV's, allowing you to learn and practice combos until you've got them down. For more in-depth information, better combos, and general help, the best English source is almost definitely DustLoop.
Well, that's about it. That's all I've got to offer on Blazblue: Continuum Shift. Hopefully this guide managed to promote at least some hype - if not, then no-one can say I didn't damn well try.
So long, folks. Stay free, and praise the Hype Dog.
No comments:
Post a Comment