As a fighting game fan, I must say that for the previous console generation, Nintendo was not my source of fighting game fun. During those days, I could only enjoy fighting games on Xbox 360 or PS3, since the hottest games at the time could only be played there. As a enthusiast of the genre, I am glad that the Nintendo Switch is getting more prominent fighting games. We have seen the likes of Street Fighter, Dragon Ball FighterZ, but there was one major franchise that was missing from the Nintendo Switch and that was BlazBlue. You might say, “Ramon you are nuts! What about Cross Tag Battle!” Ah, my little Kaka Tribe kitten, let me teach you. Cross Tag Battle is a awesome Tag Team spin-off of the Main Series (we love it, by the way). However, the creme de la creme had never been in a Nintendo Console until now.
BlazBlue Central Fiction Special Edition is the latest chapter in the BlazBlue universe. (In order to understand it fully, you need to play also the visual novels the X-Blaze games. Even if they are set in parallel universes, they are still considered part of the cannon. Also, this game includes some X-Blaze characters.) I, for one, am happy that one of my favorite fighting games is on Nintendo Switch.
BBCF is set after the events that happened in Chrono Phantasma Extended, and we are in the climax of the story that has left tons of questions and cliffhangers. If you have been following the game in other consoles, you know what you are going to get here. But what about newcomers? How can they understand the lore and the story? Believe it or not, the story plays a central role in the game overall, since it’s presented in a visual novel fashion with a cast of characters you can’t help but love, even the villains. Back to my previous question, if you never played any game in the series, how would you know what is going on? Well, the good guys at Arc System Works has thought about newcomers, and you can enjoy all events that occurred before in the story mode. After an initial conversation between the characters, you are given an option to recap the story until the starting point of Central Fiction. I highly recommend that you select to recap the events.
But before you get into the specifics of the story (which I wont spoil in this review), there are two things that I recommend you do: Complete the Tutorial and Arcade Modes. I have said this before, but if there is a developer that knows how to teach players how to play their games, it is Arc System Works (I mentioned this in my FighterZ review). BBCF is no stranger to a deep and well done tutorial. Here you can learn everything the game has to offer, from the basics of movement and attacking, to intermediate lessons like using Distortion Drives (the supers), Overdrive (think like X-factor but without healing properties and that can be pulled more than once per battle), to advanced and expert lessons like Crush Triggers (a move to keep blocking maniacs in their toes), Instant Blocks, Barrier Blocks, and character specific lessons that show each character basic strategies to get you started. Even if you are a casual gamer and aren’t striving to be a professional player, I cannot stress it enough. Finish the tutorial. It will do wonders for your play-style and if you know how to play the game right, you will enjoy it more.
However, if you don’t want to commit. Then there is also the Stylish layout mode. This is a mode for casual button smashers just by pressing the buttons you can pull off combos and distortion drives. It is a welcome addition, since those not used to fast paced fighting games can join in the fun too.
After the tutorial is finished, the next place I recommend is Arcade more, and this because of two reasons: One because it’s a good way to put into practice what you learned in the tutorial, and Two because you can get each character personal stories. This is to give you a more detailed background on each character’s motivations, all this setting you up to tackle the Story mode afterwards and you get the bigger picture of the game’s story. Compared to previous games, I like the Arcade mode more, since each character has three different acts so just in this mode you have several hours worth of playtime. Now, if you are tired of the basic combos, you can do following the ABCD route.
You can enter Challenge Mode. As the name implies, this is the combo challenge mode you have a total of 20 per character. Some are basic. Some are hard, but it’s a good way yo hone your skills. There is also a Score Attack mode in with you have four different courses to play with three difficulty settings. I remember that in previous games this mode was HARD. Here it is good to see that there are three difficulty settings.
Another mode included is Speed Star mode. This, like the name implies, is a mode for the faster fighters out there. You start in course A with a difficulty level of two stars. You have 180 seconds to defeat 16 characters. Sounds crazy, right? But, if you finish them with powerful attacks, or attack them with long combo,s you can earn seconds to add to your timer. This is a really fun mode. What makes it different is that you have infinite health. However, if your opponent hits you, you lose seconds of precious time, so that makes the game more hectic. You need to have a solid defense and offense. If A is challenging, the B and C courses are more.
Another cool mode is Grim of the Abyss. In this mode, you fight against waves of enemies in order to get to the bottom of level of Kagutsuchi. What is interesting about this mode is that changes the way you play the game completely, since your character levels up. You can equip grimoires that enhance your stats and even encounter treasures (items) that give you boosts like more defense, regeneration, and more. The RPG-nature will keep fans entertained, and it is a fun way to increase the replay value (and this game doesn’t need that is filled to the brim with content).
One of the things that strikes me the most in BBCF is how fluid the game is. Honestly, playing on handheld or docked, the game play is super fluid. I don’t have a PS4 to compare, but I saw some videos on YouTube for Central Fiction on PS4. I didn’t notice any difference at all. I want to give the developers a sound commendation: the game plays and looks like a dream. And, it is a dream come true because I always felt that BlazBlue should’ve been enjoyed by Nintendo owners from sometime ago. Arc System Works has delivered.
One thing I must mention is that there is no English dub in the game. The voices are in Japanese with English subtitles, I feel that is a shame because one of the things I loved about previous games in the series is the superb voice acting. It gave a lot of personality to the characters. I hope that it can be added in the near future. Even as DLC, I would buy it. But even with that, the game looks and plays amazingly well, so I cannot recommend it enough.
Bottom Line: Blazblue Central Fiction Special Edition is the gift that keeps on giving. It has all characters released to date, even Jubei. It is full of Blazblue goodness and plays amazingly well on the Nintendo Switch, so if you are looking for a serious fighting game to enjoy on Switch, look no further because the wheel of fate is turning.
A Review code was provided for this review.