Regardless of what Arc System Works planned on doing, players were going to dislike BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle’s DLC. By design, every character is preexisting, typically only the most popular will return and there is always going to be someone that insists that character should’ve always been there. While there is no denying the amount of characters is excessive and some of them should’ve been included (Hakumen, Platinum, Kanji, Yuzuriha, etc), they’ve also made some choices to bridge the gap.
This month we got the second batch of characters, giving players nine new characters to play with, which add a lot to the game. The most notable being, ironically, Nine herself. Much like Jubei, BlazBlue: Cross TagBattle gives players a chance to experience some of the newer/weirder offerings. With a variety of mechanics, flashy and being one of the most intriguing designs, it makes a case for those who sat later entries out and gives them a reason to possibly check out that game.
Similar to the first batch, a lot of these characters’ act as a complement for another existing character. Mai is a solid partner for Es, Mitsuru could certainly complement Orie and more. Even if you’re not looking for someone who plays like an existing character, characters like Akihiko offer a different style.
Instead of having someone with really close-range and some options to close the gap, E.g. Hazama, he is close range with a few mid-range attacks. The nice thing is, once you’re in effective range, he can ravage an opponent. A couple simple moves and you’re done, at the cost of him being fairly easy to defeat outside of his effective range.
Another fantastic example is Mika. Even though she is similar to Jon Talbain or Taokaka, her rushing style is familiar enough to be fun, with Under Night not having the popularity to make her stand out to a lot of players. Best of all, unlike a lot of characters who didn’t have finishing moves or flashy attacks in the past, she gets one of the most amusing finishers, one that feels more like Guilty Gear than BlazBlue.
While a lot of these characters should feel familiar and it’s a shame we didn’t see more from RWBY, the second batch adds a fair amount to BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle. With multiple fan favorites, oddball choices and many characters getting all the style you’d expect, it makes for a fantastic addition to the base game.
