Good roster of varied characters, fully voiced personalities, fun gameplay that's easy to learn, but clumsy storytelling
I would have rated it a perfect 10, but there was one thing that bugged me, and everyone I know who's played the game, and I'll just get it out of the way first.
Although the story is better than average for a fighter game, it had a particularly poor way of telling it. In a good story, the recipient is suppose to be up to speed with the events as they are unfolding, a comprehendible line of events: prolog, beginning, middle, end, epilog. That is how a story is suppose to be told, but (oh ho) not here, in BlazBlue you get non-sensicle little bits and pieces in random order, and expects you to piece it all together right at the end.
Now although that may sound fun, like a murder mystery, "Who Done It?" sort of thing, it's not.
As you start the game, you are given little backstory into the fictional world, or definition of the new, made-up words being used. You are expected to just go along with it and not ask too many questions, like you snuck into a theater halfway through a sci-fi movie.
You get the definitions through creative cut-scenes in a side-thing that you have to unlock.
You are not allowed to complete anyones story at once, instead, you have to play the first part of every character's story, and only after getting only tiny random bits from everyone do you get to unlock the basic ability to actually proceed with anyone's story.
For this, I reduce my score by one point, from a 10, to a 9.
Now that I got that out of the way, I actually LOVE everything else about this game!
The actual story itself is an entertaining science fiction tale.
The characters are original and unique, with (mostly) full voice acting.
Everyone has an individual play style to them.
The gameplay is fun and easy to learn, but hard to master (the perfect combination for pleasing beginners and pros).
The sprites, backgrounds, and animations are beautiful.
And even though you have to unlock it, the side-story-telling that explains the world of BlazBlue is creative and funny (so long as you are not offended by anime or chibi-style cartoons).
I really like this game. I had heard a lot of hype about it back in its day, so it has been on my "To Get List" for a long time, and when I finally got around to it, it was like $11 at GameStop.
However, I definitely feel that if I had bought it for $60 the day it came out, I would still feel as though I got my money's worth.
I can't wait to go and get the sequels.