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| ブレイブルー クロスタッグバトル BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle | |
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Fighting |
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PS4, Nintendo Switch, Steam
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BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle is a game in the BlazBlue series planned for release sometime in 2018 for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Steam. It will be published by Arc System Works in Japan and by Arc System Works America in North America. The game combines four franchises: Arc System Works' BlazBlue, Atlus' Persona 4 Arena, French Bread's Under Night In-Birth, and Rooster Teeth's RWBY.
It was revealed at the main stage of the 2017 Evolution Championship Series (Evo 2017). [2]
Story
On the stage of stories, mixing the four worlds together into a special alternate "Phantom Field."
The fighters have been abruptly summoned to that world, with an unknown "voice:"
"If you wish to return to your world, protect the [Keystone]."
—In the end, is that voice telling the truth?
The entrusted keys number four.
Enemies, or friends?
The fighters take a risk in order to return to their own world, and throw themselves into the battle to steal each other's "Keystone"—.[3]
Modes
Episode Mode - Enjoy an original story.
"Episode Mode is an offline one-person mode. The story is split among the four franchises, with each episode focusing on the characters from one franchise, and expanding into an original scenario. For the fighters who have been called from all sorts of worlds, just whose voice is that!? That conclusion, for fans, absolutely can't be missed! Each episode can be saved and loaded at any time. Rest assured if you wish to see other scenarios while in the middle of one story." [3]
Episode Mode - Episode BlazBlue
Episode Mode - Episode Persona
Episode Mode - Episode Under Night In-Birth
Episode Mode - Episode RWBY
- Play Mode
Aside from the Episode Mode that's been introduced on the previous page[s], the title will also have many other modes. To those who haven't quite touched fighting games before, if you use the Tactics Mode and Training Mode, you can learn how to play. For the others, there are many modes where you can battle with others. Play the different modes and enjoy the game!! [3]
Tactics Mode - A mode which will give you a lecture on various techniques. Those new to fighting games should check out this mode first.
Training Mode - While allowing the gauge to be always full and so on, this is a place where you can try out any situation you like. Aim higher, towards your ideal.
Training Mode - Training Setup
Gallery Mode - With pictures of each character and such, you can zoom and shrink to see them. You can also see movies you've already seen before.
Replay Theater - Online battles and so on that have been recorded can be replayed in this mode. Watch for patterns in matches with your friends, and reflect upon the battle.
- Survival Mode - Fight against the computer to test your own strength and limits in a mode where you fight against all sorts of opponents.
Playable Characters
BlazBlue
Persona 4 Arena
Under Night In-Birth
RWBY
* Downloadable Content (DLC)
Stages
BlazBlue
- Adventus
- Blockaded District
- Cathedral -Silent-
- Hanging Gardens
- Kagutsuchi Port
- Lakeside Port
- Magisters City -ISHANA-
- Rail Station
- Last Train -Rail Station-
- Monorail
- Snow Town
- Cross Field
Persona 4 Arena
- Entrance
- Junes Food Court
- School Gate (Yasogami High Entrance)
- Ring
Under Night In-Birth
- Metropolitan Centre: Intersection
- Sleeping Fountain Plaza
- Riverside Space (Riverside Plaza)
- Town Center - Crossing
- Central Station
RWBY
- Abandoned Temple
Music
BlazBlue
- Rebellion - Ragna the Bloodedge's theme
- Lust SIN - Jin Kisaragi's theme
- Bullet Dance - Noel Vermillion's theme
- Queen of Rose - Rachel Alucard's theme
- Gluttony Fang - Hazama's theme
- The Tyrant - Azrael's theme
- MOTOR HEAD - Tager's theme
- Alexandrite - Makoto Nanaya's theme
- Awakening The Chaos - Nu-13's theme
- Conciliation - Es' theme
- Active Angel - Platinum the Trinity's theme
- Under Heaven Destruction - Ragna the Bloodedge and Jin Kisaragi's team theme
- Nightmare Fiction - Ragna the Bloodedge and Hazama's team theme
Persona 4 Arena
- Reach Out To The Truth (P4 Arena ver.) - Yu Narukami's theme
- The Hero from Junes - Yosuke Hanamura's theme
- Like A Dragon - Chie Satonaka's theme
- Princess Amagi - Yukiko Amagi's theme
- A Pure-Hearted Beast - Kanji Tatsumi's theme
Under Night In-Birth
- Scraper Sky High - Hyde's theme
- Night Walker - Linne's theme
- Maximize Power! - Waldstein's theme
- Rushing Heart - Gordeau's theme
- Purity & Strictly - Orie's theme
RWBY
- This Will Be The Day + Red Like Roses Part II - Ruby Rose's theme
- Mirror Mirror + It's My Turn - Weiss Schnee's theme
- From Shadows + Like Morning Follows Night - Blake Belladonna's theme
DLC
- The Limited Edition is 10,584￥ and contains the base game for the selected platform, the Cross Tag Character Collection, an artbook, and an acrylic stand (アクリルスタンディー Akuriru Sutandī) in the PlayStation 4 version or a gadget pouch (マルチ収納ポーチ Maruchi Shūnō Pōchi) in the Nintendo Switch version.
- The Deluxe Digital Edition of the game contains the base game and the Cross Tag Character Collection for $69.99.[4][5]
Characters
<tabs plain container="width:65%; text-align:center;"> <tab name="NA" style="width:100%">
| Icon | Item Details | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Cross Tag Character Collection (Includes all 6 character packs) |
$19.99 | |
| Character Pack 1 (Platinum the Trinity, Orie, Kanji Tatsumi) |
$4.99* | |
| Character Pack 2 (???) |
$4.99 | |
| Character Pack 3 (???) |
$4.99 | |
| Character Pack 4 (???) |
$4.99 | |
| Character Pack 5 (???) |
$4.99 | |
| Character Pack 6 (???) |
$4.99 | |
| Additional Character Blake Belladonna | Free | |
| Additional Character Yang Xiao Long | Free |
</tab> <tab name="JP" style="width:100%">
| Icon | Item Details | Price |
|---|---|---|
(Includes all 6 character packs) |
￥2,400 | |
(Platinum the Trinity, Orie, Kanji Tatsumi) |
￥600* | |
(???) |
￥600 | |
(???) |
￥600 | |
(???) |
￥600 | |
(???) |
￥600 | |
(???) |
￥600 | |
(Blake Belladonna) |
Free | |
(Yang Xiao Long) |
Free |
</tab> </tabs> * Free for the first two weeks after release
Development
It was announced early on that BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle would not take place in the main BlazBlue storyline, but was said to be a possibility. The main story would focus on the crossover of the four series, and Guilty Gear characters would not be present. Futhermore, there would be no arcade version, and it would be a straight release to consoles. Mechanically, it would be different from BlazBlue.
At the time of the game's announcement, the "expected" or obvious characters had already been decided for the roster. The game was announced relatively early in its development cycle due to the developers wanting to hear the players' requests for characters.[6] Overall, characters were chosen with the game balance and game system in mind first and foremost, so that a wide variety of players would be able to play and enjoy the game. The characters from other (non-BlazBlue) franchises were chosen by sending a list of characters over to their companies. The list would be whittled down there, and sometimes they would make a request for a specific character to be included.[7]
A playable build was first exhibited in October 2017 at four events worldwide: New York Comic Con (NYCC) in New York (Oct 5-8), South East Asia Major @ GameStart 2017 in Singapore (Oct 14-15), RTX London in London (Oct 14-15), and Arc Revolution Cup 2017 (Arc Revo) at Toushinsai in Tokyo (Oct 21).[8] Arc Revo's playable demo featured an updated build referred to as the "Toushinsai build" in the gameplay manual, which included the third introduction trailer's characters as playable except for Weiss.[9] Following these events, Arc System Works put out a survey on BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle's official website in both English and Japanese requesting feedback from participants of any of the four events. It was available until Nov 8, 2017 at 8 am PST. [10]
Cross Tag Battle's first gameplay video was released during New York Comic Con, on Oct 6. Character trailers and additional gameplay videos are shown during the monthly Japanese-language ARC SYSTEM WORKS Official Live (あーくなま定期便 Ākunama Teikiben), aka ArcNama (あーくなま Ākunama), hosted by Arc System Works. ArcNama is streamed on the third Friday of every month at 8 pm JST simultaneously on Twitch and NicoNico,[11] and its first episode was streamed August 2017. Arc System Works also published an article with updated screenshots of gameplay for the newly-announced characters Weiss and Hazama during RTX London.[12] An additional character trailer (Character Introduction Trailer #2) was revealed at RTX London 2017.
