BlazBlue series thread

[ZenErik]

I'd prefer that they keep the roster lean. The larger they make the roster the more balancing issues come in to play and the stupider the story mode will get. I appreciate that these fighting game characters actually have character.

[ZenErik]

If ArcSys said to me "ok, we're working on BB3 and we want your opinion on what to spend our resources on. Should we add one new character and a long visual novel story thing, or should we add four new characters?" I wouldn't even take a moment to think about the question before I answered.

This isn't even a question. They are already adding 3. If they said good story mode or 8 new characters I would take the story.

[noiseredux]

This isn't even a question. They are already adding 3. If they said good story mode or 8 new characters I would take the story.

I had not heard about the 3 new characters yet. That said, this is just where we disagree because if they said 8 new characters or story mode, I'd go with 8 new characters. Just my opinion.

Though if you want the roster to stay "lean," then really all you want from a sequel is more plot and maybe some balance tweaks?

[ZenErik]

Perhaps expanded/change move lists for existing characters. Rebalancing. Maybe change things up a bit with changes to special bars or other mechanics. Instead of adding new characters out of nowhere it would have been nice to make more of the important story characters playable. That is all. BB already has more than enough characters playable and non-playable. I don't feel these 3 were needed.. :/

[noiseredux]

Perhaps expanded/change move lists for existing characters. Rebalancing. Maybe change things up a bit with changes to special bars or other mechanics. Instead of adding new characters out of nowhere it would have been nice to make more of the important story characters playable. That is all. BB already has more than enough characters playable and non-playable. I don't feel these 3 were needed.. :/

so then all you really wanted was another patch for CS then it sounds like?

[mjmjr25]

As a fighting game fan, but not a fanatic, I prefer characters - the more the better. The bigger, smaller, crazier, whatever, the better.

I rarely play story mode.

I think I speak for most casual fighting fans and the number of casual fighting fans I think far outweighs the number of die-hard fans who care about story and "intricate" character developement. This is true of really, just about anything. This is why the die-hards are almost always disappointed, again, referring to anything.

The fact that these games (MvC3, SSFIV, etc) sell millions of copies worldwide means it is appealing on a mass scale to the casual fan, so Capcom (and others) will mostly market to that casual fan, because it means more sales, really simple.

And again, as a casual fan, who mostly associates with casual fans, I feel pretty strongly that when weighing MORE CHARACTERS vs. DEEP / DETAILED STORY...it is heavily lopsided on the side of more characters.

[ZenErik]

No. Not adding a ton of new characters does not equal a patch.

[ZenErik]

The fact that these games (MvC3, SSFIV, etc) sell millions of copies worldwide means it is appealing on a mass scale to the casual fan, so Capcom (and others) will mostly market to that casual fan, because it means more sales, really simple.

And again, as a casual fan, who mostly associates with casual fans, I feel pretty strongly that when weighing MORE CHARACTERS vs. DEEP / DETAILED STORY...it is heavily lopsided on the side of more characters.

Maybe on a global scale, but Persona 4 Arena outsold Street Fighter IV and other well known fighters in Japan. Then again, a lot of that has to do with the Persona name.

[noiseredux]

No. Not adding a ton of new characters does not equal a patch.

but I feel like tweaking moves, tweaking how status bars work, tweaking balancing issues... these are things I think *should* just be a patch. They don't sound like something worthy of being called a sequel to me.

Again, just my opinion so no need for eyerolls.

[brunoafh]

They add new characters every major release, just as many as other major fighting game franchises. In the beginning, SF, KoF, and every other franchise only got a few new characters per iteration as well. But, in addition to the new characters and changes to the gameplay that's standard for a new fighter, we get a very fleshed out story mode in the console ports.

I get what you're saying entirely, but, in my eyes BB isn't growing any slower than any other fighting game franchise has, plus it's going above and beyond with the console releases. The franchise started in 2008 and 10 characters have been added, that's pretty good.

BB is very competition focused, so we'll never get a new one with like 10 new characters or an uber roster of a bazillion characters like in a lot of Capcom games. The hardcore fans that the game is mainly made for (those pumping the machines full of quarters) wouldn't want that. As isiolia said, games with huge rosters wind up with only a handful of viable characters at high level play. With BB, additions are slowly made to ensure nothing gets wildly out of balance and every character is a viable option. Even Guilty Gear suffered from balance issues and a few useless characters towards the end (which is probably why they dropped it and started BB).