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BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle

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BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle[a] is a 2D crossover fighting game developed and published by Arc System Works, first released for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Windows in 2018.[2] Cross Tag Battle features characters from different series, including BlazBlue, Persona 4 Arena, Under Night In-Birth, and RWBY.[3] After the game was released, characters from Arcana Heart, Senran Kagura, and Akatsuki Blitzkampf were added as downloadable content. An arcade port was released in 2019 in Japan, a version for Amazon Luna was made available in 2021, and the Special Edition with all post-launch content was released for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in 2023. The game received mostly positive reviews, with praise for the visuals, music, online functionality and mechanics. However, it was criticised for lack of overall content at launch and DLC practices.

BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle
Limited edition boxart, featuring (clockwise from top) Ruby, Yu, Ragna and Hyde
Developer(s)Arc System Works
Publisher(s)
  • WW: Arc System Works
  • EU: PQube (NS, PS4)
Producer(s)Toshimichi Mori
Artist(s)Konomi Higuchi
Series
BlazBlue
Platform(s)
ReleaseNS, PS4, Windows
  • JP: May 31, 2018
  • NA: June 5, 2018
  • EU: June 22, 2018
Arcade
Amazon Luna
  • US: February 18, 2021
Xbox One, Series X/S
  • WW: April 26, 2023
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade system

Gameplay

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BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle is a 2D fighting game that puts the focus on tag team mechanics.[4] In its main modes players battle in 2-vs-2 matches: they control one of the two selected characters at a time, and are able to switch between them on command. In addition to the standard fighting game meter that is expended to perform special and EX moves, the game features another resource: the assist meter. If they have enough, players can also have the second character use assist attacks to extend combos, keep the opponent away, or alternatively use all meter on "Cross Burst" to escape from dangerous situations. Similar to Marvel vs. Capcom, even if one character on the team loses all of their health, the match continues until both are down.

To accommodate for the tag mechanics and make characters easier to learn, the controls were simplified compared to mainline BlazBlue games and other participating series. In addition, each character was given some universal options, such as an overhead with the heavy button, invincible reversal attack, and auto combos.[5] Some series-specific mechanics were retained, but heavily reworked to fit the game. Examples include the Persona system for the Persona cast, Reverse Beat for the Under Night In-Birth cast, or Reflector for the Akatsuki Blitzkampf cast.[citation needed]

Plot

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A singularity called the "Phantom Field" mixes reality with other universes. When the "Keystone" divides into four fragments, the female voice system known as "System XX" instructs one of the main characters to keep it away from others and reach the goal, gathering all characters to join the battle, who hope to separately return home to each universe. After all fragments merged into one, they prevent the system from changing the universe.

However, the next episode of the storyline ends with Hazama coming into possession of the primary keystone containing the system itself, and he attempts to use it to hijack the Takemagahara System. Takemagahara detects the remnants of Yūki Terumi within him, and copies his genes to create the clone of Susano’o as a countermeasure, but indirectly leads to the destruction of multiverse. While System XX holds off the clone from being unleashed, a regretful Hazama took over the role as the multiversal tournament’s conductor at the former’s behest. As System XX cannot hold off the Susano’o clone much longer, Hazama changes the contest that was solely Tag Battle-themed keystone hunting into multiple-themed stamp collecting, in addition to bring characters in from three more universes, hoping for the winners to assist him and System to defeat the clone. Despite the fact that the Susano’o clone was defeated by Ragna the Bloodedge and Naoto Kurogane, System XX cannot return the characters to their respective universes, due to being critically weakened from holding off the clone. The storyline concludes with the characters participating in the endless Tag Team-based Battle Royale while waiting for System XX’s full recovery.