A "Special Promotional Trailer" was broadcast during Arc System Work's Fighting Game Awards (ASW FGA) at the end of the BlazBlue portion of the tournament, prominently featuring and introducing all twenty characters that had revealed up until then, as well as revealing the Japanese release date, Blake, and the final character count of forty characters, twenty of which (including Blake) would be downloadable content (DLC). This was followed up with further details about the release, including the North America release date, prices for physical and downloadable versions, and details about the limited edition.
Furthermore, it was announced that Arc System Works would appear at the 2018 Japanese Evolution Championship Series (Evo Japan) with a new demo featuring twenty playable characters (the twenty non-DLC characters).[13] It was announced at a later date that Arc System Works would also be appearing at Taipei Game Show 2018 (TaGS, TGS) along with a playable demo of Cross Tag Battle. This second playable build of Cross Tag Battle was presented simultaneously at Evo Japan (Jan 26-28, 2018) and Taipei Game Show (Jan 26-29, 2018).
On Feb 6, 2018 it was announced that Cross Tag Battle would be the fourth game present at the Evolution Championship Series 2018 (Evo 2018). Along with a broadcast of a fully English-subtitled version of the ASW FGA trailer, it was revealed that Blake and Yang would be provided as free DLC.[14]
On Feb 7, 2018 the first English-language Arc System Works Official Livestream, ARCLive, was announced on Twitter[15] and streamed on Twitch at 4 pm PST. Mirroring the Japanese-language version of the livestream, various Arc System Works titles are showcased during the live with gameplay, including Cross Tag Battle. It was mentioned on stream that the series would be streamed weekly. During the first ARCLive, an ASW staffer reconfirmed that Blake and Yang would be free DLC, that the four RWBY characters would have both English and Japanese voices, and clarified that Blake would be available at launch, while Yang would be available shortly after launch.[16]
At a press release in mid February 2018, attended by BlazBlue producer Toshimichi Mori and company representative Kidooka, it was announced that Cross Tag Battle would support dual audio with full English and Japanese voices.[17]
On March 8, 2018, Arc System Works America tweeted that Cross Tag Battle would be playable at Anime Ascension at Irvine, Anime Boston, and teased the possibility of other locations as well.[18]
Development Builds
In the first build in October 2017 at Toushinsai, Reject Guard used only half a skill gauge and Distortion Duo only used one skill gauge. Resonance Blaze had a maximum of four levels, and the amount of time spent in Resonance Blaze was extended depending on its level. One round lasted only 120 seconds, and players started with all three out of three skill gauges. The initial roster consisted of Ragna the Bloodedge, Jin Kisaragi, Yu Narukami, Yosuke Hanamura, Hyde, Linne, and Ruby Rose. Hazama, Rachel Alucard, and Weiss Schnee were added to the roster in the Toushinsai build. [19]
In January 2018's build, Reject Guard and Distortion Duo had their costs changed to use 1 skill gauge and 2 skill gauges respectively, Resonance Blaze's max level was increased to five, and the amount of time spend in Resonance Blaze was changed to fifteen seconds excluding hitstun regardless of level. One round's length was increased to 180 seconds, and players started the round with only one skill gauge available out of a maximum of six. Additionally, this build added stage names to the pre-battle cutscene, as well as the Crash Assault "Crash!" indicator. [20] The roster was increased to twenty, adding in Noel Vermillion, Azrael, Iron Tager, Makoto Nanaya, Nu-13, Es, Chie Satonaka, Yukiko Amagi, Waldstein, and Gordeau.
