Hot off the heels of Persona 4 Arena, Arc System Works has revealed that an actual sequel to their BlazBlue series is on its way to Japanese arcades for winter of 2012. A console release is a sure thing for sometime next year considering BlazBlue’s presence in the West.
Titled BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma, the game is an actual sequel that moves the plot forward and changes the system mechanics as opposed to the incremental update we saw in Continuum Shift Extend. Three new characters appear in the trailer along with changes to the returning characters costumes to reflect the new game, not to mention new their new moves. One confirmed addition to the game’s mechanics is an Overdrive mode, which is a bar that fills up over time and when activated gives several character-specific buffs, like Marvel Vs. Capcom 3‘s X-Factor mechanic. A new move called Crush Trigger was also revealed, which breaks your opponent’s guard at the cost of 25% meter but won’t go through Barrier Guard.
The new characters are intriguing but I noticed the absence of long-time zoning specialist, Nu-13/Lambda-11, though the absence of Mu-12 is understandable as that character is essentially Noel Vermillion with special powers. By the way, classy update to Noel’s costume ASW.
via Shoryuken
