BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger
Developer(s)	Arc System Works
Publisher(s)	Arc System Works Aksys Games
Designer(s)	Toshimichi Mori Yuuki Katou
Composer(s)	Daisuke Ishiwatari
Platform(s)	Arcade
Release	JPN: November 19, 2008 NA: November 20, 2008
Genre(s)	2D Weapon Based Fighting
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (ブレイブルー カラミティ トリガー, Bureiburū Karamiti Torigā) is a two-dimensional fighting arcade game by Arc System Works, the staff behind the Guilty Gear series. It was released on November 19, 2008 in Japan and November 20, 2008 in the United States. It is a spiritual successor to Guilty Gear. A playable demo was presented at AOU 2008. The game is currently released for the Taito Type X2 arcade system board, with a 16:9 ratio and 720p resolution.

System

The game uses an 8-directional lever, common to most fighting games, and 4 attack buttons: Light (A), Middle (B), Heavy (C), and Drive (D), the latter of which activates unique special abilities for each character. Throw and Throw Escape are performed by pressing B and C at the same time. In addition to basic dashing and jumping, there are also double jumps, high jumps and air dashes.

• Guard Libra: When guarding or forcing your opponent to guard, this gauge will shift. When it fills up completely to one side, the guarding player will undergo a Barrier Crush and will be stunned temporarily.
• Barrier Gauge: A gauge that regenerates over time, used for Barrier Guard. The defense capability of a character is lowered for a set period of time when this gauge reaches zero.
• Barrier Guard: Pushes back the opponent and prevents the Guard Libra from shifting. Performed by pressing A and B at the same time while guarding.
• Barrier Burst: Pushes the opponent away, even when guarding or receiving damage, thus canceling the enemy's combo in the latter case. If used offensively and guarded by the opponent, they will undergo a Barrier Crush. Uses 100% of the Barrier Gauge and leaves it to zero for the remainder of the round. Performed by pressing all four buttons at the same time.
• Heat Gauge: An energy gauge needed to perform Distortion Drives and Rapid Cancels.
• Counter Assault: Counters an opponent's attack while guarding. Consumes 50% of the Heat Gauge. Performed by pressing forward, A and B at the same time while guarding.
• Rapid Cancel: Cancels the recovery time of an attack. Consumes 50% of the Heat Gauge. Performed by pressing A, B and C at the same time while attacking.
• Distortion Drive: Special attacks unique to each character. Consumes 50% of the Heat Gauge. Performed with some arrow motions plus the Drive button.
• Astral Drive: Special attacks unique to each character. Consumes 100% of the Heat Gauge. The conditions for using Astral Drives are simple: the player has to be fighting in the last round of each match, and his/her opponent has to have 1/3 of its health left (which is, of course, a speculation). The player can then input the buttons needed for the Astral Drive. Astral Drives can be considered similar to Guilty Gear's Instant Kills.

Story

Before the events of BlazBlue, humanity was on the the verge of extinction from the "Black Beast", a creature of Darkness. Hope came in the form of six heroes who wielded the power of magic. Together, the six heroes & humanity created "Armagus" a combination of Magic & Technology to defeat the Beast, which would be known as The First War of Magic.

After the war, the New World Void Space Cue Administration Bureau was created to govern the new world which has discovered the use of Armagus. Under the Bureau, Humanity began reconstructing & the world was under their dictatorship. However this caused much dissent for the people due to fact Armagus was used in every issue & the widening socioeconomic gap between those who could use & cannot use Armagus. This dissent would eventually form years later into The Ikaruga Civil War or The Second War of Magic, when the Ikaruga Union openly rebelled against the Bureau. After the war, the Bureau imposed a harsher rule on the world declaring anyone that defies them will be killed.

On December A.D. 2199, several years after the Second War, a branch of the Bureau was utterly destroyed by an SS-class traitor named "Ragna the Bloodedge" also known as "The God of Death." His quest was to destroy the Bureau. The New World Void Space Cue Administration Bureau, hoping to stop him, immediately put the largest bounty ever for anyone who could capture him.

Characters

• Ragna the Bloodedge

Height: 185 cm

Weight: 78 kg

Birthday: March 3

Bloodtype: B

Gender: Male

Origin: Unknown

Hobby: Cooking

The almighty force managing the "Operation", in order to obtain absolute power over the world, is this man who has rebelled against the "Earth and Space Information Control System". Known as the "God of Death", a bounty for his elimination has been placed in all the regions populated with branches of the Control System. In game, his tactics revolve around using his power and large sword to keep pressure on his opponents. His Drive Ability is known as Soul Eater, which is used to absorb the opponents life.

• Jin Kisaragi

Height: 178 cm

Weight: 61 kg

Birthday: February 14

Bloodtype: A

Gender: Male

Origin: England

Hobby: Vintage Motorcycles

From a prestigious family, this man is a retainer of the Control System's Kisaragi house. His class is Major. In the past, he had a distinguished military record during the "Ikaruga Civil War" that broke out, and was promoted to the position of Division Commander at an exceptionally young age. He is always cool and calm, though he is a deeply jealous, ambitious, and possessive person, with little care for others. His Drive Ability is known as Frost Bite, which specializes in freezing opponents.

• Noel Vermillion

Height: 157 cm

Weight: 48 kg

Birthday: December 25

Bloodtype: A

Gender: Female

Origin: Swiss

Hobby: Writing Poems

Because of her outstanding combat ability and suitable operation evaluations, she was selected to be Jin Kisaragi's direct subordinate in her youth. The two were acquaintances in officer's academy, though Noel thought Jin was extremely weak. However, on a certain mission handed down from the Control System, her preconceptions were changed. Her Drive Ability is known as Chain Revolver, which specializes in chain linking her combos together.

• Iron Tager (TR-0009)

Height: 240 cm

Weight: 550 kg

Day remodeled: November 23

Bloodtype: Natural Oil

Gender: Male

Origin: Unknown (Doesn’t remember)

Hobby: Bottle-ships

Originally the leader of a battle unit which revolved around physical combat, he was forced to withdraw from the front lines after sustaining a mortal wound in the Ikaruga Civil War. He was brought back from the brink of death at the hands of the scientist "Kokonoe" and revived as a cyborg, and is currently assigned to a combat unit under the direct control of Kokonoe. He seems to be pursuing Ragna, though his goals are entirely unclear. He is also shown to be working with Litchi Faye Ling, and apparently also knows about Arakune. His Drive Ability is Voltech Battler, which specializes in using electricity and magnetism so he can grab his enemies.

• Rachel Alucard

Height: 145 cm

Weight: 31 kg

Birthday: October 31

Bloodtype: Unknown

Gender: Female

Origin: Transylvania

Hobby: Tea

A blood-sucking vampire who is the head of the Alucard family and who dresses in a gothic lolita style. As the head of the family an enormous castle and a servant have been handed down to her from previous generations. She carries a cat-shaped umbrella called Nago and fights using a chubby, red bat familiar called Gii. She slipped out of her castle in search of fun because she hates to be bored. She also seems to be constantly following Ragna around, which irritates him and causes him to tell her to go home. Her Drive Ability is Sylphide, which allows her to manipulate wind.

• Taokaka

Height: 165 cm

Weight: 42 kg

Birthday: February 22

Bloodtype: O

Gender: Female

Origin: Kaka Village

Hobby: Naps, Food

A young catgirl of the Kaka tribe who live in the lower class part of Kagutsuchi. Her coat is equipped with massive paw-like hands that include long, retractable claws. She wants to get back the sky above her village that was sealed off with an enormous plate by humans who came to the land and started building a big city. She left her village in search of someone called Ragna after she heard that you could gain a lot of money for defeating him. Apparently she is good friends with Litchi Faye Ling. She doesn't know it, but she is a descendant of bio-weapons created from one of the six heroes, Jyuubei. Her Drive Ability is known as Dancing Edge: Reckless Kitty, which specializes at dashing at high speeds with a slash attack.

• Litchi Faye Ling

Height: 170 cm

Weight: 58 kg

Birthday: July 7

Bloodtype: AB

Gender: Female

Origin: Shanghai, China

Hobby: Mahjong

A doctor in the oriental part of Kagutsuchi. Apparently, she is vital to the town because of her profession and her knack for sensing others' needs. Her reasons for coming here are unknown. Her Drive Ability is Mantenbou, which manipulates her staff into attacking opponents by itself.

