GameLight - XBlaze Code: Embryo

Official JP Site: http://www.arcsystemworks.jp/xblaze/
Source: Youtube Channel arcsystemworks

XBlaze Code: Embryo is an Adventure/Visual Novel game relating to Arc System Works' Fighting game BlazBlue series that's within the same universe, but not necessarily the same world.  What exactly does this mean?  To quote Toshi Nakamura from Kotaku, "...the game is "linked" to the BlazBlue game series world, though does not necessarily take place in the same world".  Arc System Works is known for their convoluted stories within their fighting games such as Guilty Gear and BlazBlue where nothing is simple to explain.  As one who has played the BlazBlue series, I can only theorize that XBlaze perhaps takes place in an alternate plane of existence because of a temporal warp caused by the continuum shift.  Another fun idea that's much simpler is that explains everything that led up to the creation of the Black Beast, the 6 Heroes, and usage of Ars Magus.  Despite all these ideas of what connection it has to the BlazBlue series, the developers are creating this game to be played and enjoyed without prior knowledge of the BlazBlue series.  I was hoping to get an Action/Action-RPG out of this, but I suppose a Visual Novel is the best genre to focus on if they're main goal is to deliver a story.  Sadly, the Western market may not get to see this game at all BECAUSE it's a Visual Novel.  XBlaze Code: Embryo is set to launch on July 25th, 2013 this Summer in Japan for the Playstation 3 and PS Vita.

Source:
-Kotaku - XBlaze Isn't Just For BlazBlue Fans

GameLight Review - BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend

Official Site: http://us.playstation.com/games-and-media/games/blazblue-continuum-shift-extend-ps3.html
Source: Youtube Channel jourdal

Developer: Arc System Works
Publisher: Aksys Games
Platforms: [Playstation 3], Xbox 360
Release Date: February 14, 2012
Genre: Fighting

Pros:
+ Lots of unlockable content
+ Rebalanced characters and difficulty
+ "Almost" everything great about the series so far put together in one
+ Extra stories that delves deeper into the lore of BlazBlue
+ The addition of Relius Clover
+ Another mode added for those who like playing single-player
+ Optimized online gameplay
+ The in-game money and level system is great for single-player play
+ Abyss mode adds some light RPG elements great for single-player play

Cons:
- An expensive DLC for those who own the original and 3 of the DLC characters
- Legion mode is not present in this "supposed" definitive version of BlazBlue
- A lot of the English voice actors have been swapped out
- Public online community is pretty dead
- Honestly, it's only one extra characters
- Odd typos and weird dialogue problems in conversations

Recommended:
   *Yes: If you've never bought any of the BlazBlue or you're a big fan
   *No: If you've bought Continuum Shift with the 3 DLC characters

I was hesitant about purchasing Extend as it was mainly 4 new characters for me for $40 (it was 1 new character for those who paid for the 3 DLC characters before Extend released).  But I got a really good sale discount, there were new modes, new story lines, new characters, and I really liked BlazBlue.  I liked the addition of Abyss mode, which was ported from the handheld editions, and the currency/level system as it gave me an incentive to keep playing to unlock more content much like Calamity Trigger was like.  I had never played the 3 DLC characters before, so it pleases me that all 3 turned out to be really fun to play.  The exclusive Relius Clover for the Extend edition is okay, but I can understand why a lot of people who bought Continnum Shift and all the DLCs didn't want to buy an entire expansion just for him.  The additional story arcs were great and quite moving on some of them.  What I really didn't like that made me upset was that some of the voice actors were different.  The main problem is that they're mixed in with the original voice actors so some attacks just sound so odd when it's a totally different voice.  It was also saddening to hear it in Story mode as it no longer captures the essence and being of that character anymore as well as being inconsistent.  There was also some very odd typos where words are misspelled, words didn't match what the voice was saying, and weird dialogue changes in the middle of a conversation where some characters suddenly have the Japanese voice actors speak and then go right back into English voices.  This expansion seems rather rushed and unpolished in terms of content quality, but the core gameplay is still very solid and a lot of fun.

