New Fighter from Guilty Gear Creators Coming to Consoles

A recent Famitsu article has revealed that System Arc Works' latest fighter, BlazBlue, will be making its way to Japanese consoles sometime this summer.

BlazBlu is set to be released on both PS3 and Xbox 360, and according to the General Director Toshimichi Mori, the game will arrive with a bounty of extra content. The biggest addition is that of an enormous 30 hour long story mode with branching paths and fully voiced dialogue. Given the labyrinthine, ret-conned hellscape that most fighting game stories usually are, these 30 hours could be HEAVEN OR HELL.

BlazBlu's story mode will also feature anime cut scenes from Studio GONZO, probably best known for their work on Anime such as Gantz, Desert Punk and Full Metal Panic! Looking at SFIV's eyesore cut scenes, we can confidently say that BlazBlu has already won in this area. And we haven't even seen BlazBlu's cutscenes yet.

The game is currently scheduled to have worldwide online play, a very good sign that the game might see a release outside of Japan. Although the abysmal sales of System Arc Works' last release in the U.S., Battle Fantasia, might cause them to think twice about bringing a new franchise into a market caught in the death grip of Street Fighter IV.

BlazBlu's gameplay seems combo-centric in nature with an emphasis on attacking and juggling downed players. Also notable is the game's HD graphics and its more straightforward visual style. Characters are very clean lined and well rendered, but seem fairly generic when compared to Guilty Gear's off the rails loonies.

System Arc Works is best known for its Guilty Gear franchise, a 2-D fighter featuring a brightly colored cast of bizarre characters and highly refined, complex, gameplay.

Source: IGN