BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Portable Review

Lately, there has been a shortage of worthy fighting games on handheld consoles. What used to be a staple for the gamers diet back in the day from the likes of Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat is now being overpowered by FPS and RPG games. Recently, Street Fighter IV and Tekken recently stepped out of the shadows and showed that fighting games can still hold their own in today’s day and age. Last year, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger was released in North America on the Playstation 3 and stood alongside those two big titles. Now, developer ARC System Works has decided to port the game to the PSP system.

For those of you unfamiliar with BlazBlue, it is a 2D fighting game and an original title. Before its debut last year on the home console, it had no previous installments or history behind it, apart from being made by the same people who brought us the Guilty Gear games. But can this ambitious port live alongside its praised console counterpart? And furthermore, can it finally give fighting fans a game they can play and enjoy on the PSP? Let’s take a look at the HOTs and NOTs of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Portable.

HOT

Easy to Pick Up Story
For those of you afraid to pick up this title because you may not understand the story, fear not. The developer did not leave a single part out of the story as the story still branches out for each character. Although connections between the characters seem slim at first, by going through the different character backgrounds, an epic story will be revealed that involves a magical world on the brink of social destruction. The only hope is a mysterious man known only as “Mr. Grim Reaper”. However, this mystery man has some personal demons that threaten to prevent him from becoming the hero the world needs.

The story for each character spans 3-5 hours in length and all combined ends up being 20-30 hours in length. There is a lot of variety between each characters story and you won’t just be fighting a string of the same people over and over again. There is reason as to why you fight those people and it’s fleshed out nicely with excellent dialogue and voice acting for those of you who hate just scrolling through what feels like an hour of mind-numbing text.

There are also multiple endings for each character depending on the choices you make throughout the game. It breathes fresh life into the fight genre and never becomes a bore. And don’t worry; this game does not suffer from the usual fighting game disease that we know as a weak story. It is deep and compelling and will hook you once you get started.

Multiple Game Modes
For a PSP game, there sure is a lot crammed into it. There are 7 unique game modes each with a fresh coat of paint which make the experience fun and enjoyable. There is your standard Arcade Mode in which you choose one of twelve characters and fight through a roster of opponents to reach your goal. Each character has their own agenda in arcade mode that is explained in the last few battles of the roster.

Legion Mode has you playing the game in a style similar to Dissidia: Final Fantasy. You start by selecting one character and your difficulties (easy, normal, and hard) then you play on a board with multiple different shapes on it. Each shape represents “territory” held by opposing teams. Each shape has a different number of enemies on it to defeat. Once you finish your fight and defeat the enemies on a shape, you select one to join your army and fight with you in case your main character dies. If a character dies during battle, they can be healed using the specific healing areas on the board.

Versus Mode is your standard one on one against the computer controlled character and Network Mode pits you against your friends in Ad-Hoc to see who the better fighter is. Training lets you refine your skills and further master the complex yet rewarding battle system. And finally, Score Attack has you facing the COM trying to achieve a higher score than it.

Story Mode is where this game all comes together in a plethora of epic. You start by choosing one of 10 main characters and start their story. Eventually, you will come to a point where you choose a decision that affects your characters path and ultimately the ending you receive for that character. At first it may seem like there is no connection at all between the characters, but eventually you will discover that their paths intertwine and all have purpose. It is very in-depth and pulls you in. A welcome surprise that it comes from a fighting game.

Music/Voice Acting
This game hits a high note in all three of these categories. The music is catchy and is comprised of harder rock instrumentals that really get you into the game’s atmosphere. It’s hard to find a fighting game with a soundtrack that gets you into a fighter mood these days. And the character Bang-Shishigami even has his own catchy song when you activate his special ability.

The voice acting in this game is also very well done and does not disappoint. It doesn’t get annoying and there isn’t any stupid cheesy one liner like we see in many games today. Sure there is humor and it will give you a chuckle or two but it never gets to where it is ridiculously stupid. Another welcome thing in this game.

Animation/Graphics
The opening animation is a full motion, animated short depicting the characters and settings and it is nicely drawn. The in-game graphics are 2D hand drawn pixel style art that give it a unique look and is very vibrant and eye-catching. It’s as fun to just observe the wonderful artistic side of BlazBlue as well as play the fighting side of it. It gives yet another fresh coat of paint to this game as well as this genre.

Combo System Is Rewarding

Although difficult to master, the combo system is extremely rewarding once you master it. It is deep and allows you to chain every single one of the characters attacks into one long combo that can result in a finisher called an Astral Heat attack. The Distortion Drive combo system definitely takes time to get used to and is tricky to master, but once you get it down, you will be rewarded with flashy combos and the ability to dominate the competition.

$29.99 Price Tag? Worth it
Although at first this may seem like a pretty steep price for this game, it’s definitely worth it and includes more than enough content to exceed the price tag on it. To me it seems that you’re getting more of a bargain with 7 modes, 12 characters, and an awesome story.

NOT

Learning Curve Is Steep
Although this game is easy to pick up and play by mashing different buttons, fully unlocking the games potential takes A LOT of practice in the training mode. Impatient players may find this as an off-putting feature, but a lot of good combo systems take practice. Just keep working at it and it will come to you. It’s far from impossible to master, just difficult and time consuming.

VERDICT

All in all, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Portable is one of the best fighting games I have ever played on the PSP. With a good deal of variety, an awesome story, content that seems to never end, and a price tag that seems like a bargain with all the content given, fighter fans don’t have to think twice about picking this up. It can also be attractive to the general gamer. Like a bit of challenge? It’s got it. Like a good story with your game? Check. It has enough to satisfy everyone. Although there is a steep learning curve to get past, it doesn’t interrupt the fun or creativity in this game. A welcome addition to anyone’s PSP lineup.