BBMyTag Campaign
On March 2, 2018, the BlazBlue official twitter announced a special campaign called the My Tag Cheer Campaign (推しタッグ応援キャンペーン Oshi Taggu Ōen Kyanpēn)[21]. During this campaign, fans could tweet with the hashtag #BBMyTag to express their favorite tag-team in BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle. Tweets in the hashtag containing original art would be retweeted by BlazBlue's official account, and fans could like or retweet others' tweets to show support. Especially popular tag teams would have a gameplay video made for them. Additionally, players who participated in the hashtag were automatically entered into a drawing for a specially-illustrated tapestry drawn by Konomi Higuchi, the main designer for Cross Tag Battle.[22] It was later clarified that only participants living in Japan could be sent the prize, although participation itself was open to everyone.[23]
- #BBMyTag Gameplay Videos
- Mar 2, 2018 Weiss/Waldstein
Beginning today, the "My Tag Cheer Campaign." Our starting tag-team ended up being Weiss × Waldstein! Although it's a surprising combination, there's more than enough potential! Please enjoy, and be sure to turn the sound on.
Videos
Trailers
Gameplay
External Links
Notes
- ↑ Uploaded on YouTube Jan 22, 2018, unlisted
References
- ↑ Gematsu, Arc System Works America to publish BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle in North America
- ↑ Polygon, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle announced at Evo 2017
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Weekly Famitsu, March 8 2018 issue, p. 22
- ↑ Player.One, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Price, DLC And Dual Audio Revealed
- ↑ Arc System Works (JP), Long-Awaited DLC Information!
- ↑ Famitsu (JP), Interview with Toshimichi Mori (EVO 2017)
- ↑ Twitch, ArcSystemWorksU, Feb 12, 2017 ARCLive - Live Q&A with the Producers of BlazBlue and Guilty Gear
- ↑ Arc System Works (JP), BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle's first playable demo will be available in four cities worldwide!
- ↑ Arc System Works (JP), BBTAG Command List (Toushinsai Build)
- ↑ Twitter, BLAZBLUE OFFICIAL (@BLAZBLUE_PR), BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Free Play Survey Announcement
- ↑ Twitch, Arc System Works, Arc System Works Official Live: August Episode
- ↑ Arc System Works (JP), BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle announced for the platforms PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Steam!
- ↑ Famitsu (JP), BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle's release date, Blake Belladonna revealed!
- ↑ Twitch, redbullesports, 2018 EVO USA Announcement Show
- ↑ Twitter, ArcSystemWorks (@ArcSystemWorksU), ARCLive Announcement
- ↑ Twitch, ArcSystemWorksU, Feb 7, 2018 ASWLive
- ↑ Shoryuken, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle reveals US pricing, English dubbing questions answered
- ↑ Twitter, ArcSystemWorks (@ArcSystemWorksU), "BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle" playable over Easter weekend
- ↑ BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, Toushinsai Build Manual & Movelists (JP) (pdf)
- ↑ Reddit, r/BlazBlue, u/mactonya, BBTAG Command List & Informations
- ↑ Twitter, BLAZBLUE OFFICIAL (@BLAZBLUE_PR), "My Tag Cheer Campaign" Announcement
- ↑ Arc System Works (JP), Twitter campaign #BBMyTag "My Tag Cheer Campaign" Begins!
- ↑ Twitter, BLAZBLUE OFFICIAL (@BLAZBLUE_PR), "My Tag Cheer Campaign" Clarification