Aesthetics
Art Style: 2D Hand-drawn sprites with multi-layer hand-drawn backgrounds
+ Slight changes to UI, certain animations, and graphics to make it smoother
+ New content in gallery and new CGs for story
+ As usual, the music is incredible and new songs have been added
+ Additional levels have been added

- Typos in texts and voice overs not matching to texts or fluctuates to Japanese
- Changes to English voice actors is disappointing and jarring in-game
Aesthetics: 7/10

Buttons
Controller: PS3 controller or Fightstick
+ Nothing has really changed for the controls.  Still easy to navigate the menus, character moves and skills are still solid and response time is very tight.
Buttons: 10/10

Concept & Content
Core Concept: Classic 2D Fighter
+ The new story arcs are pretty well written and has the same great quality
+ New modes like Unlimited Mars and Abyss Mode are great additions for solo
+ The 3 DLC characters with Relius Clover is added to the roster
+ Currency and Leveling system adds more replay value and incentive to the game
+ A LOT of unlockable content such as pictures, unlimited characters, and voices
+ Online play is optimized and runs much smoother

- Legion Mode was taken out
- For competitive players, not much new was added
Concept and Content: 9/10

Duration
+ Replay value for solo play has been "extended" significantly
+ More stories means longer play time
+ Lots of content to unlock so there's incentive to play more
+ Abyss Mode has 4 tiers and has light RPG elements for more "depth"
Duration: 9/10

Fun
+ I like the currency/leveling system a lot, that progression for solo play is great
+ I really like the RPG elements within Abyss mode
+ The additional 4 characters are really fun and unique
+ Relius Clover has the coolest and most intricate Astral Heat
+ The stories for the new characters and side stories were rather moving

-The lack of polish in texts, voice actor changes, erratic language voice overs was a disappointment and I hope this doesn't happen in Chrono Phantasma
Fun: 9/10

Overall
Despite the lack of polish in bringing it over to the Western Market and disappointments with voice actor changes, the sheer amount of solo play content that was added more than makes up for it (but still makes me sad).  BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend is the definitive version of the series thus far with all the characters up to date, all the stories including Calamity Trigger, and all the different modes excluding Legion mode.  The expansion is quite an expensive payment for those just wanting Relius Clover in their roster, but a worthwhile one if more single-player content is what they seek.  For those who really like the series other than just solely on the competitive scene or those who have never even bought the game, BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend is a great buy for any gamer remotely interested in the 2D Fighter genre.  Overall: 8.8/10

GameLight - BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma

Wikia Site: http://blazblue.wikia.com/wiki/BlazBlue:_Chrono_Phantasma
Source: Youtube Channel PhoenonX

A new BlazBlue is on its way!  Arc System Works is keeping themselves busy announcing a new BlazBlue while launching Persona 4 Arena just yesterday for the PS3 and Xbox 360.  Chrono Phantasma will be a new chapter to the BlazBlue series rather than an add-on (much like Continuum Shift 2 and Extend were) with redone sprite work, three new characters, and some new mechanics.  BlazBlue is a 2D Fighter with very unique play styles to each individual character, an incredibly in-depth story, and the genius work of Daisuke Ishiwatari on composing the music.  Fighting games has changed quite a bit throughout the decade, and BlazBlue takes traditional mechanics mixed with new ones to create a game that's easy for anyone to pick up but make it so detailed and in-depth that it's viable for the most competitive players.  For one, it's a lot easier to perform combos and specials compared to other fighting games, and those who want a bit more than just the combat aspect will enjoy the story mode.  The music is what got me interested in BlazBlue as well as its style of art, but it's the characters and story that got me hooked to the game.  The story ranges from humor, to drama, to action, to some of the most emotional scenes in a fighting game.  A lot of the writing is better than what you'll experience in RPGs.  BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma should hit Japanese Arcades this Winter and come out for consoles sometime next year.

GameLight - BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend

Official Site: http://us.playstation.com/games-and-media/games/blazblue-continuum-shift-extend-ps3.html

