BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle

**Developer**
 **Publisher**
 **Designer(s)**
 **Composer(s)**
 **Platform(s)**
 **Release Date(s)**
 **Cost**

***BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle***, is a 2D crossover tag team fighting game developed by Arc System Works, released on consoles and PC on May 31, 2018. The Arcade Edition was announced on January 25, 2019 to be released in April 25, 2019, with the location test set in February 9 - 10, and at Toushinasai on March 23 - 24.

## Information

The character roster consists of the characters from the mostly licensed fighting games series involving Project BB Team, such as from Arc System Works' own *BlazBlue*, Atlus' *Persona 4 Arena*, French Bread's *Under Night In-Birth*, and Rooster Teeth's *RWBY*, later followed by Team Arcana’s *Arcana Heart* (formerly co-owned by Examu as of the end of February 2020), Marvelous’ *Senran Kagura* and Subtle-Style’s *Akatsuki En-Eins*. The character art for this game is drawn by Higuchi Konomi who previously worked as a character designer of the XBLAZE series.

## Gameplay

*See Also: Gameplay and Tag System*
This game is a 2-on-2, two dimensional sprite tag team fighting game in three dimensional area, which allows the player to switch between characters during a fight. Each character from both players has their own health bar.

The gameplay will not be similar as neither the said past fighting game series’ gameplay (not counting *RWBY*, but including a gameplay which is seen by a *Senran Kagura* representative in *Nitroplus Blasterz*). Yet, some of their previous gameplay mechanics are retained and revamped for this game.

## Storyline

*Cross Tag Battle* will have the first four sided storyline episodes called “Episode Mode”, which may tell the episode stories of all playable cast from each of four initial consisting series.

Inside a dimension called the Phantom Field, chosen individuals from four different worlds appeared. Then, a mysterious voice told them that if they want to return to their world, they need to protect something called the "key stone". With that, the warriors begin fighting each other to steal their key stones.

In Season 2 storyline, it continues from certain BlazBlue episode revolving around a critical situation accidentally caused by Hazama and the "Phantom Field", which is why they set up a stamp collecting contest for each selected participants from certain chosen universes as part of temporary truce, including summoning from three more universes, so one of them can solve the problems and stop a dangerous outcome that will end entire universes and beyond.

## Playable Characters/Controversies

The starting roster confirms to have 20 default rosters (21 in PC version) and 20 Season 1 DLC characters (19 on PC version), totaling 40 characters. As a result for the half of game’s planned roster, this game caused backlash from fighting game fans who have been promised a large roster at launch, while also citing that the game uses mostly reused assets from earlier Arc System Works fighting games. Robert Ramsey of Push Square called the title ugly compared to Arc System Works' other project, *Dragon Ball FighterZ*. Season 2 DLC characters has been planned, according to Arc System Works president Minoru Kidooka, including this game's producer Mori, starting from their appearances in Arcade Edition on April 25, 2019.

***Bold Italic*** denotes for DLC characters

***\**** denotes for DLC characters who appeared as default character at PC version’s launch

***(number)*** denotes for which Season Pass the DLC characters come from

### *BlazBlue*

* Ragna the Bloodedge
* Jin Kisaragi
* Noel Vermillion
* Rachel Alucard
* Iron Tager
* ***Hakumen***(1)
* Nu-13
* Hazama Honoka
* Makoto Nanaya
* ***Platinum the Trinity***(1)
* ***Tsubaki Yayoi*** (Izayoi)(1)
* Azrael
* ***Celica Ayatsuki Mercury***(2)
* ***Nine the Phantom***(1)
* ***Naoto Kurogane***(2)
* ***Yūki Terumi*** (Takehaya Susano’o)(2)
* Es Mitsurugi
* ***Mai Natsume***(1)
* ***Jubei Mitsuyoshi***(1)

### *Persona 4 Arena (Ultimax)*

* Yu Narukami
* Yosuke Hanamura
* Chie Satonaka
* Yukiko Amagi
* ***Kanji Tatsumi***(1)
* ***Teddie***(2)
* ***Shadow Naoto***(1)
* ***Shadow Mitsuru***(1)
* ***Shadow Akihiko***(1)
* ***Aegis***(1)
* ***Elizabeth***(2)
* ***Labrys***(1)
* ***Tohru Adachi***(2)

