BlazBlue: Cross Tag War probably the most popular anime fighting game in major tournaments outside Dragon Ball FighterZ, and the last one only hits it because it's based on the anime series. The latest BlazBlue is a wild game that produces some of the best tournament times ever. The latest of these highlights was last week's Anime Ascension warm-up and left both players frozen.
As with most fighting games made by Arc System Works, BlazBlue: Cross Tag War including a fierce, one-dimensional killing force known as the Astral Heats. All characters have one, and dead is easy to make. That said, there are various requirements that must be met before the characters use Astral Heats, including losing their partner and releasing a great game during a limited time window. It's fun to play around but in the end it's unreliable in most games.
These restrictions did not stop a BlazBlue: Cross Tag War a player named Kiomi in Anime Ascension. Downstairs after eating a huge Hazama outfit from Vivian, his former broker-holding opponent, Kiomi pulled out the Astral Heat and Jubei managed to beat Vivian. The reason it was connected was because Vivian was in the middle of a cosmetic blow to keep Kiomi tied in the corner, which also means Vivian failed to block. Jubei's huge Astral Heat box meant the movement was still fresh despite Vivian's behind the character, which led to Kiomi's win.
The camera shifts to both of these players as their faces run into different expressions, most notably the apparent shock of the Astral Heat and Vivian's disbelief as to how he lost the game.
As the two best BlazBlue: Cross Tag War Players from Southern California, Kiomi and Vivian have undoubtedly made use of trials like the one that took place during the game. Both placed in the top eight in Anime Ascension – third in Kiomi and seventh in Vivian – out of the bracket of 65 competitors. It just goes to show that you have to be ready for anything if you're going to play another very busy fighting game out there.