• Arakune

Height: 20-200 cm

Weight: 5-1000 kg

Birthday: Unknown

Bloodtype: Unknown

Gender: Unknown

Origin: Unknown

Hobby: Unknown

Once a man named Han that worked alongside Iron Tagar and Litchi Faye Ling, Arakune is an occult being that is constantly seeking knowledge. Its body houses innumerable insects. Currently, it lives under the streets of Kagutsuchi. Because it needs to absorb large amounts of life force to continue its existence, it frequently attacks those of the Kaka tribe and humans alike. It also keeps a diary that it writes what has gone on during its life. Recently, it has sensed the presence of a being with unheard of levels of life force (in other words, a being with the Azure blood of the beast), which has caused it to stir. Its Drive Ability is Crimson, which curses the opponent to where several flying insects will attack him/her.

• Bang Shishigami

Height: 192 cm

Weight: 105 kg

Birthday: January 1

Bloodtype: B

Gender: Male

Origin: Hino-Kuni

Hobby: Unknown

A ninja who mastered various techniques. His Drive Ability is Burning Heart, which makes him fully use his ninja skills.

• Carl Clover

Height: 144 cm

Weight: 35 kg

Birthday: May 5

Bloodtype: AB

Gender: Male

Origin: Austria

Hobby: Reading

A young boy wearing a top hat who fights using a large mechanical maid puppet named Nirvana, whom he often calls his sister. His Drive Ability is AutoMaton, which controls Nirvana.

Bosses

• Haku-Men - The sub-boss of the game, he looks like a cross between Justice from Guilty Gear and a white samurai, dressed in black-and-white clothing, having silver hair, and wielding a long sword. He speaks with a Japanese accent and is also one of the six heroes who defeated the Black Beast, as revealed in some of the characters' endings. When defeated in Arcade Mode, he is suddenly called back by his master, Grimmalkin, all the while being angry with his master for interrupting him in the middle of his battle. His Drive ability allows him to store up his power for every hit he takes or lands, showing Japanese writing as he does so, before unleashing a powerful shockwave attack that usually takes half of his opponent's life off him/her.

• v-13 - The final boss of the game, v-13 (pronounced Nu-13, based on the Greek alphabet) looks like a mechanical/cyborg girl (in other words, a Mecha Musume) who floats in mid-air, is short, has short white hair, mecha shoulder pads, what appears to be an eye scanner on one of her red eyes, has what appear to be wings, and is colored all white, light blue, blue, and silver. Also has a visor that can go over both of her eyes, and speaks in a calm, gentle manner, sounding almost exactly like a female robot/android as she does so. Strikingly resembles Noel, and also resembles a female version of Anubis from Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner. Her Drive ability is currently unknown as of now.

Upon defeating v-13, provided that the player has yet to lose a round and has gotten enough Distortion Finishes, a bonus fight against Ragna occurs. This version of Ragna is permanently in Blood Kain mode (without the energy loss) and has enhanced damage and a slowly refilling Heat Gauge. If the player loses the fight, he/she cannot retry it without playing through all of Arcade Mode again.

Voice actors

• Tomokazu Sugita - Ragna the Bloodedge
• Tetsuya Kakihara - Jin Kisaragi
• Kanako Kondou - Noel Vermillion
• Kenji Nomura - Iron Tager
• Kana Ueda - Rachel Alucard
• Chiwa Saito - Taokaka
• Chiaki Takahashi - Litchi Faye Ling
• Takashi Hikida - Arakune
• Tsuyoshi Koyama - Bang Shishigami
• Miyuki Sawashiro - Carl Clover
• Masaru Suzuki - Nago
• Sena Tsubaki - Gii
• Kazue Fujita - Assistant girl
• Shigeru Sakano - Bang's follower
• Cecelia Famador - Narration
• ??? - Haku-Men
• ??? - v-13

Trivia

• All of the characters given "birthdates" are all "born" on holidays in Japan

External links

• Official site
• Official site