### *Under Night In-Birth*

* Hyde Kido
* Linne
* Waldstein
* ***Carmine Prime***(1)
* ***Orie Ballardiae***(1)
* Gordeau the Harvester
* ***Merkava***(1)
* ***Vatista***(1)
* ***Seth the Assassin***(2)
* ***Yuzuriha***(1)
* ***Hilda the Paradox***(2)
* ***Mika Returna***(1)

### *RWBY*

* Ruby Rose
* Weiss Schnee
* ***Blake Belladonna\****(1)
* ***Yang Xiao Long***(1)
* ***Neo Politan***(2)

### ***Akatsuki EN-Eins***

* ***Akatsuki***(2)
* ***Blitztank***(2)

## Downloadable Contents

* Character All-in-One Pack/Season 1: Cost $20. Also available for FREE via Limited Edition DLC Code, or either Deluxe or Special Editions. Each Character Set Pack includes 3 characters, and cost $5, or FREE at the set packs' console release date for 2 weeks. Single Character Packs cost for FREE permanently, while in PC’s case can only be available at launch by default or in the future arcade time release-like update patches. Adds Examu’s *Arcana Heart* (due to its pink color square) in Season 1.5, which cost $8. Highly recommend to purchase Special Edition.
	+ Character Pack Vol. 1 (June 5, 2018): Blake Belladonna
		- Available at PC Launch by default
	+ Character Pack Vol. 2 (June 19, 2018): Yang Xiao Long
		- Available at PC time release update patch
	+ Character Set Vol. 1 (June 5, 2018): Platinum the Trinity, Shadow Kanji, Orie Ballardiae
		- Pre-Order Basic PC Edition FREE for Limited Time until July 6, 2018
	+ Character Set Vol. 2 (June 19, 2018): Jubei Mitsuyoshi, Aigis, Carmine Prime
	+ Character Set Vol. 3 (June 19, 2018): Hakumen, Shadow Naoto, Vatista
	+ Character Set Vol. 4 (August 6, 2018): Tsubaki Yayoi (Izayoi), Shadow Mitsuru, Merkava
	+ Character Set Vol. 5 (August 6, 2018): Mai Natsume, Shadow Akihiko, Yuzuriha
	+ Character Set Vol. 6 (August 6, 2018): Nine the Phantom, Shadow Labrys, Mika Returna
	+ Character Set Vol. 7 (April 25 (Arcade), and May 21 (DLC), 2019): Naoto Kurogane, Teddie, Seth the Assassin, Heart Aino
		- According to Arc Live at December 6, 2018 and ArcNama in Mid-January 2019, this pack was announced at January 24, 2019, starting from initially appearing in Arcade Edition. Initially had other character interactions aside assist calls forgotten, but Arc System Works eventually responds in May 23, 2019 to fix this sooner in Season 2.
* Version 2.0 Expansion/Season 2: Adds Marvelous' *Senran Kagura* (due to its cyan color represents second timeline) and Subtle-Style's *Akatsuki-En Eins* alongside updated storyline. Special Edition only. Cost $25.
	+ Base Roster (November 21, 2019): Celica Ayatsuki Mercury, Yūki Terumi (Takehaya Susano'o), Elizabeth, Tohru Adachi, Hilda the Paradox, Neo Politan, Yumi, Akatsuki, Blitztank
* Color Packs: Cost $3 Each Pack.
	+ June 5, 2018: Pack 1 - 3

