Author: John "Zidiane" Silvia

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Heavy Changes to Skullgirls 2nd Encore’s Robo-Fortune & Fukua Incoming

As we recently reported, Skullgirls 2nd Encore is in the process of getting a huge update to its core game. New animations and lobbies–among other changes–are on their way soon. Probably some of the most exciting changes coming are in the form of balance adjustments for multiple characters; while some of the characters are scarcely getting touched, or having simple bug fixes added, other characters are getting large reworks to core aspects of their gameplay–and some of the biggest changes in that department are going to Robo-Fortune.

While these changes are tentative at the moment, and extremely experimental–none of them are guaranteed to go into the full game, and new changes are being added almost daily–they are currently live in Skullgirls’ Endless PC Beta, which has been running since the PC launch. Robo-Fortune is currently getting large buffs to her keep-away game, but in return is suffering large nerfs to her damage output. Fukua is also receiving a really big change: in the ability to call and hold her shadows until she wishes to release them. This means she can pressure the opponent with the threat of a incoming low or overhead shadow. In return for this, she does lose health while holding a shadow, as well as a large nerf to her damage as well. Check out this video featuring some of the changes.

You can play with these changes for yourself, or wait for them to make their way to retail. Either way, check this link for a current list of all the changes, which will be updated regularly as new changes are added.

Sources: Lab Zero; DragonSlave

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Heavy Changes to Skullgirls 2nd Encore’s Robo-Fortune & Fukua Incoming

As we recently reported, Skullgirls 2nd Encore is in the process of getting a huge update to its core game. New animations and lobbies–among other changes–are on their way soon. Probably some of the most exciting changes coming are in the form of balance adjustments for multiple characters; while some of the characters are scarcely getting touched, or having simple bug fixes added, other characters are getting large reworks to core aspects of their gameplay–and some of the biggest changes in that department are going to Robo-Fortune.

While these changes are tentative at the moment, and extremely experimental–none of them are guaranteed to go into the full game, and new changes are being added almost daily–they are currently live in Skullgirls’ Endless PC Beta, which has been running since the PC launch. Robo-Fortune is currently getting large buffs to her keep-away game, but in return is suffering large nerfs to her damage output. Fukua is also receiving a really big change: in the ability to call and hold her shadows until she wishes to release them. This means she can pressure the opponent with the threat of a incoming low or overhead shadow. In return for this, she does lose health while holding a shadow, as well as a large nerf to her damage as well. Check out this video featuring some of the changes.

You can play with these changes for yourself, or wait for them to make their way to retail. Either way, check this link for a current list of all the changes, which will be updated regularly as new changes are added.

Sources: Lab Zero; DragonSlave

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Some Tips on Improving at Rivals of Aether, from the Beefy Aether Doods

Bettering one’s gameplay and climbing the skill ladder is undoubtedly challenging in any fighting game. The abstract nature of “improvement” and the fear of being “bad” hold a lot of players back. While the topic has been tread time and again, it’s an ever-present necessary talking point–especially with the influx of players into the community, keeping up dialogue on improvement is essential.

Today, the problem is tackled again–this time the Beefy Aether Doods discuss how to get better at Rivals of Aether. They include talking points on recognizing when you are no longer improving, when to know you should take a breather, and how to find mentors to help improve your game.

Source: Beefy Aether Doods

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Some Tips on Improving at Rivals of Aether, from the Beefy Aether Doods

Bettering one’s gameplay and climbing the skill ladder is undoubtedly challenging in any fighting game. The abstract nature of “improvement” and the fear of being “bad” hold a lot of players back. While the topic has been tread time and again, it’s an ever-present necessary talking point–especially with the influx of players into the community, keeping up dialogue on improvement is essential.

Today, the problem is tackled again–this time the Beefy Aether Doods discuss how to get better at Rivals of Aether. They include talking points on recognizing when you are no longer improving, when to know you should take a breather, and how to find mentors to help improve your game.

Source: Beefy Aether Doods

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Final Skullgirls 2nd Encore Patch on the Horizon: New Animations, Balance Changes, and Lobbies

In what is perhaps the biggest news for Skullgirls 2nd Encore since the release of physical copies in Japan, Lab Zero has announced what appears to be the final update to their flagship game.

This patch–promised to bring the lobbies found on Steam to consoles–is said to “come with a number of general bug fixes, as well as minor gameplay fixes, tweaks, and balance adjustments.” Some of these bugs and tweaks have been shown off in the Steam version of the game, such as the best-of-five function to quick match, as well as improved replay functions. The replay feature has not been stated to be coming to consoles, however.

