BlazBlue: Chronophantasma

BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma is the next installment in the 2D fighting game series, developed by Arc System Works. It was announced on August 5th 2012, and is set to be released on November 21st for Arcades. New stages, music, game mechanics, and four new characters have been confirmed. In addition, all of the returning characters have been re-balanced and given new moves added on to their existing movesets. All of the returning characters' standing sprites and portrait art have been redrawn, while a few characters have new costumes.

The storyline will follow the exploits of Sector Seven, and will conclude the subplot of the Six Heroes' history from the past.

Returning Cast
Nu-13 and Mu-12 were recently confirmed to be in Chrono Phantasma in a recent issue of Famitsu Magazine that shows their new artworks and one screenshot for each of the characters. Thanks to Rachel, Noel will apparently regain Mu's power in order to attempt to save Tsubaki. Nu's body reformed due to her desire to fuse with Ragna, and she has become something Hazama refers to as the "Sword of Hades". Hazama has re-tuned Nu, so she is once again fighting against Ragna and the other characters. It is also rumored that Saya will be a console exclusive playable character. Additionally, Jubei and Kokonoe will possibly be playable characters. Lambda-11, at this moment, will not return in any capacity.
 * Ragna the Bloodedge
 * Jin Kisaragi
 * Noel Vermillion
 * Rachel Alucard
 * Taokaka
 * Carl Clover
 * Litchi Faye-Ling
 * Arakune
 * Iron Tager
 * Bang Shishigami
 * Nu-13 (November 28 for Arcades)
 * Hakumen
 * Hazama
 * Tsubaki Yayoi
 * Mu-12 (December 5 for Arcade)
 * Makoto Nanaya
 * Valkenhayn R. Hellsing
 * Platinum the Trinity
 * Relius Clover

New Playable Characters

 * Bullet
 * Amane Nishiki
 * Azrael
 * Izayoi (December 12 for Arcades)

New Game Mechanics
The following have been removed from BlazBlue as of Chrono Phantasma:
 * Gold Break Bursts
 * Guard Primers
 * Individual Storylines

The following mechanics have been added to Chrono Phantasma:
 * Over-Drive: Each character has a new mechanic called Over-Drive. When activated, it gives enhanced strength and access to new moves unique to the character. Normally, Over-Drive lasts 5 seconds; however, at lower health, it lasts around 15 seconds and freezes the timer. The bar to use Over-Drive fills up over time, and can be used only when the bar is full.
 * Crush Trigger: Crush Trigger acts as the replacement for the Gold Break Burst. By sacrificing 25% heat (or in Hakumen's case, two Magatama) then pressing A+B, it will allow players to crush the opponent's guard during some moves. This doesn't work on the Barrier Guard, however.
 * Because of this, the Heat Gauge is now split up into four sections rather than two. Prior to "Chrono Phantasma", Jin had a Heat Gauge with four sections, due to using 25% Heat to perform the D versions of his attacks.
 * The game will feature three main storylines to follow, with boss battles included, which will all come together for the true end.
 * Also, on the character select screen, when selecting a color palette for a character, players can see what the palettes look like instead of having to guess from three color swatches.

Trivia

 * "Chrono Phantasma" has many changes in terms of some of the menu screens and themes. The character select has been greatly altered, going from all the characters aligned in a circle formation to now being arranged like a conventional character select. (i.e. rows and columns) This is similar to the transition of character selects that Guilty Gear X2 went through. In fact, the screen for Chrono Phantasma resembles the one for Accent Core Plus.
 * Characters also seem to be positioned in a way that those symmetrical to them counterpart them some way (Taokaka and Bang Shishigami, for example), but that could just be a coincidence.
 * Chrono Phantasma also apparently features arrangements of the original musical themes of its predecessors.
 * While there are a plethora of new stages, Rachel's stage will be the only stage returning from previous games.
 * Noel's arcade story image, however, shows the port in Kagutsuchi, which could hint that all or some of the old stage designs may be returning.