is a two-dimensional fighting arcade game in development by Arc System Works, the staff behind the Guilty Gear series. It is set to come out in November 2008 in Japan. It is a spiritual successor to Guilty Gear. A playable demo was presented at AOU 2008. The game is being developed for the Taito Type X2 arcade system board, with a 16:9 ratio and 720p resolution.

System

The game uses an 8-directional lever, common to most fighting games, and 4 attack buttons: Light, Middle, Heavy, and Drive, the latter of which activates unique special abilities for each character. Throws and throw cancels are performed by pressing medium and strong at the same time. In addition to basic dashing and jumping, there are also double-jumps and aerial dashes.

• Heat Gauge: An energy gauge used for the Distortion Drive and Rapid Cancel.
• Distortion Drive: Special attacks unique to each character that consume 50% of the heat gauge. Performed with some arrows motion plus the drive button.
• Barrier Gauge: A gauge that regenerates over time, used for Barrier and Barrier Burst. The defense capability of a character is lowered for a set period of time when this gauge reaches zero.
• Barrier: Pushes back the enemy and prevents guard damage. Performed by pressing weak attack and medium attack at the same time while guarding.
• Barrier Burst: Pushes the opponent away, either when guarding or receiving damage, thus cancelling the enemy's combo in the latter case. Uses 100% of the barrier gauge and leaves it to zero for a set period of time. Performed by pressing all four buttons at the same time.

Story

Before the events of BlazBlue, humanity was on the the verge of extinction from the "Black Beast", a creature of Darkness. Hope came in the form of six heroes who wielded the power of magic. Together, the six heroes & humanity created "Armagus" a combination of Magic & Technology to defeat the Beast, which would be known as The First War of Magic.

After the war, the New World Void Space Cue Administration Bureau was created to govern the new world which has discovered the use of Armagus. Under the Bureau, Humanity began reconstructing & the world was under their dictatorship. However this caused much dissent for the people due to fact Armagus was used in every issue & the widening socioeconomic gap between those who could use & cannot use Armagus. This dissent would eventually form years later into The Ikaruga Civil War or The Second War of Magic, when the Ikaruga Union openly rebelled against the Bureau. After the war, the Bureau imposed a harsher rule on the world declaring anyone that defies them will be killed.

On December A.D.2199, several years after the Second war, a branch of the Bureau was utterly destroyed by an SS-class traitor named "Ragna the Bloodedge" also known as "the God of Death." His quest was to destroy the Bureau. The New World Void Space Cue Administration Bureau, hoping to stop him, immediately put the largest bounty ever for anyone who could capture him.

Characters

• Ragna the Bloodedge

Height: 185 cm

Weight: 78 kg

Bloodtype: B

Gender: M

The almighty force managing the "Operation", in order to obtain absolute power over the world, is this man who has rebelled against the "Earth and Space Information Control System". Known as the "God of Death", a bounty for his elimination has been placed in all the regions populated with branches of the Control System. In game, his tactics revolve around using his power and large sword to keep pressure on his opponents. His Drive Ability is known as Soul Eater, which is used to absorb the opponents life.

• Jin Kisaragi

Height: 178 cm

Weight: 61 kg

Bloodtype: A

Gender: M

From a prestigious family, this man is a retainer of the Control System's Kisaragi house. His class is Major. In the past, he had a distinguished military record during the "Ikaruga Civil War" that broke out, and was promoted to the position of Division Commander at an exceptionally young age. He is always cool and calm, though he is a deeply jealous, ambitious, and possessive person, with little care for others. His Drive Ability is known as Frost Bite, which specializes in freezing opponents.

• Noel Vermillion

Height: 157 cm

Weight: 48 kg

Bloodtype: A

Gender: F

Because of her outstanding combat ability and suitable operation evaluations, she was selected to be Jin Kisaragi's direct subordinate in her youth. The two were acquaintances in officer's academy, though Noel thought Jin was extremely weak. However, on a certain mission handed down from the Control System, her preconceptions were changed. Her Drive Ability is known as Chain Revolver, which specializes in chain linking her combos together.

