As a longtime fan of Arc System Works' output (going so far as visiting the studio and gifting the team a signed Queen album, which they loved, Queen nuts that they are!) I was absolutely stoked to find out they were putting together a crossover between not two, but FOUR franchises, all of which I love. So, Blazblue Cross Tag Battle brings together:
There's no doubt it's a handsome line-up, with 20 characters available on release, and another 20 available as DLC. This will no doubt irk some who will see it as half a game, but it's a well-worn fighting game trope now, so I guess you vote with your wallet on that one. Do note, however, that the asking price of £35 is low for a AAA fighting game, and even with the DLC it won't exceed £49.99, the standard for a game on either Switch or PS4.
How to fight!
So let's look at the match mechanics - essentially what we have here is a Marvel vs Capcom (or more accurately and obscurely Arcana Heart as you only have one partner) style tag team match, with your partner able to assist with a call command, or switch out mid-battle to relieve the initial player. You can swap at any time, so a keen eye on both health bars is recommended. When not in play, the resting character recharges their health bar, but each battle is only one match, so there's no room for error. As an added complication, you have 2 bars to monitor your assist abilities, both of which must be sufficiently charged to call them into battle. It's quite intuitive once you get the hang of it.
When you use a support character, you fill up a gauge called Resonance Blaze - this determines the strength of your special attacks, but can only be activated once your assist partner is knocked out. Once activated, this power boost lasts 15 seconds and also refills your health - handy!
You have a special move gauge which can be filled 9 times to call on your Astral attack, a one-hit kill that ends a match on contact. Fights can still be won by knockout or time-out of course, nothing unfamiliar to fighting game vets there Each character has their own special moves and style of fighting, and with 20 to choose from, you should find a pair to suit your play style.
Ways to play the game
So that's a brief overview of how to fight. However, you can play the game in a number of ways:
Story - which has a fight break up a visual novel style tale which can branch off depending on your choices. I've never been a real fan of these, especially with Blazblue as it's a very intricate and convoluted storyline unto itself. BBCTB gives you a story explaining the crossover, and it's fun enough but the story sections are lengthy and I'd rather be fighting. Kudos for including a dub though! Producer Toshimichi Mori did say back in 2016 that he intended this game for a non-Japanese audience, so a dub is an excellent nod to that given most ASW releases are subtitled only.
Challenge - in which you must perform certain tasks to beat each round
Survival - Keep fighting match-by-match with no health recovery
Training - learn the moves for each character
Online/Vs - Play others
The obvious missing link here is a straight-up Arcade mode - a fighting tour through the roster without the story intermissions. This is a major issue, and one I hope gets rectified in a DLC update down the line. Hell, Street Fighter V took ages to implement one, so we can only hope demand forces the developers hand here too.
All well and good, but what did you THINK of it?
Overall, the game is solid. Animation and graphics are large, smooth and appealing, so it looks fantastic. The characters move with style and grace, and the interactions, poses and comedic interludes all look great. It should be noted that Switch graphics don't get the benefit of anti-aliasing that PS4 and Steam owners get, so it's the weakest looking of the three, unless you like to see the pixels. It doesn't affect play however, and I'm happy to report that any version is going to look and sound top both. Just one slightly less top-notchy than the other two.
Check out the trailer below to see the game in action:
It should also be noted, on a very nit-picky point, that newer characters such as those from RWBY are a little nicer than older character models such as those from Under Night In Birth. I like to think that just gives an added incentive to play the newbies!
Characters balance very well, fights are swift and brutal, and there is a gratifying underlying mechanic that makes the game sing, though I have to say I found it far easier than some of the Blazblue games that can make everything so technical as to be restrictive on new players. I get the feeling this was built with a wider audience in mind.
In summary, I'd say the game is really rather excellent. It does have stiff competition, not least of which from Arc themselves as they've been throwing out fighting titles regularly for some time now. The Switch benefits most, as I find the catalogue to be full of low-end phone game ports and it really needs good fighters. Sadly the hardware lets the game down a tad - for some unknown reason, Nintendo opted for a 4 button layout instead of a D-Pad, and it doesn't lend itself well to fighting games. It isn't the game's fault that the hardware is a bit duff, but do keep this in mind. With two Street Fighter compilations on Switch now, we must be in for a decent pad at some point!
Arc intended the game as an invitation to the West - as such it's a tremendous pick up and play title and you should RSVP a yes!
This article is based on the PS4 and Nintendo Switch versions of the game. Both were purchased by the author.
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