Johnny, the flagship swashbuckler from the Jellyfish Pirates, is one of the more stylish and flashy characters in Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-. While he was known as the “touch of death” character before the Evolution 2016 patch, he can still be a formidable opponent in the hands of advanced players, whether they’re Japanese or American.
KidViper recently streamed a couple of sets against an American Sol and Raven, Nakkiel and Koogy. The long sets are good to study the match-up and detail, and KidViper commentates during them.
For a Japanese perspective on the character, there’s none better to watch than Karinchu and Omito. Below, Omito has a long set against a variety of some of the finest in the land, like Roi, Fumo, 310, and more. As part of the Tenkaichi Budokai league, Karinchu fought Kazuki’s Dizzy. He also has another recent set against Nage, which is always a pleasure to watch.
The release of the Nintendo Switch is drawing closer, as the commercial during the Super Bowl 51 event reminded us. TSM|ZeRo also made a new video that discusses what he would like to see on the portable and stationary console.
The first thing ZeRo brings up is netplay. Since Nintendo will eventually start charging a fee for using its online services, ZeRo has higher expectations for what playing online should be. Less lag is welcome alongside expanded online functionality and match-making for custom games. A ladder system for more competitive players would also appeal in particular to pros like him.
ZeRo is less eager to see the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U patched, because he’s worried that the game balance will be broken–although understandably, many tournament winners have been nerfed. He also sounds off on a short character wish list, like Phoenix Wright and Solid Snake.
The Nintendo Switch has two fighting games confirmed so far, ARMS, which could be the final Evolution 2017 game, and Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers. What do you want from the Nintendo Switch? Which fighting games are you looking forward to play on it? Sound off in the comments.
Photo: From the left, Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- Top 8 Finalists: CO|Dogura, BjornSonOfBear, Hotashi, GO1, TSC|FaultyDefense, PG|MarlinPie, MC|GcYoshi13. Not pictured: FF|ElvenShadow.
While attending Frosty Faustings IX, I had an opportunity to not only participate in a few of its tournament games, but also to see high-octane competition from some of the best Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- players in the world. The culmination of the event was a face-off between BjornSonOfBear and CO|Dogura, a pro gamer from Japan who visited the States specifically to compete in Guilty Gear, BlazBlue: Central Fiction, and other games.
Post Grand Finals, I caught up with Dogura to ask him about how he feels about the tournament, his opponent, what Arc System Works may be thinking about their game, and what his plans are for this year.
Luke “Woocash” Siuty: You just won Guilty Gear at Frosty Faustings IX, what are your thoughts and feelings on your matches and the Grand Finals?
CO|Dogura: I’m glad that I won the first significant major of the year. About BjornSonOfBear, I’ve fought him at SoCal Regionals 2016. Pretty much the same thing happened as now. I used Raven against Bears, then I lost, and I picked Sin, then won. Same thing happened here. I’m glad. I didn’t really want to play Bears, because I was a little worried. I knew how I wanted to play, and I knew Bears is a problem, so I wasn’t really confident against him, but I’m glad I beat him.
Woocash: How do you feel about the atmosphere at American tournaments vs. Japanese arcade ones?
Dogura: Usually Japanese tournaments end in one day or so. The difference that I feel is the most impactful is the fact that American tournaments do not really let go of the players for a long time. It’s like a whole-day job. You have to play in a different environment, wait for your matches, play consecutively if you enter a lot of tournaments, be aware of them. I need a lot of stamina and energy to attend them, so that’s the one thing that I always think about.
Woocash: Can you explain your thoughts on Raven and Sin in their current state?
Dogura: I think they’re both mid-high tier. Sin’s a little higher than Raven. My usage of those two in tournaments is just whatever I think is a hard match-up for Raven, I go with Sin, as simple as that.
Woocash: You’ve attended the first REV 2 Location Test. What are your thoughts on it, what direction do you feel the game is going?
Dogura: I felt like every character is nerfed. What they’re trying to do is, the game felt overall like something close to Guilty Gear XX Slash. In Slash, everybody was weakened. I feel that ArcSys is trying to maintain balance in the game, trying to make everybody fair. I don’t think all these changes are going through. There are some iffy changes that I’m sure they will fix up, so I feel that the location tests are going to go on, and things will change more.
Woocash: What are your plans for this year and aspirations in regards to Guilty Gear and other games?
Dogura: This year, I’m going to try to attend all the Capcom Pro Tour events for Street Fighter V. I want to attend Capcom Cup, and if I can’t attend that, that’s great. As for Evo 2017, I want to focus on BlazBlue and Guilty Gear, not so much on Street Fighter V. I’ve had this sentimental, regretful moment at the previous BlazBlue tournament at Evo against Galileo. I’m still feeling pretty gruff about that. This time, I want to win it, and I will try my best at Guilty Gear also.
