The ambitious crossover 2D fighter BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle brings so many beloved characters together from BlazBlue (of course), Persona 4, Under Night In-Birth, and the animated series RWBY. This is also the first time RWBY makes an appearance in video game form. And right now, North American PlayStation 4 owners who pre-ordered the game digitally over PSN can get a taste of how it all works with a beta that's going on until May 14--the beta will open to all PS4 players on May 12. You're granted access to VS Mode, Casual Lobby for online play, and the Tactics Mode for tutorials and practice along with the base roster of 20 characters.
One of the more curious aspects is how characters from different franchises will balance and how their movesets will be tweaked to fit the new game. In true BlazBlue fashion, every character has their own flashy Astral Finish to end a fight in the best way possible, given the proper conditions. In the video above, we executed the Astral Finishes from all 20 base characters to show off each move's special animation.
To pull off an Astral Finish, both parties will need to be down to one character. The executor must have their Astral Heat gauge maxed out to nine, which can be tricky to attain. By filling the Resonance Blaze gauge, the boost can be activated that feeds into Astral Heat so the maximum is reached. The command to execute the move is down, down, down, triangle + circle. Regardless of opponent health, an Astral Finish will show off the sweet attack and put an end to the match.
As of now, there's no option to alter the number of rounds in a match. However, in past games, the player pulling off an Astral Finish will need to be on their winning round.
Arc System Works is known for its stellar 2D fighting games and released Dragon Ball FighterZ earlier this year to critical acclaim. Having been responsible for the Guilty Gear franchise, the developer branched out with the BlazBlue series which was conceived in 2008 and currently has four mainline entries. In collaboration with Atlus, Arc made plenty of Persona fans happy when it converted the RPG to a fighting game with Persona 4 Arena and Arena Ultimax.
It's 2018 and we're still getting games with Persona 4 characters, which warms many of our hearts here at GameSpot. We'll be able to get the full satisfaction of Chie Satonaka galactic punting everyone online when BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle launches on June 5 in North America for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC.