At New York Comicon 2017, Rooster Teeth had a alpha demo of the latest cross over title from Arc System Works Blazblue Cross Tag Battle featuring RWBY’s Ruby Rose as playable . Note that this is in alpha and it doesn’t reflect the final product. From the time I had with the demo, it is shaping up to be very promising.
I had prior experience with Arc system games like Blazblue and Persona 4 Arena and Ultimax. If you have played any of the games, then you will feel at home with this entry. As this was in alpha, the Triangle and Square buttons are simplified to auto combos without an auto special like with Persona 4 Arena. Replacing the All-Out attack is the Cross Tag Slash, which if it hits, it calls your ally to cut in and perform a dual character attack combo your opponent. Specials are present and with the same button command. Always satisfying to pull off and when it connects.
In regards to specials, if you have an extra meter, you can call out your partner for a continuous special after you trigger with your first character ala Marvel vs. Capcom. New is the resonance gauge next to your special meter. This essentially is your X factor, but it allows for auto charge of your special meter as well. Good for comebacks or for pulling of specials should you need it.
There was something to noted that my colleague informed me. He noticed that there are changes for the characters their original games except for RWBY characters. RWBY characters like Ruby Rose, is capable of chaining C attacks, allowing for quick meter buidling. For Under Night In-Birth characters, they no longer able to GRID attack buff that is available in their original game . Whether or not the other characters will have their unique perks from their respective games is yet to be determined.
The characters I had time with is with with Yu Narukami, Ruby Rose and Ragna. Yu plays like he did in Arena, with Izanagi at his call when using the the Triangle button. Ragna has his ability to drain HP when attacks connect. Newcomer Ruby Rose is a interesting character to play. Her Crescent Rose is generally for close range but can switch to her rifle for long range. She is a fun character to use but she is a squishy character. Capable of combos, but weak on the defense. Seems that Arc system is reflecting her as close to the source material as they can. A nice touch is they included Ruby’s theme song: Red Like Roses by Jeff and Casey Lee William’s from the show.
For a first build demo of the game, it is shaping to be quite promising. It is easy for newcomers to play while there is depth for hardcore Arc System fans to explore. There will be further advancements, such as full button layouts and new characters as the months goes on. By the time of writing, it has been confirmed that Weiss Schnee is the next character to represent RWBY along with Rachel Alucard and Hazama. Even better is that it is now confirmed for PS4, Steam and surprisingly Nintendo Switch. We will continue to bring more news as it develops.
BlazeBlue Cross Tag Battle will release for PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch in 2018.