Source: Youtube Channel jourdal

I'm both excited and disappointed with the release of BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend.  I'm happy that there will be two new modes to play, all DLC characters added into the roster, a story mode for all characters, and the extension of some story paths from Continuum Shift.  The problem is that story mode will be the return of Calamity Trigger's Story and Continuum Shift's Story.  I was hoping that they'd reveal the next chapter of the universe of BlazBlue in their next game but it's pretty much a slight continuation of Continuum Shift and minor improvements here and there.  If you happened to have NOT played any BlazBlue games but have some interest in it, this next iteration would be a great purchase.  With a full roster of 19 characters, full story mode from both previous games for each individual character, 2 new modes with the 5 existing ones (Arcade, Versus/Network, Challenge, Legion, and Story), and a fair price of $40, BlazBlue Continuum Shift is a great purchase for anyone new to the series.  For those who own one or both of the first two iterations, it'll be more of an upgrade.  As I've discussed before in older posts on BlazBlue, I got into the series because of Guilty Gear and absolutely love the music done by Daisuke Ishiwatari.  What I didn't expect out of the game was how uniquely designed each individual character played and how deep the lore got when playing Story mode.  Story mode has had moments where it made me laugh, cry, angry, excited, and shocked.  It went far and beyond all expectations I had about the game and has become one of my favorite fighting games.  The combat system can be a bit tricky, but a beginner's mode allows even the least experienced of gamers to pick up the game and figure out how to do crazy combos and amazing abilities.  The game can get quite technical and challenge even the most elite 2D fighting game players at tournaments like EVO (recently added to the list of games played there).  BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend releases tomorrow February 14th, 2012 for $40.  I highly recommend this game to fighting games of all experience level and encourage those who haven't played fighting games before.  I think it's become a better starting game for most beginners than Street Fighter is (Street Fighter has become very technical).

VGCulture - Filler - BlazBlue Gag Reel

Gah, I can't believe I missed making a post earlier today.  It's been a busy day, and I'm already too tired to make a post.  But hey, I have a video to show that will make you laugh!  I ran into this while playing BlazBlue Continuum Shift last week:

Source: Youtube Channel DestroyZeTwinkies


Source: Youtube Channel DestroyZeTwinkies

Happy weekend and see you Monday.

GameLight Review - BlazBlue Continuum Shift

Official Site: http://us.playstation.com/games-and-media/games/blazblue-continuum-shift-extend-ps3.html

Source: Youtube Channel banjoparapanyo

Developer: Arc System Works

Publisher: Aksys Games

Platforms: Arcade, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Playstation Portable, Nintendo 3DS

Release Date: July 27, 2010

Genre: 2D Fighter

Pros:

-Breathtaking visuals in both environment backdrops and character sprites

-Beginner mode makes it more inviting for new comers

-The combat mechanics leaves a lot of room for creative combos and competitive gameplay

-Gameplay is smooth, stylish, dynamic, and fast-paced

-Story mode isn’t just a repeat of Calamity Trigger, but a follow up

-Daisuke Ishiwatari once again graces us with his genius music compositions

-Legion and challenge mode changes up the pacing from the usual arcade mode

-All characters play very uniquely and have their own play style

Cons:

-DLC characters a $7 each, what a rip!

-Last boss: Hazama of Arcade mode is stupidly hard to beat even at the easiest difficulty level

-The new character selection graphics aren’t as good as the CT, but that’s a preference

-Players who have gotten so used to Calamity Trigger might have to readjust for this one

After playing BlazBlue Continuum Shift for about 1.5 years, I’ve come to love it more and more.  The game just keeps getting better the more you play it.  BlazBlue has one of the most definitive stories to go along with a fighting game.  It’s so deep, moving and intricate that it just pulls the player into the world and change the ways one might feel about each individual character.  Characters become more than just toons that fight each other, but they all have reasons and agendas that coincide or conflict.  What’s more, Continuum Shift is a continuation of the events of Calamity Trigger rather than a simple update as most other fighting games seem to do.  The game itself is fast-paced, very stylish and a lot fun to perform all sorts of combos, skills, and special abilities, but having the story completes the package.  The changes from Calamity Trigger has added new specials for all characters, an optional beginner’s mode, some tweaks to how burst works, etc. to make the game more balanced and dynamic.  This would be one 2D fighter that I would recommend to those who don’t generally play fighting games as its intriguing story mode is like a game of its own while the beginner mode option makes it easier for one new to fighting games to ease into it while definitely recommending it for hardcore, competitive players as it has all the factors that make it challenging.

