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BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (ブレイブルーカラミティ・トリガー) is a 2D fighting game developed by Arc System Works. Its name is a combination of the words "blaze" and "blue" when the title is rendered in rōmaji, and of the words "brave" and "blue" when rendered in katakana.

FightingArcade

Time to beat: about 10.1 hours

Overview

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is a 2D fighting game developed by Arc System Works. Its name is a combination of the words "blaze" and "blue" when the title is rendered in rōmaji, and of the words "brave" and "blue" when rendered in katakana. As Japanese people usually follow the katakana rendering, the Japanese pronunciation is made similar to the word "bray", entirely omitting the "z" sound. The game was released for the arcade in 2008, and for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2009, and Microsoft Windows in 2010. A port for the PlayStation Portable, titled BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Portable, was also released in 2010.

BlazBlue is a traditional 2D fighting game where two characters participate in a duel. A round is called a "rebel" and one match can consist of one to five "rebels". To win a round, one player must either defeat the other by inflicting damage through various attacks to reduce their opponent's health to zero or by having more remaining health than their opponent within the time limit.

Before the events of the game, humanity was on the verge of extinction from a creature called the "Black Beast." The world was saved by six heroes who wielded magic. They helped humanity create "Ars Magus", a fusion of magic and science, to defeat the Black Beast. This event would be later known as the First War of Magic.

The game was first released for the Taito Type X2 arcade system board, with a 1.66:1 aspect ratio (also known as the 5:3 ratio) ratio and 768p resolution, on November 19, in Japan and November 20, 2008, in the United States. It was released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 home consoles on June 25, 2009, in Japan. A port for the PlayStation Portable, titled BlazBlue Portable, was released in Japan on February 25, 2010, and in Europe on September 9, 2010. The PC version was released in Europe on August 20 and in Japan on August 26, 2010. A direct conversion of the Xbox 360 version contains cross-platform compatibility via the Games for Windows, Live service.

The console versions have received positive reviews, with scores of 87/100 and 86/100 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 respectively on Metacritic. Praise has been given for the depth of gameplay in spite of a comparatively small roster as well as an excellent online component. The game's plot has also been well-received, many reviews noting it as well-conceived and exceptional amidst the often lackluster and convoluted stories that the fighting game genre has.