While I can see why Bloody Roar 4 was the death of the series, I still feel that, were they to abandon 4's gameplay changes, the series could potentially continue and be as good as ever. What follows is simply my idea of how it could happen, if anyone has other suggestions, I would be very interested to hear them.
The Name
My working title is "Bloody Roar X2", with or without a dash between the letter and the number. This title stems from the fact that the game continues from the Primal Fury sidestory, since the main story arc came to an end already. How does "X" relate to "Primal Fury"? The only version of PF to be released in japan, the series' home country, was an enhanced Xbox port titled "Bloody Roar Extreme" and everyone knows Xs are cooler than Es.
The Story
The story of this game carries on from a combination of Cronos and Uriko's endings.
In this merged ending, the winner of the "Ultimate Zoanthrope Fighting Tournament" is Uriko, but the fighting does not end there for her. Instead of the ceremony and prize money she was promised, the young girl is taken in secret to an underground laboratory for one final test. Here she is pitted against the king's son, Cronos, who's phoenix powers overcome her martial arts and trickery. It is, however, an intense battle that results in the collapse of the lab's roof. Despite being the victor, Cronos is powerless to save them and Uriko must do so with her previously inaccessable chimeric powers. Even this brief use of that former strength is too much for her though and she collapses, exhausted in the arms of the greatful prince. Cronos is announced by his father as the new "Zoanthrope Champion" but, behind the scenes, the real purpose of the tournament is revealed to him. Its existance was merely a ruse to lure strong zoanthropes to the kingdom for his experiments, though even king Orion had never expected the legendary daughter of Mitsuko to attend.
During the ceremony, Ganesha breaks Uriko out of captivity, feeling it the least he can do for the girl who performed his bodygaurd duties better than he ever could have. At news of this trechery, Orion decides that his own son would make the ideal substitute. Cronos refuses and attempts to take his own life to prevent his dad's evil plans from taking place but has his dagger knocked from his hands
After half a year of cruel torturous experiments, a mysterious mark appears on Cronos' body (the events of game 4, since he was unaffected during the first awakening of the XGC) and his powers grow massively, bringing with them a deteriation of what sanity he still posesses. One fateful day, Cronos snaps and his new power destroys the laboratory, killing his father in an explosion of phoenix fire. Two years pass in which the boy tries to run the kingdom by himself but, with its poor reputation, no other nation will deal with the zoanthrope kingdom and, despite his best efforts, Cronos' home falls into disrepair. As a last ditch effort to bring in new faces, Cronos gathers together what wealth remains in his country and arranges a new round of the "Ultimate Zoanthrope Fighting Tournament".
Characters
Yugo the Wolf - A veteran of the previous tournament, the boxer, Yugo, is all too aware of the zoanthrope kingdom's shady past. He joins the new tournament to ensure that Cronos has not gone the way of his crazed father.
Gado the Lion - Like his friend's son, Yugo, the former army man, Gado, knows the true purpose of the last tournament and is worried that something similar may happen this time. His need to ensure the wellbeing of his kind and his desire for battle make entering the event irresistable.
Koryu the Iron Mole - Koryu is a bezerk robot, formed from the remains of the very first Zoanthrope Champion, a title aquired before the rise of the zoanthrope kingdom. With such a concentration of zoanthropes in one place, his urge to kill is reawakened.
Hans the Fox - Hans is not an entrant of the tournament but his crazed hatred of "ugly" zoanthropes will almost certainly result in him assaulting the competitors.
Greg the Gorrilla - Since becoming the star of his own zoanthrope circus, buisness had been booming but it all fell apart when he lost control during the XGC incident. He has been down on his luck ever since and so seeks the tournament reward money so he can start a new life.
Uriko the Lynx - Now a little more grown up, Uriko's fighting style has changed to account for her greater size. While still containing many of her childish antics, her lost evasive ability has been made up for by incorporating more of master Long's martial arts. She also now has a full beast form that is more slender and agile than the other cat types. Ontop of this, her timespace powers are begining to manifest themselves again, giving her several of Uranus' attacks.
Bored as usual with her peaceful life, Uriko cannot resist an invitation from an old friend.
Stun the Insect - Having failed in his previous attempts to find the preist who could end his zoanthropic pains, Stun has traced his movements to a tournament in the zoanthrope kingdom. He is uneasy about returning to a place with such an evil past but believes he has no other choice.
Shina the Leopard - Convinced that Cronos would never be one to cause others harm, Shina knows the intentions of this new tournament are ture and cannot refuse the new king's personal invite.
Jenny the Bat - Jenny was one of the least harmed by the Tylon organisation back in the day and, while she suffered at their hand like the others, their experiments stopped her natural aging process, meaning she hasn't aged a day since the events of the ast game.
As europe's top spy, she has recently aquired a contract that would have her investigate the new "Ultimate Zoanthrope Fighting Tournament". She enters the event as a ruse.
Cronos the Firebird - Through the experiments performed on him, Cronos's zoanthropic forms have changed. His beast form is now a creature that while resembling the old penguin form, has a fiery down and a much less aquatic looking design. His hyper form is now a slightly different, more golden and blazing phoenix. His hair is the same very pale green it has always been but now flows straight up from his head in a nonexistant wind. His eyes are white besides the pupils.
Cronos enters his own tournament out of a sense of fair play, not realising the danger that some of the competitors pose.
Reiji the Crow - Having regained control after the XGC incident drove him on an insane killing spree, Reiji wishes to atone for his actions but cannot shake the rest of his clan, who now hunt him tirelessly. He seeks sanctuary and new life in the Zoanthrope kingdom but still has some of his old phychopathic tendancies.
Mana the Ninetails - Mana has grown since the last game into a real priestess and she believes strongly in Cronos' ideals. She still lacks her full nine tails but now has 5 rather than 2 and is able to fight on her own.
Ryoho the Dragon - Ryoho is Mana's guardian and cannot let her enter the tournament alone. He calls upon the blue dragon to fake zanthropy and take part by her side but cannot hold the form for long without damaging Mana's seal. His beast form has increadible strength but is by far the shortest lasting.
Ganesha the Elephant - As Cronos' second in command, Ganesha enters the tournament under his orders.
Shenlong the Tiger - Now has a powerful uppercut as his finishing move.
I have no idea what his motivation should be.
??? the Tortoise - *shrugs*
Thalnos the Emperor - Thalnos is a madman and self-proclaimed emperor. He is a human seeking the hearts of the 4 legendary beasts, believing them to grant eternal life. His fighting style involves swords and gun moves activated with the beast button as though he were permanently transformed. His defence and standard moves are comparatively weak but his sword and gun attacks do significantly more damage at the cost of not comboing and leaving him vulnerable if used up close.
He plans on crashing the tournament to urther his own ends.
Thalnos the Godcursed - Thalnos' unlockable superform. In this version he has forsaken his weaponry for a twisted beast form amalgamation of Shenlong's, Cronos', Ryoho's, the Tortoise's and Xion's unborn form. His is vast but balanced by its slow recharge rate and his weak human form.
