Announced via Twitter, Arc System Works confirmed that the rollback netcode update for the game is live, adding in the updated netcode along with the various fixes the game received during the public beta test. The company also explained that the public beta test has also stopped, as you may have expected.

No official news about the update getting added to the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch version of the game has been shared yet- however, if you own a copy of the game on Steam but haven’t been able to get into it due to laggy online gameplay and network issues, now is a great time to go back and give the it a try.

https://twitter.com/ArcSystemWorksU/status/1488286086115774464

Similarly, another new update adds in quite a few handy features into the game, as mentioned via patch notes posted in the public test sticky on the BlazBlue Central Fiction Steam discussion forums. One of the most helpful and useful features this update adds is the ability for players to rematch games during a player match online. Apart from that, players can now stop spectating an ongoing match mid-way and return to the player lobbies, and opponents played online will now be added into the Steam’s Recent Games list. The update also fixes a lot of network-related bugs.

To read the changes in more detail, check out the full patch notes for the BlazBlue Central Fiction update down below.

Update Notes:

New Features

• Implemented Rematch for Player Match.
• Players can leave the spectating battle while spectating a match mid-way and return to the room in Player Match now.
• Display current app version at the bottom left of the main menu.
• Adjusted the ping/connection icons to better reflect connection quality.
• Added Steam and Discord rich presence compatibility.
• Opponents played will now be added to Steam’s “Recent Games” list from the “Players” or “View Players” menu.

Bug Fixes:

• Game now properly cancels submitting erroneous D-Code data to the server when it is unable to retrieve the D-Code data from the server, which previously resulted in D-Code results being reset.
• Fixed an issue where Desync error messages appear when a spectator takes too long to load a game.
• Fixed a bug where the game shows the players previously played with as “unknown” if those players are not registered on the user’s friend list.
• Game will now use the dedicated graphics card for the computer as priority over the integrated card, if available.

Verified issues:

• In Player Match, while the host is spectating a match, if the host leaves the spectate and returns to the room, the ongoing match gets disconnected.

Rollback netcode has been a heavily requested feature for a number of Arc System Works’ fighters but the company implementing the same last year, starting with Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R. The feature was available in Guilty Gear Strive at launch and contributed strongly to its popularity at launch. It now remains to be seen if other franchises like Granblue Fantasy Versus or Dragon Ball FighterZ will get the same treatment.

In the meantime, Arc System Works is also working on DNF Duel, a new fighting game based on Nexon’s Dungeon Fighter Online. It currently doesn’t have any confirmed platforms or a release date. Check out the latest trailer here.

You all asked for it and here it is!
We are proud to announce Rollback Netcode for #BlazBlueCentralfiction and #BlazBlueCrossTagBattle ! #CEO2021 pic.twitter.com/jA9bBnRghH

— Arc System Works America (@ArcSystemWorksU) December 6, 2021

Arc System Works’ BlazBlue: Central Fiction Special Edition is coming to the Switch on February 7th, 2019 in North America. It will be available on the Nintendo eShop. For those in Japan and Europe, it will be out on February 7th and 8th respectively, with both physical and digital releases. Those who haven’t played BlazBlue: Central Fiction are in for quite a lot with the Special Edition.

In addition to the over 40 hour story mode, there are more than 30 characters to choose from and 60 stages to fight in. The story itself offers a conclusion for Ragna the Bloodedge’s story and features the same gorgeous animated style that Arc System Works is famous for. For veterans, this is the title that introduced Exceed Accel attacks along with Active Flow.

New players, or those relatively new to fighting games, will have a special Stylish Type option. This allows for pulling off combos without complex button inputs or timing. Of course, since this is the Special Edition, all previously released DLC is also included in the package.

#BLAZBLUE CENTRALFICTION Special Edition is coming to the west!

It will be hitting the Nintendo Switch eShop on 02/07/19. pic.twitter.com/L4Zr4Z96sK

— Arc System Works America (@ArcSystemWorksU) November 17, 2018

EVO 2018 saw a boat-load of big announcements, including the arrival of Cooler to Dragon Ball FighterZ. Arc System Works had a whole lot more to discuss, including the announcement of its Arc Revo World Tour, which you can see the trailer for below.

The Arc Revo World Tour is essentially a tournament with over $100,000 in prizes, and takes place from Fall 2018 to Fall 2019. Featured games include Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2, BlazBlue: Central Fiction and BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, with qualifying tournaments to be held around the world.

But that’s not all. Arc System Works CEO Minoru Kidooka revealed that Guilty Gear director Daisuke Ishiwatari was unable to attend the event because he was “working really, really hard right now at the office on something Guilty Gear“. This could be interpreted in different ways, like new Guilty Gear content, possibly for Guilty Gear Xrd, or even a brand new game. At this point, it’s hard to say.

Regardless, Arc System Works does have new content coming to BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle, not to mention a beta for Dragon Ball FighterZ on the Switch, so there’s plenty to be excited for. What do you hope for the future of Guilty Gear? Let us know below.

