Blazeblue Chronophantasma Extend Review (PC)

Over the years Blazblue has taken up the position of the hardcore alternative to Capcoms Street Fighter IV. Most of the characters require hours of dedication to get to grips with and the crazy plot that includes time travel, magic, science, civil wars and alternate worlds can baffle anyone. Now the series is back with the extended third chapter of the story.

Chronophantasma takes place after the first two games and follows the characters as they move to the ruins of Ikaruga in search of the next magical McGuffin. We aren’t going to try and some up what’s happened so far or what's next as it’ll only confuse everyone. Just know that bad things are going to happen and some people want it to and others don’t. There is of course a puppet master behind the scenes as well trying to put everything into place.

This isn’t an easy game to get into for newcomers to the series. There’s a ton of things to take in and trying to tie up the story will take a serious investment. There’s a helpful ‘Teach Me Miss Litchi’ section which recaps the lore and events but the handy summation of the first two games from vampire Rachel Alucard will set you up nicely. 

The game comes jam packed with different game modes and there’s almost limitless hours that can be put into it. Aside from the Arcade and survival modes there is Abyss mode which has your character working their way through ever increasingly difficult maps containing opponents set at different computer AI levels. There is also the Blazblue version of score attack which pits you against some of the hardest encounters known to man for bragging rights and a host of other things. There’s even a manga to get through called Remix Heart which follows Mai Natsume at the military academy. 

The story mode continues in the style of the vanilla version of Chronophantasma with three main branches that need to be completed with characters aligned to different factions in each. There are also sections featuring the new characters which came as DLC in the last version of the game. There is still too much talking and not enough fighting to start but once it gets going it’s a good tale and enjoyable, especially for fans of the series. The wealth of training modes also return with everything you need to teach you the basic mechanics and then take you into ridiculous depth with your chosen characters. 

The original cast have been rebalanced and in some cases retooled with moves and special moves and this is still a bone of contention for some fans. Jin is the most notably different with the range and speed of certain moves changed and the removal of his mass-hitting spam everything quickly with the sword move (much to the relief of everyone who uses other characters). Things soon begin to click again but we got absolutely hammered just diving into arcade mode and then wondering why nothing was working.

The previously new characters are now joined by those available as downloadable content to give an impressive cast of fighters. The previous version of the game was hardly light on content and now it is bursting at the seams.

The game holds true with its previous changes such as the implementation of the 'Overdrive' meter which replaces the ‘Gold Burst’ move. When activated this it allows for more damaging distortion drive techniques as well as stopping the match timer. The lower your health, the longer the effect lasts. Guards have also been changed but the drive is still the new big thing and players will have to drastically change their game plan in close matches.

The main thing is that after you get to grips with the changes everything flows as beautifully as before. This is still one of the most spectacularly intense fighting games on the market and this version of the game is a very strong showing in an ever increasingly crowded genre. 

Overall, Blazblue Chronophantasma Extend is a must for anyone who is into their fighting games and this is right up there with anything in the genre. Fans will be desperate to see the new additions to the story but anyone who’s up for a challenge will appreciate what the game has to offer as well. It may not be the easiest title to get into but once you do there is little else out there as rewarding or satisfying.

Overall 9/10

Blazblue Chronophantasma Extend Review (PS4/ PS Vita)

Over the years Blazblue has taken up the position of the hardcore alternative to Capcoms Street Fighter IV. Most of the characters require hours of dedication to get to grips with and the crazy plot that includes time travel, magic, science, civil wars and alternate worlds can baffle anyone. Now the series is back with it's PS4 debut and the extended version of the third chapter of the story.

Chronophantasma takes place after the first two games and follows the characters as they move to the ruins of Ikaruga in search of the next magical McGuffin. We aren’t going to try and some up what’s happened so far or what's next as it’ll only confuse everyone. Just know that bad things are going to happen and some people want it to and others don’t. There is of course a puppet master behind the scenes as well trying to put everything into place.

