Overdrive Series launched earlier this year for competitive PC Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- play. The online tournament, a partnership between Level Up Productions and streaming platform Stream.Me, previously offered a paid trip to Evolution 2017. This time, the action continues with a different prize under Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2.
“We’re excited to team up with Stream.Me and continue our efforts in supporting the Guilty Gear online community,” Alex Valle, president of Level Up Productions, said. “Giving players an opportunity to travel strengthens the competition at major events, and we’re looking forward to seeing the winner showcase their skills at CEOtaku.”
Hosted by Alexander “Octopimp” Gross and Luis “Rynge” Avila and broadcasted on Stream.Me, the four-week tournament series awards a free trip to CEOtaku, coming up this September. Here are the times and rules of the Overdrive Series:
Tournament Schedule:
Qualifiers – Monday, June 5 – 6:00 PM PT
Top 8 Finals – Tuesday, June 6 – 7:00 PM PT
Qualifiers – Monday, June 12 – 6:00 PM PT
Top 8 Finals – Tuesday, June 13 – 7:00 PM PT
Qualifiers – Monday, June 19 – 6:00 PM PT
Top 8 Finals – Tuesday, June 20 – 7:00 PM PT
Qualifiers – Monday, June 26 – 6:00 PM PT
Top 8 Finals – Tuesday, June 27 – 7:00 PM PT
Tournament Format:
Double-elimination
99-second time limit
Best 2 out of 3 rounds per game
Best 2 out of 3 games for pools
Best 3 out of 5 games for top 8 finals
Winner must keep the same character
Loser can switch characters
All DLC characters are allowed
Can only be streamed via Stream.Me
Must be 13 years old or older
Online connection that has upload of 3 MB/sec or higher
US, Canada, Mexico only
Are you gearing up for this second circuit of Overdrive Series? Register over at the smash.gg website.
Followers of the PC Master Race creed, rejoice! It wasn’t a terribly long wait this time. Just shortly after Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 became available on PlayStation 3 and 4, the DLC upgrade/revision to -REVELATOR- is already available on Steam.
If you already own -REVELATOR-, then go straight to Steam’s REV 2 Upgrade DLC page. That will cost you $18.99, but note that it doesn’t include certain -REVELATOR- DLC like characters Kum Haehyun, Dizzy, and Raven, so if you don’t already have them purchased, they don’t come with Steam’s REV 2. For $24.99, you can get additional REV 2 DLC, like Baiken and Answer system voices, and more colors.
On the other hand, if you don’t own -REVELATOR-, you can get the base game with the upgrade for different prices depending on how much optional content you want. Check out the Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- Steam page for details. The “optional” DLCs are the cosmetic elements, not the characters.
As a warning, beware of third-party sellers offering the game at lower prices. Earlier today, DLGamer offered the REV 2 upgrade DLC at a lower price, but that got taken down by the publisher.
Are you gearing up to play the latest fighter from Arc System Works, Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2? The official expansion to -REVELATOR-, available separately or standalone, is out on nearly all platforms (sans Steam). Before jumping in, whether you’re a veteran or a newbie, there’s something you need to watch.
Arc System Works released the English version of the “Introduction Trailer” which details what’s new in REV 2. From the two newcomers Answer and Baiken, through cast rebalancing, learning tools, and online lobby features, the video provides a rundown of what Guilty Gear offers. While there aren’t any new modes per se, there’s new content across the board in avenues like the Gallery and Digital Figure Modes.
Check out the video below, and make sure to share it with friends who are looking to jump into Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2.
To learn more about how REV 2 holds up, make sure to read our Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 review. I heard it’s pretty good.
Maybe this wasn’t an outcome that shattered the Combo Breaker 2017 fantasy brackets, but it was a stunning finale nonetheless. Japan’s CYCLOPS|Dogura met once again with North America’s Panda Global|SKD after facing each other twice already this year in Grand Finals at prior events. Dogura triumphed over SKD both at Frosty Faustings IX and Final Round 20.