Characters

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Main article: List of BlazBlue characters
See also: List of Persona 3, Persona 4, Under Night In-Birth, RWBY, Arcana Heart, and Akatsuki Blitzkampf characters

The game started out with twenty characters in the base game. A further twenty became available as "Season 1" DLC.[6] On June 7, 2018, Minoru Kidooka confirmed that "Season 2" DLC will be added for arcade edition in April 2019 and for the console version in May 2019.[7] Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long were added as free downloadable content, while other characters are available at a cost.[8] Naoto Kurogane, Teddie, Seth and the titular Arcana Heart protagonist Heart Aino, were included with the release of the Japanese arcade version, and as paid content with version 1.5 update of the PC and console versions. The version 2.0 introduced battle changes, new story content, and the inclusion of the characters Celica A. Mercury, Susano'o, Elizabeth, Tohru Adachi, Hilda and Neopolitan. Also as part of the update, Senran Kagura and Akatsuki Blitzkampf were added as sixth and seventh series, with Yumi and Akatsuki and Blitztank, respectively. There are 53 characters in total after the release of Version 2.0.[9]

RWBY notably stands-out as an oddity from the rest of the game's roster. It is the only series included which is not of video game origins, let alone that of a fighting/hack-and-slash video game. RWBY did receive a hack-and-slash video game in the form of RWBY: Grimm Eclipse prior to Cross Tag Battle's release, however RWBY is included in Cross Tag Battle under the labelling of the whole franchise. This is contrary to the inclusion of Persona 4 Arena, which is always referred to with that specific title (rather than broadly "Persona" or "Persona 4") within the context of Cross Tag Battle.[10][11]

BlazBlue Persona 4 Arena Under Night In-Birth RWBY Arcana Heart Senran Kagura Akatsuki Blitzkampf

Base game

S1 DLC

S2 DLC

Notes:
‡ Free downloadable content character

Development

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In a 2016 interview with Forbes, producer[25] Toshimichi Mori revealed his interest for RWBY, at time when its creator, Rooster Teeth was still active prior to its shutdown that leads Viz Media to acquire RWBY IP rights in 2024.[26][27] Before the game was released, Rooster Teeth teased the possibility of a RWBY fighting game being revealed at Evo 2017 on their Twitter account.[28] On July 16, 2017, the game was announced at the Evo 2017 championships following Ryusei Ito's victory in BlazBlue: Central Fiction.[29][30] Ragna the Bloodedge, Jin Kisaragi, Yu Narukami, Hyde Kido and Ruby Rose appeared in the game on the announcement trailer.[31] Konomi Higuchi served as a character designer.[32] According to Mori, Cross Tag Battle was designed for home consoles, although the arcade version was later announced. The arcade port features support for USB controllers.[33]

In an interview with Famitsu, Mori has stated that the game was developed with overseas audience in mind.[34] Cross Tag Battle is the first BlazBlue game since Chrono Phantasma to be dubbed into English, with an option to toggle between English and Japanese voices on each character.[35] Arc System Works published the game in most territories, while PQube released the console versions in Europe.[36]

Pre-release, Arc System Works announced that there would be twenty paid downloadable content characters for the first season of the game, resulting in Cross Tag Battle launching with only half of its planned roster at twenty. This caused backlash from fans, with the arguments that the game reused assets from the past fighting games, and that half of Team RWBY would be sold separately.[37] In response, Mori announced that Blake and Yang would be released free of charge.[8][38] In addition, he stated that costs for the characters would not exceed that of the game's base retail cost.[8][39] Post-release, Arc System Works revealed a teaser trailer for a fifth franchise to be included as part of Season 2, later revealed to be Arcana Heart at EVO Japan 2019. The sixth and seventh franchises, Senran Kagura and Akatsuki Blitzkampf, were revealed at EVO 2019.

At CEO 2021, it was revealed that the PlayStation 4 and Steam versions of the game were patched with rollback netcode in 2022.[40] A version for Amazon Luna was released on February 18, 2021.[41] At Tokyo Game Show 2022, it was announced that the Special Edition of the game, containing all post-release downloadable content, will launch for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in Q2 2023.[42] It was released on April 26, 2023.[43]

Reception

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The game received mostly positive reviews, with praise for visuals, music, online functionality and game mechanics,[44][45] but criticism of its lack of overall content at launch and its downloadable content (DLC) practices. Famitsu awarded it a score of 35/40.[47]

Sales

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The game sold 11,696 copies for PlayStation 4 and 4,271 copies on Nintendo Switch in Japan.[49] The game had sold over 450,000 copies worldwide in June 2020.[50]

