Developer Arc System Works is known for one thing: great fighting games. First with Guilty Gear, now with its spiritual successor, Blazblue. The series began last year with Calamity Trigger, and now it already has a sequel, Continuum Shift. So, what changes does the new game bring?
Hazama, the villain of the game, is now a playable character.
And a damn fast one.
Much like Super Street Fighter IV, Continuum Shift act as an expansion to the original game, tweaking balance between characters, adding new moves, stages and characters. But the similarities end here. Blazblue is a game with a strong story mode, and Continuum Shift is the direct sequel story-wise. There are also new modes, such as challenge and tutorial, but the core is still the same.
Something not too common on fighting games, Continuum Shift cuts on quantity to deliver quality, presenting 15 unique characters (one of them unlockable), with completely different movesets, fighting styles and even fighting mechanics. For example, Carl Clover has a machine puppet as his signature weapon, and the puppet, called Nirvana, has a separate gauge that allows the player to issue it commands. It can be damaged though, and damage reduces the gauge. Once depleted, Nirvana enters an auto-repair mode, leaving Carl alone for some seconds in battle.
The combat is fast paced and open for various approaches. While fighting, your heat gauge will be filled, allowing for special moves, such as rapid cancels and distortion drives. If you’re left with one round to win, have your gauge full and have weakened your foe enough, you can also perform an Astral Heat, a special finishing attack that ends the fight at that very moment.
The story mode, as said before, continues from where Calamity Trigger left, but the completion system is much more user friendly now. To get 100% on a character’s story, all you have to do is get the normal ending (which triggers a sketch comedy scene that will give you advice on how to get to the good ending), the good ending and the gag reel, a non-canon story with hilarious moments. Each character has their own story, and they all connect together, leading to the True Ending, the last scenes of the game. The voice acting is good for the most part, providing an engaging story with more than a few surprises.
New to the game are three new modes: Tutorial, Challenge and Legion. The first one teaches you the game mechanics, from the basic things to the more complex movements and even tactical advice on each character, all with the help of Rachel Alucard, the vampire girl who loves to insult you in the funniest ways possible. Challenge is where you practice combos suggested by the computer (all pre-selected), starting on simply activating your distortion drive to complex combos that can take more than half of your opponent’s health. Last but not least, there’s Legion. Starting with one character, you’ll fight your way through a map, recruiting more members to your army as you progress. Once all panels are yours, you win. Sounds easy? It’s not so simple. Will you choose to gather as many members as possible or rely on few so the amount of health recovered per round is bigger? Will you fight the group that holds a special item now or wait until later? Such questions will appear as you play through Legion, and it gives the game a different pacing than usual, with a bit more of off-combat strategy.
Makoto is only a DLC character, but that doesn't keep her
from making some appearances on the game's story.
Graphics-wise, the game hasn’t changed. Not that it needed to, the hand-drawn characters are still gorgeous, movement is fluid and the special effects from the attacks are top-notch. The soundtrack is as good as it can get, with fast-paced rock tracks getting you in the right mood. Each character has its own theme too, and they won’t get old so quickly.
If you’ve been looking for a good, balanced fighting game, then Blazblue: Continuum Shift is your game. Not only it proves its worth as a fighting game, but it provides you with a great story mode and a plethora of different modes to hone your skills. Be it rocking your way through score attack or challenging players through online mode (or even local versus), Continuum Shift is a fighting game worth of its reputation.
Graphics - 9.0
Hand-drawn 2D characters fighting on 3D background. The effects are impressive, and the Astral Heats are the definition of "epic".
Sound - 8.5
Catchy tunes that play in perfect sync with the fast paced combat, and a voice acting cast that rarely lets you down. considering how many lines are in the game, it's an impressive feat, especially for a fighting game.
Gameplay - 9.5
The characters are balanced and unique and the combat mechanics follow the "simple to learn, tough to master" method.
Controls - 9.5
There are only four attack buttons, and using special moves is not tricky at all. The challenge lies in using the moves correctly and at the right time. Simple and effective.
Replay Value - 10
Story, Arcade, Score Attack, Legion, Challenge, Versus, Online... the amount of things to do is absurd, even if you ignore all the trophies/achievements there are.
Overall - 9.0
A great game down to its core, with enough differences to stand out on its own. Arc System Works has done it again.
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Nice review, games like this aren't much interest to me though, I used to when I was younger, but I don't care for them much anymore.