Blazblue Continuum Shift 2nd loc test impressions

Since the location tests for the next upcoming version of Blazblue is under way for a couple of weeks already, I'll post up a short writeup on the opinions by me and a few friends on the reported changes based on this and videos scattered around YouTube...

Of course, while this is written, there are still constant changes going on in Japan.

Gameplay changes
- Barrier burst system replaced by the ability to stock up 2 bursts and no longer gives a damage penelty unless your barrier meter goes low or something. It'd be interesting how people use burst now; we might expect the same usage as Guilty Gear's Burst.
- New guard system. Some moves will go through barriers now. No idea how this will affect gameplay, but seems like a big change.
- overall damage reduction, much like GG:Slash to GGAC.

Character changes
Ragna - Damage nerf, but gameplay should remain the same.

Jin - Huge damage nerf, but is stronger at rushdown now that all his dash cancel moves are NORMAL dashes.

Noel - Damage nerf, normals overall nerfed to become slower. Biggest nerf was 5A being unmashable and no longer as broken as it was. Another big nerf was having slower air throw (I loved her broken airthrow >.<) Rachel - Her rushdown abilities seemed to be crippled so far. Lots of what affected her rushdown has been nerfed. Tager - Alot faster, overall buff. Atomic Collider being upper body invul means that he can do stupid mindless close range 50/50 mixups like Potemkin in GGAC. Taokaka - Not much changes overall Litchi - Biggest change was the nerfing of her DP. She's no longer able to do combos into free pole setups anymore. Arakune - seems to be revamped. Even then, I heard a 5k combo has already been discovered. Bang - most buffed up character. Can do 4 seals from almost anything. Autoguard attacks are now like 2 frames faster or something, meaning it's much easier to land them now. 6C working on all characters is a great thing. The best is his new Distortion Drive, which is an anti-air, something that Bang is lacking in the current installment. Seems like Bang is going to be pretty solid Carl - No more clap loop, but Carl is still quite good at sandwich combos. So, his damage now got from a level of 'ridiculous' to 'decent'. Hakumen - Seems to get an overall speed buff to his moves. His new normal is said to be abusable and powerful. Λ-No.11- Overall nerf to range, speed and removal of some JCable stuffs, stripping her of some of her agility. Best was the nerf of 2C. Tsubaki - Seems to play like Order-Sol so far, not only from her mechanics, but also from what I see from her gameplay. But the videos are quite blur and this is still only speculation, so I can't really tell. Hazama - Seems incomplete atm. Hopefully it will hit nearby arcades soon. I would hate to wait for 3-5 months like everyone did for GGAC.