Where will the wheel of fate take us tomorrow?
I think it’s safe to say that nobody was expecting a game like BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle to be announced. Not just BlazBlue, riding off the wave of the hype from the back and forth from grand finals, but a four way crossover between several properties Arc System Works distributes plus RWBY‘s debut into the fighting game stage.
With nary a detail as to what more we can expect from the game except for a 2018 release, I think now’s as a good a time as ever to do what everyone loves to do when something new gets announced: wildly speculate!
And what better start to wild, excited, baseless speculation than character rosters?
I actually started learning how to take fighting games seriously thanks to BlazBlue since many first print copies of Calamity Trigger came with a training DVD, so BlazBlue has a special place in my history. Ragna the Bloodedge is a given since he’s a cover character for the game’s art. But considering the fit for four different game rosters, things will be tight. I think gun kata lover Noel Vermillion is a safe choice, but where’s the fun in safe? My personal pick goes to Haku-Men, for his unique meter management and humongous sword that’s been a very powerful tool since they gave him his 4C thrusting attack in Continuum Shift. He’s still slow as hell, but not as slow as resident grappler, Iron Tager, but nearly as powerful. Speaking of Iron Tager, I just want to see him face off against Under Night In-Birth‘s resident huge grappler, Waldstein.
Joining Yu Narukami from Persona 4 is asking for another war of the waifus. But I spotted on twitter that Naoto Shirogane would be an excellent choice, if not at least on the off chance that BlazBlue‘s Naoto Kurogane is included as well, for maximum confusion. Naoto Shirogane has always been a strong choice for her trap game and the range her Persona affords her at neutral, not to mention the combos involving her gun shots and gun stance cancels. She’s a very versatile character and is one of the big three in terms of Persona 4 waifu wars. I’d personally choose Chie myself, especially to see Agneyastra pummel Ragna like the punk he is. But there’s no doubting the advantage of bringing a gun to a sword fight.
Now Under Night In-Birth Exe Late [st] is a different beast entirely, since ASW distributes it but French Bread is responsible for creating it. Alongside Hyde, I’ve seen people cry for Linne’s inclusion or there’d be blood. While I’ve personally never played Uniel, based on his theme music and Chipp Zanuff-like movements, I’d love to play Seth. The bulk of his damage comes from the oki he sets up by placing delayed projectiles after a knockdown. There was also talk on twitter that Sonic Fox is taking a similar attitude, deciding to main ranged whip user Phonon simply because her theme song is lit. If Carl Clover from BlazBlue doesn’t make it in, Chaos would be a strong choice as the two-characters in one archetype with his demon, Azhi-Dahaka.
But in the end, twitter is once again a source of inspiration for the strongest choice. My strongest choice would have to go to Gordeau. Why? I watch Uniel tournaments on GAMEacho’s YouTube channel actually, so I’m familiar with Gordeau’s infamous reversal. Gordeau’s Grim Reaper move is a devastating reversal where he moves forward, spinning his scythe in a huge arc in front of him. If you don’t want to learn Gordeau, you’d do well to pick him just to use Grim Reaper as an assist. Imagine the Haggar assist from Marvel, but twice as large and it moves forward. Absolutely disgusting.
Lastly for character wishlisting is RWBY, the wildcard for the title. And yes, I do actually like RWBY as a decent, junk food show. If Yang Xiao Long isn’t in the game, I’d riot. In fact, considering how relatively lesser known RWBY is, there’s little doubt in my mind that the four main girls, Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, Weiss Schnee, and Blake Belladonna, will all make it into the game, and maybe only them. But seriously, Yang Xiao Long can literally be the boxer archetype of the game, except the boxing gloves are also guns. No, just watch her introduction trailer from the series and tell me you don’t want to see how Yang would translate. She literally does Terry Bogard’s power dunk!
The other major thing that I think a lot of people are sleeping on when it comes to this crossover title is the overarching mechanics governing it. All three of the existing crossover titles feature wildly different universal systems. Only BlazBlue and Persona 4 have burst systems in place, and that’s about the only thing they have in common. BlazBlue has a limited barrier bar that is used to increase knockback on block to help relieve pressure. Persona 4 has a Persona Break system that punishes players who leave their Personas open to attack. And Uniel, well, I don’t even know where to start with Uniel.
Uniel has an overall tug of war mechanic called the GRD System, which is influenced by the momentum of the fight, from backdashes, blocking, and so forth. Characters who comes out on top of a recurring timer with more GRD are reward with damage buffs or can spend their GRD for free meter. Uniel is a complicated beast that even charges 10% meter for air dashes, so needless to say, if anything resembling Uniel’s systems make it into BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle, it’d be a miracle.
So far there doesn’t seem to be anything resembling P4‘s Persona Break System or the GRD system from the teaser footage. It could be something more simplified like BlazBlue‘s primary system. Or it could be a mix of all the games. Or it could be something else entirely exciting, like a groove system. Consider this is a tag-team game, hopefully whatever’s in place does place an emphasis on earning meter and spending it aggressively. That’s the fun speculating!
Who are you hoping to see make it in this upsettingly exciting, tag-team anime fighter? And because it’s an anime fighter, are you hoping for a uniquely new system or something of a blend from its crossover properties? Leave a comment below and hash out what kind of gold there is to mine for a huge, four way crossover fighting game!