Aesthetics

The main reason why I decided to buy the game was because the music was by Daisuke Ishiwatari and is developed by the same team who created Guilty Gear.  It was sad to hear that they lost the rights to Guilty Gear and was no longer able to continue the series, and so I wanted to support them with the purchase of BlazBlue.  Sure enough, the music was amazing the first time I heard it and more so when I hear it now; however, the visuals shocked me.  I was expecting BlazBlue to be similar to Guilty Gear as characters from BlazBlue seem to look similar to those in the GG series.  The graphics were dynamic with beautiful backdrops with lighting effects, moving sprites, and a sort of 3D-ish feel to them.  The character sprites are a lot sharper and clean cut compared to what the team did for GG.  The animations are incredibly fluid, flashy, and stylish, making combos, specials, and attacking feel really good.  I have to admit that I was annoyed by some of the voice acting in both the English AND Japanese, but as I played the game more I began to adore the talents of both languages and their portrayal of the characters in the game.  The biggest treat for me was the Story mode, which convinced me to play through Calamity Trigger before I started on the story on Continuum Shift, as it became a major factor to what made the whole game come alive.  Story mode changed how I felt about each character and encouraged me to even play characters I generally wouldn’t choose.  My biggest complaint on the game’s aesthetics would probably be the main menu.  All modes and options are laid in one long list which makes it overwhelming and cluttered when most of them could have been collapsed into sub-categories and menus for an organized look.  Besides that, I can complain a bit about some of the cinematics having odd animations and character design that doesn’t match up to the rest of the game’s art style, but it’s not that big of a deal either.  Everything about BlazBlue Continuum Shift in terms of Aesthetics (Still images, sprites, backdrops, animations, cinematics, dialogue, voice acting, music, story, etc.) was very well thought out and meaningful.  BlazBlue turned out to be a much more polished and carefully developed fighter than I would have every guessed.  Aesthetics: 10/10

Buttons

The controls of the game are both easy and hard at the same time.  There are essentially 4 buttons to utilitze: light attack, medium, heavy, and a special attack that differs between all characters.  Players can easily perform combos by mashing light->medium->heavy and mix them around a bit; however, the combos and delays vary between each character.  Even with beginner mode on, a player may not be able to land all their hits in time and can be countered if the opponent is skilled.  Other times, combos are so easy for certain characters that even the most novice player can combo lock an opponent into a string of attacks that they can’t get out of.  This is why the controls are both easy and hard at the same time.  The mechanic of using three main attacks and a special key has been utilized in other games such as Melty Blood and now even Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 as it is much easier to understand and handle to single-action attacks from fighting games like Street Fighter or King of Fighters.  It makes it much easier to learn and perform combos and utilize special attacks into them.  Compared to most fighters, the leeway time between each attack for combos is rather lenient.  The difficult part in learning how to play each character when not in beginner mode is finding the flow and pacing of each character and knowing which abilities can be chaining to each other.  Some skills can still be difficult to execute, even with the use of a fight stick.  For the most part, the game’s controls and battle mechanics was easy to understand if given the patience and time to learn them.  Challenge mode helps a little, but rushes into the difficult techniques a bit too quickly.  Buttons: 9/10

Concept and Content

I was disappointed at first when I got the game and realized how very few characters the game seemingly had; however, I changed my mind about that as I played through story mode and saw how deeply involved each character was to the story of the BlazBlue as well as how distinguished each character players.  To give some examples: Bang Shishigami focuses on counter-attack, grapples, and dashes; Iron Tager excels at knock-backs, wall bounce hits, grabs, and pulls; Rachel Alucard requires the use of all her special abilities and the use of wind influence to make the most out of all her attacks; Taokaka is quick and so can perform a long string of attacks in a small amount of time; etc.  This idea of different play styles favors those who play in a certain way or ones who seek variety in their fighting games.  The additional challenge mode to the existing arcade, training, legion, and story mode is a good tutorial into more advanced techniques, but it isn’t entirely exciting.  The concept of story mode playing like a visual novel is both easy for the developers to continually create more in a short amount of time and providing a lot of insight to events, characters, and background history for the player.  The continuation of the story from where Calamity Trigger left off is the biggest treat in Continuum Shift.  Three additional characters were eventual available for DLC, but cost $7 each and doesn’t include their story modes.  Also, those who didn’t play Calamity Trigger will have a lot of unexplained events in the story of Continuum Shift.  It seems that upcoming release of BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend will remedy all these with stories of the first and second in one game, all the characters released so far, and a brand new mode.  Continuum Shift further extended the concepts and gameplay mechanics of Calamity Trigger, but seems to have been lacking in content that should have been there such as the additional 3 characters.  Concept & Concept: 9/10

