So, how ‘bout them anime fighters, huh?
You know, it’s funny. I remember a time when it seemed like we
would never get another Guilty Gear game
(i.e. a totally new one instead of a revamp like Accent Core), but Arc System Works pulled through by introducing
the world to Ragna, Jin, and all the rest -- “the rest”, of course, being
high-octane sprite battles and tunes provided by verifiable rock deity Daisuke
Ishiwatari. Now the tables have turned,
though. Guilty Gear is back via the Xrd
series, while BlazBlue is most
likely on its way out thanks to (what I assume is) a wrapped-up story.
Full disclosure: I know BB has its detractors, but I’m not one of them. I like the franchise, and I think -- or at
least hope -- that there’s room for both it and GG in the fighting game world.
Then again, supporting both might stretch ArcSys’ resources too thin,
soooooooooooooooooooooo…yeah, not a pleasant thought.
So let’s sidestep the grim realities of game
development and wealth disparities. Let’s
get in deep with BlazBlue. And, more specifically…
It’s probably worth noting upfront that the real
reason I’m making this post is because I’m back into BB -- largely because my brother got back into it. Like a lot of people, he’s been waiting for
Jubei to drop for a long time; once he arrived, he popped the disc in and
grabbed the latest version of the game.
In the time since, he’s…actually given up on the game again, having
called it “GG for babies”. That’s a pretty bold statement, coming from
someone who’s endured 20-straight and almost-40-straight losses in GG against me, someone who relies almost
exclusively on the basics to get by. But
I digress.
I have sincere doubts that he’ll ever pick up BB and/or Jubei again, but based on my
early impressions? Take this with a
grain of salt, since dear old big bro lives almost exclusively for rushdown, but the furry swordsman is a pressure
monster. It seems like he can attack for
days if you let him, and a lot of the time I was left wondering “is that safe?”
or “is he open yet?” and getting clipped because of it. Near as I can tell, he’s an easy target
if/when he tries to throw his fireball, especially if you’ve got a long-range
Distortion Drive to catch him in the act.
On the other hand -- according to
Dustloop -- his small size actually helps him slip under certain attacks
(which I suspected mid-battle). On the
other, other hand, he’s apparently always in a crouching state. So I guess that means you can take him on a
trip to Overhead City?
It’s a safe bet that my brother’s itching to put BB back on the shelf so he can go back
to the other fighters. Honestly, I don’t
blame him; trying to stay trained-up to face him in matches in any random
fighter of his choosing means that, as of right now, I may or may not need to
become intensely proficient in five games at once (and I’m just waiting for the day when he gets back
into King of Fighters XIV, which will
force me to start over from scratch).
He’s a guy who, if not for major releases like Destiny 2, might spend as much as 10 hours a week landing combos
and juggling opponents. And that might
be a conservative estimate. It’d be a
miracle if I put that much time into my training in a month.
What I’m getting at here is that logically
speaking, I should drop BB as soon as
I can, because the last time the two of us threw down he switched us to GG before we’d even played BB for an hour -- and, notably, that was
the first time we’d played BB together
for the first time in about 10 months. But you know what? I’m not going to drop it. Not yet.
See, there’s something about fighting games -- not just BB -- that I suspect my brother might
have long since learned to overlook. And
that would be…
One of the things I value most about a fighting
game is its cast of characters. Since
it’s not like I can jump into the screen and chuck plasma, I have to rely on
avatars to do the brawling on my behalf -- and because of it, I learn to
appreciate them in one way or another.
So to put it plainly, I’m a character loyalist. Unless I’m getting absolutely hammered in
matches (and even then, as was the case with Marvel 3 Phoenix Wright), I’ll stick with the guys and ladies I’ve
chosen no matter what.
That’s probably one of about 1,864 divides between
me and my brother. He’s the type that’s
always out to prove himself in combat and show off his skills -- and,
ostensibly, to improve once he thinks he’s hit the limit with someone
else. I may give him crap on a regular
basis, and I may break his pride whenever the chance pops up in-game, but I’ve
got no problems admitting that he’s closer to embodying Ryu’s mentality and
work ethic than you’d ever expect. When
it comes to fighting games, at least.
The tradeoff is that because of it, it’s less
about the characters and more about his self-satisfaction. Xrd
Revelator is out and gives us Johnny?
He’s on it -- until he loses too much, and then switches to Slayer. Losing too much as Slayer? Better switch strategies and pick up
Venom. Xrd Rev 2 is out (and also losing too much as Venom)? Time to pick up Baiken. Losing too much as Baiken? Back to Venom. Or May…even though my Potemkin is a hard-ass
counter to a lot of her gimmicks.
It’s not as if he’s 100% pragmatic in his
character choices (if there’s a ninja, he’s almost always on that shit), but
the fluidity of his roster is notable.
