[Update] StayFree @ E3 Talkin' CP

I, your Grand Poobah, StayFree was able to momentarily tear himself away from the PS3 build of the game to get some face time with the good folks over at Aksysgames. I spoke to VP of Sales, Yoshi Morizuka and Marketing, Anne Kaneko on their upcoming PS3 exclusive, BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma.

...more after the jump.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

Despite being tight-lipped on most of the details surrounding the game I managed to get new info concerning the work being done on the project and to clear some of the confusion plaguing Arc System Works' latest fighter.

First off, neither Aksysgames nor *Arc System Works is doing the localization this time around, but rather an undisclosed third party company. No news on whether the original English voice cast will reprise their respective roles.

Many people were excited to learn of Chrono Phantasma's US release and the E3 reveal trailer that followed; only to be greeted by the same arcade intro shown months ago. I asked if they would be willing to offer more details on the matter, here's what they had to say:

"We had a finished trailer but it was later scrapped due to it not meeting ArcSys' standards. We ended up using the original arcade intro due to time constraints (E3)."

I also brought up the confusion concerning the final character roster and the unannounced 26th character. I was told in the interview that the info they (Aksys) received, and the final build they were given showed no indication of a 26th character. They stated, "It was most likely a PR mistake on ArcSys' part."

Morizuka was also pleased to announce that the same playable build demoed at E3 will make its public debut at Anime Expo 2013, alongside their largest booth to date.

Slated for a Q1 release, BBCP promises to revitalize the series by adding 6 additional characters to the roster with 30+ hours of new story content, robust online features, and newly updated modes (Teach Me Miss Litchi Again). 2014 appears to truly be the year of BlazBlue.

GET HYPE WEABOOS!!

Aksysgames E3 2013 Press Kit

Aksysgames E3 2013 Press Kit

BlazBlue Chrono Phantasma Press Sheet

BlazBlue Chrono Phantasma Promo Poster

*Update (6/20):

In a followup interview with the Marketing Manager (Russel) over at Aksysgames I can now confirm that Arc System Works would be the ones handling the localization for the game. He also wanted to apologize for the misinformation on Aksys' part. Honest mistake (derp).