As the console release of the newest installment in the "BlazBlue" series, "BlazBlue: CentralFictio0n," nears with barely three weeks left, developer Arc System Works just released a brand new promotional video for the game showcasing the new playable characters alongside the game's revamped Story, Practice, Battle, Grim of Abyss, and Network modes.
Arc System Works shared the video on the company's official YouTube channel, acting to both promote the Japanese console release of "BlazeBlue: CentralFiction" as well as to offer a deeper insight into the game's new mechanics and re-introduce the new playable characters. As the trailer's audio was primarily in Japanese, the Anime News Network has provided a translated summary of the video's contents.
"BlazBlue: CentralFiction" will bring back all of the main gameplay modes present in the previous entries in the series, namely: Story mode, Practice mode, Battle mode, and Network mode; and joining them with the revamped version of the Abyss mode from "BlazeBlue: Continuum Shift II," which has been renamed the Grim of Abyss mode for "CentralFiction."
The content of the returning game modes in "BlazBlue: CentralFiction" will be as straightforward as their names suggest. Story mode will take players through the game's campaign and tell the tale of the ceaselessly continuing conflict for the mysterious power of the Azure, Practice mode will allow players to hone their skills in controlling the game's playable characters, Battle is the collective term for the various offline multiplayer aspects of the game, and Network mode is the online multiplayer.
As for the new Grim of Abyss mode, the older Abyss mode was essentially a marathon of fights that incorporated a tiered level system that adjusted the enemies that players faced based on their performance and progress. It is not yet clear how the Grim of Abyss version present in "BlazBlue: CentralFiction" will actually change that formula.
The trailer also showcased the new playable characters that "BlazBlue: CentralFiction" introduced to the main series. Returning from the arcade version of "CentralFiction" are Hibiki Kohaku, Naoto Kurogane, Nine the Phantom/Konoe A. Mercury, and Izanami. Coming to the console release are Es, from the "Xblaze" series of visual novels, and Mai Natsume from the mangas.
Though some of those characters have already shown up in prior localized "BlazBlue" media, it seems like some, like Es and Naoto, will not be getting their English voices anytime soon. "BlazeBlue" localization team Aksys Games announced last month that "CentralFiction" will not be receiving an English dub so that the company can release the console version much earlier.
"BlazeBlue: CentralFiction" will release to the PlayStation consoles in Japan on Oct. 6. A Winter 2016 and Q4 2016 is coming later for the North American and European territories respectively.