Still, he needs an anchor no matter what game he’s playing. There has to be someone he’s willing to
invest his time, energy, and pride into -- which to be clear doesn’t make him
different from any other fighting game fan out there. In terms of GG, he’s got guys. In terms
of Street Fighter, he’s got
guys. In terms of BB, he’s got…nobody. In the
time since the initial release, he’s played Jin, Bang, Tager, Hazama, and
(briefly) Ragna. In the time since the
initial release, he’s dropped all of those characters. Is it really solely because BB is for babies? Is it too simple for him? Given the potential complexity
of the game, I have my doubts. Whether
he knows it or not, I suspect that it really has to do with him not syncing up
with the cast.
I don’t blame him.
I would’ve gotten into the NetherRealm fighters a lot sooner if they had
characters I actually liked -- and for the most part, Jax is the only one that
suits my fancy. So maybe the issue with BB is one that I’ve seen expressed by a
fair number of people: it’s too anime. I
kind of hate the idea that people would shrug off and spit on a game just
because of some preconceived notion that “anime = garbage”, but it wouldn’t
surprise me if that scorn had an influence on BB’s reputation. Not to go
off-topic, but that might be part of a broader issue with perception; dear old
big bro only just learned what RWBY was
thanks to a brief conversation with me, after which he assumed that there was a
massive overlap between RWBY fans and
My Little Pony fans. And then he asked if I was a brony.
This is RWBY,
by the way.
“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than
sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
--Martin Luther King Jr.
I will be fair, though. If this is the last BB game we’re ever going to get -- and Jubei is the last character
they’ll ever add to the roster -- then the cast has some real winners and real
losers. I started out as a Ragna player
because I was still new to the ArcSys style, but I made sure to add Hakumen to
my stable as soon as I could; to this day, he remains one of my absolute
favorite video game characters ever.
Tsubaki’s not far behind, though, and I have a soft spot for the Mad Dog
Azrael -- not just because we
share a birthday, but because he has one of my favorite fighting
game moves ever. When the latest iteration came out, I had my
heart set on learning how to use Naoto; I have a soft spot for hand-to-hand
fighters, especially when they’re in games/settings with a heavy emphasis on
weapon-based combat.
The problem with BB, I think, is that depending on your preferences -- or rather, no
matter what your preferences -- there’s a good chance you’ll think some
characters are absolute trash. I’m in
the same boat. I resent the whole
franchise for having, like, five versions of Ragna’s little sister running
around. None of them are very appealing
to me design-wise, story-wise, or gameplay-wise, but they’re central to the
plot regardless (and high-tier on multiple occasions).
Recent entries like Kagura and Hibiki are pretty
meh for me, but I’ll gladly take them over Makoto and Taokaka. I am super-not
okay with some of the fanservice-ready design choices in the franchise;
some are fine, but then you look at Mu-12 and you can hear the
sirens pulling up to your doorstep.
Also, it seems like the further the series went, the more it
transitioned from a gentle, nonchalant lean on anime tropes to WE ANIME NOW,
BOIZ. It’d explain why there’s a literal
magical girl in the midst.
Not gonna lie, though: I’ve totally played as
Platinum in the past. Haven’t regretted
it a bit.
But that’s the clincher, isn’t it? Yes, designs, appearances, and tones are
important parts of the equation; you can’t expect anything less from another
entry in this audiovisual medium. Still,
gameplay factors in just as readily, if not primarily so. It’s through those onscreen actions that you
can really sync up with a character -- to know them, to feel them, and to
become them as you take on foe after foe.
Sometimes that’s easy to do with a cast; sometimes it’s hard. But for me and BB, it’s absolutely easy.
Certainly possible.
Honestly, it feels like the ball and chain has
been dropped from my ankles. Since I
don’t have to obsessively train to play catch-up with a brother that’s miles
ahead of me in skill, I’m free to try out whoever I want without fear of getting
humiliated -- like being forced to take a big test while blindfolded with
marmots taped to your hands. I’m free to
explore the characters and the game. And
because of it, I’m appreciating BB more
than I ever did in the past. Is it GG?
No, of course not. But it doesn’t
have to be.
Even if it may have sprung from GG’s proverbial loins, BB still has an identity of its own --
least of all because of the cast it’s been rocking for almost a decade. I wish we lived in a world where everyone
could be tolerant of the two; well-made fighting games deserve all the respect
they can handle, even if their particulars aren’t quite to someone’s
tastes. But for now? I’m thankful for the devs putting so much effort
into making the supposed GG substitute
as good as it is. What’s next for the
franchise? I don’t know. But I hope that whatever comes next, the true
fans will be there to welcome it with open arms -- and I’ll be right there with
them.
So no, this isn’t the end for me and BB.
In fact, it might just be the beginning.
Look forward to me saying more about it in the future, because there’s
plenty to unpack. How’s the
gameplay? How’s the story? How’s the cast? I’ll do what I can to answer all the questions
I can. Consider it the challenge my
brother inadvertently left me: as his eternal rival, it’s my mission to prove
him wrong.
I mean…it’s not like I can force feed him a
Heavenly Potemkin Buster in real life, so passive-aggressive blog posts will
have to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment