Each character is even assigned a trump card of sorts called the Barrier Burst. By pressing all four buttons at the same time, the player is able to break out of any combo at the cost of his or her defense. However, be warned—these Barrier Bursts can only be used once per round.

At its core, BlazBlue itself isn’t as complicated as players may think. BlazBlue boasts a smaller roster than other games, allowing gamers to pick a suitable character before playing the available modes the game offers.

Story modes, arcade, versus, score attack and network play are all available in BlazBlue. Single player time would most likely be spent on the story mode. Unlike other fighting games that follow convoluted storylines that make no sense, BlazBlue manages to incorporate a coherent plot able to keep any player interested.

Every character has their own branching storyline to keep things fresh among the twelve selectable players. Each character has their own side of the overall plot with connections between their neighboring characters. The main storyline revolves around the character Ragna the Bloodedge.  For some unknown reason, Ragna was destroying parts of Novus Orbis Librarium (NOL), a branch of order created to control a technology called Armagus. The culmination of both science and magic properties, Armagus was used as a weapon prior to the events of BlazBlue. After its massive destruction, NOL placed an incredibly high bounty on Ragna’s head to stop his murderous rampage at all costs.

It is during the story mode where the player is able to achieve unlockables such as character art and even special voice interviews of the characters. Unfortunately, the interviews are in Japanese with no translation for them.

Although the unlockables from the story mode are interesting, most players will be spending their time in the outstanding online play. Both ranked and player matches are available. Ranked matches follow a RPG-style of leveling up where higher levels mean facing tougher opponents of the player’s skill level. Player matches have the addition of lobbies where six players or more can be in a room. In player matches, BlazBlue plays out as if it was in the arcade—the winner stays and the loser goes to the back of the line for another turn. Needless to say, it is a great way to see different fighting styles, as not everyone will be playing the same character over and over again. All of this is done with little to no lag in the game.

What is even more impressive is BlazBlue’s visual quality. The character sprites are fluid, hand-drawn characters pulled straight from someone’s favorite anime. Backdrops have a two- and three-dimensional blend that shows the designers’ incredible artistic skills. Aside from the aesthetics, the game’s sound quality is top notch as well. Duel language support for English and Japanese is always a welcomed feature, and the Gregorian chant-fueled music and rock rifts complement the crazy nature of the game.

If there were any complaints about the game, it would be how different it is. Not everybody will enjoy the anime style, nor will everyone be accepting on how unordinary each and every character is. Though basic quarter circle motions in any fighting games register here, every character would do something completely distinctive, even if it is the exact same button inputs.

When it comes down to it, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger has an overall impressive package. Excellent one-on-one fighting mechanics, a cleverly written plot, and the unbelievable online play will keep players coming back for more. Gamers who dig fighting games should do themselves a favor and BlazBlue pick up.

All in All: Though the zany anime-influenced graphics may turn off some players, BlazBlue will manage to pull in fighting game fans.

Bottom Line: 9.5 out of 10