Accolades

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The game was nominated for "Best Fighting Game" at The Game Awards 2018,[51] for "Fan Favorite Fighting Game" at the Gamers' Choice Awards,[52] for "Best Fighting Game" at the Titanium Awards,[53] for the Raging Bull Award for Best Fighting Game at the New York Game Awards,[54] and for "Fighting Game of the Year" at the 22nd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards.[55]

Notes

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  1. ^ BureiBurū Kurosu Taggu Batoru (Japanese: ブレイブルー クロスタッグバトル) in Japanese

References

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  1. ^ Sato (April 18, 2019). "BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Brings The Crossover Fights To Arcades In Japan Starting April 25". Siliconera. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  2. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (July 17, 2017). "BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle stars characters from Persona and Under Night In-Birth". Eurogamer. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  3. ^ Mejia, Ozzie (July 16, 2017). "EVO 2017: Anime worlds collide in BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle, Jubei joins BlazBlue: Central Fiction". Shacknews. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  4. ^ Gach, Ethan (July 16, 2017). "Arc System Works Announces BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle At Evo 2017". Kotaku. Archived from the original on July 16, 2017. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  5. ^ a b Saltzman, Mitchell (June 5, 2018). "BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Review". IGN. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  6. ^ "「Blazblue Cross Tag Battle」の発売日が2018年5月31日に決定。新プレイアブルキャラクター"ブレイク・ベラドンナ"の発表も".
  7. ^ ARC Live - Episode 18, Part 2 - Minoru Kidooka Talks DLC Season 2, NieR's 2B + More. YouTube. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021.
  8. ^ a b c Sato (February 7, 2018). "BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Will Add RWBY's Blake Belladonna And Yang Xiao Long As Free DLC Characters". Siliconera. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  9. ^ "BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE Special Edition DXパック｜エビテン".
  10. ^ Lucas, Cameron (March 18, 2024). "Another RWBY Game Could Be The Series' Saving Grace". Game Rant. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  11. ^ "BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Mashing Up BlazBlue, Persona 4 and RWBY in 2018". XboxAchievements.com. June 30, 2015. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  12. ^ Reilly, Luke (July 17, 2017). "BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE ANNOUNCED". IGN. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  13. ^ "BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle - Chie, Noel Vermilion, Waldstein reveal trailer". Youtube. NinEverything. October 20, 2017.
  14. ^ "BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Character Introduction Trailer #2". YouTube. Arc System Works. October 15, 2017.
  15. ^ "BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle adds Iron Tager, Makoto Nanaya, v-No.13, and Es". Gematsu. December 15, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  16. ^ Sato (November 17, 2017). "BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Reveals Yukiko Amagi, Gordeau, And Azrael". Siliconera. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  17. ^ YouTube, a Google company. YouTube. Archived from the original on September 15, 2017. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  18. ^ arcsystemworks (April 19, 2016), BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Character Introduction Trailer #8, retrieved April 19, 2018
  19. ^ arcsystemworks (February 15, 2018), BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Character Introduction Trailer #6, retrieved February 15, 2018
  20. ^ "LAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE INCOMING CHARACTER UPDATES TRAILER (EVO2018)". YouTube. August 4, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  21. ^ arcsystemworks (March 16, 2018), BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Character Introduction Trailer #7, retrieved March 16, 2018
  22. ^ ArcSystemWorks ➡️ #GuiltyGearStrive 04.09.21 [@ArcSystemWorksU] (March 16, 2018). "@mygamingaccount @RVAJoker @swordsman09 @AtlusUSA Aegis going forward" (Tweet). Retrieved December 31, 2020 – via Twitter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ 『BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE』Ver.2.0 新プレイアブルキャラクター発表トレーラー. YouTube. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021.
  24. ^ アーケード版「BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE」追加参戦キャラクター紹介PV（EVO Japan 2019）. YouTube. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021.
  25. ^ Migliacio, Michael (July 17, 2017). "Evo 2017: Toshimichi Mori, Keeper of the Azure". Red Bull. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  26. ^ "Arc System Works And Its Fighting Game Legacy, It's All About The Cool". Forbes. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  27. ^ "VIZ Blog / RWBY Finds a New Home". www.viz.com. July 5, 2024. Retrieved July 5, 2024.
