BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger

Tomo Ohno, Development Director at Arc System Works Europe talks to CVG about the Japanese smash hit beat 'em up BlazBlue.

He tells us how the 2D cult beat 'em up will stand out in Europe, why it can't be compared to Street Fighter IV and why he's proud to be a one trick pony.

What makes BlazBlue stand out in the UK and European market?
BlazBlue is the first fighter truly designed for the next gen consoles. Arc System designed the world of BlazBlue first then developed fighting game in this world. The characters were created over a period of 18 months, starting with brainstorming personalities for all twelve characters, each has their own nationality, birthday, likes/dislikes; all are used as the basis for fighting styles and story design, The next stage was hand sketches, only then moving on to full 3D modelling and finally bringing these back, through tracing their outlines to 2D to enable exaggerated Manga style expressions. As a result, they come alive, obtain warmth and have a real character.

The game has been conceived, designed and developed with the wide fighting game audiences in mind including, importantly, non fighting fans. Making it easy to pick up and play competitively for maximum enjoyment, but the depth of combinations and moves will tax even the most experienced players. While the RPG adventure story mode has been designed and developed to have 'life' as each of the 12 characters has their own story to tell with multiple endings.

Do unusual game titles mean anything? Sometime yes! And here it forms the backbone of the critically acclaimed PRG adventure story mode. In the year 2199 a betrayed soldier, Ragna the Bloodedge, is bent on revenge and has mastered an unstoppable fusion of magic and technology, Azure Grimoire, also known as the BlazBlue. Combatants gather in the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi to stop him or claim the BlazBlue for themselves.

What does the game do that we've never seen before?
There are many features and expressions we tried to bring into BlazBlue which have not been included before such as high attention to detail which makes you will feel like you are fighting in the Anime world. But, BlazBlue is not something entirely "new"; we reviewed, analysed, and improved various aspects of fighting games, fully utilizing our experiences on Guilty Gear. It is not difficult to develop a fighting game but it is very difficult to do it right. It's like a like burger from road side van Vs a burger carefully cooked by Heston. Or Sushi on plastic tray in super market Vs Sushi delicately prepared by veteran chef in Tokyo. They use the same ingredients but by paying attention, passion, and affection, you get totally different results.

Does the success of Street Fighter IV bode well for the game's release?
You should not compare apples and pears! SF4 is a great game. SF is about axis, BlazBlue is about combos. Also, BlazBlue has a strong focus on the detailed RPG adventure story behind the characters that will run and develop through the series. We are hoping fans of F enjoy BlazBlue as much. The Online mode, we believe, is one of our strongest suits, if we compare function to function between these titles.

Can BlazBlue stand toe to toe with SF4 and SSF4 gameplay-wise?
That's always up the gaming audience to decide. Obviously we would say "yes"! Seriously, the review scores from a broad section of pure gaming and mainstream gaming sources very much suggests it does with an average UK score of 87%. And in many areas we believe we have brought fresh ideas to the genre, utilising the single button system and the aerial attack or defence options. Ghostly Arakune swallows opponents and spits them out, Sexy Litchi uses pole dancing attack skills. Catlike Taokaka meows and purrs. Cute Noel comes with two guns, big ones. The full beauty of playing BlazBlue is seen once you're on the giving end of a perfectly executed 40 move chaining combo.

With the growth of PSN and Xbox Live, Online play has become a bigger part of fighting games in recent years. Bringing the excitement of arcade centres into the home is one of our mantras and online play is the key to it. Even with quite normal broadband connection speeds, you will not feel any lag. We are hoping to create a global ring, where Europeans fight with Americans and Japanese. Or against them.
In movies and music, you do not compare and ask which one you will watch/buy. We hope SF4 and SSF4 fans enjoy BlazBlue as much. If there is only one winner in genre, that would make the game industry rather boring, don't you think?

Why did you decide on the price point of the game?
Pricing is a retailer decision, so you should really ask them about that.

Does the 2D fighting genre still have a place in mainstream gaming?
Well, the resurgence of the genre over the last 18 months has caught everyone by surprise, including us! It's as if the usual developers who led the genre had turned their attention elsewhere. We have been developing fighting games since 1988 and most likely the only company without any discontinuation. This, perhaps, gives us a bit of expertise and we aim at developing ever better fighting game experiences. The creation of BlazBlue by our teams at Arc System Works shows that 2D can bring intense, enjoyable, visually appealing gaming to the next gen consoles. We are not shying away from 3D, if and when technology allows us to do what we want we will use it.

What's next for Arc System Works?
We are proud to be one trick pony, the one very good at trick that is, rather than being a Jack of all trades. Listening to the market and users, improving various details, adding the new excitements, all while maintaining current fan satisfied. Improving core competence while exploring non-old-school-way is what we have in mind.

Did you know that our box art was chosen and designed by fan community? The winner designed a piece of art that would never come out of Japan, We'd have never thought of something like this. Instead of all the characters, he just focused on one. This is a big step for us at Arc System Works. We truly believe that better gaming experiences will come from listening to our users. They are the most important assets we have and we will continue to work ever closer with our European audience.

Tom Pakinkis