Getting started with Blazblue

[Plasmadamage]

So I've been here for about a year now, and when discussions turn to fighting games, there's always one name that comes up consistently positive: Blazblue.

Now it looks like the kind of game I'd enjoy; the animations are nice, the artwork is beautiful and the characters (particularly Hazama) are awesomeness itself. But, from what I can find out, this is a series with a pretty dense and sometimes unintelligible backstory, and I hate not knowing what's going on.

Are there any recommendations for where to start? Can I just jump in with continuum shift, assuming that that's the latest one? Or is there other stuff I should look into first?

 

[shrekfan246]

Well, there's only two games in the 'story' right now anyway; Calamity Trigger and Continuum Shift.

As for how intelligible the story is, it depends on your thoughts on anime. BlazBlue is simultaneously a satirical mockery and love-letter to ridiculous sci-fi/fantasy shonen anime. Personally, I think it's charming, hilarious, and well-balanced with serious heavy moments. It's got really solid writing for what it is.

Continuum Shift does... sort of... cover what happens in Calamity Trigger, but the way the story is told means that you experience it all in bits and pieces as you go through each character's story mode, so you won't really know the whole tale of either game until you've finished everything with everyone. It's not nearly as cohesive as some other story-driven games, but it's really fun to experience just how gloriously stupid it can get. Though the learning curve is rather steep... (Though I suck at fighting games, so take that with a grain of salt if you've already got a lot of experience with them.)

I'd say both titles are worth experiencing, especially if you're a fan of anime and are interested in the storyline. If you can't afford it, then I wouldn't say you're missing too much by jumping right in with Continuum Shift EXTEND (re-release that features all of the DLC and extra content that had been added after the initial release).

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Continuum Shift Extend sums up the major events and characters of the first game pretty well. At worst you can just consult the BB wiki.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Yeah you should be fine just going into Extend. Calamity Trigger had some weird stuff, apparently you need to lose some games to unlock the true ending... Or something. Some real flowchart stuff. I never got far and the recap in Extend was good enough.

The mechanics ain't too bad once you get going and the tutorial is good. The characters are amazing. I main Mu-12, as anyone who has paid any attention to any fighting game-ish thread can probably tell you. I go for all the hipster characters that nobody ever plays online. I mained Phoenix Wright in UMVC3, Mu in BB and now Shadow Labrys in Persona 4 Arena.

I REALLY wish I could get good with Makoto but I cannot do super close range boxing characters at all.

Look I could post an entire essay on how BEAST Hazama is. So many good quotes. Literally my new favourite villain of all time

"I'm really not the fighting kinda guy y'know?"

 

[Baralak]

I've only played Continuum Shift, and never got into the story much. I hate things told in tiny bits and pieces like BlazBlue is. I much prefer the Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat/Injustice method of story modes.

That said, I main Iron Tager, and my friends don't like me using him, thinking he's OP. I just sit there "No, you just suck."

 

[Baron von Blitztank]

You'll be fine jumping into Blazblue: Continuum Shift EXTEND, I know I was.
It comes with an abridged version of the first game which contains all the important bits and it also has all the character and colour-pallete DLC for Continuum Shift so you can get all the characters. An important thing to note is that every character has a different combat style (which may be par for the course in fighting games, but really surprised me coming off of UMVC3). You'll have one character that is a grappler, one that steals health from enemies, one who jumps across the battlefield, one who applies status-effects to inflict more damage, etc. So it's go through every single one of them and find out how they work so you can find which one goes best with your playstyle.

 

[Fappy]

As everyone else has stated already, you'll be fine just starting in CS Extend. The recap does a good enough job telling the story of the first game. If they end up referencing something later that you think was skipped over in the abridged version you can look it up on the wiki. The story mode is loads of fun (though the dialogue can drag). Shrek put it rather nicely.