## Gallery

### Images

Early LogoCharacter Select (Season 1)Character Select (Season 1.5)Character Select (Season 2) (Temporary Entry for 3 New series representatives)BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle promotional materialBlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle promotional material 2BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle DLC promotional materialBlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle DLC promotional material 2BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle DLC promotional material 3BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle DLC promotional material 4BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle DLC promotional material 5BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle DLC promotional material 6BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle DLC promotional material 7BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Arcade Edition/DLC promotional material 8Illustration countdown of Weiss Schnee by Higuchi KonomiIllustration countdown of Linne by MoriIllustration countdown of Yosuke Hanamura and Jin Kisaragi by Higuchi Konomi and Yūki KatōIllustration Japan release of Ruby, Ragna, Yu, and HydeMain visualBlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle coverBlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle arcade posterIllustration Japan release of Yumi and Neo PolitanIllustration Japan release of Tohru Adachi, Yūki Terumi (Takehaya Susano’o) and Hilda the ParadoxBBTAG 2.0 Illustration Japan release of Ragna the BloodegeBlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Special Edition poster (missing Akatsuki)
### Videos

BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Teaser Trailer RWBY Japanese 1080p HDTeaser TrailerBlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Launch Trailer + Developer MessageLaunch Trailer + Developer Message「BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE」オープニング映像Openingアーケード版「BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE」発表映像Arcade Edition Announcement and Season 2 DLC Teaserアーケード版「BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE」追加参戦キャラクター紹介PV（EVO Japan 2019）EVO Japan Announcement『BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE』Ver.2.0 ティザートレーラー at EVO2019EVO 2019 (Version 2.0) Announcement『BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE Special Edition』製品紹介トレーラー
#### Gameplay

「BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE」Play MovieEarly Gameplay MovieYang Xiao Long Distortions, Combos & Assists - BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Gameplay Footageアーケード版 BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE「ナオト」バトル動画Naoto Kurogane Demonstration - BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Gameplay Footageアーケード版 BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE「クマ」バトル動画Teddie Demonstration - BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Gameplay Footageアーケード版 BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE「セト」バトル動画Seth the Assassin Demonstration - BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Gameplay Footageアーケード版 BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE「愛乃はぁと」バトル動画Heart Aino Demonstration - BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Gameplay Footage『BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE』Ver2.0 雪泉 紹介動画Yumi Demonstration - BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Gameplay Footage『BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE』Ver2.0 ニオ・ポリタン 紹介動画Neo Politan Demonstration - BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Gameplay Footage『BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE』Ver2.0 アカツキ 紹介動画Akatsuki Demonstration - BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Gameplay Footage『BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE』Ver2.0 電光戦車 紹介動画Blitztank Demonstration - BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Gameplay Footage『BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE』Ver2.0 ヒルダ 紹介動画Hilda the Paradox Demonstration - BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Gameplay Footage『BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE』Ver2.0 足立 紹介動画Tohru Adachi Demonstration - BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Gameplay Footage『BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE』Ver2.0 エリザベス 紹介動画Elizabeth Demonstration - BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Gameplay Footage『BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE』Ver2.0 セリカ 紹介動画Celica Ayatsuki Mercury Demonstration - BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Gameplay Footage『BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE』Ver2.0 スサノオ 紹介動画Yūki Terumi (Takehaya Susano'o) Demonstration - BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Gameplay Footage
#### Characters

BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Character Introduction Trailer 1Character Introduction Trailer #1BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Character Introduction Trailer 2Character Introduction Trailer #2BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Character Introduction Trailer 3Character Introduction Trailer #3BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Character Introduction Trailer 4Character Introduction Trailer #4BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Character Introduction Trailer 5Character Introduction Trailer #5EVOLUTION 2018 - Road to Las Vegas（Evo 2018 メインタイトル選出記念映像）ASW Fighting Game Award 2017/EVO 2018 Special Promotion TrailerBlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Character Introduction Trailer 6Character Introduction Trailer #6BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Character Introduction Trailer 7Character Introduction Trailer #7BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE プロモーションビデオ（発売前Ver）BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle - English Dub TrailerEnglish Dub TrailerBlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Character Introduction Trailer 8Character Introduction Trailer #8BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle - Team RWBY Trailer!Team RWBY TrailerBlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Persona 4 Arena Highlight TrailerPersona 4 Arena TrailerBlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Under Night In-Birth Highlight TrailerUnder Night In-Birth TrailerBlazBlue Cross Tag Battle - Character Pack 2, 3 & Yang English TrailerBLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE INCOMING CHARACTER UPDATES TRAILER (EVO2018)『BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE』Ver.2.0 新プレイアブルキャラクター発表トレーラーStarting 2.0 Character Introduction
#### Neo BlazBlue Radio

