BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Ver. 2.0 (Nintendo Switch) Review

By Az Elias 19.01.2020

Review for BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Ver. 2.0 on Nintendo Switch

BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle came under heavy criticism for its carving up of the game into paid downloadable content at time of release - and rightly so. Featuring a story mode with characters that were only playable if players bought them separately, the fact that half of the roster was locked behind a paywall when many of its assets were pulled directly from other games anyway was pretty egregious on Arc System Works' part. Now, a major expansion pack looks to add more characters and an additional story scenario.

Most of the characters that became available as DLC in the All-in-One Pack quite rightly should have been in the base game. With that said, it still offered a total of 22 fighters (up from 18, since four more were added last year) to the package for a very neat £13.99. In the Ver. 2.0 expansion pack, though, Arc System Works is asking for £19.99 for just nine characters.

Granted, a new story mode scenario is also present here, featuring mainly the additional cast that includes the following characters: Yumi (Senran Kagura), Neo Politan (RWBY), Akatsuki and Blitztank (Akatsuki Blitzkampf), Celica and Susanoo (BlazBlue), Elizabeth and Adachi (Persona 4 Arena), and Hilda (Under Night In-Birth). Is the smaller number of characters made up for with the extra episode? Not really.

Screenshot for BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Ver. 2.0 on Nintendo Switch

It's still that typical cross-over plotline of fighters pulled back into a single universe, battling through each other to collect stamps and return home after fighting an ultimate threat. The usual predictable arcs apply, tapping into the familiar traits each character is known for, and even though the narrative throws in a couple of amusing twists, the visual novel-like storytelling method featuring the same old portraits is limited in how it can present eventful scenes that may have otherwise looked better with anime segments or even just some original artwork images. Budget clearly didn't allow for anime scenes, and that's understandable, but the lack of more image stills is telling.

Bringing the total roster to a hefty 53 when including the previous DLC, there are plenty of neat additions, such as Yumi and Neo Politan, and the unbelievably massive Blitztank, which takes up half the screen, really mixes things up for the better. Rounding off the extras included here, new colours and character interactions make their way in.

Screenshot for BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Ver. 2.0 on Nintendo Switch

Cubed3 Rating

5/10
Rated 5 out of 10

Average

Nine characters and a story scenario of a couple of hours for twenty quid isn't bad by fighting game standards. As such, this may be well worth the price for anyone still heavily invested in BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle. The previous DLC pack features 22 new fighters for £6 less, though, and the extra story episode just doesn't make up for it. Unless a fan of more than a couple of the combatants joining with Ver. 2.0, it would be wise to wait for a discount.

Developer

Arc System Works

Publisher

PQube

Genre

Fighting

Players

2

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  5/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now   

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