This isn’t an easy game to get into for newcomers to the series. There’s a ton of things to take in and trying to tie up the story will take a serious investment. There’s a helpful ‘Teach Me Miss Litchi’ section which recaps the lore and events but the handy summation of the first two games from vampire Rachel Alucard will set you up nicely.

The game comes jam packed with different game modes and there’s almost limitless hours that can be put into it. Aside from the Arcade and survival modes there is Abyss mode which has your character working their way through ever increasingly difficult maps containing opponents set at different computer AI levels. There is also the Blazblue version of score attack which pits you against some of the hardest encounters known to man for bragging rights and a host of other things. There’s even a manga to get through called Remix Heart which follows Mai Natsume at the military academy.

The story mode continues in the style of the vanilla version of Chronophantasma with three main branches that need to be completed with characters aligned to different factions in each. There are also sections featuring the new characters which came as DLC in the last version of the game. There is still too much talking and not enough fighting to start but once it gets going it’s a good tale and enjoyable, especially for fans of the series. The wealth of training modes also return with everything you need to teach you the basic mechanics and then take you into ridiculous depth with your chosen characters. 

On the Vita The story mode does need to be downloaded so make sure you have the space and bandwidth. That decision may seem strange but the fidelity of the Vita version to its big brother is such that it seems there may well have simply been no more room on the card of the physical versions to fit it. We would go as far as to say as this is the best looking Vita game and it's an outstanding achievement from the development team to get it onto the handheld like this. The only real issue is that the Vita controls can be tricky to use to execute the more complex moves.

The original cast have been rebalanced and in some cases retooled with moves and special moves and this is still a bone of contention for some fans. Jin is the most notably different with the range and speed of certain moves changed and the removal of his mass-hitting spam everything quickly with the sword move (much to the relief of everyone who uses other characters). Things soon begin to click again but we got absolutely hammered just diving into arcade mode and then wondering why nothing was working.

The previously new characters are now joined by those available as downloadable content to give an impressive cast of fighters. The previous version of the game was hardly light on content and now it is bursting at the seams.

The game holds true with its previous changes such as the implementation of the 'Overdrive' meter which replaces the ‘Gold Burst’ move. When activated this it allows for more damaging distortion drive techniques as well as stopping the match timer. The lower your health, the longer the effect lasts. Guards have also been changed but the drive is still the new big thing and players will have to drastically change their game plan in close matches.

The main thing is that after you get to grips with the changes everything flows as beautifully as before. This is still one of the most spectacularly intense fighting games on the market and this version of the game is a very strong showing in an ever increasingly crowded genre.

Overall, Blazblue Chronophantasma Extend is a must for anyone who is into their fighting games and this is right up there with anything on the PS4. Fans will be desperate to see the new additions to the story but anyone who’s up for a challenge will appreciate what the game has to offer as well. It may not be the easiest title to get into but once you do there is little else out there as rewarding or satisfying.

Overall 9/10

Arcana Heart 3: love Max!!!! Review (PC)

The Arcana Heart series has been largely ignored by western audiences over the years. Even the first version of Arcana Heart 3 did little to make an impact on the established brands of Street fighter and BlazBlue. Arcana Heart 3: Love Max!!!! has taken the 2011 version of the game and reworked it to try and build on a solid template and make one more attempt to hit the sweet spot for fight game fans.

The unique selling point of the series is that it contains an all-girl cast. Don’t worry though, this isn’t one of the highly questionable Japanese titles that are borderline pornographic. Characters here are for the most part treated in a much better way than female characters can sometimes be. The other key gimmick is that the base characters can be combined with a large range of magical ‘Arcana’ spirits to give staggering depth and flexibility in how you want fight.

Arcanas are basically huge magical beings that give extra powers, attack and defence options (Think of them like the summon or guardian force creatures in the final fantasy series). A defensively weak character could choose a defence orientated Arcana to boost that area of their skills for instance or emphasise one of their abilities even more. As well as boosting attack and defence they also each have unique special moves and abilities and getting the balance right is the key to success.