• Iron Tagar (TR-00009)

Height: 240 cm

Weight: 550 kg

Bloodtype: Replaced with unknown substance

Gender: M

Originally the leader of a battle unit which revolved around physical combat, he was forced to withdraw from the front lines after sustaining a mortal wound in the Ikaruga Civil War. He was brought back from the brink of death at the hands of the scientist "Kokonoe" and revived as a cyborg, and is currently assigned to a combat unit under the direct control of Kokonoe. He seems to be pursuing Ragna, though his goals are entirely unclear. His Drive Ability is Volttech Battler, which specializes in using electricity and magnetism so he can grab his enemies.

• Rachel Alucard

Height: 145 cm

Weight: 31 kg

Bloodtype: Unknown

Gender: F

A blood-sucking vampire who is the head of the Alucard family and who dresses in a gothic lolita style. As the head of the family an enormous castle and a servant have been handed down to her from previous generations. She carries a cat-shaped umbrella called Nago and fights using a chubby, red bat familiar called Gii. She slipped out of her castle in search of fun because she hates to be bored. Her Drive Ability is Sylphide, which allows her to manipulate wind.

• Taokaka

Height: 165 cm

Weight: 42 kg

Bloodtype: O

Gender: F

A young catgirl of the Kaka tribe who live in the lower class part of Kagutsuchi. Her coat is equipped with massive paw-like hands that include long, retractable claws. She wants to get back the sky above her village that was sealed off with an enormous plate by humans who came to the land and started building a big city. She left her village in search of someone called Ragna after she heard that you could gain a lot of money for defeating him. Her Drive Ability is known as Dancing Edge: Reckless Kitty, which specializes at dashing at high speeds with a slash attack.

• Litchi Faye Ling

Height: 170 cm

Weight: 58 kg

Bloodtype: AB

Gender: F

A doctor in the oriental part of Kagutsuchi. Apparently, she is vital to the town because of her profession and her knack for sensing others' needs. Her reasons for coming here are unknown. Her Drive Ability is Mantenbou, which manipulates her staff into attacking opponents by itself.

• Arakune

Height: 20-200 cm

Weight: 5-1000 kg

Bloodtype: Unknown

Gender: Unknown

An occult being that is constantly seeking knowledge. Its body houses innumerable insects. Currently, it lives under the streets of Kagutsuchi. Because it needs to absorb large amounts of life force to continue its existence, it frequently attacks those of the Kaka tribe and humans alike. Recently, it has sensed the presence of a being with unheard of levels of life force, which has caused it to stir. Its Drive Ability is Crimson, which curses the opponent to where several flying insects will attack him/her.

• Bang Shishigami

Height: 192 cm

Weight: 105 kg

Bloodtype: B

Gender: M

A ninja who mastered various techniques. His Drive Ability is Burning Heart, which makes him fully use his ninja skills.

• Carl Clover

Height: 144 cm

Weight: 35 kg

Bloodtype: AB

Gender: M

A young boy wearing a top hat who fights using a large mechanical maid puppet named Nirvana. His Drive Ability is Auto Maton, which controls Nirvana.

Bosses

• V13 - The sub-boss of the game, V13 looks like a mechanical/cyborg girl who floats in mid-air, is short, has short white hair, mecha shoulder pads, what appears to be an eye scanner on one of her eyes, and is colored all white. Strikingly resembles Noel.
• Haku-Men - The boss of the game, he looks like a cross between Justice from Guilty Gear and a white samurai, wielding a long sword. Both Haku-Men and V13 were seen at the EVO location test for the game.

Voice actors

• Tomokazu Sugita - Ragna the Bloodedge
• Tetsuya Kakihara - Jin Kisaragi
• Kanako Kondou - Noel Vermillion
• Kenji Nomura - Iron Tagar
• Kana Ueda - Rachel Alucard
• Chiwa Saito - Taokaka
• Chiaki Takahashi - Litchi Faye Ling
• Takashi Hikida - Arakune
• Tsuyoshi Koyama - Bang Shishigami
• Miyuki Sawashiro - Carl Clover

References

External Links

• Official site
• Official site