The thumbnail you see above is no troll. This is f**king happening...ITS HAPPENING. MUGEN THE FIGHTING GAME!
So "Blazblue: Cross Tag Battle" has been announced at EVO, and it seems like Arc System Works is simply not screwing around...they are bringing out ALL the big guns to make 2018 an amazing year for fighting game. "Dragon Ball FighterZ", Jubei in "BBCF" and now this?! Man these guys are really trying to BURY "Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite" at rate. I mean, "MVCI" looks alright at the moment, but with these 2 games coming out...things are looking REALLY bad right now. Arc System works has a massive library and right now I hope that they go all out with the roster for "Blazblue Cross Tag Battle", which looks like it has the potential to be absolutely insane.
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| Yes, THIS IS NOT A DREAM. |
So in the initial trailer we got a look at Ragna and Jin from "Blazblue", Hyde from "UNIEL", Yu Narukami from "P4:A" and a small glimpse at Ruby Rose from "RWBY". Now I don't know how the f**k did Arc System Works do it, but they managed to throw Ruby Rose, from "RWBY", of all things, into their own crossover fighting game. Whoever was behind this, is a freaking genius, because I have always been a massive fan of RWBY, and the thought of a fighting game for the franchise is bloody amazing. Well, we get something even better, Ruby's fighting game debut will be alongside these amazing legacy characters from Arc's intense fighting game library.
Technically Arc has only worked on BB and P4:A within these 4 franchises. UNIEL was developed by French Bread but Arc brought it over stateside...while RWBY is totally just a net show from Rooster Teeth. I don't know what the f**k is happening here, but the possibilities for this game can be endless. I might just be wishing too hard on some of these potential picks, but at the moment, THE DOOR IS AS OPEN AS IT CAN BE. Here are some of the characters that I hope will appear in "Blazblue Cross Tag Battle".
Blazblue
Now since "Blazblue" is in the game's title I think that most of the characters in this game will probably be from the franchise. No complaints here, since I DID invest most of my time into "Blazblue" out of these 3 fighting games. There are a ton of obvious choices here, but with "Central Fiction" already out there, the roster is huge, and who's going to be in here is kind of a big deal. I believe staple, important characters like Noel Vermillion and Rachel Alucard are going to be in for sure, but the rest is kind of up in the air. At the end of the day it all depends on how large the character roster is going to be...
If we're going to go fan favorites, we'll probably have Tsubaki, Makoto and Hazama/Terumi (why not have both?) in there as well. I personally hope Relius and Saya make it in as well. Maybe toss in a Murakumo unit or two along with Hakumen while we're at it. For me though, I'd really just want Saya and Terumi, give me my bad boy and bad girl of the BB franchise...we're set to go after that. The rest is just fluff, honestly.
Persona 4:Arena
Well since "P4A" is going to be in here let's state some obvious facts: this game has a shit ton of characters, both from the P3 and P4 side. I have no idea who they're going to throw in here, but if we're considering the possible roster size for the game, I doubt many of these characters are going to be in the base game. If we're going to have to choose, it'd probably be most of the P4 cast only, and maybe one or 2 from the P3 side, like Aigis or Elizabeth (I can dream). The likes of Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko, Kanji, Teddie and Naoto are almost already a shoe into the game, even then, some of them might not make it if we're considering the possibilities of other franchises being included into the base game.
I personally had the MOST fun playing Akihiko in "P4:A", and he was my main in that game. Sho Minazuki was also extremely fun to play around with, with Magaret and Elizabeth not trailing far behind. For me though, I'd be content with just Naoto being in the base game, she is, and has always been, one of my top waifus in all of fictional history. A pity she wasn't too fun to play in "P4A", but hey, I won't complain. I won't really bet on Akihiko being in there, since he's probably not too high up there on the popularity list. Elizabeth or Magaret may have a shot, but its probably not set in stone either considering how many from the "P4" side looks favored to be included into the game.
Under Night In Birth
An under-rated fighting game that's considered a niche, "Under Night"'s western console release might not have the most content, but for the most part, it was a fighting game that I enjoyed a whole lot when it came to the core fighting mechanics. The game is very aggressive and had a ton of edgy, anime-as-f**k characters that were very unique from one another. Most were a blast to play, and it was a lot of fun figuring the game out. The game itself isn't very large when it comes to its roster, so when it comes to character inclusions, I won't be expecting TOO much.