The biggest problems fight fans will face is that there is no introduction to the game mechanics or characters. It has become fairly standard practice now for character related trials and tutorials to be introduced in fighting games. Here there is nothing of the sort with just a standard training option to go into and play around with moves. Unless you dig through to the digital manual it is highly unlikely you’ll ever work out what half the meters and bars do in the game. This is a pretty major oversight and it’s likely to greatly impact how you get on with the game as it’s not something that is easy to just pick up and play.

This isn’t helped by the fact that hardly any of the characters are newcomer friendly either. There are no real Ryu or Ken a-likes and with so many characters to choose from it becomes a case of picking one and seeing what comes of it. For those that persevere there is a highly entertaining and complex fighting game underneath but unless you’re willing to put in the hours it’s questionable if you ever really know what you are doing. This coupled with some ridiculous pad inputs which are near impossible to pull off without some kind of fight stick means casual fight fans are likely to want to look elsewhere.

When it’s in full flow Arcana Heart certainly looks lovely and the speed never lets up. You’ll have special moves flying everywhere with the backgrounds changing from summer to winter as characters initiate time lapsing moves and Arcanas crash into the arena. It’s unlike pretty much any other fighting game and once you get to grips with it, it offers something unique in an ever growing genre.

Overall, Arcana Heart 3 Love Max!!!! is certainly an improvement other the base version of the game with more polish, balance and flexibility added to the battles. That said, it is still far too impenetrable for newcomers to the series and the last boss remains a terrible encounter on a multi levelled arena that we could have really done without. Once you know how everything works it’s a real joy to play but we can’t see anyone but the hard core fight fan even getting close to that level without the addition of some kind of tutorial system.

Overall 7/10

Arcana Heart 3: Love Max!!! Review (PS Vita)

The Arcana Heart series has been largely ignored by western audiences over the years. Even the first version of Arcana Heart 3 did little to make an impact on the established brands of Street fighter and BlazBlue. Arcana Heart 3: Love Max!!! has taken the 2011 version of the game and reworked it to try and build on a solid template and make one more attempt to hit the sweet spot for fight game fans.

The unique selling point of the series is that it contains an all-girl cast. Don’t worry though, this isn’t one of the highly questionable Japanese titles that are borderline pornographic. Characters here are for the most part treated in a much better way than female characters can sometimes be. The other key gimmick is that the base characters can be combined with a large range of magical ‘Arcana’ spirits to give staggering depth and flexibility in how you want fight.

Arcanas are basically huge magical beings that give extra powers, attack and defence options (Think of them like the summon or guardian force creatures in the final fantasy series). A defensively weak character could choose a defence orientated Arcana to boost that area of their skills for instance or emphasise one of their abilities even more. As well as boosting attack and defence they also each have unique special moves and abilities and getting the balance right is the key to success.

The biggest problems fight fans will face is that there is no introduction to the game mechanics or characters. It has become fairly standard practice now for character related trials and tutorials to be introduced in fighting games. Here there is nothing of the sort with just a standard training option to go into and play around with moves. Unless you dig through to the digital manual it is highly unlikely you’ll ever work out what half the meters and bars do in the game. This is a pretty major oversight and it’s likely to greatly impact how you get on with the game as it’s not something that is easy to just pick up and play.

This isn’t helped by the fact that hardly any of the characters are newcomer friendly either. There are no real Ryu or Ken a-likes and with so many characters to choose from it becomes a case of picking one and seeing what comes of it. For those that persevere there is a highly entertaining and complex fighting game underneath but unless you’re willing to put in the hours it’s questionable if you ever really know what you are doing. This coupled with some ridiculous pad inputs which are near impossible to pull off on a Vita (recreating a pentagram motion on the D Pad for instance), means casual fight fans are likely to want to look elsewhere.

