Review #152: Blazblue ChronoPhantasma

 Because we all enjoy having DLC shoved up the wazoo.

 ChronoPhantasma is the latest installment in the Blazblue serie, technically it's the third title in the series, but we know better(Calamity Trigger, Continuum Shift, Continuum Shift 2 and Continuum Shift Extend). This version introduces a couple of new changes to the formula, new characters and a new story.

 Previous games featured individual storylines for each character, this is not the case in this game, now you have a selection of three branches, taking place in different time periods, that has you playing as the character the story demands. While this new approach should've been better, since it makes the "canon" path clearer, I have more than a couple of gripes with it. For starters, the story continues to be a very cliched mishmash of anime tropes, nothing, absolutely nothing that you'll see here is new or original. You'll hear lines like "I must get stronger to protect those I love" or "I'm not even using my full power" and the like, lines you've heard over and over again. Another thing to keep in mind, is that the game's forefront is... fanservice. Characters will be crying, but the game will still shove a female's butt up your face, taking the story seriously is nigh impossible. The story doesn't pace itself very well either, you can't follow an entire branch all the way through, instead, the game will force you to go through other branches in order to unlock other sections for all three branches, its obnoxious and a can get confusing, not to mention that the fight-to-reading ratio is very tilted towards reading, there's barely any fights in this mode, and there's a lot, a lot of fluff when it comes to writing. Conversations that serve no purpose, not even to further character developement, and there's not a ton of CG images to aid the narrative, at least we get more anime cutscenes than in the last game. At the end of the day, the story wasn't an enjoyable aspect of the game, but you can skip all of it from the outgo.

 Since I just mentioned the story mode, might as well unleash my rant about the DLC. There's an entire character on the disc, Yuuki Terumi, hidden behind a paywall. You fight him in the story mode, he's featured in the game's cover and in a ton of in-game images... yet he is behind an 8 dollar paywall. There's also Kokonoe who has been shown to be finished, and shown alongside the rest of the playable characters on the credits roll... yet she's behind an 8 dollar paywall. You can go through the drag that is the story mode in order to unlock the game's only unlockable character... or pay 5 bucks to get him without the hassle. The game's Unlimited versions of each character are unlocked by beating Unlimited Mars Mode, hiding rewards behind the hardest modes is OK, what is not OK is "offering" the alternative of paying for them, it looks tacky and greedy. The game feels like it's trying to fight you for your money all the time, it also feels as if stuff is missing since it's constantly being thrown over your face. It's not cool, it's not OK, it's disgusting.

 Now that that's over, let's talk about positives, of which there are many. I loved the new gameplay mechanics, first we have "Overdrive", tapping all four buttons at the same time will engage Overdrive mode, which is unique for each character. Some characters had Supers transformed into their overdrives, while others get unique new buffs while in Overdrive. Overdrive lasts as long as a new gauge lasts, the less health you have, the longer it gets. Bursts, pressing all buttons while blocking all receiving damage, now shares the same gauge as the Overdrive, so you'll have to think twice before using either, as it takes a while for the gauge to refill. Guard Primers have been removed, and Guard Crush got changed into Crush trigger, by spending 25 heat you can use it to break the enemy's guard. A new small, but most welcome, feature is that you can now see how your character's colors will look on the character selection screen.

 Besides Story, Arcade and VS Modes, you also get a revamped Abyss Mode(It's now divided into different abysses, with different depths and difficulties), Score Attack(It's basically Arcade Mode, but on default settings), Unlimited Mars Mode(Play different courses of Unlimited versions of characters on the hardest setting), a 30-Challenge course for each character and the staple Tutorial mode. It's a decent variety of modes, coupled with a Gallery in which you can unlock art. Most of it is, you guessed it, of a fanservicey nature, doesn't matter how old the character is supposed to be, Japan's gonna have'em wear the skimpiest clothing they can. Because Japan. Ishiwatari's art is pretty dope though. The five new non-DLC characters are actually pretty good additions to the roster, offering their very own styles to the table. All previous characters have been rebalanced, some play very different than they used to(Like Jin), while others saw changes mostly in their numbers(Like Ragna)

 ChronoPhantasma, gameplay wise, is a very good addition to the Blazblue series, it might be the most balanced installment yet, but it's hard not to feel as if ArkSys is trying to force the cash out of your wallet, which really hampered my enjoyment with the game. Story Mode wasn't very entertaining this time around either.
 7.5 out of 10