The BlazBlue series is no stranger to those who enjoy fighting games. It was Arc System Works’ follow up to the legendary Guilty Gear series, and became their main focus up until the release of Guilty Gear Xrd - Sign -. It originally released in 2008 in Arcades and shortly after in 2009 on consoles, and quickly gained popularity among the fighting game community.
After that initial release the series spun off into multiple sequels, multiple enhanced editions and ports, broke off into a full novel series, multiple manga entries, two visual novel prequels, and even an anime adaptation focusing on the second mainline entry. Moving on from there, it also received multiple mobile games, and eventually “came to an end” in 2016 with the release of Central Fiction. This is where the current story arc came to a conclusion, and Arc System Works went back to fully focusing on Guilty Gear… Or did they?
In 2017 something happened that no one saw coming; BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle was announced. While it was set to be the 5th main fighting game entry within the series, the game was not a sequel, but rather a “side game” that wasn’t only focused on BlazBlue. The game was set to be a crossover between BlazBlue, Persona 4 Arena (which Arc System Works also developed), Rooster Teeth’s RWBY, and French-Bread’s Under Night In-Birth (a series which served as a successor to Type-Moon’s Melty Blood, without Type-Moon’s involvement). While BlazBlue, Persona 4 Arena, and Under Night In-Birth were not as surprising (as Arc System Works did publish the console version of Under Night), the inclusion of RWBY was completely unexpected, and caused some mixed reactions from fans. Those who liked RWBY rejoiced, while others who didn’t care for the series weren’t sure how to feel about its inclusion.
That being said, it would take until 2018 for the game to finally release on Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC, with an Arcade port later on in 2019. Eventually it would come to Amazon Luna in 2021, but it wouldn’t see release on Xbox until two years later in 2023. During that time Arcana Heart, Senran Kagura, and Akatsuki Blitzkampf were added to the mix as well (as paid DLC of course).
So now here we are in 2025, and BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle is in its most “complete” form. But the question remains… How is it? Was this a worthy follow up to BlazBlue: Central Fiction? Or is this one best left alone?
The Story:
Although the BlazBlue series is known for being part visual novel (the games tend to have massive storylines that take dozens of hours to read through), the same cannot really be said for Cross Tag Battle. While the game does have a story, it is a full on “what-if” scenario, and nowhere near as long as a mainline game. It is more comparable to the quick retelling of Calamity Trigger which was included in Continuum Shift Extend, and takes only a few hours to get through. But the story is not the focus here, as Tag Battle is all about the gameplay.
What story the game does contain however follows Ragna as he finds himself in an alternate reality called the Phantom Field. This world pulls characters from other worlds, and each set of characters is given the same goal of protecting their own Keystone Fragment. This Keystone is their, well, key to returning home, and it becomes their one and only reason to fight. Each series gets its own story path to go through, and there are multiple endings to view as well.
Even with these alternate endings however, the story doesn’t evolve too much, and mainly focuses on the interactions between the different characters. This is entertaining (never thought I’d see the day Yu Narukami from Persona met up with Ragna), but it is over in what seems to be a blink of an eye. Sadly the short run time is the biggest let down when it comes to the story, and the finale is pretty predictable. Overall it was still a fun trip, but again, it is very clear the story mode was not the focus this time around.
The Gameplay:
Despite being called BlazBlue, Cross Tag Battle feels a lot more like a follow up to Persona 4 Arena. Rather than using the standard ABCD attack format, with different directions being held or hit for different attacks, the game opts to fully use what BlazBlue used to call Beginner Mode (and was later renamed to Stylish Mode). This means there are few buttons to press, and hitting them over and over again results in auto combos without the need to physically change things up yourself.
Of course some special abilities require inputs still, but for the most part the game is very beginner friendly and requires less memorization compared to standard fighters. This is nearly the exact same battle system that was used for Persona 4 Arena, so much so that the Persona 4 characters play just about the same. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it may be a let down for long time BlazBlue fans who have spent years perfecting using their mains, and it ultimately makes the game not feel like a BlazBlue game.
Moving past the way combos and attacks work, the second major change is the fact that Cross Tag Battle focuses on tag-team fights, and not just single characters. Players get to choose two characters to bring into battle, and they can be swapped out freely during a fight. This allows for some interesting combos as characters can be swapped out during attacks, and 53 playable characters (after DLC) there are countless character combinations that can be used. This helps make every fight unique, as not only will everyone have their own play style, but everyone will choose a different set of characters as well. This requires learning how to fight against not only both of your opponents choices, but also learning how to fight against them using both of your own.
In a fighting game this can take quite a lot of effort to do, as different strategies are required to win against different characters, and those strategies also change based on which character you are using. This is actually where the “simplified” controls and combos really help out, and make the game much more accessible. Instead of having to spend dozens of hours practicing as each character, they are very pick up and play friendly from the get go, and even newbies can start playing and stand a chance from day one.
When it comes to the actual content within the game, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle offers the standard arcade modes, challenge modes, versus modes, tutorial missions, and of course online play. It has plenty for those who only want to play offline, and contains all of the features one might expect when it comes to playing online. Free play, ranked, lobbies, you name it, as Cross Tag Battle has it. The game was also updated to include Rollback Netcode, making the online experience even better than ever. The online lobby system also allows players to select a 3D avatar and walk around, which is a cool feature Arc System Works has been using for quite a few years now.
Should you play it?
BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle is a solid fighting game, with a large cast of characters, and a dream crossover title for everyone who is a fan of the series included. As a fan of BlazBlue, Persona, Under Night In-Birth, and RWBY, I was personally overjoyed from the moment I started it up. The inclusion of the extra series were also a nice bonus, and the selection of characters used from each offers a great variety of play styles. When it comes to its core gameplay, character selection, and general content, Cross Tag Battle is a game you cannot go wrong with; however, it is not perfect as a “BlazBlue title.”
For BlazBlue fans it is important to know that the game fully adapts the auto combo gameplay style, and that the story mode is not the massive visual novel normally featured in this series (or in other Arc System Works games in general). This game is meant to be an easy to pick up and play fighter, and that is exactly what it succeeds at. Yes, it does still have depth and requires plenty of training to master, but it is still much easier to learn and doesn’t offer as much freedom as seen in the previous entries. Despite this, I still highly recommend it.
Although BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle is not my favorite entry in the series, the game is easy to pick up, and simply a lot of fun. It has a great cast of characters, outstanding song choices for the background music, Rollback Netcode for smooth online play, and plenty of content for offline play as well. It is a fighting game that everyone interested in 2D fighters should at least give a chance, but it is not a replacement BlazBlue: Central Fiction, and that is important for fans to know before jumping in.
VERDICT: Recommended
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