BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (ブレイブルー カラミティ トリガー Bureiburū: Karamiti Torigā?) (pronounced /ˈbleɪz ˈbluː/) is a fighting game developed by Arc System Works. The game's name is a portmanteau of "blaze" and "blue," with the "z" sound omitted in the Japanese pronunciation, rendering it similar to the word "brave" in pronunciation.

Gameplay
BlazBlue is a traditional 2D fighter where two characters participate in a duel on a two dimensional plane. A round is called a "rebel" and one match can consist of one to five "rebels". To win a round, one player must either incapacitate the other by inflicting damage through various attacks to reduce health or by having more remaining health after the clock runs out if the rules of the match has one.

Every character has a weak, medium and strong attack. Also every character has a "unique" technique, called a Drive attack, which is different for each character. Those attacks are also known as "A", "B", "C" and "D". Various combos can be performed by every character through careful input of regular and drive attacks. A combo consists of two or more consecutive attacks that hit an opponent without them retaliating. As combos become longer, each attack will do less damage than normal to give the opponent a chance to retaliate. Grabs can be incorporated into combos also by pressing the "B" and "C" buttons at the same time. Occasionally, some attacks (e.g. Jin's Hirensou) will use portions of the player's heat gauge at the bottom of the screen. The heat gauge is filled by either dealing or receiving damage. When at a certain percentage, special moves called "distortion drives" can be performed. When a distortion drive is successfully performed and connects with the opponent, it deals massive damage and is visually flashier than normal attacks.

Along with attacks every character has two types of block. One is the regular block that can be broken with a "guard crush". That can be achieved by pushing the "guard libra" gauge all the way to the opponent's side through repeated attacks. If the opponent keeps blocking, then their guard can be broken, leaving them open for attack. The second type of block is a barrier block, which is initiated by blocking while holding the "A" and "B" buttons at the same time. A barrier block cannot be broken like a normal guard, but there is a limit on how long one can be held, which is indicated by the barrier gauge. If the barrier gauge empties, then the player will receive 150% damage until it regenerates to half-full.

Advanced tactics
A form of an advanced tactic is a "rapid cancel". These can be done after any attack to instantly cancel the character sprite's animation frames and reset back to the resting position. However this can only be done at the cost of 50% of the heat gauge.

Counters are the one of the easier tactics to perform. All that is required is for a player to strike their opponent while they are in the middle of an attacking animation to stop them in their tracks. This leaves an opponent open for a combo. In addition to a player's regular block options, they can also "instant block", which requires stricter timing, but reduces the amount of time the character is stuck in their blocking animation and gives you a little heat.

If a player is under pressure from the opponent, a "barrier burst" can be done at any time to send the opponent away to create some space at the cost of having no barrier block and receiving 150% damage for the rest of the round. A barrier burst may also be used offensively to break the opponents guard (your character will still suffer the extra damage and be unable to barrier block for the remainder of the round).

Home version features
The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions includes all content from the arcade version, along with content exclusive to the console versions, including:


 * New music, animations, backgrounds and a console-exclusive story mode
 * Theme songs done by Kotoko(Ao-Iconoclast) for the OP, Hironobu Kageyama (Omae no Tettsui ni Kugi wo Ute) for Bang's Fūrinkazan Theme, and a song by Noel's VA 'Kanako Kando', titled 'Love So Blue', which plays at various points during story mode.
 * The ability to switch between Japanese and English voices
 * Online multiplayer supporting up to six players, where 2 players play at a time and the remainder are able to watch the battle as spectators.
 * Special "Unlimited" versions of characters, which grant boss-like properties similar to the Gold and Black forms in Guilty Gear. Unlimited Ragna has Blood Kain mode always activated without its HP drain (Devoured by Darkness does not deactivate Blood Kain either). Unlimited versions of all characters are available after completing Arcade Mode as the respective character.
 * Unlockable Astral Heats (Instant kill moves) for all characters. Astral Heats require a full Heat gauge and the opponent to have 20% or less of their health, and can only be performed during the final round of a match (ie. the 3 round of a best of three match). Successfully using an Astral Heat will result in what is known as an Astral Finish.
 * The PlayStation 3 version includes remote play that allows users to play the game on a PSP after connecting it to their console.
 * In the limited edition US version a Blu-Ray disc for PS3 or DVD for Xbox 360 is included with a strategy guide and combo videos for every character. Also included is a 2 disc Limited Edition soundtrack with special remixes from Oh No.

Characters

 * Ragna the Bloodedge
 * Jin Kisaragi
 * Noel Vermillion
 * Rachel Alucard
 * Iron Tager
 * Taokaka
 * Litchi Faye-Ling
 * Arakune
 * Bang Shishigami
 * Carl Clover
 * Hakumen
 * Nu (v-13)

Prologue
 Spoiler warning : Plot and/or ending details follow. (Skip section)

In a time now long past, mankind faced extinction at the hands of the "Black Beast", acreature that appeared out of the darkness. The Beast was possessed by an awesome power, and it appeared that the time of man would soon be at an end. It was then, in humanity's darkest hour, that six heroes of unknown origin came forward to defeat the Beast. They brought with them the ancient power of "magic", which they freely shared with mankind. Turning their ingenuity to the formation of new, more powerful weapons, humanity discovered a process by which they could infuse their own technology with the power of ancient magic. It was in this way that humanity created the "Armagus" and discovered a power far beyond what magic or technology alone could have given them.

With this newfound power, mankind once again confronted the Beast, with the six heroes fighting alongside them. After many long, blood-soaked battles, the Beast finally fell, ending what would come to be known as the "First War of Magic". The heroes who fought beside human warriors in the First War of Magic were immortalized for their deeds and, through generations, came to be known as the "Six Heroes".

An organization was formed during the First War to regulate the use of the "Grimoire Armagus", the Armagus training texts. This "Novus Orbis Librarium", and the power it wielded with the Grimoire Armagus, brought about great advances across the the spectrum of human technology. These gains threw mankind into a vast and all-encompassing reconstruction.

Decades have passed since the Librarium established itself as a dictatorship, and Armagus became the deciding factor in nearly all of humanity's affairs. This has led to a large socioeconomic gap between those who can wield the power of Armagus and those who cannot. Tensions began to flare, and before long a rebel organization calling itself the "Ikaruga Federation" appeared, defying the totalitarian authority of the Librarium. With the creation of the Federation, angry thoughts became open hostilities, and the "Second War of Magic" began. It was this conflict, which also came to be known as the "Ikaruga Civil War", that saw human using the power of Armagus against one another for the first time.

The Second War came to a close with the destruction of the Ikaruga Federation. Afraid of further conflict, the Librarium consummated its subjugation of the populace by issuing the following decree: "Whosoever chooses to defy the Novus Orbis Librarium shall be put to death, without exception."

Several years after the end of the Second War, a branch of the Libraruim, reputed to command a force as powerful as an entire nation's army, was suddenly and utterly destroyed. The few survivors spoke in hushed, shaken tones of a single man who had appeared out of nowhere, cutting down all in his path.

His name was "Ragna the Bloodedge"...

Story
`A.D. 2199 Dec`

By the end of the year, most citizens were expecting the beginning of an era of unprecedented development. Unfortunately, 2199 was also the year that the Librarium's greatest foe, the man with the highest sing bounty on record, Ragna the Bloodedge, was rumored to have appeared in the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutuschi. People gave him the nickname Grim Reaper, and it was said that his goal was the obliteration of the librarium in its entirety. Following the rumors, people began to make their way to Kagutsuchi-some after the incredible bounty on his head, others after the "ultimate power" said to be in his possession...and a few whose only interest was his assassination for the Librarium.