this looks pretty cool, i'm pretty surprised i haven't heard of it up till now! i'd definitely be interested in getting it but ffffs i can't afford $60 games right now

Actually I pre-ordered this (the limited edition version) but because of alot of stupidly annoying reasons it hasn't arrived yet.

Where do you live? The game seems difficult to get everywhere except in the US. I'm a little disappointed that only a few hundred copies shipped to Canada. Still waiting for this game to arrive from Hong Kong, which will hopefully be in a few days since it shipped out yesterday.

So, does anyone here have this game for any console yet? I'd love to hear what a GW member thinks of it.

Yeah I'm in the US I think it's taking so long (yeah I still haven't gotten it) because I ordered it kinda late.
The sucky thing is I actually had it shipped to my mother's house because that's where I was last week for vacation (plus I wanted to play it with my 2D fighter obsessed cousin) so now I have to wait till after it arrives there (because they say it's already in transit) and then after she sends it to me.

Ok it finally came... at like 10pm last night (I didn't even know UPS ran that late although maybe it's because of where I am). Anyway since then I've done nothing but play this game so I figure I should probably write a review since no one has done it here yet. Now bare with me here I didn't go to sleep last night and on top of that my english sucks anyway, it's not my native language but I've been speaking/writing it since like 2001-2002 and I grew up hearing it/reading it so I should be better than I am with it by now to tell you the truth. Well anyway on with my crappy review...

Gameplay
At its core it's alot like Guilty Gear, most of the mechanics work the same so yeah calling this a spiritual successor to GG wouldn't be wrong at all. One of the things that is different in Blazblue is how special attacks work. Basically most special attacks are done with one button (X on the PS3) and everyone's special attacks are done and act completely different than everyone else's. For example Ragna is pretty much your standard quarter circle + X = more damaging flashy technique type guy (except they absorb life force or something) but pressing X + a direction with Rachel Alucard makes her control a gust of wind that can be used to blow her (she has an umbrella like thing) and projectiles around the stage or with Carl Clover it lets you control a marionette who's always in the battle with him.

Story mode is pretty good too, although not as good as what I expected from other people's comments (I thought it would be way longer) it still gets the job done. Its basically what you'd expect from a fighting game's story mode (you know read some text while looking at some still frame images then fight and repeat) but the characters are all interesting enough to make it worthwhile. You also very occasionally choose what your character says, I'm not really sure how much barring this has on the flow of the story though.

My only real gripe with this game is the lack of modes such as survival and tournament (the game modes are Aracde, Verses, Story, Score Attack, Training and Network) and when compared to GG the character roster is pretty small (although this IS a new series, not to mention everyone plays differently so I'm not so sure how valid a complaint this is).  Overall though this game is awesome especially if you like doujinshi-style fighters, in fact I'd say without a doubt that hands down it's the best fighter I've played in a while.

Graphics
Beautiful, I started out playing this game on a SD TV and it already looked good but on a HD TV it simply looks like a work of art. To be fair some of the backgrounds (the 3D stuff pretty much) could use some more work and if you hate anime style stuff (I love anime, I think I'm a minority nowadays...) it might turn you off but this has to be the best looking fighter around right now (atleast until maybe when King of Fighters XIII comes out).

Sound
Pretty much the same music style as GG, although there seems to be more vocal and choral tracks and overall the music seems to be of a higher quality than GG's. That's probably just because it's been like a million years since GG has had all new music instead of just remixes and that probably just makes the music sound fresh. SFXs get the job done and the voices are better than I expected. I mean yeah there's a well supply of engrish but nobody's really that annoying which is rare in this genre. I also find it pretty cool that the characters say completely different things depending on who they're fighting (I'm not just talking about intros and stuff here they even say different things when they do their attacks). Bang *insert long Japanese name which I can't spell* is awesome too btw.

Network
I couldn't tell ya since I'm currently smack dab in the middle of the podunkyist hickville you could ever find. I did ask a guy outside the city hall here this morning about any wifi areas in town so I could atleast use my PSP, DS or my labtop online and it went something like this...

ME: Excuse me sir is there a place in town where I can use wireless internet?
HIM: Wha?
ME: I asked if-
HIM: Are you black or a mexican?
ME: Umm... nevermind.

So yeah I can't really review the online features yet. I'll probably update this review with what I think of it after I'm in an area where I can use high-speed internet (I leave here next Wednesday for Memphis, TN so...).

Well I can't really think of anything else to say so yeah that's my review and all that.

I'll probably go up to the mall and buy it either today or sometime during this week, so I look forward to getting my ass handed to me by you all.