Commentators Nobody.EXE and C0R underline SKD’s impressive mastery of the character, having developed many option selects and unique strategies for the numerous BlazBlue: Central Fiction cast. The match-up between Izayoi and Dogura is definitely in favor of the justice warrior, but generally, Dogura triumphed in the past.
This is an exciting show of top-notch BBCF gameplay, and a great way to get some insight thanks to the English commentary. Also, before you dive in to the match, here’s a teaser:
The cast of Tekken 7 is quite sizable. Alongside classic characters like Nina, King, Jack, Kuma, and so on, there’s plenty of new ones who have joined the games over the years. Whether you’re a veteran, or someone who hasn’t played Bandai Namco’s fighter in years, they have you covered.
The company has been releasing multiple character trailers that offer some flashy introductions of some of the characters, with brief combat sequences to give you a glimpse into their style:
Marshall Law
Feng Wei, Bob
Bryan Fury
Devil Jin
Hwoarang
Gigas
Katarina Alves
King
Jack
Steve Fox
Nina Williams
Lucky Chloe
Eddy Gordo
Miguel Caballero Rojo
Kuma
Josie Rizal
Ling Xiaoyu
Claudio Serafino
Paul Phoenix
Panda
Shaheen
Master Raven
Sergei Dragunov
Lili
Asuka Kazama
Leo
Yoshimitsu
This covers most of the cast–but not all, yet! Tekken 7 is slated for a release in North America and Europe on June 2nd on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam. It releases a day earlier in Japan.
School and games don’t tend to mix together well, but we’ve seen some universities offer esports programs, and even have their own teams. However, if you ever wanted to study esports as a subject to support your gaming career, it will soon be possible to take classes.
A university in the UK will offer a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) degree module in esports starting next year. Staffordshire University will feature courses in 2018, targeting entrepreneurs under 35 who want to learn about the culture, business, and community of esports.
“Over 73 per cent of those employed within esports are under the age of 35 and their skills are in demand,” said Rachel Gowers, the university’s dean of recruitment, PC Gamer reports. “Companies are looking for people who are entrepreneurial and tech savvy and the industry is driving the creation of new jobs. All students will get to visit an esports arena, and we are also offering a number of exciting scholarship opportunities for competitive players.”
This is part of UK’s push to become a stronger force in the esports industry on a global scale. As these courses are coming next year, perhaps we’ll see universities in other countries follow suit. Perhaps a minor in Fighting Games will be a thing of the future?
Having a PC version of Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- has done more for the community than Arc System Works may have predicted. This wasn’t just a port that made the game available on the “Master Race” platform, enabling another profit funnel for the game company (though that certainly doesn’t hurt). When Network Mode turned out to be much smoother and generally more reliable than its PlayStation Network counterpart, a lot of the community turned to Steam’s platform to deliver less laggy and more precise matches at long distances.
As this newfound connectivity found enthusiasm from the community, ideas arose to do more work to feature talented Guilty Gear players in special exhibitions. Originally, Midwest’s Sym, one of the best Millia players in the country, came up with the idea to assemble a league that would showcase such matches with commentary.
“The series was obviously inspired by the FT10s on Jonio’s stream, and the timing feels perfect now that the Steam player base has grown significantly,” he told SRK when the league was announced.
The Slash Series from Mikado was sort of the blueprint for the Super Steam Xrd Exhibition League. Starting in February 2017, new FT7 exhibition matches were scheduled on a consistent weekly basis. They always featured two sets. First, the audience warmed up by watching two (usually) somewhat less-known players. Highlighting talent that’s not as famous was one of the central ideas behind the League. After that, two better-known fighters would face off in the online sets.
Silva, who oversaw most of the league and would later stream it on her own Twitch channel, sees the SSXrdEL as something that fills a gap in the community.
“I feel that the community needs something like this,” Silva told SRK. “Tournament streams are great, but aside from that, the only other thing to watch for Guilty Gear would be training mode or random netplay streams, most of the time. Regularly streamed sets are something that I know I enjoy watching myself.”