  28. ^ Good, Owen (July 16, 2017). "BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle announced at Evo 2017". Polygon. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  29. ^ Migliacio, Michael. "EVO 2017: Toshimichi Mori, Keeper of the Azure". Red Bull. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  30. ^ Saed, Sherif (July 17, 2017). "BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle announced at EVO 2017, features characters from Persona 4 Arena". VG247. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  31. ^ Valdez, Nick (July 16, 2017). "BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle combines BlazBlue, Persona 4 Arena, and RWBY". Destructoid. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  32. ^ Sato (July 16, 2017). "BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Announced, Features BlazBlue, Persona 4 Arena, UNIEL, And RWBY". Siliconera. Archived from the original on July 16, 2017. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  33. ^ セナ@カズマを…🐍 [@sena_kazuma] (April 14, 2019). "パッドの接続はここで|ﾟーﾟ)ﾉ #BBTAG https://t.co/s9jAvIFt64" (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved December 31, 2020 – via Twitter.
  34. ^ "アークシステムワークス森利道氏インタビュー！ 新作格ゲー『ブレイブルー クロスタッグバトル』など森Pの新たな挑戦とは？【Evo2017】". August 8, 2017.
  35. ^ Glagowski, Peter (February 8, 2018). "BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle will have an English dub when it releases". Destructoid. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  36. ^ PQube Games [@PQubeGames] (March 16, 2018). "Exciting news! We're delighted to announce that BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE is coming to Europe this summer! Universes collide in this high-octane 2D fighter! Play as your favourites from BLAZBLUE, Persona 4 Arena, Under Night In-Birth and RWBY! Trailer: https://t.co/VVt7DTf3YG https://t.co/E9JQsAWsnB" (Tweet). Retrieved December 31, 2020 – via Twitter.
  37. ^ Ramsey, Robert (January 13, 2018). "Half of BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle's Character Roster Is DLC, Fans Are Raging". Push Square. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  38. ^ Romano, Sal (February 6, 2018). "BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle adds DLC character Yang Xiao Long; Blake and Yang to be free of charge". Gematsu. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  39. ^ "BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle producer addresses DLC pricing". January 24, 2018.
  40. ^ Moyse, Chris (December 6, 2021). "BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle and Centralfiction to receive rollback netcode". Destructoid. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  41. ^ New on Luna+: BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, February 18, 2021, retrieved December 18, 2022
  42. ^ Moyse, Chris (September 15, 2022). "BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle: Special Edition coming to Xbox Spring 2023". Destructoid. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  43. ^ Hazra, Adriana (April 21, 2023). "BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Special Edition Game Releases for Xbox on April 26". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  44. ^ a b "BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  45. ^ a b "BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  46. ^ Carter, Chris (June 6, 2018). "Review: BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle". Destructoid. Archived from the original on June 8, 2018. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  47. ^ a b Romano, Sal (May 25, 2018). "Famitsu Review Scores: Issue 1538". Gematsu. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  48. ^ Higham, Michael (June 6, 2018). "BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Review - The Tag Team Dream". GameSpot. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  49. ^ Sato (June 6, 2018). "This Week In Sales: Debuts For The Liar Princess and Blind Prince, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Bomba". Siliconera. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  50. ^ Sato (June 10, 2020). "BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Worldwide Shipment & Digital Sales Hit 450,000". Siliconera. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  51. ^ Grant, Christopher (December 6, 2018). "The Game Awards 2018: Here are all the winners". Polygon. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  52. ^ Glyer, Mike (November 19, 2018). "2018 Gamers' Choice Awards Nominees". File 770. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  53. ^ "Titanium Awards 2018". Fun & Serious Game Festival. December 10, 2018. Archived from the original on July 7, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  54. ^ Keyes, Rob (January 3, 2019). "2018 New York Game Awards Nominees Revealed". Screen Rant. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  55. ^ Makuch, Eddie (January 10, 2019). "God Of War, Spider-Man Lead DICE Awards; Here's All The Nominees". GameSpot. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
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