When it’s in full flow Arcana Heart certainly looks lovely and the speed never lets up - even on the Vita. You’ll have special moves flying everywhere with the backgrounds changing from summer to winter as characters initiate time lapsing moves and Arcanas crash into the arena. It’s unlike pretty much any other fighting game and once you get to grips with it, it offers something unique in an ever growing genre.

Overall, Arcana Heart 3 Love Max!!! is certainly an improvement other the base version of the game with more polish, balance and flexibility added to the battles. That said, it is still far too impenetrable for newcomers to the series and the last boss remains a terrible encounter on a multi levelled arena that we could have really done without. Once you know how everything works it’s a real joy to play but we can’t see anyone but the hard core fight fan even getting close to that level without the addition of some kind of tutorial system.

Overall 7/10

Muramasa Rebirth Review (PS Vita)

Originally launched on the Wii, the spiritual successor to the beautiful Odin Sphere is set in ancient Japan and follows the journey of two characters. You must pick from either Kisuke, a fugitive swordsman suffering from memory loss or Momohime, a princess possessed by an evil spirit and head out to find the many blades that will aid you to complete the characters respective quests.

The first thing that hits you about the game is that is looks and sounds stunningly beautiful. A 2D side scrolling fighter at heart the environments you explore are simply breath-taking. This is possibly the highest quality 2D art work we have ever seen and it looks magnificent on the Vita screen. From fields to waterfalls to cherry blossom groves the game will have players continually stopping to take screen shots to use as background wallpaper.

Complementing the visuals is a massively impressive soundtrack. Japanese strings and pipes swirl and play to build the atmosphere and create a truly magical environment for our two heroes to explore. In terms of presentation this is out of the top draw, which is a good thing as you're going to be seeing those environments repeatedly and for a fair amount of time.

Gameplay involves your character running through said lovely backdrops left and right and then being stopped by an enemy attack. When this happens a warning flashes up on screen and your character will draw their sword. What follows is normally a very swift and brutal fight against numerous attackers before a result screen is displayed and you move on. The swiftness of the combat manages to capture the samurai style atmosphere brilliantly. Your character never draws their sword unless a fight is about to happen and the swift nature of battles helps to keep momentum and the feeling you are a master swordsman going. As you progress thing get decidedly more difficult and bosses can easily crush players but it’s those fights out in the fields and roads that help build the atmosphere and feeling of ancient Japan perfectly.

Combat itself is flawlessly fluid. You have a mass of different moves available from the start and will need to get used to all of them, especially the blocks and parries, by the end of the game. You can create huge combos by air juggling and darting across the screen to the next foe and also switch between any of your three equipped swords on the fly to change momentum and style. 

Swords are what the game is all about and you can collect over a hundred of them, each with different characteristics. You have a sword gauge which when depleted will break the blade, so you need to be careful and quickly switch between them in battle. Swords will also flash and when this happens changing blade will unleash a special attack. A broken sword needs to be returned to their sheath to repair but will return to combat readiness over time.

The catch to this most beautiful looking and sounding game with precise and satisfying combat is repetition. This is a long game and you’re looking at getting into the thirty to forty hour mark to finish both quests properly with a decent amount of blades.  It’s not repetition of combat as such but the traveling from one side of the map to the other, often with little happening. This is offset somewhat by the beautiful backdrops but there isn’t much to find or that many people to talk to within the environments. As you wander through screen three or four of the same forest you’ll begin to want to just get on with it. It’s not a major issue as your characters move pretty swiftly but after a few hours you’ll want that quick travel option to open up as soon as possible.

It’s a fairly minor point in what is in the most part a stunning game. If you can look past the trudging back and forth you’ll find a game quite unlike any other with a unique look and style all of its own. It’s a game that looks like it was born to fit the Vita and the controls are far superior to those present in the Wii version. It’s a beautiful and dark Japanese folktale come to life and even though there are flaws we can’t help but love it for its fluid combat, magical sound and gorgeous visuals.

Overall 8/10