BlazBlue: Clone Phantasma (Nintendo 3DS) Review

Downloading BlazBlue: Clone Phantasma on Nintendo 3DS eShop took longer than to beat its story mode, playing as character Ragna. Discovering the depth and extent of the gameplay's core systems took maybe about two minutes. The shock and confusion felt when it was discovered that there is no online or any multiplayer was instant. What is BlazBlue: Clone Phantasma? It is a game where users must hack away at oncoming clones of enemies and basically score ring-outs. With a surprisingly large roster - all of whom play the same way - each character has an interchangeable attack and a special attack (also interchangeable) that has powerful knock-back. Only three ring-outs are permitted before game over, but there are infinite continues, so there is never any real penalty other than having to go through dialogue that cannot be skipped.

The only modes are challenge and story, and both are more or less the same. It doesn't matter what mode is chosen as after 30 seconds the realisation kicks in that this is really boring. Barren and flat small arenas, enemies just shuffle their feet towards the player-character, and - if they feel like it - they might try to attack. On a good day, the enemy might even try to make an attack connect. Characters control very stiffly and slowly with no appealing animation; very flatly executed. It is a shame because the game has generally pretty good graphics for a five-dollar download (no European release yet, at time of writing). When a game's appeal is supposed to be cute and "chibi" style visuals, logically the animation should reflect that. Instead characters move like confused wind-up toys that do not reflect their respective character personalities.

BlayzBloo: Super Melee Brawlers Battle Royale for the DS had five playable characters but BlazBlue: Clone Phantasma has a whopping ten. This was surprising and gives the game some replayability, with different scenes of art that can be unlocked. Every story is voiced and the music is the standard BlazBlue that the fans have come to expect. The presentation is fairly plain and there just isn't much to BlazBlue: Clone Phantasma as a whole, though. The most impressive aspect of this game is the fact that it is only $5.00 with 3D graphics. The frame-rate isn't even that great or consistent since it drops as the enemy waves get denser. The game works but only on the most basic and fundamental levels. During some boss fights, there are lots of questionable hit detection instances. Bosses have very inconsistent attacks that have a range that is very wide or does not affect the player at all. Moments like this are confusing, making the fights feel very cheap and losses feel unwarranted.

BlazBlue: Clone Phantasma is not a recommended purchase for anyone. It is a very bare bones game with insubstantial content that relies on sleep inducing gameplay with minimalistic mechanics. Arc System Works is a talented team that has made some of the finest fighting games the industry has ever seen, and when it puts out games like BlazBlue: Clone Phantasma, it looks like a waste of their efforts. Who is BlazBlue: Clone Phantasma made for exactly? The large roster indicates that it is just for fans of the characters themselves and not so much the mechanics. This is probably a cash grab on the established BlazBlue fan base. It makes sense considering the gameplay is so throwaway and how barren the overall product is.