Yeah, I did. For anyone who doesn't get Game Informer i'll type it out for you, (I'll also take the liberty of putting bold parentheses in for my own comments about the review) -
A young vigilante boy who carries around a life-sized marionette he refers to as his sister. A vampire whose talking pet cat morphs into an umbrella during combat. A tips mode entitled, "Teach me, Boobie Ladie." If you were looking for proof that Japanese developer Arc System Works is insane, here it is. Fortunately for the rest of us, Blazblue also doubles as an enjoyable fighting game (Wait, it DOUBLES as a fighting game? And here I thought that was the main focus. Guess I was wrong).
The story begins in the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, a mystical world where humanity has infused technology with powerful magic called Armagus - argh! You know what! Who cares? Blazblue's longwinded mess of a story will make you appreciate how most fighers keep a narrative real simple (Wait, wait. So you're telling me that rather than try to make an actual long and detailed story that fighting games should just have a 3rd grade level paragraph of a story for each game like Street Fighter? Way to make the designers push their boundaries.). The real thrill here is the frantic 1 on 1 combat.
Anyone familiar with Arc System Work's Guilty Gear titles will feel at home here. This 2D brawler has some of the hottest animations, a host of outlandish attacks, and gorgeous mixed 2D/3D backgrounds. Unfortunately, mastering the combat system requires a fair amount of dedicated erudition (Yeah, because being unable to master a fighting game in a day or two means it's worse right? Oh wait. It doesn't.). Blazblue can be a fairly defensive fighter - a wide variety of different counters, cancels and blocks complicate the battle system, and newcomers will take their lumps before mastering the intricacies of each characer's special drive attacks (Two words. Negative Penalty. And as for newcomers "Taking their lumps" isn't that how it SHOULD be? It doesn't make sense for a player new to the game to being able to immediately compete with experienced players if they haven't practiced and gone through trial and error).
In the hands of an expert fighter this game is tunning, but joystick jockeys who are out of shape might want to start an intense training regimen.
BOTTOM LINE - 7.75
Concept - Hyper 2D fighting meets a psychedelic nightmare.
Graphics - The game's varied backgrounds are a mesemerizing mix of 2D images and actual 3D models
Sound - The Japanese tradition of having high-pitched voice actors voice anima characters hold firm (No mention of the English Voice actors...?)
Playability - Throwing special attacks on the fight analog stick helps even the playing field for beginners, though I can imagine someone will complain about it. (I have no clue what they are talking about here. I have heard nothing about this).
Entertainment - Dedicated fans will be able to take their skills online to face off against opponents all over the globe, beat leaderboard scores, and watch live matches
Replay Value - Moderate
Second Opinion - 7.75
Am I playing a 2D fighting game or a drug-induced gothic hallucination? Blazblue features a stable of improbable characters using ridiculous attacks to beat each other up in satisfying ways. Underneath the slick designs and outlandish action is a challenging and complex fighter, but don't expect the game to help you discover its depth (I'm assuming it's like Guilty Gear then in that respect). Learning the ropes is a slow and aggravating grind, especiall since many characters have many unique mechanics that don't transfer to the others (OH NO!!! YOU MEAN BY LEARNING 1 CHARACTER I DON'T AUTOMATICALLY LEARN 2-3 OTHERS? This variety can be rewarding to master, but also significantly incrases the time you'll need to invest if you want to become more than a button masher (How is this a bad thing...?). If you're playing solo or against you friends online, that kind of skill isn't neccesary - you can just enjoy the beautiful visuals and stylish attacks that admirably foolow in Guilty Gear's footsteps.
Forgive any typos I might of made, I typed that in a rush while reading my copy in front of me.