Duration

The game as a whole doesn’t have a distinct flow, but Story mode is presented differently from Calamity Trigger.  Story mode starts off with an introduction as usual and then allows only the choice of playing Ragna the Bloodedge’s story rather than allowing the player to choose any character in any order.  After finishing Ragna’s story, 5+ or so opens up and then gradually unlocks more character stories as to keep a sort of flow to each one of them.  The game can last a very long time as I’ve had the game for 1.5 years and am still playing it.  Continuum Shift provides: Arcade, advanced tutorial (not available in Calamity Trigger), Challenge, Legion, Training, Online, and Story.  For those who play casually only for the fighting, arcade mode and legion mod will probably the main modes to play.  Those who like stories and learn more about the world of BlazBlue will play story mode and some arcade.  Competitive and hardcore players will play online mode a lot.  A good fighting game should have incredible replay value and provide something for the player to keep coming back for more.  BlazBlue Continuum Shift seems to fulfill those criteria.  Duration: 10/10

Fun

Honestly, my first impression of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift was kind of bad.  I loved the visuals and the music, but the voice acting annoyed me, the character selection felt very limited, and the last boss, Hazama, was so difficult and unfair (silly me thought I could handle the game right off the bat on normal mode, everyone else was alright other than the last boss) that it just left a bad impression for me.  I seldom went back to play it once in a while just because I loved the rest of the game play when I’m not fighting Hazama and because of the music.  The game was fast-paced.  Performing long combos felt good.  It was fun, but it was hard getting back into it everytime I had to face Hazama.  Eventually, I got a copy of Calamity Trigger and started playing story mode.  For me, I love fighting games because of the story and how all the characters have some sort of relationship with each other in some way or another and I would play each character to see their character endings and see what their story is about.  BlazBlue went far and beyond that with story mode as it expands long dialogues, history, backgrounds, and even multiple paths to go by to provide a rich and intricate world for the player to explore.  I got really hooked onto BlazBlue ever since I started playing story mode and have begun to play the game a bit more seriously with training and challenge mode to become more familiar with certain characters.  The only mode I’m reluctant to play anymore is Arcade because of Hazama.  Fun: 9/10

Overall

What started as a curiosity of music and the history behind the developers turned into a game I can fully appreciate and have fun with.  The fighting mechanics might be a bit confusing for those who are used to Street Fighter, King of Fighters, or Mortal Kombat at first, but those with patience to sit down and get to know each character will find a very gratifying 2D fighter that is so unique in many ways that it will be hard to put down.  BlazBlue’s eccentric, yet loveable characters draw one in as story mode unfolds their endeavors and agendas.  The many modes will keep game play fresh and entertaining after hundreds of rounds and continues to get better the more one plays it.  If you have never played any of the BlazBlue games, I recommend picking up BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend which releases on February 14^th, 2012 as it will contain the entire story mode from both Calamity Trigger and Continuum Shift as well all the characters released thus far with all returning modes and extra modes such as Abyss mode and Unlimited Wars.  This version of Continuum Shift was great with certain aspects lacking, but “Extend” will be the complete package worth a 10/10.  Overall: 9.4/10

VGCulture - Fighting Game Bosses

Since the purchase of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 last Saturday, I've been trying to get back into Fighting games as well as RPGs since I've been playing nothing but First-Person shooters in the past year and a half.  After playing versus mode for 2 hours, everything I loved about fighting games flooded back to me: distinct characters, flashy combat with crazy combos, amazing character theme music, fluid and fast-paced animations and graphics, ridiculous specials that's satisfying when it lands, intricate and convoluted storylines that draws the player in (except MvC3 doesn't have that), and exciting challenges from other players that are better than me.  After nearly a week of MvC3, I am reminded what I hated about single-player mode for fighting games so much: Boss Battles.  Since the early days of Street Fighter 2; where the retardly hard Sagat would spam his Tiger Punch, Tiger Uppercut, and Tiger Knee and M.Bison's Psycho-drill and long-ranged slide attack would counter every approach that the player made; I have hated Boss battles for fighting games.  The Boss characters are usually made to counter everything the player does in every position, which is mainly what fighting is usually about: distance, timing, and decisions.  So when the AI is set to counter rushes, ranged attacks, and jump attacks, it becomes very difficult to close in the distance without getting totally screwed.  As technology advances, the graphics, AI, and combat system get more complex in fighting games; however, what I hate more than anything about fighting these end game bosses is that they cannot be beat by conventional means.  Everything you know and excel in skill at will probably be useless in the boss fights because the developers already created a counter  to every move in the game within the AI to make it all the more difficult; therefore, I end up using a repeatable cheap move that the computer AI can't comprehend, to cause a sort of glitch if you will, to beat them.

Galactus - Marvel vs. Capcom 3
The first time I got to the final boss for MvC3, my first reaction was "what the heck, I have to fight a character known for eating planets?"

Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment

Well, you don't fight him right away.  Instead, he creates two metallic versions of characters in the game for you to fight...at the same exact time.  They're not too hard to defeat as long as you get one hit to start a combo.  If you're not hitting one of them, they'll probably be spamming their skills and juggling your character until it's down, block every attack you try to execute, and then pass you back and forth between the two characters in an infinite chain.  Good thing they share one life bar.  If you're lucky enough to defeat them without losing too much health, then you get the privilege to fight Galactus himself.  He's so big and mighty that you only fight the upper half of his body.  He doesn't get fazed by any of your attacks (until near the end) and a flick of his finger can cause serious damage to your characters as well as forcing them to switch out.  He slams his hand down which causes about 25% of your life bar to disappear, his lasers can put down one of your characters even when you're blocking, and his mighty slam pretty much kills your character in one hit if you don't interrupt it (which only happened once for me so far).  I'm not sure how hard he is in very hard difficult or very easy, I've been playing only normal up till now.  Fighting him and his minions is totally BS and will not help you get better in the game in any way, but at least it's a lot more fair than other fighting games I've played.

Cheap Move to use: Repeatable move or ranged ability with specials for the end!  So fighting the minions isn't exactly cheap, but just juggle them as much as possible and use a long lasting special that takes out their health as quick as possible.  Then when fighting Galactus, use any single hit move that will cause a good amount of damage such as a kick or skill and block when he strikes.  When he's down to half-health, block any attack (except for the mighty slam that one shots you, can't block that) that will hurt your character and shoot ranged attacks.  It's strange, but he will sometimes glitch and not do anything but sit there.  Ranged attacks will also reach him and do a good amount of damage.  If you have your hyper levels up, use them near the last 25% of his health and prevent him from using his mighty smash attack.  The first time I played, I used Chris with his sub-machine gun to kill him off and he just stood there.  Anything else I tried got me killed.  I really doubt I can beat players online by using ranged moves like Hadouken alone.

Azazel - Tekken 6
Having fought normal sized enemies in the Tekken series, I was very surprised to see such a large boss for 6.  Much like Jinpachi in Tekken 5, it can shoot a ranged attack that will kill off half of your health, block almost every attack and counter immediately, break through your own block to follow up with a devastating attack that will probably screw you over.  This boss is stupidly hard, but also stupidly easy.

Cheap Move to use: Jump-kick!  So my father played Tekken 5 a lot and had problems fighting Jinpachi.  I've beaten him before, but still had trouble doing so sometimes.  The AI in Tekken is pretty strange.  You could be playing normal mode and then all of a sudden one of the characters gets super pissed and turns into a nightmare with combos lasting up to 12 chains.  This one time, Jinpachi was like that and my father and I couldn't beat him with all the counters and ranged attacks he performed.

Source: Youtube Channel RoosterTeeth

My sister walked in and said she wanted to try and after the first round, she started to use only jump kicks.  Instead of blocking or countering the kicks, Jinpachi just took it over and over until he got KOed.  Keeping this in mind, we used this method for any Tekken game we played to beat the boss.  So when we got Tekken 6 and I couldn't beat it, I let my sister do her thing.  She kept jump kicking and *BAM* Azazel was dead.  Consider this, my sister rarely plays any fighting games whatsoever.  The only fighting game she played extensively was the Smash Bros. series, so for her to figure out how to beat stupidly hard bosses in Tekken is both amazing and lame at the same time.  It's lame because anything else you try would probably get you killed.  Freaking Azazel...

Seth - Street Fighter 4
I was so excited when Street Fighter 4 released and couldn't wait till it was out.  When I first got it, I really wanted to challenge myself and played on the hardest difficulty possible.  I used Ryu since I was so familiar with his move-sets by now.  It was so fun and challenging and I did have to continue a few times, but I accepted it.  When I got to Seth and started fighting him, I was thinking "wow, he's so easy.  He just takes it and gets smacked around."  And then the second round came along and I felt like I was fighting Daigo or something.  He starts teleporting around and then lands an unblockable kick, or grabs you from behind (and if you try to jump out of it, get ready for a shouryuuken), throws a sonic boom to get you either to jump, block or get closer to use his Dhalsim fist to smack you around before performing more Shenanigans.  After 30-50 minutes of losing to him, I caved in and started over on normal and got through everyone.  Again, he's stupid the first round and then suddenly on caffeine and crack teleporting everywhere and dishing out unblockable moves and specials.  I've never tried very easy, but one of my friends, whose skill in fighting games is comparable to tourney players, had more problems fighting Seth on very easy than he did on very hard.

Source: Youtube Channel Games

Cheap move to use:  Crotch shots!  I'm not sure why, but he gets confused with leg sweeps and crouched punches.  He'll counter intricate combos, specials, and grabs, but he gets confused when getting hit where it should hurt most.  Granted it will take some experimenting on exactly which move works with each character and when to attack, but I've been using this method to defeat him.  I freaking hate Seth, which is why I barely touch Street Fighter IV anymore.

Hazama - BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
I hate this man with a passion, and he's the most normal looking dude out of all the fighting game bosses listed today.  I started the game on normal with Noel not knowing how to play the game but hoped to learn along the way.  I was okay and didn't have much trouble, until I got to Hazama.  The boss form of Hazama grants him a green ring that recovers his health continuously while depleting the player's health when in it.  He has a chain-like skill that works like an anti-air, an unblockable special that eats up half your health, a special kick that works nearly instantaneously that wipes off over 30-40% of the player's health, and single strike attacks that deals a great amount of damage while pushing the player back.  He's very fast and incredibly difficult to beat.  I even switched over to beginner mode to try to beat him and did even worse with it.  Like SF4, I gave up and went down to the easiest difficult possible and got to Hazama again.  He was STILL hard as balls and was just as difficult as he was in normal difficulty.  I think I possibly hate him the most out of the bosses so far (with Seth being very close behind).
(SPOILER ALERT - VIDEO CONTAINS RAGNA'S ARCADE ENDING) - I didn't watch the ending.

Source: Youtube Channel tweakglitcher

Cheap move to use: Ranged or repeatable attack!  The guy in the video did a really good job of beating him three rounds in a row without having to result to being cheap.  Not so for my experience in fighting him.  So even at very easy using Noel, I had a lot of trouble fighting Hazama without being countered, hit with a special, or getting the life sucked out of me while he recovered in his green circle.  I ended up using only my gun shots from the far side of the stage to beat him without him touching me.  Last night when I played, for the first time in a long time, I had an aggravating fight with him using Taokaka.  It takes a lot of hits to deal a good amount of damage with Taokaka, and it makes it all the more difficult when he has a recovery ring around him that hurts my character when I get inside of it.  I tried my very best to play legitimately and bring his health down only to get hit by one of his specials which did the same amount of damage it took me 25-50 attacks to achieve.  I ended up going back to the dumb tactics and locked him in the corner with the continuous cat claw attack and watched him fall into my attack over and over.  Very easy shouldn't be so retardly difficult to beat.


So why do I play through single-player mode if I hate end-bosses so much?  I like the stories!  MvC3 doesn't have much, but each ending has a small bit of cameo from the Capcom or Marvel universe with references that fans may or may not get.  The stories to Street Fighter IV, Tekken 6, and BlazBlue Continuum Shift; however, are really in-depth with an overall story revolving around the characters with each set of characters having a story of their own with one another.  It's like a sample of existentialism (I liked learning the subject in school) within all the characters that I played through.  You see the same story through different perspectives and gives a sort of personality to the characters and the game.  Games with stories like these interest me since it goes further than just a bunch of people beating each other up.  I thoroughly enjoyed going through the characters of Tekken 4 to reveal all sides of the story and what-ifs between them all.  It made it more involving and gave purpose to follow the newer ones since it follows the overall story.  In Tekken 6, it reviews the entire Tekken saga in the beginning of the game before it starts the actual story to show how far back the lineage and characters go back and how they relate to one another.  I can go on and on about this, but the main reasons why I play single player mode is to try to get better on the particular character I chose while finding out their story and personalities.  But boss battles totally mess up the whole flow of the game and don't teach me anything useful in a real match since I end up using a cheap move anyways.  That's it for now.  I'm going to suck it up and try to play some more fighting games and get more endings.  Have a good weekend everyone!

GameOn - JVG Music Composers - Daisuke Ishiwatari

Daisuke Ishiwatari (石渡 太輔) is the man known for the concept, design, characters, art style, and music of the Guilty Gear series as well as the most recent IP BlazBlue.  What he does is what I aspire to do when I finally get into the interactive entertainment industry: have a solid concept of an entire game and stick to it.  In the various projects I have worked in the past, they have always been a collaboration of multiple ideas put together.  Collaboration is a beautiful thing, but it can be scattered and unorganized.  It also takes away a lot of the originality and main concepts that the original designer might have wanted.  This isn't to say that Ishiwatari did everything on his own.  Being born in South Africa and strictly forbidden from playing videogames drew his curiosity towards the subject and had him thinking about all sorts of designs and concepts for a game.  Once he acquired the skills to run his own team and create his first game, he touched upon a lot of the process in the game such as voice acting, story writing, character design, concept design, and the compositions to the music.  So he knew what he wanted and stuck with it, but admitted that he had a lot of help from the team which was also great.  He had a strong team backing him up on the project and has then gotten him the attention from the industry and its community.

So aside from his amazing background in the game industry, what is it about his music that made me inclined to talk about him in this week's GameOn series?  He doesn't come out with a ton of music each game using MIDI-like programs like ZUN does in his Touhou series.  The music isn't nostalgia-inducing with 8-bit music like Daisuke Amaya for Cave Story.  The tunes don't have the influences of classical, electro, and rock music such as in Michiru Yamane's compositions for the Castlevania series.  No, his compositions is influenced from a music genre I haven't heard in a videogame until I played Guilty Gear, and that genre is heavy metal:



Source to all 3 videos: Youtube Channel shinryuu10901

Guilty Gear (and I think even BlazBlue) has a LOT of references to metal and music.  One of the most obvious ones I can point out is the character Axl Low from the Guilty Gear game looking a lot like (if not identical to) Axel Rose from the band Gun n' Roses:

Source: http://www.videogamelookalikes.com/a-m.html

 I actually didn't get into metal until high school when a friend introduced me to music from Metallica, Dream Theatre, and such.  Before then, I was always under the impression that it was just loud drums and guitar with lots of screaming (granted the idea came from stereotypes in pop culture and my parents not listening to metal).  Did anyone hear any screaming in the three songs above?  No?  Good, then you can hear the amazing guitar riffs and powerful beats from the drums.  Daisuke Ishiwatari putting metal into a videogame genre without the vocals created metal with the whole song being one incredible solo (or that's one way to think about it).  The riffs are still complex, but it isn't muddled.  In fact, a lot of his music have a clear melody and audible instruments playing.  I say this because I have heard a lot of metal sounding like a jumble of noise and bass (metal fans tell me that those are the bad ones...unless you're high, then it sounds great).  But not all his music in his games are so heavy and dark.  In fact, some of them sound very happy:

Source: Youtube Channel nobodyknows182


Source: Youtube Channel serenade123


Source: Youtube Channel serenade123

Ishiwatari has come a long way from when he started Guilty Gear up to BlazBlue Continuum Shift.  One of the most facinating aspects of a fighting game (for me at least) is the stories and how each character interacts with each other (I mean, it's a fighting game, they all fight each other).  Sure, both Guilty Gear and BlazBlue has a convoluted story going on, but it's very intriguing how it plays out when going through each character's story.  The characters he creates are all eccentric and very out of the ordinary.  It ranges from interesting to humorous to down right creepy.  The gameplay emphasizes a lot on fluidity, combo making, and flashy animations.  The graphics are vibrant and the background is rendered in 3D for BlazBlue (2D for Guilty Gear).  But many people, including me, agree that the music that Daisuke Ishiwatri composed and recorded is one of the biggest highlights of his games.




Source to all four videos: Youtube Channel serenade123

Sorry, I would have given as much effort and love to the past three composers if I had more time. I started very very early on this post today, so I was able to put this all together. Please take the time to listen to the other composers music as well as Ishiwatari's.

Anyways, I do believe that wraps it up. BlazBlue was created in an unfortunate turn of events when Arc System Works lost the rights of Guilty Gear to Sega. A lot of the aspects of BlazBlue mirrors that of Guilty Gear. Despite that, BlazBlue is an amazing game and I do not regret one bit on purchasing the game (even though I barely have the time to play it). It's available on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, so pick up a copy if you like fighting games or like Ishiwatari's music.

Daisuke Ishiwatari, YOU ARE THE MAN!!!