“So after AA Grand Finals, KV and I didn’t get to play more casuals in person,” daymendou said. The match was scheduled to be almost a month after AA I think, so I wanted to see how KV would adjust in the matchup. I think our match set a good tone for the league because the matches before ours were pretty one-sided.”
Some players have a certain quality to really rock an exhibition, and having matches that aren’t one-sided is a desired facet. According to Silva, matching players from different regions but with similar skill levels is essential to having an entertaining match.
“No one wants to watch a 0-7, and no one wants to watch a match they could find on YouTube a dozen times. Also, bad match-ups are generally a thing to stay away from, but they can sometimes work out. I feel that attitudes rarely matter in this setting. What matters most is that the players try their best. Still, even though it’s Steam, this is netplay, so it’s important to be mindful of that and not take it as seriously as an offline match,” she said.
Speaking of Steam netplay, there was one player who got on the PC bandwagon pretty late. doren2k, a top Jam player, initially stuck with the PlayStation version. However, when the competitive community at large played on Steam, he eventually purchased a PC.
“At first, I didn’t believe the PC hype, but as more players started converting from PSN to Steam, I decided to give in and try it out. And honestly, netplaying on Steam is 100,000 times better than PSN. PSN is good if you have no other option, but if you can get a PC and play REV on Steam, netplay is way smoother and an overall better experience.”
Silva pointed out that the TSB|mynus vs. doren2k match was one of her favorites, because a lot of the rounds were pixel-health close. Additionally, every match features different commentators, some of which participated in the exhibitions themselves. Sway, who also plays Jam, commentated their match, as well as played in a later match-up.
“They’re both explosive by nature, and you can tell by watching them play just how much experience they both have as players,” Sway told SRK. “It’s hard to hold in my excitement while playing. I remember it ending at 7-6 with mynus winning but no one was disappointed on either end.”
As for what commentary brings to matches like these, Sway, who has experience in the trade, said: “Personally there are times a match can hold its own weight without commentary, but really good commentary can make the experience 100x better. I think of it as something that fills the gaps. So like: backstory, game and character knowledge, etc. Good commentary will immerse you into the match and make you care about the players and the game more than you would if you just watched it on its own.”
Other than that, another notable episode was the European special. While most the League focuses on North America, this feature took it to Europe and highlighted Guilty Gear talent from a different corner of the world. Representatives from Finland, Austria, Russia, and the Czech Republic showed off their talents with Axl, Potemkin, Faust, and Johnny.
“I definitely plan to give more international players a chance to play exhibitions in REV 2, if there is time,” Silva said.
Silva summed up this season’s stats pretty well in one tweet:
random Super Steam Xrd Exhibition League stats -3 months -28 commentators -56 players -27 unique MUs -about 27k YT views idk twitch views
Watch this special highlight reel below–premiering along with this article–showing some of the coolest moments from across all of the SSXrdEL matches!
Now that -REVELATOR- is out of the picture and we can slowly turn to Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, SSXrdEL is getting a makeover. The netplay exhibition will return this June under a new name, and zenzen, who participated in one of the exhibitions, will step up to help organize it.
“It might not be possible to keep it a weekly series forever. This summer, I’ll stream every week, but after that, it might have to be biweekly, since it’s a lot of work,” Silva said. “As for the matches themselves, I think more variety with the format would be good. Secret boss players or bonus third matches would be great. Also, because the name doesn’t limit it to Steam this time, maybe a PSN episode will happen at some point. Aside from that, expect a mix of returning faces from ‘Season 1’ as well as yet-to-be-featured players.”
Stay tuned to SRK as always, as we approach Tension Pulse!
SSXrdEL will return in Rev 2 under a new name- Tension Pulse! @shoujozenzen will be helping me organize exhibitions every week, starting 6/1 pic.twitter.com/hZZXThUEP1
The CPT Interview Series’ camera focuses on another fighter at Battle Arena Melbourne 9: post the event, the Capcom Fighters team spoke to Verloren, who’s the runner-up in Street Fighter V. Verloren opens up about his matches, explaining that a few small mistakes held him back in his matches against RB|Bonchan. Also, Verloren talks about how he got into fighting games. When he was 18 years old, he started with The King of Fighters, before discovering the Street Fighter scene. Verloren makes a confident promise to everybody: that if he loses to someone, he’ll do whatever it takes to win. Also, there’s that one character he hates…
Check out the full conversation with Verloren below to learn more about what it was like to play at Battle Arena Melbourne 9.
It seems like it’s never been a better time to be a Guilty Gear player. Xrd has revitalized the series like a a Phoenix Down, and Arc System Works is riding a wave of goodwill from players. By releasing a content-complete title with an inviting Tutorial Mode, alongside a free demo and an attractively priced upgrade, Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 arrives amidst an extremely busy season for fighting games. Admirably, those who want to put some effort in learning this zany 2D fighter with 3D graphics can find it on the platform of their choosing, closer to the Japanese release than ever before–whether it’s PlayStation 3, 4 or on Steam.
While REV 2 doesn’t drastically change up the Xrd formula, the Daredevil is in the details. Unlike its younger brother, BlazBlue, Team Red didn’t shake up combos from ground up. The evergreen menus and interface hide an option to revert back to REV 1, if desired. While we don’t see dramatic additions, new stages, some story content, and newcomers Baiken and Answer refresh the experience like a Gold Burst. Furthermore, every character received just enough tuning to make their gameplay shine more, or give them some new options.
For instance, Sin can’t knockdown with Air Beak Driver anymore, but he can do use it multiple times in the air for brand new, wackier combos. His air Dust move provides an air to ground knockdown, however. -REVELATOR- newcomers Kum Haehyun and Jam received just enough buffs and tuning to make their flow come together. The changes to Raven’s excitement mechanic give him much more personality, as the meter fluctuates up and down depending on what he does. Millia can’t knockdown as easily from the air as before, and she needs to get more creative with her moves and mind her Assassin pin more. Altogether, everyone got tuned in varying degrees of subtlety, but it’s good that Arc System Works did not resort to making changes for changes’ sake.
Answer, the character no one expected to arrive, puts Chipp a little bit in his tall hitbox’s shadow. His adorable and unique “Business Ninja” schtick, where he’s literally on the phone throughout every match, makes him a standout character. He drops scrolls around the screen and can cling to them, then dash around the screen, in a dizzying, Naruto-esque style.
Baiken has just enough new things to make old fans complain about certain aspects while they embrace the new, and she certainly found appreciation easily thanks to her swaggering mannerism (that forward walk!), an affinity for alcohol and smoking, and an emphasis on the “Lone Samurai” intros and attacks. Her Azami parry skill, which allows her to use six distinct counter-moves, is simple yet challenging to use. It needs good timing, but it rewards Baiken with great damage conversion and the ability to escape unblockable attacks and–new to Xrd–do counter-moves in the air. Altogether, it’s great to see the cast of Guilty Gear growing, especially since every member adds so much unique flavor; you almost want to sub every character, if only they weren’t so difficult to master.
REV 2 gets closer and closer to giving every character a fighting chance to shine in the competitive tournament scene, and we have yet to judge who will dominate in this “season”–maybe it won’t be as clear-cut as before. Now, like never before, the underlying philosophy in Guilty Gear comes through in every fight. Complexity emerges from the unique quirks and features of every character, and the real depth lies in figuring out match-ups. For instance, not every character has a straight-up Dragon Punch, but most characters have some way of defending. Elphelt can now execute her roll into Shotgun Stance at any point. Answer has a special reversal move that teleports him on top of the opponent, so the challenge lies in figuring out how to bait and punish it, depending on what’s available to your character. On paper, Baiken looks intimidating, since she can use her parry stance, Azami, at almost any time for powerful counter moves. In reality, she adds layers to REV 2 and forces players to approach the game in new ways, and something like that is exciting for any fighting game.