Of course, the same as above could ring just as true about Chrono Phantasma (read our review here), which also proved to be a labour of love. Central Fiction adds some changes to the tried and tested battle system to shake things up, such as an actual countdown for the powered up state known as Overdrive, an overdrive ending super move, and rewards players with an active flow system for staying offensive.

Largely though, fighting is going to be familiar not only to series vets, but to any fighting game aficionado. Light, medium and heavy attacks, special attacks, special inputs, dashing, cancels, blocking, throws. It’s all present and laid out on the controller in the way you would expect, and customizable if you so desire. The game runs at a flawless 60 frames per second regardless of the crazy battles on the screen, highlighting the super smooth sprite art and detailed backgrounds Arc System Works does so well.

"The crispness of the layered 2D backdrops and gorgeous character art really pops on the PS4"

The crispness of the layered 2D backdrops and gorgeous character art really pops on the PS4, bringing the fighting to live with the vibrant colour design of the fighters and the effects that often fly around the field. Everything is kept clear to the players even in the most frantic action, and the locked framerate is so critical to the gameplay of an exacting fighting game like Blazblue.

Though new players shouldn’t feel totally put out. Blazblue Central Fiction keeps the excellent teaching tools of Chrono Phantasma, including character specific introductions and a challenge mode to push you to use the combos you learn. The stylish system has been overhauled from the previous game, now maintaining the language used in the more professional technical type, and allowing you to use combos and special moves in the same fashion as the technical type. Stylish now simply opens an SP button to shortcut to special attacks, as well as allow dial-a-combo with repeatedly striking a single button. It feels less like an alternate scheme now, and more of a small crutch for new players to fall back on while they learn the intricacies of fighting normally.

Many of the alternate modes return, mostly still variations on genre staples, such as score attack and time attack, that will really push the skills of advanced players. Arcade mode and versus of course, are expected, and the Grim of Abyss is a corruption of the Abyss mode from previous games. Adding the Grimoire system to the tower mode style gameplay, you’ll earn and level different grimoires as you descent through Kagushuchi. Leveling up yourself to equip more powerful grimoire to grant yourself further bonuses and special abilities to help you triumph.

"Blazblue is probably most known for having one of the most involved story modes in the fighting genre, and Central Fiction aims to conclude the tale."

Blazblue is probably most known for having one of the most involved story modes in the fighting genre, and Central Fiction aims to conclude the tale. Unlike the usual glorified arcade mode of most fighting games, Blazblue’s ongoing narrative is a dense, character driven visual novel with the occasional one round fight. You will get lost on what’s happening, even if you’re roughly familiar with the series. Without spoiling actual story beats, it also leans awfully hard on the amnesia trope.

While not groundbreaking storytelling, I do have to commend it for restructuring the presentation. Instead of static portraits talking from fixed points within a window, they now move about the scene, changing expression and pose as well as visual angle, which helped keep interest in long segments. The main story path also has a tighter focus on a main cast too, allowing players to choose to delve into sub stories at their leisure, to flesh out supporting cast members and their struggles.

The writing competently manages to juggle tones from end-of-the-world serious to some lighter slice-of-life moments and some occasional sexual humour, which is par for the course in this series. The split of the main path and sub stories really made a huge pacing difference. Allowing the player to focus on keeping the story flowing made it far easier to sink into the world of Blazblue, whereas older titles tended to drag on with these side plots and lost interest.

"the one sour spot on the presentation as a whole is the noticeable lack of an english dub."

One conspicuously missing element from the previous games that I felt was pretty important to new players is the lack of the “Teach me Miss Litchi” mode, present in the previous two entries to get players up to speed on the events of past titles and explain all the jargon used within the world of the game. They were fun little skits that showed a lighter side to some of the characters and helped new players not feel completely lost. While the structure of the story mode makes it less of an issue this time, I feel like it wouldn’t have hurt to include it either. The library, which features literally hundreds of entries is no replacement, with all the flavour of a Wiki page.

In fact, the one sour spot on the presentation as a whole is the noticeable lack of an English dub. Whereas I might have let a lack of English voice acting slide on a game of this caliber, the diverse cast that brought Blazblue’s heroes and villains to life through three games before has become nothing short of iconic for many fans. It didn’t destroy the immaculate fighting systems, and thus the ultimate point of the game. But I feel the game lost a certain charm by not finishing the saga with their English portrayals intact.

"some tweaks to the battle system and a few new characters also don’t quite make this overshadow Chrono Phantasma Extend, which also saw PS4 release."

Blazblue: Central Fiction isn’t getting out of here without a recommendation, but I do have some gripes about the content it is missing. The lack of English voiceover is a fairly minor irritant all things considered, and the presentation is the best its ever been. That said, some tweaks to the battle system and a few new characters also don’t quite make this overshadow Chrono Phantasma Extend, which also saw PS4 release.

Fans will love Central Fiction. Anybody who likes fighting games will find a lot to like about Central Fiction. But those newcomers will find a lot to like about the previous, more fully featured game too. Once they finish that, perhaps Central Fiction Extend will be coming out. We know it’s going to come, Arc System Works.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 4.