Woocash: Any other final comments or thoughts?
Dogura: I’m encouraging foreign players to interact with me on Twitter or if they have any questions, they can ask in English, and I can use a translator, I’ll try to answer at my best.
Clash Art videos are the lesser-known cousins of combo videos. Combo videos are known for not always being that practical, as they often focus more on style. If going all-out to look as flashy as possible is your thing, you’re going to love clash videos.
An actual hit rarely ever lands in a clash video. Rather, both characters cancel into consecutive blows by utilizing the clash mechanic from Arc System Works, often ending in a Distortion Drive or entering Overdrive. There’s a lot to appreciate–not only is it difficult to time this between two characters (or a recording in Training Mode), but it also takes talent to come up with the “choreography.”
The two videos from NicoNico below showcase the latest installment in the BlazBlue fighting game series, Central Fiction. The focus is on mimicking the story component from the game’s arcade mode, which was divided into Acts. Check out the incredible action provided by Hazamatsu. As Hazamatsu is teasing a video trilogy, more is likely to come in the future.
With 2017 reaching its second month already, now’s still a good time to do a little bit of forecasting for what gaming has in store this year. Fighting games are just one genre under the wide umbrella of the games industry, and the State of the Game Industry 2017 report–provided by the Game Developers Conference–has a good amount of insight for that category, as well as the related esports angle.
GDC polled over 4,500 game developers who have attended the event on a variety of topics, like platform and development preferences, esports trends, and more.
“Confidence in esports as a long-term, sustainable business is rising,” the GDC report said. According to respondents, 90 percent of which are in agreement, esports have the opportunity to place alongside traditional sports like football as societal acceptance grows, and as long as there’s a crowd supporting it.
Other than that, the report mentions that developers primarily make games for PC and mobile platforms, with 53 percent mentioning PC and 38 percent creating for smartphones and tablets. From current gen consoles, the PlayStation 4/PS4 Pro is ahead of the Xbox One/Scorpio by five percent, 27 to 22. For the first time, Android surpasses Apple’s iOS in terms of mobile dev interest, but only by a small margin. As for the Nintendo Switch, polled developers are “cautiously optimistic,” believing it will outsell the Wii U, but they aren’t sure whether changing from the dock to mobile feature will resonate with the public.
Read the full report from the Game Developers Conference website. The Conference itself is coming up this February, from the 27th until March 3rd.
As expected, the first Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 location test, a testing ground for the upcoming expansion to -REVELATOR-, isn’t the only one. Arc System Works has revealed a few details and a date for the next tests.
The next location tests will take place at a yet-undisclosed arcade on the weekend of February 11th and 12th–Saturday and Sunday. The hours will follow the location’s regular business hours.
Other than that, not much is known. It will be interesting to see how the company took feedback from some of the controversial changes of the first wave of testing, and what further changes they have in store. As we know, a lot of the cast received new normal or special moves. Also, we can’t forget that Answer and Baiken, new characters to the Xrd games, make an appearance. As ArcSys has graciously released official patch notes detailing the changes in the first build, let’s hope the same plan is on course.
The announcement also has a group of four screenshots which show Ky Kiske’s new normal attack, and, surprisingly, a new move for Sol Badguy.
Stay tuned to SRK for more Guilty Gear coverage as it happens.
The past weekend featured incredibly heated action from Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-: the Arc System Works’ air-dasher fans were treated to top-level Guilty Gear play from most of the best players in the country, and even two people from the game’s homeland, Japan: CO|Dogura and CO|GO1.
BjornSonOfBear’s Chipp Zanuff is something to behold, as he tackles Japan’s Maneater. This is sort of a repeat from SoCal Regionals 2016, where the two faced off against each other. Typically, Dogura goes with Raven first, but then loses and switches to Sin Kiske. Whatever the outcome, the crowd roared with every mix-up, combo, and Overdrive, cheering the American Ninja as much as possible.
“Playing the Japanese even for those short sets made me remember that there are lots of holes in my play that I take for granted and am not punished for because there are so few players in the US with extensive experience against my character,” BjornSonOfBear told SRK.
Here are the top 8 placements at Frosty Faustings IX:
TheSassageKing YouTube channel is a great source to catch a lot of the action from Frosty Faustings IX, and you can review the rest of the top 8 match footage.
