The next entry in the BlazBlue franchise is set to hit the PlayStation 3 in Japan on October 24th. There hasn’t been an announcement on a North American release yet, but since the other games in the series have reached our side of the ocean, fans are hopeful. Four characters were added in Chrono Phantasma, with the fifth and sixth recently announced as console-only characters.
Bullet was one of three characters that launched with Chrono Phantasma when it hit Japanese arcades in November. She’s a no-nonsense mercenary fighter that grew up in an all-male environment. Bullet is said to have a candid and honest attitude towards others and doesn’t take promises lightly. She has a somewhat feral stance in battle, which is emphasised by her tail-like belt. Despite growing up around men, she wears shorts that cover less skin than her belt does. She also has one of the best theme songs in the game.
Her fighting style is fast paced as a rushdown character with some grappling characteristics. Her special ability is to create a circle on-screen around her. If her opponent is within the circle, she dives in towards them to continue her assault. Playing as her, you’ll want to strike your opponent from various angles while trying not to give them room to breathe.
Amane Nishiki is an androgynous male character that fights by manipulating his pink scarves and sashes. Though he may share the same Japanese character trope as Guilty Gear’s Bridget, his dance-like fighting style more closely resembles Guilty Gear’s Anji Mito. He’s an arrogant young man that values aesthetics over all else.
Amane’s scarf gives him great range in his attacks. He also has the ability to turn his scarf into a drill that does great damage, even when blocked. He is a character for those that would rather harass the enemy and punish their mistakes. He also has an adorable super move that transforms his opponents into younger versions of themselves.
Azrael is a large man with a one-track mind. His goal is to continue to get stronger by traveling from one battlefield to the next, looking for strong opponents. I suppose he’s a bit like Street Fighter’s Ryu in that sense. He was previously thrown in jail for attacking friend and foe during a war.
His special ability is to leave “marks” on his opponents that reveal their weak points. These marks cause some of his attacks to be unblockable or cause his opponents to bounce on impact. Since the marks come off after he strikes his foes, his goal is to apply a mark and combo his opponents while reapplying marks before his next set of strikes.
Izayoi had a delayed release in arcades. She was unlocked on December 12th, a few weeks after the other characters had their debut with Chrono Phantasma. Izayoi is the “true form” of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift’s Tsubaki Yayoi.
Her playstyle is slightly reminiscent of her previous incarnation’s. Izayoi must switch between two modes, a normal mode and a powered-up mode. Her goal is to gain meter in her normal mode, and to unleash an onslaught of powerful attacks with that meter in her powered-up mode. Like Persona 4: Arena’s Aigis, skilled balance between her two modes is key to playing her character.
Two new console-exclusive characters have recently been detailed and a bit of information has been translated by Siliconera.
Yuki Terumi is actually BlazBlue: Continuum Shift’s villain, Hazama. As “Hazama”, he worked behind the scenes to manipulate the characters as he saw fit. He seems to be done with his charade now, as his actual personality will be playable in Chrono Phantasma. His playstyle is a bit extreme, as he has more super moves than actual standard special moves. One of his unique mechanics lets him build up his super meter easier, which would be important if his playstyle is focused on supers!
The second console-exclusive character is Kagura Mutsuki. Not much is known about him besides the fact that he wants to overthrow the very government system that he works for. His playstyle is said to be simple, as he only has two special moves. He is also a “charge character”, having similar controls to Street Fighter’s Guile, Chun-li, or Honda.
As a huge Arc System Works fan, I’m hopeful that we’ll be getting the new BlazBlue entry soon after Japan does. It’s a fun fighting game series that does a good job differentiating its characters from one another. BlazBlue is certainly a series that I think deserves more interest and attention than it has gotten. Arc System Works have stated that they’re excited to get started on a new fighting game series for the PlayStation 4, so Chrono Phantasma could be the last installment of the BlazBlue franchise.
