The story of Continuum Shift takes place right after the dramatic climax of Calamity Trigger, with all the characters from the previous game returning and plenty of new faces joining the mix. Continuum Shift further develops the story and answers many questions from Calamity Trigger. The plot of Calamity Trigger was actually one of the best stories we ever experienced in a fighting game, and even though it was a bit weird and convoluted, it all eventually added up and even more so in Coninuum Shift. Once again, things like time travel, cloning, prophecies and the destruction of the universe make up the complex and engaging plot of Continuum Shift. Now it may seem necessary for newcomers to play Calamity Trigger in order to enjoy Continuum Shift, but thankfully that’s not the case because at the end of the day, fighting games are never about the story, they are all about gameplay (multiplayer to be more precise). While it is nice that the BlazBlue series has such an interesting and detailed plot, buying all the games just for the sake of it just isn’t necessary at all.
Continuum Shift plays like Calamity Trigger, as the core system is almost identical but still ends up feeling fresh: all courtesy of the new improvements, refinements and features. The game features a new Guard and Burst system, making tactics a bit more varied and interesting. The Astral Heat conditions have also been changed and are bit more lenient, especially in terms of the opponent’s HP requirement, and this grants more opportunities to pull off these breathtaking finishers. The biggest changes however can be found in the character roster.
Blazy Bloo is back better than ever...and not very late!
Continuum Shift alters the character roster substantially in terms of play style and balance, as many of them have been given a major overhaul in terms of moves, techniques and other characteristics. The characters have been retuned and rebalanced for the better as a lot as the bouts are now much fairer than they were before. Some characters have been improved dramatically with new moves that further compliment their play style, especially with characters like Carl, Hakumen, and Jin. Overpowered characters have been toned down and underpowered characters have been given new tricks and improved characteristics. Not only that, but some of their moves have been new command inputs, especially their Astral finishers, and so they now flow and connect better. Overall, the character balance has improved substantially and fans will appreciate the refinements and changes.
Speaking of characters, the best thing about Continuum Shift is that it adds six new characters to the roster, bringing the total to eighteen highly unique and fascinating characters. Three of these are available on the disc with the remaining three to be available for purchase exclusively as DLC. The new characters are a breath of fresh air with Hazama serving as a wicked awesome final boss character, and Tsubaki Yayoi being one of the more accessible and enjoyable characters to use as she flows as effortlessly as Ragna and Noel. Lambda 11 is essentially v-13 (from Calamity Trigger)with a different skin and modified attack styles, and isn’t really a new character. Then you have the powerful Mu-12 as an unlockable which requires players to plough through the story mode (tedious but worthwhile). Makoto, Valkenhayn and Platinum will be available as DLC characters but unfortunately we were not able to gain access to any of them at the time of review. However, just the fact that there are fantastic new characters and that the game has such strong DLC support, that alone is pretty awesome.
The new characters are brilliant, with Tsubaki being our personal favourite.
Another major highlight of Continuum Shift are the wealth of new modes, giving gamers more value for their money. It has an addictive and re-playable score attack mode. In Legion Mode you assemble and army of BlazBlue characters and work through a sphere grid against other armies, it essentially works like a Team Battle mode with some added strategy elements (especially in terms bonuses you get after a battle), the mode isn’t exciting but doesn’t hurt to have it. The Tutorial Mode and Challenge are similar to what can be found in the Street Fighter IV series, designed help players master their favourite characters and learn all their skills and techniques. The Tutorial Mode is fantastic as it literally walks players through everything in terms of gameplay systems, mechanics and character move sets. The modes are not only useful for beginners, but hardcore players will benefit greatly from the character specific tutorials that provide in-depth lessons on how to make ideal and strategic use of a character's skills and moves. The customary Gallery mode is actually quite impressive this time, as it's loaded with heaps of beautiful and inspiring artwork, both official and fan made. The in-depth story mode is similar to what was in Calamity Trigger and has fully voiced dialogue, alternate paths and even some cool (although a tad bit messy) anime cut scenes.
The online multiplayer returns once more, and we all remember how amazing the net code was in Calamity Trigger. Our extremely brief experience with the online code was great but unfortunately a recent online update has made it difficult for us to find a match, and at the time of review, we were unable to download this free update from the Xbox Live Marketplace.
Fantastic visuals, art, music and gameplay.
Graphically, Continuum Shift is identical to Calamity Trigger, but thankfully there are some improvements as the stunning backgrounds have a lot more detail and beautiful effects, and the colour contrast looks a bit better. The game is perhaps one of the most beautiful 2D games to have been released in this decade, the quality of the sprites, effects, details and animations are nothing short of spectacular. Musically the Continuum Shift is an absolute beast, it retains all the tracks of Calamity Trigger while adding several more monumentally epic tracks. The new tracks, like the previous ones, are a breathtaking mix of heavy metal and symphony orchestra. The tracks ‘Sword of Doom’ and ‘Endless Despair’ are easily our favorites but all the new tracks are pretty much superb.
Perhaps the only gripe some gamers might have is that Continuum Shift and Calamity Trigger got released here within the same year, with a gap of roughly seven months between them. Gamers who paid full price for the local release of Calamity Trigger might be annoyed by seeing a bigger and better sequel getting released here within the same year.
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift is far from being just an expansion pack to BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, this is without a doubt a proper sequel. The new modes, music tracks, strong DLC support, characters and content set a high benchmark for BlazBlue's (inevitable) future titles. The gameplay refinements in terms of revised mechanics and character balancing do wonders for the gameplay, making it far more enjoyable than ever before. BlazBlue: Continuum Shift is one of the most polished and entertaining 2D fighting game releases of this console generation.
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