ブレイブルー公式WEBラジオ「ぶるらじNEO 第1回 ～BBTAG発売記念！復活の「B」～」ブレイブルー公式WEBラジオ「ぶるらじNEO 第2回 ～ヤン登場！ おまえら小学生か！（森P談）～」ブレイブルー公式WEBラジオ「ぶるらじNEO 第3回 ～ルビー登場！見せてやるよ、鎌ーズの力を！～」ブレイブルー公式WEBラジオ「ぶるらじNEO 第4回 ～ワイス登場！優雅に（？）参りますわよ！～」ブレイブルー公式WEBラジオ「ぶるらじNEO 第5回 ～愛乃はぁと、ずばばーんと参上！～」ブレイブルー公式WEBラジオ「ぶるらじNEO 第7回 ～雪泉、鎮魂の夢に沈みましょう～」前編ブレイブルー公式WEBラジオ「ぶるらじNEO 第7回 ～雪泉、鎮魂の夢に沈みましょう～」後編
## Reception

*BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle* received "generally favorable" reviews on Metacritic getting a metascore of 76/100 on PS4 and 79/100 on Nintendo Switch.>

## Development

Before this game was announced, Rooster Teeth, the creator of RWBY teased the possibility of a RWBY fighting game being revealed at Evo 2017 on their Twitter account.

On July 16th, 2017, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle was announced at the Evo 2017 championships, following Ryusei Ito's victory in *BlazBlue: Central Fiction*. Ruby Rose was revealed to be playable in the game via the announcement trailer, confirming the presence of RWBY characters and Rooster Teeth's involvement in the game. It was announced that Konomi Higuchi will serve as the game's lead character designer.

According to Toshimichi Mori on Famitsu Interview, this game will be exclusively to be released on console. Some characters are currently do not match well with BlazBlue Universe's sprite graphics, such as Persona 4 Arena's spinning juggle knockback sprites will be rotated 45 degrees, and Under Night In-Birth characters' sprites will be redrawn to match BlazBlue graphics. However, Arcana Heart and Akatsuki En-Eins characters, as well as Senran Kagura's Homura recieved more visible sprite upgrades than the rest of the series sides. There were no plans on including characters from other franchises such as from *Guilty Gear* in this game, despite Arc System Works’ awareness of this requests, and wanted to expand it in the future, if possible, starting from Arcana Heart itself for this game. The game's main target crowd is the fans abroad rather than in Japan.

It was announced on October 15, 2017 to be released for PlayStation 4, PC & Nintendo Switch.

After the 2017’s New York Comic Con events, Arc System Works created a survey to hear the fans’ opinions for this game on their official website, until it is closed on November 5, 2017 at 8:00 AM.

An American branch of Arc System Works will publish the North American version of this game.

According to Mori at Famitsu interview, regarding of the full-game and DLC prices ever since this game sudden have a controversy regarding of the roster size and inclusions, their release currencies will cost at lower prices, so that more people can get the game and play.

## References

1. ↑ http://www.arcsystemworks.jp/portal/post-6756/
2. ↑ https://gematsu.com/2017/11/arc-system-works-america-publish-blazblue-cross-tag-battle-north-america
3. ↑ https://steamdb.info/app/702890/
4. ↑ http://www.siliconera.com/2017/10/03/blazblue-cross-tag-battles-leaked-footage-shows-ruby-rose-action/
5. ↑ https://www.famitsu.com/news/201801/13149729.html
6. ↑ https://clips.twitch.tv/CourteousOddFloofOptimizePrime
7. ↑ http://www.pushsquare.com/news/2018/01/half\_of\_blazblue\_cross\_tag\_battles\_character\_roster\_is\_dlc\_fans\_are\_raging
8. ↑ https://www.arcsystemworks.jp/portal/post-12020/
9. ↑ Metascore for BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle on PS4*Metacritic*, Retrieved March 30, 2020
10. ↑ Metascore for BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle on Nintendo Switch*Metacritic*, Retrieved March 30, 2020