Gameplay
BlazBlue is a traditional 2D fighter where two characters participate in a duel. A round is called a "rebel" and one match can consist of one to five "rebels". To win a round, one player must either incapacitate the other by inflicting damage through various attacks to reduce their opponent's health to zero or by having more remaining health than their opponent after the clock runs out.
Every character has a weak, medium and strong attack. Also every character has a "unique" technique, called a Drive attack, which is different for each character. Those attacks are also known as "A", "B", "C" and "D". Various combos can be performed by every character through careful input of regular and drive attacks. A combo consists of two or more consecutive attacks that hit an opponent without them retaliating. As combos become longer, each attack will do less damage than normal to give the opponent a chance to retaliate. Grabs can be incorporated into combos also by pressing the "B" and "C" buttons at the same time. Occasionally, some attacks (e.g. Jin's Hirensou) will use portions of the player's heat gauge at the bottom of the screen. The heat gauge is filled by either dealing or receiving damage. When a character has 50% or more heat, special moves called "distortion drives" can be performed. When a distortion drive is successfully performed and connects with the opponent, it deals massive damage and is visually flashier than normal attacks.
Along with attacks every character has two types of block. One is the regular block that can be broken with a "guard crush". That can be achieved by pushing the "guard libra" gauge all the way to the opponent's side through repeated attacks. If the opponent keeps blocking, then their guard can be broken, leaving them open for attack. The second type of block is a barrier block, which is initiated by blocking while holding the "A" and "B" buttons at the same time. A barrier block cannot be broken like a normal guard, but there is a limit on how long one can be held, which is indicated by the barrier gauge. If the barrier gauge empties, then the player will receive 150% damage until it regenerates to half-full.
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Plot
Prior to the events of BlazBlue, humanity was on the verge of extinction from a creature called the "Black Beast." The world was saved by six heroes who wielded magic. They helped humanity create "Ars Magus", a fusion of magic and science, to defeat the Black Beast. This event would be later known as the First War of Magic.
After the war, the Novus Orbis Librarium (the Library or NOL for short) was created to govern the world with the use of Ars Magus. A great deal of dissent was caused by the Library, partly due to Ars Magus' use in nearly every facet of society, and the widening socioeconomic gap between those who could and couldn't use Ars Magus. This dissent would eventually form years later into the Second War of Magic or also known as the Ikaruga Civil War, when the city of Ikaruga openly rebelled against the NOL. Upon winning the war, the NOL imposed a harsher rule on the world, punishing any rebellion against the NOL with death.
In December A.D. 2199, several years after the Second War of Magic, a branch of the NOL was utterly destroyed by an SS-class rebel named "Ragna" also known as the "Grim Reaper", in an attempt to destroy the Librarium. The NOL, hoping to stop him, immediately announced the largest bounty ever, available to anyone who could capture him. Interestingly, Ragna possesses a powerful form of Ars Magus known as the "Azure Grimoire." This led the NOL, as well as the other fighters, to hunt Ragna not just for his bounty, but also his Azure Grimoire.
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Furry Characters
Jubei the cat, formerly known as Mitsuyoshi is one of the Six Heroes and Ragna's master who battled the Black Beast alongside Hakumen. As revealed in Phase 0, he was originally named Mitsuyoshi, and did not take up the name Jubei until after the Dark War. He is a beast-man and is the father of Kokonoe is his daughter. Despite his appearance (he is considerably short and does not come off as threatening, resembling a cat more than either of his descendants), he is a powerful warrior, with numerous characters referring to him as the most powerful being on the planet.
Makoto Nanaya is an energetic squirrel-girl that first appeared as an NPC in BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger before being made available as DLC for Continuum Shift.
Taokaka, Tao for short, is a catgirl who is a member of the Kaka tribe, wearing a large coat that obscures her true face, only exposing beady red eyes and a row of teeth.
Kokonoe is Tager's superior at Sector Seven, and the former employer of Litchi and Lotte, who became Arakune. She is a half-beastkin and the daughter of Jubei and Nine, two of the Six Heroes.