After seeing massive success with Dragon Ball FighterZ, Arc Systems Works has been working furiously behind the scenes creating not just a new BlazBlue title, but one with many, many guests. Bringing together the universes of Person 4: Arena, RWBY, BlazBlue, and Under Night In-Birth, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle is looking for a fight, even if it doesn’t have the muscle to back it up. Going into BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle I had not played any of the other games that are being included in this anime fighting-mashup. I’ve seen Under Night In-Birth on EVO streams and I’ve watched streamers play Persona games, but never got into them myself due to lack of time. BlazBlue was the only game I had any experience with.
BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle opens with an incredibly smooth animated intro showcasing characters from all the franchises engaged in battle. The music is fast and loud, and the intro prepares you for all the intensity that the game has to offer. After the intro players are taken into a hub-world with a chibi avatar. Fans of Dragon Ball FighterZ will feel very at home with this overworld hub; they can wander around and select a variety of game options such as training, story, online, settings and shop. There’s plenty of customization options, as players will earn in-game currency to change their avatar as well as fighter card.
The story is pretty loose; when players start the game they will be thrust into the BlazBlue episodes. There they will get a good sense of what is happening why all these different universes are converging, but that’s about it. In true BlazBlue fashion, its episode seems to have multiple pathways. After beating the BlazBlue episode, players will have access to completing episodes from the other franchises.
Visually, the game looks impressive. Sprites are colorful and animated incredibly well. The PS4 version of the game runs smoothly, and I experienced no frame rate drops where there was a ton of action on screen. Match endings are a real treat, especially seeing a large screen color flash with the words “Distortion Finish” across it. There are some issues I noticed playing on a larger screen: some of the characters looked a bit pixelated, but still moved smoothly.
The gameplay is fast and furious. Players have a three button attack each representing varying strength. There’s also the classic switch and assist buttons as seen in many tag games. The game feels like a slightly faster version of Dragon Ball FighterZ with a bit more synergy. One new addition to the tag system that I enjoy is if a player calls in an assist, they can quickly press switch and then the assist character become the active team member. It’s a unique feature that in the right hands can be an absolute nightmare to deal with.
BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle boasts an epic 40 character roster. However, at the time of launch, only 20 will be playable, with 20 more added as a DLC later on. This leads to a lackluster launch roster as most of it is dominated by BlazBlue characters. There are only four total main RWBY characters and half of them are missing at launch. It can take a while to find your perfect team, but to be honest I found myself a little bored. Games like Dragon Ball FighterZ have still kept my attention, and I feel like I still get excited looking at their rosters, but seeing an overwhelming amount of BlazBlue characters I felt like I was playing just another BlazBlue game instead of a mashup.
Overall, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle delivers on its promise to bring together these universes in an exciting way. I have gotten to experience new characters and fighting styles in the familiar setting of a BlazBlue game. There is no shortage of fighting games out there, and BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle is an excellent addition to your fighting game library. While it might not be able to stand against some giants just yet, I am sure that when the DLC drops. As the roster fills out some more, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle could easily become a part of major fighting game tournaments.
The author was given a copy of BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle on PS4 for review purposes.
