Since the release of Persona 4 Arena, Arc System Works has maintained a fun tradition of including various alternate colors in their various fighting games that serve as references to other properties. These can range from homages to characters from the series that started it all, Guilty Gear, to BlazBlue characters, various members of the Persona franchise, and even various other properties such as Bleach and My Hero Academia, to Western animation like RWBY. Even Dragon Ball FighterZ has gotten in on the reference action, with each Z Warrior’s 2nd color serving as a shout-out to a previous outfit they wore, or another character from the franchise.
With BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle combining characters from four different franchises, it’s no surprise that it boasts a myriad of references from a large variety of material, with each character having a whopping six reference palettes each, located on Colors 8-13.
For all non-Persona characters, Color 8 serves as a reference to various characters from ASW’s flagship fighting franchise, Guilty Gear, while the Persona fighters gain new colors referencing various characters from their RPG series. Color 9 is a reference to the BlazBlue cast, while Color 9 is a universal homage to Persona. Colors 10 and 11 are brand-new tributes to the characters of Under Night In-Birth and RWBY, ensuring all four core franchises are recognized.
Color 13 is perhaps the most interesting, as they are various unrelated references to a variety of different properties, from Disney films, to Cartoon Network shows like Steven Universe and Adventure Time, to even non-fighting games like Overwatch. Carmine and Gordeau even pay respects to fellow fighting game characters Morrigan Aensland (from Darkstalkers) and the X-Men’s Gambit. However, there are two interesting patterns, with the members of the Investigation Team receiving references to their successors, Persona 5’s Phantom Thieves, while P3’s Aegis gains an Elizabeth color — which makes her Persona resemble Igor, the master of the Velvet Room. Meanwhile, Team RWBY’s Weiss and Blake receive colors of their respective inspirations, Snow White and Belle, while Ruby and Yang don the color schemes of their mothers, Summer Rose and Raven Branwen.
Since the game’s release the BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle subreddit has created a Google Document to list each and every one of these special colors by character, with image links for easy viewing.
Which reference colors are your favorite? Did you think there were any missed opportunities with them? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
Source:/r/blazbluextagbattle
Salty Oasis (@DarylBunao)