VG Review - BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II

The wheel of fate is turning once more, as I review BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II, available for the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo 3DS... Now originally, Continuum Shift II was just a Japan-only arcade port released by Taito Type X2 on December 9, 2010, but initially made for American/European markets one year later in May. The PSP and 3DS releases were for March 31, 2011, in Japan, May 31, 2011, in North America, and Europe will get this monster on September 30... Also be on the lookout for BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II +, which was announced at E3 2011 for the PlayStation Vita. So for this fine evening, I will talk about Continuum Shift II of course, but mostly from the perspective of the original Continuum Shift version... Let us commence...

First off, the BlazBlue series was thought up by Toshimichi Mori and Yuki Katou, with inspiration from another Arc System Works powerhouse, Guilty Gear... Together, most fighting gamers find these two titles to be the only fighters out there with a distinctive and entertaining storyline because ASW wanted to make their fighting games seem original... They know what they're doing, trust me! How BlazBlue and Guilty Gear are alike is in within their own wacky, diverse cast of characters, inventive stories, and overall music composition (the composer for the BlazBlue games, Daisuke Ishiwatari, has done music also for the Guilty Gear games, but unlike BlazBlue, Ishiwatari actually IS Guilty Gear, creating the characters, artwork, and making a fuckton of heavy metal music). But moving on with that...

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II is a revised arcade port for the original game, all set up with the console-exclusive characters, numerous balance changes, and some extra tune-ups, such as the new announcer (whom, by the way, is Taokaka's Japanese VA, Chiwa Saito)... {Sigh} I missed Calamity Trigger's announcer! She was awesome! When released to the PSP and 3DS, Continuum Shift II included all the characters from the original Continuum Shift released as downloadable content (including newcomer Platinum the Trinity, a young girl with three different personalities, and one of them is 'Trinity', the spirit of one of the Six Heroes), new story elements for those exact characters, a new mode known as "Abyss", and some more balance tweaking skills... Jesus, enough with the tweaking, already!! We get it!

Like I mentioned earlier, I'm mainly trying as best as possible to review Continuum Shift II in terms of the original, and this is where I tell about the plot... DUH!!!

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift's story sets its events after the previous installment, Calamity Trigger. A few days have passed since the reported raid of Ragna the Bloodedge, The 13th Hierarchial City "Kagutsuchi" forgets to celebrate New Years, as his alleged involvement in the "Mysterious Bombing" and "Huge Pentacle Sightings" becomes the talk of the town... Wow, really!?!? {clears throat} With the Novus Orbis Librarium offering no official explanation, the citizens voice their own theories like GIANT ASSHOLES- Sorry, the citizens voice their own theories, exaggerating and spreading rumors like wildfire... The citizens must've played Street Fighter IV, those cretins! Completely indifferent to the state of the city, Ragna grips his massive cock--- Again, I apologize... Ragna grips his massive sword and quietly bides his time-waiting for the chance to achieve his true objective. And then, the enormous "power" that has ensnared Ragna begins to activate... HOLY SHIT!!!! Gamers know what they're mainly trying to come across when they say that BlazBlue has a better storyline than any other fighting game!

But if you wanna know the truth, then not only are the main BlazBlue titles a fighting game but judging from banter within characters and story-related events, it is also a 'visual novel' sort of game... So now comes the final verdict!

Does BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II work up to a fighting gamer's expectations? Pretty much! It has a wide variety of distinctive characters, great voice acting (please don't say which language is better... Pathetic weeaboos!), a solid fighting engine, awesome music, and an overall unique storyline which, I've said about a thousand times, easily outmatches your regular sort of fighting games such as Mortal Kombat or even Street Fighter... But one thing that can truly irk me about BlazBlue: Continuum Shift was the animation quality of the cutscenes, which looked decent, but not as thrilling as looking at Calamity Trigger... Gonzo had a low budget on this one. But then with the arcade-revised improvement (yep, goin' back over to Continuum Shift II), the quality seems a little more natural and fitting at times... It's what happens when Madhouse takes a step-in and works their magic! But do yourself a favor and get this little asshole of a fighting game! Continuum Shift II will definitely take a further look into your mind, and you will later be brawlin' for about hours!! This is why I need either a PSP or a 3DS for Christmas, but I prefer the latter...

With all things said, I, Ouroburos, gives BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II "nine ounces of Sierra Mist out of ten random Street Fighter IV nerdragers"... Peace! And look into my review later tonight for Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike... It'll kick ass, I guarantee you!

Pros

 * Superb story
 * Excellent graphics and overall visual details
 * The fighting engine is solid, and it bounds to make this one a balanced fighter more than anything
 * Great voice acting
 * The animation for the opening theme ("Shinsou/Deep Blue" by Asami Imai) seems to appear better than the original Continuum Shift... Can anyone say 'fanservice'???
 * Wacky, diverse set of characters

Cons

 * The only character to actually piss you off is none other than Hazama/Terumi Yuki (or better yet, as we like to call him, 'Trollzama')... UUUUUuuugh!!!!
 * The announcer just isn't as good as the Calamity Trigger version... Now that's BADASS!