Now this is a side where I won't be particularly too worried about, because my main, Linne, will most definitely be in the base roster along with Hyde. She is the secondary protagonist of that game, I highly doubt they'd exclude her. Other inclusions will probably include Orie, Seth, Vatista and possibly Carmine. Amnesia characters would be a good pick as well, especially Gordeau or Chaos. Since the character that I most want to play as will probably already be in, I'd be content with the likes of Gordeau and Carmine in the game, those 2 are badass and fun as f**k to play. If we were to include new characters from ST, Phonon would also make me really hard, but I think her chances are mediocre at best.
RWBY
Ah, RWBY, now this is where things get interesting. I have a personal attachment to this franchise, having followed it since Monty Oum released the "Red" trailer WAY back in the day. I was captivated and followed it ever since, eventually leading up to its complete release. Now RWBY has grown into a VERY successful web series, spanning over 4 seasons with a 5th season on the way. Having Ruby in the game probably already means we'll be getting her team mates in the base game, which I am more than grateful to both Arc System works and Rooster Teeth for. I am more than 75% sure that Weiss, Blake and Yang will be in the base game as playable characters.
Now, the 4 main heroines will likely be in, but RWBY has a ton of interesting characters in its universe and I'd be VERY happy if we were to get some other forms of representation. Team JNPR has some potential good picks that would transition well into a fighting game, especially Pyrrha and Nora. Penny would also be swell, but the villains also have some nice possibilities, such as Cinder and Mercury. Dear god imagine the transition for Mercury into a fighting game character...that would be the sickest shit EVER.
Other possible franchise inclusions
Now these are just speculations and possible wishful inclusions that MAY or may not happen, but it would make me REALLY HAPPY to see at least some representation from these franchises. I mean, considering what we have here to work with, it wouldn't be impossible for Arc to be flexible and throw some of these in for the sake of fans.
GG is an obvious pick really. I was really surprised to see NO "Guilty Gear"in an Arc Systems Work collaboration crossover project. There is a good chance that we might be getting GG, since it IS after all, Arc's biggest fighting game franchise to date. Imagine the likes of Sol and Ky being in here, teaching all these young whippersnappers a lesson or two? Out of all the other possible franchise inclusions, this one actually does not seem to far off, and I sure as well want it to happen.
...Oh but if it DOES happen, would you guys mind putting Baiken in there in the base game? I really don't want to wait 4 freaking years to have to play as her again (thanks for putting her in Rev 2 though, really appreciate it).
I'm not too huge onto "Melty Blood", but it is a franchise that I am well aware of. I wasn't a huge fan of the game back then, but after jumping into it years later I discovered a fun universe, though I personally have yet to watch the "Tsukihime" anime. This one is developed by "French bread", which also made UNIEL, so I think its not too far fetched to think that they might want to throw in a character or 2 from "Melty Blood" into "Blazblue Cross Tag Battle". Some of the characters would make a good fit actually. I'd personally like Sion, Shiki Ryougi, Shiki Nananya and probably Aruceid to join the battle, one can dream.
Again, I didn't play too much of "Skull Girls". This was one fighting game I only jumped in on when Big Band was announced, that was when I couldn't resist (you could guess who my main was). Why "Skull Girls"? This was almost has nothing to do with the games above, key word being ALMOST nothing. Actually, there was a collaboration with "Under Night" back in the day, and since "Under Night" is in this one....I know, I know, I'm probably thinking too far off on this one, but a man can dream. "Skull Girls" characters have always been epicly strange, they'd fit quite well into a crossover fighting game actually/
A man can certainly dream big. It hasn't been long since "Persona 5"'s global success, so it seems a bit too soon for our favorite Phantom Thieves to make their debut onto the fighting game crossover genre especially when they haven't even had their own freaking fighting game! This one might seem far fetched in that aspect, yes, but it would make me hyped as f**k to see Joker announced for this game. I mean, imagine him being a guest character for the future, inevitable "P5:Arena" that would have its full cast of playable characters?! Having just joker in here would be epic, and it would certainly boost the game's popularity, seeing how huge of a hit "P5" turned out to be.
And that's it from me for now. I personally can't wait to see the future of "Blazblue Cross Tag Battle" unravel before my eyes. I'm now simply eager to see what else the game has to offer in future trailers, character announcements and inclusions are what DRAWS people into a fighting game. TAKE NOTES, CAPCOM!!
