Video Game Vintage Title: BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is a fighting game developed by Arc System Works. The game's name is a portmanteau of "blaze" and "blue," with the "z" sound omitted in the Japanese pronunciation, rendering it similar to the word "bray" in pronunciation.

The game is currently released for the Taito Type X2 arcade system board, with a 16:9 ratio and 768p resolution and was released on November 19, in Japan and November 20, 2008 in the United States. It was released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 home consoles on June 25, 2009 in Japan. A port for the PlayStation Portable, titled BlazBlue Portable , was released on February 25, 2010 in Japan. The PC version was released in Europe on August 20 and in Japan on August 26, 2010. The PlayStation Portable port was released in Europe on September 9, 2010. The PC port is a direct conversion of the Xbox 360 version, and contains cross-platform compatibility via the Games for Windows - Live service.

A sequel, also next episode featuring new content and characters, titled BlazBlue: Continuum Shift has also been released for the arcade, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.

A television anime adaptation titled BlazBlue Alter Memory started airing on October 8, 2013.

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Plot

Before the events of the game, humanity was on the verge of extinction from a creature called the "Black Beast." The world was saved by six heroes who wielded magic. They helped humanity create "Ars Magus", a fusion of magic and science, to defeat the Black Beast. This event would be later known as the First War of Magic.

After the war, the Novus Orbis Librarium (also referred to as "The Library" or the "NOL") was created to govern the world with the use of Ars Magus. A great deal of dissent was caused by the Library, partly due to Ars Magus' use in nearly every facet of society, and the widening socioeconomic gap between those who could and couldn't use Ars Magus. This dissent would eventually form years later into the Second War of Magic or also known as the Ikaruga Civil War, when the city of Ikaruga openly rebelled against the NOL. Upon winning the war, the NOL imposed a harsher rule on the world, punishing any rebellion against the NOL with death.

In December A.D. 2199, several years after the Second War of Magic, a branch of the NOL was utterly destroyed by an SS-class rebel named "Ragna" also known as the "Grim Reaper", in an attempt to destroy the Librarium. The NOL, hoping to stop him, immediately announced the largest bounty ever, available to anyone who could capture him. Interestingly, Ragna possesses a powerful form of Ars Magus known as the "Azure Grimoire." This led the NOL, as well as the other fighters, to hunt Ragna not just for his bounty, but also his Azure Grimoire.

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Gameplay

BlazBlue is a traditional 2D fighter where two characters participate in a duel. A round is called a "rebel" and one match can consist of one to five "rebels". To win a round, one player must either incapacitate the other by inflicting damage through various attacks to reduce their opponent's health to zero or by having more remaining health than their opponent after the clock runs out.

Every character has a weak, medium and strong attack. Also every ones has a "unique" technique, called a Drive attack, which is different for each character. Those attacks are also known as "A", "B", "C" and "D". Various combos can be performed by every character through careful input of regular and Drive attacks. A combo consists of two or more consecutive attacks that hit an opponent without them retaliating. As combos become longer, each attack will do less damage than normal to give the opponent a chance to retaliate. Grabs can be incorporated into combos also by pressing the "B" and "C" buttons at the same time. Occasionally, some attacks (e.g. Jin's Hirensou) will use portions of the player's heat gauge at the bottom of the screen. The heat gauge is filled by either dealing or receiving damage. When a character has 50% or more heat, special moves called "Distortion Drives" can be performed. When a Distortion Drive is successfully performed and connects with the opponent, it deals massive damage and is visually flashier than normal attacks.

Along with attacks every character has two types of block. One is the regular block that can be broken with a "Guard Crush". That can be achieved by pushing the "Guard Libra" gauge all the way to the opponent's side through repeated attacks. If the opponent keeps blocking, then their guard can be broken, leaving them open for attack. The second type of block is a Barrier Block, which is initiated by blocking while holding the "A" and "B" buttons at the same time. A Barrier Block cannot be broken like a normal guard, but there is a limit on how long one can be held, which is indicated by the Barrier Gauge. If the Barrier Gauge empties, then the player will receive 150% damage until it regenerates to half-full.

Reception
The console versions have received positive reviews, with scores of 88% on Game Rankings and 89% on Metacritic. Praise has been given for the depth of gameplay in spite of a comparatively small roster as well as an excellent online component. Blazblue's plot has also been surprisingly well-received, many reviews noting it as well-conceived and exceptional amidst the often lackluster and convoluted stories that the fighting game genre has.

Both console versions of the game debuted in the top ten of Japanese sales charts during their week of release. The PlayStation 3 version entered at number five with 34,000 units sold and the Xbox 360 entered at number 6 with 25,000 units sold.

In 2009, Blazblue was nominated for a Spike Fighting Game of the Year award but lost to Street Fighter IV.