BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is an excellent fighting game and a game that I recently just picked up on PC. I played the hell out of this on the 360 when it was originally released and had the desire to get back into it and see if it held up. Not only does it hold up, but I would also probably class this as one of the greatest 2D fighting games ever made. What I love about this is that it is stacked with content, but it is not overly bloated like many other fighting games released in the last few years have been.

Wow, So Much Story

The thing that is truly amazing about BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is just how packed with content it is for those that want to play this as a single-player experience. Each character has their own story and unlike say, Street Fighter for example. Each character has branching paths and there are different endings. I like how it makes you want to play as each character, it is a great way of getting familiar with the roster of characters that the game has.

12 Is The Magic Number

I hate when I play a modern fighting game and I am greeted with a character select screen that has a ton of characters. BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger came out before this was the done thing. What we have here is a roster of 12 characters, each one feels truly unique and the balancing here is great, no one character feels more overpowered than the rest. I know some may think that 12 is a small roster and I guess that by today's standard, it is. However, I would greatly take a roster of 12 unique and well thought out characters over a large, but boring roster any day of the week!

Picking It Up To Put A Beat Down!

The gameplay of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is the kind that is easy to pick up and play so anyone can get in on it. You have four attacks, weak, medium, strong, and drive attack. Each character has their own special moves that you can figure out (or look in a guide) and like all good fighting games, chances are you will gravitate towards a certain character or two. It just feels fantastic to play and once you get the hang of it, you can see just how much depth as a fighting game this has! There are different “advanced tactics” for skilled players such as the awesome Rapid Cancel which is hard to pull off and risky, but if you master it, you have a real edge in battles.

That 2D And 3D Blend!

Even though as I am writing this BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is the better part of ten years old, this game still looks amazing. The character sprites are all done in 2D and they look phenomenal, the level of animation here, the flash, the special moves and just the way they move in general is incredible. This is a game that is honestly fun to watch as you can pick up on all the little details in the sprites and their animations. Now an interesting design choice here is the backgrounds, these are done in 3D, but rather than sticking out like a sore thumb, these backgrounds just make the character sprites pop even more!

Pros:

• I like how much content there is for a single-player
• While the gameplay is deep, at first, it is easy to pick up and play
• I liked the roster of characters
• Even now, this is a game that is pure eye-candy

Cons:

• Some may think it is a bit limited in comparison to the newer BlazBlue games
• Would it have been better if the backgrounds were done in the same 2D style?