As far as the new animations are concerned, it was stated that there were “new intro animations being created” for Skullgirls Mobile, the mobile fighting game that uses Skullgirls sprites. There was new art spotted in the trailer for that game, and some new palettes, but only time will tell which assets will make their way over from the mobile game.

Improvements to the Vita version of the game were also mentioned. There are a few issues with blurry text and textures, due to the small screen; Lab Zero stated “we can’t promise that this will be improved in the lobbies patch, but please know that we’re considering every option at our disposal.”

The mention of balance changes is particularly interesting: there haven’t been any balance changes since the Robo-Fortune patch over a year ago, so there’s been a lot of time for Lab Zero to think about rebalancing. While it is stated that the changes will be minor, Skullgirls is known for massive patch notes. The Endless Beta–which has been in place for Skullgirls since the beginning–is currently being used to test out the aforementioned changes. You can read the whole patch notes here, which contain ten pages of incoming updates. These changes are said to be simply experimental at this point, so none of them are definite–and there are said to be even more changes coming soon.

The final bombshell was the announcement of an English physical release for Skullgirls. Thanks to Arc System Works, it’s already happened for our friends in Japan–but it would be great to have a stateside version. It went unsaid whether or not a collector’s edition was planned, like Japan’s Skullbox.

Source: Skullgirls; ArcSys

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Getting Too Old for This: Officer Peter Stars in His Own Fan-Made Street Fighter V Trailer

Peter, the unplayable police officer from Street Fighter V’s General Story mode (and voiced by Peter “ComboFiend” Rosas), has drawn a committed fanbase. This character has so much support, that he was even modded into the PC version of the game–which you can check out in our mod roundup here, which includes Peter as well as other modded characters.

Not only has this policeman earned die-hard fans and a chance to fight for himself, but now he also has an opportunity to shine in his own fan trailer. The trailer shows off his “charming” personality, and his powerful attacks–such as his overhead baton, which can be linked into additional baton attacks for a hilarious combo string. Check out the trailer to see what else he can do!

Source: SFV Mods Street Fighter V Mods

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Check Out These Insane Skullgirls 2nd Encore Midscreen Assist Kill Setups

In Skullgirls, calling an assist to back yourself up is one of the most powerful options in the game. An assist can cover weaknesses of your point character, and exacerbate weaknesses of opposing players. However, this does not mean that an assist call is always the right decision–in fact, poor assist calls can often hurt you more than anything your opponent can put you through. If both you and your assist are caught, there are ways of optimizing and maximizing damage to kill the assist, either with meter or without meter.

Today, here’s yet another way to capitalize on a bad assist call and ensure your victory. If you combo both the assist and the point character, but the point character dies, the assist is stuck in the combo until dropped. Creative players can take advantage of this fact to take a second character–or even the match. Below, player CaioLugon shows us how to use this to your advantage with every character in the game.

Source: CaioLugon

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Mr. Game & Watch’s Unique Gameplay Shines in This Silly Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Combo Video

Mr. Game & Watch isn’t seen in action very often, and is fairly low on the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U tier list, but having one of the most aesthetically unique movesets in the game makes this quirky fighter a delight to see in action–when the random number generator favors him.

This combo video, made by Gray Fruit, is full of “9” Card Hammer moments and humorous springboard deaths. As the Hammer uses an RNG (the numbered card shown grants various effects on hit) there are some pretty wacky situations that pop up.

Source: Gray Fruit

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King of Fighters XIV’s Demo: Aesthetics, Frame Rate, and Input Lag Analysis

King of Fighters XIV’s visual presentation has been a hot point of discussion since the game was announced: players all around the world have been a little wary of how the title will look when the game is finished, and now that we finally have the demo, we can see first hand how it shapes up.

DigitalFoundry, a YouTuber that focuses on game performance, broke down the graphics and frame rate provided by King of Fighters XIV’s new 3D engine.

Mike “Mike Z” Zaimont has also posted the results of an input lag test on the game, viewable here.

Source: DigitalFoundry, Mike Z

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Amazing Skullgirls 2nd Encore Combo Video Parodies the “Rhythm Heaven” Series

Combo videos for fighting games are commonplace, and there isn’t any shortage of players trying to put their own spin on the notion. Themed combo videos are always neat, but what we have here today is something particularly neat: this video takes heavy inspiration from Nintendo’s popular Rhythm Heaven series, creating something that’s almost unrecognizable as a combo video.

The video’s creator, Salty Noob, has some other interesting content on his channel as well, such as narrative combo videos.

Source: Salty Noob