« 1UP.COM: BLAZBLUE PREVIEW »
haunts;)
So as you may have heard by now, BlazBlue is on it's way to console come Summer 2009 (thanks to Aksys Games) giving those of us who missed the boat with Guilty Gear another chance at a competitive Arc System Works game. Richard Li at 1UP.com was able to sit down with the games creator and director, Toshimichi Mori, to get a better idea of what we should expect from the game if we haven't played it yet. Overall, it sounds like it will be heavily offense based like Guilty Gear, but with new gameplay mechanics and more "screen real estate" to play with this time around.
From the article:
BlazBlue rewards aggressive players while penalizing defensive players. In fact, turtling (a reactionary, methodical tactic requiring the player to be as defensive as possible, only attacking at the right opportunity) is discouraged. "If you make the defense too strong, like games with height advantage, once you get in that position, you pretty much can't lose," say Mori-san. "That breaks the game." To prevent an overly defensive game, Mori-san helped design the Offense Gauge, a red and blue meter below the timer indicating the ebb and flow of combat. Attack more, and the meter rises. When the meter is full, the game temporarily stuns your opponent long enough for you to combo them. Moreover, each character possesses a Barrier Gauge (a defense mechanic protecting them from enemy attacks that goes down whenever they're hit); if it drops to zero, your guard will be broken. As a result, in competitive matches you'll see players constantly rushing, chasing and engaging each other, while carefully managing their Barrier and Offense Gauges so they won't be placed at a disadvantage.
Also present in BlazBlue are "Astral Finishes" which are highly situational finishing moves where in some cases the game will cut to an anime sequence showing you finishing off the other player. Check it out:
