This article was originally posted on Nintendo Scene on 31st March 2018.

PQube are bringing the upcoming multi-franchise crossover, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle to Europe in the summer for Nintendo Switch, as well as for the Sony PlayStation 4. As the summer is fast approaching, both PQube and the developer of the game, Arc System Works, are going into overdrive with their steady reveals of information about the game.  Yesterday, Arc System Works uploaded a new overview trailer for the game to their YouTube channel. I have posted it directly below, and will discuss what information I have gleaned from the (entirely Japanese) trailer.

Needless to say, this looks utterly insane and (in my opinion) incredibly entertaining. But, there is a lot of information in here for only a four minute trailer. Firstly, the story would seem to revolve around Rachel in someway, which does make a lot of sense given her role in BlazBlue of being able to “see” multiple timelines. Secondly, the four episodes that individually tackle each franchise appear that they will be told in a visual novel style, alike BlazBlue itself.

Thirdly, and finally on the narrative side, we got to see some of the incredible looking in-game FMV animated sequences. It’s hard to tell if these are going to be interspersed through the story of whether it is just clips of the intro, but it looks fantastic nonetheless. It’s great to see all of the characters from disparate franchises brought together in animated sequences that really make them feel like they are occupying the same world, however briefly (also, it’s good to see the Under Night In-Birth characters looking less cartoony).

In terms of new gameplay information in the trailer, firstly it shows a short segment of how each of the 20 base roster characters will play in game; this includes, as we haven’t seen before, some attacks that look like the Astral Heat or “instant kill” super attacks from their respective games. Also, it briefly showed off some modes in the game such as Survival mode, and what looks to be a decently fleshed out Training mode for practicing all those combos and testing team synergy.

The online modes look more fleshed out than BlazBlue’s before it, with chibi avatars of the roster running around a 3D lobby environment. I can’t ascertain (apologies for my limited Japanese) whether I’m right, but it would appear that you can use a single lobby to look for Ranked matches, Casual matches, and matches with friends, which if true will really streamline the online side of Cross Tag Battle in a way that BlazBlue didn’t quite nail.

Finally, the last information detailed the launch extras in Japan. It will launch with an original soundtrack of the in-game music, which might be a pre-order bonus in Japan, but I can’t be sure. Also there is a special edition of the game, of which the Switch version comes with an art book, the character pass containing the DLC, and what looks like a Cross Tag Battle case for the Switch. For those that are interested, the PlayStation 4 comes with the same, but substituting the case for standees of the four main representatives.

This still has no solid release date in Europe, but what do you think of all this new information? Will you be picking up Cross Tag Battle on release, and are you tempted by the special edition set? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter (@reuthegamer). I’ll see you again after the next character pack reveal on April 19th for more Cross Tag Battle info.