Even with accessible tools and multimedia, it’s a little difficult to get into the more granular aspects of the game, but luckily, REV 2 does a better job at getting players onboard than most. The entertaining tutorial with Jack-O’s minions is back, and Mission Mode includes character-specific challenges that display how to deal with certain match-ups (including two new ones for Baiken and Answer). Furthermore, the Combo challenges, while relatively untouched, have a few modified sets to help out in learning some of the new tools, depending on character. Those are marked with a “New” tagline.
Going through -REVELATOR – Story Mode again–which is good overall, though a bit drawn out, and a little too sappy and melodramatic–serves as an intro for the additional “After Story” included in REV 2.
There’s a few spelling mistakes in translation, but the team noticeably put effort into creating more visually compelling backgrounds–the new content opens with Raven speaking to That Man under a star-strewn night sky on a shoreline. Of course, the highlight is the Kiske family time, but when Sol shows up… it’s a must-see! It’s short, but very compelling. I wish there was more.
Episodes for the individual characters, which are actually just Arcade Mode with cutscenes, present some background for Baiken, Kum Haehyun, Jam, Dizzy, Raven, and Answer. It’s good to see them fleshed out a bit, as the main Story Mode hasn’t touched on those characters very much. They’re brief, but worthwhile. Similar to the older cast that already has fleshed out “Episode Mode” content, there are a few cutscenes in-between battles.
Online Mode has been a ghostland during this pre-release window, so I couldn’t test out connection quality much. However, those who have played -REVELATOR- should know what to expect. PlayStation Network can deliver solid connections, but only under certain circumstances (distance, internet speed, and its finicky nature), so Steam will generally be superior. However, the refreshed REV 2 lobby is friendlier than before. From little details like expanded information boards, a clearer interface, and daily chests with loot, to a special “First to 3” two cabinets in the center of every lobby, the rooms have more functionality and look more inviting to hang out. Fans of Guilty Soccer will also enjoy Player Rooms more. Arc System Works have also teased improved online matchmaking and documented some of the online lobby improvements.
All in all, Team Red doesn’t significantly change up their formula, and those who thought REV 2 would feel much different from -REVELATOR- will be disappointed. But that’s hardly a flaw, as why would they fix what works? More content-complete than ever before, attractively priced, and with two new, compelling characters (alongside a free demo to try it out!), Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 stands out as a quality package. Putting aside business practices, Guilty Gear remains as an incredibly tightly-tuned fighting game with an inspired rock and heavy-metal soundtrack. It’s tough to find another fighting game in the market with such dizzyingly unique, memorable characters.
Score: 10/10
Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 arrives on PlayStation 3 and 4 on May 26, and for Steam on June 1.
Millia Rage remains as one of the most feared of Guilty Gear’s assassins. This quick lady–who specializes in hair attacks–has great mobility and very scary setplay. Very few players can effectively block her, and there’s a lot that she can do to mix up the opponent. How do the adjustments in Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 vary up her gameplan? LordKnight has been putting up a series of videos that showcase new techniques.
“Basically, the two biggest changes are around jHS and pin. It changes not only how she combos, but how she selects what to do when she knocks you down,” LordKnight told SRK. “Since jHS doesn’t knockdown (unless in a really specific situation), having pin means you have a lot of control over this, not having means you don’t have as much. Also, jHS hitting cross-up works a great space control tool.”
Here’s a new type of confirm from a midscreen RC combo. It takes advantage of the new jHS for a double instant-air dash combo.
Want more damage out of the same crouch confirm? It’s possible if you have the pin.
If you don’t have the pin and your opponent is cornered, what do you do? Here’s one combo that still knockdown from the air and works without the tool.
Here’s what to do if you hit them with a Dust in the corner and have no pin. And you know that there are people who get hit by Millia’s Dust all day (like me).
Now this is the good stuff. Here’s how to make Sol “Writhe in Pain” in the corner under a barrage of safe mix-ups with Secret Garden.
As you can see, Millia still has the scary mix-ups, but she’s a lot more threatening with the pin. It seems like the best course of action is to focus even more on keeping her away from it once she uses it. It’s good to be aware of these changes to prepare oneself better for Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2.
Make sure to check out more videos on LordKnight’s channel, to see even more Millia REV 2 setups and combos.
