Part 29: Arakune: Story 02

I m go eat m proof of m victor .
You bastard, STOP IT--!


Arakune is also unique in that, unlike every other character, when you make a choice to murder and eat everyone you meet the game actually lets you do it. Battery acid is of no concern to Arakune.
... I tho t would inorga subs no utritio , but I guess demo works und Sector Se , cells more vital I ... tastes bett I would magin d.



This mo world's bes scienti cap makes world shake-- Eheehee! Raaaaaaaaaagh...! The world no rou . angu wit acute ang s pierce anything...
Arakune, world's best scientist. Millions of nobel prizes, but no arms to hold them.



I wan eat . strong soul. fountain o would give satisfac stren . If I push bu fountain souls gush ou ... no go through hardsh , then means soul would purpose...



Hey! Look there's "Squiggly"! Everyone! Squiggly is coming!
Run away!
He's gonna eat you! You have to run away!
Li , life, . rich frangran fe, s rich choke me.
Ah-- Uawh...whoa...
Aaaa! Oh, no! She didn't get away in time!
What do we do...?
eat. I'll eat . Time eat. Life. Bon a etit. Bleehaahaahaahaa!
Oh, no! He's gonna eat her!



Wait a minute!
Huh...?
Yay! Tao's here!
Beat the crap out of that squiggly!



Hey, Squiggly! Your violence ends here!
Shut u , rep ca.
You're not even making sense! Stop attacking my village! You're such a nuissance!
throa keeps reach souls gush ou . mus specia meal. shutu , scum! Agahahahaheeeeeeheeheeheeheeheehe!
Fffft! He's pissing me off! I feel like he's making fun of me!
Tao's pissed! She's in super mode!
Taao! Taao!
Beat 'em up!
Taao! Taao! Taao!

Grrrrrrrrrr! Everyone's voice is pounding in my heart as one--! I. AM. FULL. OF. POWER! Now, prepare yourself, Squiggly! I'm going to finish you off, once and for all!
at's all pointless... Uhehehehehehe.


Holy shit this is annoying. Tao's much better in the air than Arakune, and her D attacks can even stuff Arakune's jumping B, or at least trade with it. She's also not likely to stand back and let you toss clouds. CPU Tao opted occasionally to stay across the screen from me, which is not the brightest decision. Having no good anti-air also really hurts Arakune's case in this match.

And yes I was mashing in the last round, thank you very much.



Uhh... Mew...
noth but atavis repli , noth when put unde mercur . Keheeheehehe.



Oh, no! Tao got beat!
We gotta help her! We need to help her!
Everyone, attack!



Eat, or d-Nope, fuck it, you're not taking this away from me. I've waited too long.

Devour. Mus de our...



Tao!



still hungr small bug equal manif s narr , en then, desire eat...
Waah!
Eeek!



Uargh. Life sure gush will be bor again m womb. Guhahahahakokeekokeehehehehehe.





I want to take a second to talk about game balance. Specifically, Arakune and game balance. Every fighting game has issues with this, but somehow I think because of how diverse the cast of BlazBlue would provide a bit more challenge than your average fighting game. I mean, look at Arakune. Look at his entire concept: You are a shitty character until you hit your opponent with your special move and then become THE BEST CHARACTER.

In the beginning Arakune didn't even need to build a meter to get curse. Mori came down from the sky, poked holes in a sheet, and told it to go forth and do 150+ hit combos forever. Then he saw that he was broken as hell and he put the fucking breaks on that right quick. Boom, Continuum Shift, Arakune has to build a meter, what the fuck. Well don't fucking worry because once he gets it now even when you hit him YOU'RE STILL IN CURSE. YOU'RE IN CURSE FOREVER.

Shit. Back to the drawing board. Continuum Shift 2, let's make Arakune pretty bad. Curse meter runs out faster, weaker in general. Arakune falls to C-Tier material. Well, let's try one more time. Continuum Shift Extend Arakune, our current day Arakune, is a beast. Not as good as CT Arakune, but still pretty good. Everyone just give up.

So the question is, how the hell do you balance a character like this? How many times should you have to get curse off to win? How bad should you be before you get curse? How good should you be while you have it? I dunno, don't look at me. The one thing I can tell you is that I don't think Arakune will ever be a 'balanced' character. He'll either be bad, or he'll be amazing, but nowhere in between.

BONUS
Arakune's theme, Thin RED Line

It's not too bad.