pikarceus (2012-06-28 21:33:35)

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An amazing game that didn't get the effort it deserved on 3DS.

BlazBlue has been around since 2009, and it's available in some form on all platforms except the Wii. The 3DS version of BlazBlue Continuum Shift II put briefly, is a port of the Xbox360/PS3 game, BlazBlue Continuum Shift, with added content. The game in itself is nearly flawless, but this is a weak port.

BlazBlue is a fighting game and yet I found the main draw to be its story. It has a very engaging post apocalyptic story that can be very depressing with some bits of humor. I really can't describe it, but there are multiple possible endings for each character, and a true ending that is a lot less depressing than...well, pretty much everything else. The story is excellent (And identical) in both versions of Continuum Shift II.



Continuum Shift II has nice enough graphics, the character sprites are colorful and detailed, but they don't set high standards for the system. The multi-layered backgrounds look amazing with the 3D, but the colors in them are washed out, and the animation in them is extremely poor. A certain DSiware game and Calamity Trigger port aside, this is the worst looking BlazBlue game. It looks good, but not up to par with the rest of the series.



The sound in Continuum Shift II impreses. You have voice acting in both English and Japanese. Each character and each location have their own sound track. In Story, the game very effectively uses the right sound track and is perfectly able to convey the right mood and feeling. Problem is, the quality is poor. When a character shouts, you will often hear a crackling sound. This is not your 3DS speakers, it is the game.

BlazBlue has an interesting fighting system. It has weak, medium, and strong attacks, along with grabs and blocks. Then you have drive. Each character has their own unique drive attacks. You also have astral heat, which collects in a bar from taking or giving damage, blocking and being blocked. If you get enough, you can unleash extremely powerful attacks. Everything controls nicely, you can control which buttons you want to use for all the attacks, but you are forced to use the D-pad to move and pull off combos. During more complicated combos, the D-pad is an absolute pain. I also felt insulted when the game displayed all my character's moves on the touchscreen, but wouldn't let me execute them with it. The framerate on this version can be a bit choppy at times too. The game is spiced up a bit by allowing you to amass currency and exp, leveling up allows you to purchase more concept art. Overall, the gameplay is great mainly do to the unique cast of characters. There aren't many, but each one is completely different from the other, making fighting very exciting.



Continuum Shift II does an excellent job with content. Most of your time will be spent on Arcade and Story. You pick a character. In Arcade you fight 10 matches and get a bit of story. In story, well, you watch/read/listen to that character's story and fight a little bit. Two new modes in Continuum Shift II are Abyss mode and Legion 1.5. In Abyss you power your character up with items that boost certain stats, and in Legion 1.5 you fight to conquer maps. I found both enjoyable. Then you have Versus, Training, Challenge, which are typical. There is a nice Tutorial mode and then Gallery, which is basically your incentive for playing the game. Loads of unlockable goodies await. On a disappointing note there is no online, just local wireless, unlike all the other games in the series. Still, if you buy just for single player content, this is your game.

One last thing: The 3DS version of Continuum Shift II cannot use sleep mode. I found this to be very aggravating, because you will be playing this for long hours and will most definitely pause to take breaks.

BlazBlue Continuum Shift II really is an amazing game. If you don't have a PS Vita, PSP, Xbox360 or PS3, I really, really advise you to get this and experience BlazBlue. But this is the most inferior entry in the series.

Overall: 7.5/10

This post has been edited one or more times, the last time was:
2012-09-14 02:49:07

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Ron1212 (2012-06-28 23:56:23)

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Hmmm...never heard of this game on 3DS...

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Ron1212 (2012-06-28 23:57:25)

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Anyways, it looks like a great game. Good explanation and everything in the review. Might just pick this up.

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pikarceus (2012-06-29 00:44:33)

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3DSPlaza isn't a professional site, newsposters aren't professionals, we get what we get and review it when we review it.

This post has been edited one or more times, the last time was:
2012-06-29 00:44:49

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Ron1212 (2012-06-29 05:05:41)

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Heh. Anyone else has been thinking that the 3DS is just a little too awsome? I mean, with all these great games on its way?

This post has been edited one or more times, the last time was:
2012-06-29 05:21:08

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Dragnet (2012-06-29 15:38:29)

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Great review. I'm not a fan of these tournament-style fighting games, but sometimes I'm really tempted to pick one up.

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pikarceus (2012-09-14 02:47:29)

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Fixed a few mistakes. At the time of the review, I did not realize that the PSP and 3DS versions were the only versions of Continuum Shift II, and that the PSP and 3DS versions were released at the same time and are nearly identical.

Continuum Shift is basically this on home consoles, which was released before II. II added Legion1.5 and Abyss, but since then a patch added those to Continuum Shift.

My apologies.

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