BlazBlue: Chronophantasma

BlazBlue: Chronophantasma is the next installment in the BlazBlue series of 2D fighting games, developed by Arc System Works. 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 Chronophantasma 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.
 * Ragna the Bloodedge
 * Jin Kisaragi
 * Noel Vermillion
 * Rachel Alucard
 * Taokaka
 * Carl Clover
 * Litchi Faye-Ling
 * Arakune
 * Iron Tager
 * Bang Shishigami
 * Nu-13 (Released November 28 for Arcades)
 * Hakumen
 * Hazama
 * Tsubaki Yayoi
 * Mu-12 (Released December 5 for Arcades)
 * Makoto Nanaya
 * Valkenhayn R. Hellsing
 * Platinum the Trinity
 * Relius Clover

New Playable Characters

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

List of Selectable Battle Themes
Every character theme and character VS theme from the past installments has been remixed and will not be listed here. Their title is the name of their theme with a II on the end. (i.e. Rebellion II)

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

The following mechanics have been added to Chronophantasma:
 * Overdrive : Each character has a new mechanic called Overdrive. When activated, it gives enhanced strength and access to new moves unique to the character. Normally, Overdrive lasts 5 seconds; however, at lower health, it lasts around 15 seconds and freezes the timer. The bar to use Overdrive fills up over time, and can be used only when the bar is full. The Overdrive replaces the neutral stance Break Burst from the last game (in that it shares the same command: A+B+C+D), and also empties the bar used for the Burst (but now refills overtime during the match, as opposed to a set amount of usable Bursts like the last game).
 * Crush Trigger: Crush Trigger acts as a replacement for the Guard Crush mechanics in the past games (Guard Libra and Guard Primers). 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 (though the Crush Trigger can be delayed/charged to inflict more barrier gauge damage).
 * Because of this, the Heat Gauge is now split up into four sections rather than two. Prior to Chronophantasma, 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

 * Chronophantasma 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 Chronophantasma 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 but that could just be a coincidence.
 * Where it might be evident is in the following:
 * Ragna the Bloodedge and Jin Kisaragi (Brothers, rivals and two of the main characters of the series)
 * Hakumen and Rachel Alucard (Seemingly allied, as seen at the end of Continuum Shift, and in Rachel's story)
 * Taokaka and Bang Shishigami ("Student" and "master", respectively)
 * Hazama and Tsubaki Yayoi (Tsubaki is now on the bad side, and a pawn of Hazama)
 * Litchi Faye-Ling and Arakune (The chaser and the runaway, respectively)
 * Nu-13 and Mu-12 (Both are Murakumo Units)
 * The four characters added throughout Continuum Shift are all mirroring each other: Makoto and Valkenhayn, Platinum and Relius.
 * Chronophantasma also features arrangements of the original musical themes of its predecessors.
 * While there are a plethora of new stages, Moonlight Castle -Halloween- and Altar stage will be the only stage returning from previous games.
 * Chronophantasma's characters each have one palette that belongs to another BlazBlue character, some depicting some kind of connection, and with the latter character having in turn the palette of the former. The following are:
 * Ragna - Makoto
 * Jin - Izayoi
 * Noel - Nu
 * Rachel - Valkenhayn
 * Taokaka - Arakune
 * Tager - Bang
 * Litchi - Amane
 * Arakune - Taokaka
 * Bang - Tager
 * Carl - Relius
 * Hakumen - Tsubaki
 * Nu - Noel
 * Hazama - Platinum
 * Tsubaki - Hakumen
 * Mu - Lambda, despite her being absent from the game
 * Makoto - Ragna
 * Valkenhayn - Rachel
 * Platinum - Hazama
 * Relius - Carl
 * Amane - Litchi
 * Bullet - Azrael
 * Azrael - Bullet
 * Izayoi - Jin
 * Expanding on the concept of cross-character palletes, each character has a special palette based on Guilty Gear characters. The following are:
 * Ragna - Sol Badguy
 * Jin - Ky and Robo Ky
 * Noel - I-No
 * Rachel and Valkenhayn - Slayer
 * Taokaka - May
 * Bang - Anji Moto
 * Arakune - Eddie
 * Hazama - Venom
 * Relius - Faust
 * Carl - A.B.A.
 * Nu-13 - Justice
 * Mu-12 - Dizzy
 * Platinum - Bridget
 * Litchi - Jam Kuradoberi
 * Makoto - Order Sol
 * Hakumen - Baiken
 * Tager - Potemkin
 * Tsubaki - Millia Rage
 * Amane - Izuna
 * Bullet - Axl Low
 * Azrael - Johnny
 * Izayoi - Testament