Blazblue (PS3/360)

[briareos_kerensky]

I have no idea whats on the bluray disc, but i'm guessing its something like an experts guide or something, kind of like the dvd discs you would see with the cave games.

"Bonus video disc containing basic tutorials, expert advice, character-specific strategies, and much more!", quote from Gamestop's and VGP's websites. Gamestop preorders get a bonus artbook too. IIRC the whole first print run is a "limited" edition, so even those who haven't preordered it should be able to grab it (in the US, at least).

But then you need to like cheesy rock solos to even appreciate its soundtrack.

If the soundtrack continues the tradition of Guilty Gear, I'm all in for cheesy solos

[Darwock]

3 wins 5 losses tonight, against another noobish player.. it was great though, for the first time I could see us both learning from what each other was doing - I started off rushing him nonstop and he was always backing into the corner (those were the rounds I won).. then by the end he had turned the tables and wasn't letting me dominate like that. Plus he kept using this jumping downward slash with Hakumen that I eventually learned how to block.

It almost makes me want to cry, finally I get to play a 2D fighter the way it's supposed to be played! The netcode is a thing of beauty as well, it's absolutely flawless.

P.S. I spent a good 20 seconds hopping about at the end of one round trying to get my Astral Heat move to come out, before realising that the room had them disabled ><

[Darwock]

US players will have this by now, right?

Going on the assumption that America will have a larger percentage of beginners than Japan, I may dip into the ranked matches for the first time today. There should be a higher chance of meeting someone as utterly clueless as me.

[mugetsu]

my jp version arrived about 5 min ago , gonna fire it up after i finish work tonight.
if your on Darwock i'll give u a few games tonight

[Darwock]

I think I'll be in my bed by then (I'm on Japan time), but at the weekend I can get up early, which would be late evening for you guys or go to bed late as necessary, plus the summer hols are coming up in a week or so - so I won't need to get up for work

I really wanna get some lobbies on the go with friends, it's a great feature but never going to be the same with randoms.

I jumped into the ranked matches tonight - not as harsh as expected but I was picking my opponents carefully and still finished up with a win ratio hovering between 25&#37; and 33%. Players with a large number of disconnects show up as red in the game list, and it's worth avoiding them because if they d/c then it counts towards your unfinished game count too (REALLY hope they fix that). I have played against all of the characters at least once already so early fears of Ken syndrome remain unfounded. Some chars are pretty spammy though, particularly Nu (the boss) and Noel. Nu isn't so bad as if you get up close she's at a major disadvantage, but Noel seems to be able to bash out random chains that hit all over the place and are very hard to block - I got a couple of easy wins myself by doing this, with no idea where she would strike next. Not keen on that, definitely favours button mashing.

I have to reiterate how perfect the online play was. Gamefaqs is going crazy with people complaining about lag, saying it's hopeless, so I wonder if the local network infrastructure is responsible (Japan's is obviously very good). Apparently some replays can be uploaded so if I can figure it out I'll post one to show you how smooth it is for me.

There's a good sense of humour in some of the trophies and descriptions you get, the one I received for my first ranked match was called "be gentle with me, it's my first time" and the icon is a picture of a bed with a love heart coming out of it. Another trophy is called "hands where I can see them" and is for unlocking gallery pictures

On the other hand the juvenile humour in the rest of the game really makes me cringe sometimes, there's an enormous fixation with breasts and how big or small they are.. don't play this with polite company in the room (unless you set it to a language they don't speak).

[mugetsu]

i play my games at the weirdest of times anyway so looking forward to a few matches

[Darwock]

Downloadable 8-bit versions of the music in the game available here.

[Darwock]

So I tried to beat the arcade mode with Rachel Alucard tonight, was doing alright up until the last fight against Nu.. she has given me some trouble with other characters but it has never taken more than a few attempts. With Rachel? 2 HOURS. I don't know if this is a bad match-up or if I just suck at using Rachel, but all she would do is float around uselessly while Nu bombarded me with missiles. With the other characters I've relied on pressuring Nu into the corner, but Rachel doesn't have anything good I could find to do so. Impossible to lay out her traps as Nu doesn't give you a moments breathing space. Not sure how I did it in the end, just lucky I think.

[Darwock]

Spectator mode is great when you get a good match to watch - I joined these two american guys' game as a spectator for a long time this afternoon - they were talking non-stop, plus testing each other with all the characters, it would have made great TV! My headset wasn't plugged in but I sent a few PSN messages and they always responded immediately. The community potential here is great.

I'm still trying to settle on a favourite character - I was using Taokaka today, which I didn't enjoy much in arcade mode but she was pretty handy in the player matches I fought - I beat a couple of guys waaaay higher in level than me (which got me promoted to level 10) just by confusing the hell out of them with dashes and cross-overs.. she's pretty nice for bringing some chaotic action!I have trouble getting her distortion drives to come out though, don't like double quarter-circle motions.

Jin is easiest to use, I can pretty much do what I want to with him but as a result he's not the most interesting.

[Paddy]

I like how Taokaka seems to be a cute version of Wolverine.

C'mon postie, make me smile today! (slim chance mind!)

[mugetsu]

i just played my first few games online for the first time yestarday and i only won 1/7 matches, got my ass totally handed to me, definatly need more practice........a LOT more.

[Darwock]

I think that's a better percentage than me... I definitely had to leave my pride at the door because there's no doubt that playing online makes you better at it

[Super Monkey Balls]

Anyone have a translation of the DLC? Some of its obvious but whats the 400pts one for example?

[Kron]

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802415807d5/?p=1&of=3&bt=0&sb=1#offers

[Super Monkey Balls]

Pfft, 400 points for some colours