BlazBlue: Central Fiction

I am (formerly) one of the top netplay Hazama players in NA. I used to go to locals in my region for previous versions of BlazBlue. I was coached by Guymam on the character back when he was still maining him. I once wrote a now outdated guide for him on the defunct dustloop forums. I can also play a pretty decent Jin. Overall, this game is significantly better than GG: Strive. I wish they would relaunch the series, but this game is already very good. This game was made before the recent push for simplification within the FG genre niche, so it is likely the last of it's kind. I would definitely suggest learning about your favorite character via youtube tutorials and trying to find some high-level matches to watch, preferably Japanese players. If you'd like some tips on how to get better feel free to add me. Especially if you're interested in Hazama. Currently I'm not as active, but I have played BB ever since it's first iteration, BB:CT. If you want an anime air-dasher with incredible player expression and great depth, and you're not afraid of a steep learning curve, give it a fair chance. Now with rollback netcode, it is a great holdover from a by-gone era that combines the approachability of the original BlazBlue with the mechanical depth of older Guilty Gear style games. I still cherish my time playing this game, drinking energy drinks and grinding for hours on end. Going to locals and meeting fellow players back when we still had an arcade. It was a ton of fun, and this game still holds up tremendously, even if the playerbase has dwindled a bit.

While I like fighting games, I'm still bad at them and when you start out, you will also find that you are somehow getting caught in a corner with a 20 second pressure that makes you hold the block and barrier button constantly, and then you forget to press it for 1 frame and get hit and die. Learning fighting games in 2026 is just ♥♥♥♥ and balls torture. I learnt how to block after spending a total of around 10 hours online just blocking, not attacking a single bit. And then I still get caught by a low or a 50/50 because lmao. It takes a certain kind of will to try and keep learning how to play a fighting game. BBCF is great. But I just advise against buying it yourself if you have nobody around your level to play with, because getting destroyed or destroying someone unilaterally is not very fun. Get a friend that's interested, too, and honestly you're good to go. The rest is whether you actually want to bother learning everything else.

Initially I went in thinking I wouldn't like this game especially coming from Guilty Gear, But I almost immediately fell in love with the game and before I knew it I had hundreds of hours spent just labbing and messing with friends. The balance is not (as with any Arc Sys game) perfect but every character can do some amazing stuff and nobody is "unplayable". The characters feel so unique to play and have so much personality it's hard not to enjoy. Blazblue has quickly become my favorite series of all time and seeing it get new life is such a surreal yet amazing experience. If you have the chance I implore you to check it out for yourself, you won't regret it.