It’s been five years since a proper SoulCalibur title, and little hints and signs give hope of a new release sometime soon. The PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam–the modern platforms–lack the fabled weapon-based fighter that’s been with Sony’s console for 20 years now. Is Bandai Namco actually going to change that, and if they do, how will they go about it? Let’s look at some of the telling actions of the company, and what can they pull from the past games to improve over its predecessors.
In the middle of 2015, Bandai Namco conducted a SoulCalibur character popularity poll on its Facebook page. Everyone from every installment figured on the list. It’s easy to speculate that the company is doing research to see who fans really like–especially given that SoulCalibur V replaced many old-school characters with younger, slightly tweaked versions.
Come late 2016, a celebration page launched and–although only in Japanese–it provided a retrospective on the series that leads up to the very latest release in its brand, a pachinko slot machine. And, coming up in 2017, far from going off the rails like the disastrous Konami train, Bandai Namco celebrates the game’s music with an Orchestral Memories Concert. These are all signs that the franchise is still alive, somehow, even if there isn’t a main game announcement on the horizon yet.
But if those smoke signals actually mean anything, then Bandai Namco is cooking up SoulCalibur VI for the current generation–as it soon should be done getting its weaponless brother, Bandai Namco’s Tekken 7, out of the way. There’s a big legacy to live up to when it comes to SoulCalibur, as everything is riding on whether the company strikes a balance between appeasing longtime fans and bringing in a new audience. Looking at the past games, each of them have something interesting to offer, although SoulCalibur II universally remains as the most revered.
Soul Edge/Soul Blade
It all started with an amazing opening cinematic, and the nearly cliché line about tales of swords and souls. The 1996 PSOne game stunned with its detailed models, engaging backgrounds, and an impactful combat feel. Play it today, and the movement feels incredibly clunky–but the game established a horizontal/vertical/kick triad that, when coupled with the movement and ring-out system, introduced a formidable amount of strategic depth.
The rich clashing sounds, impressive Critical Edge attacks and Guard Impacts, good music, and memorable cast solidified Soul Blade as a fan-favorite. What stood out around that time is compelling single-player content, particularly for a fighting game. Arcade Mode featured an individual ending for every character, but the unique thing about it is that by pressing specific buttons, players could influence the outcome and get one of two endings. The Edge Master Mode had a narrated storyline, with fighters traversing the world map and beating fights with wacky rules–fighting barehanded, ring-outs only, damage only by throws, and so on. Soul Blade had some great ideas, and unfortunately, not all of them made into the future titles.
I’d like to see similar content return to SoulCalibur VI. Having customizable weapons to unlock breathes some fresh air into local, non-competitive play. I’m a fan of the weapon gauge, though if it doesn’t come back, I won’t mind, because fighting barehanded is a little over-the-top.
SoulCalibur
SoulCalibur truly brought 3D to the series, thanks to 8-way running–a breakthrough, yet simplistic-in-thought movement principle. Hold the stick in the desired direction, and behold. The fighter walks in one of the eight directions, positioning around the ring, and avoiding vertical blows. Revamps to the Guard Impact system made the combat more dynamic, and the graphics impressed, especially on the Dreamcast in 1998. With added input-buffering, SoulCalibur felt much better and smoother to play.
While the game added nine characters, a few of them had movesets largely borrowed from other characters, like Kilik and Lizardman. They also abandoned the custom weapons idea from the first title, but added the Soul Charge technique. All in all, SoulCalibur was a must-have for anyone who owned a Dreamcast.
There’s not much that I would like from here that isn’t in the next title.
SoulCalibur II
This is when the soul truly burned. The triad of platforms, at what some could say was the pinnacle of console wars, had a different edition of the game each with an exclusive character. Spawn, Link, and Heihachi guest-starred on the Xbox, GameCube, and PlayStation 2 respectively. Released in 2002, this time the visuals were truly stunning and well-ahead of their time. Namco refined the gameplay of SoulCalibur, creating a title to be played in tournaments for years; especially since this is the one to receive a modern port with HD treatment.
A similar emphasis on single-player content returned with an expansive Weapon Master Mode, which took a page from the original Edge Master Mode. Featuring a bevy of challenging stages, players were able to unlock armaments with various properties for every character. Particularly compelling were the ultimate weapons, whose effects the designers intentionally didn’t reveal–which gave them just a little bit of that legendary mystery.
I’d love to see similar “Ultimate” weapons and the return of this Guard Impact system. SCII just has the right pace and tempo of combat.
SoulCalibur III
Many would agree that this is where the burning soul dwindled. Somehow, the visuals looked worse than its three-year-old predecessor. The smaller character models looked less detailed, and gameplay was riddled with bugs and gimped options, like a significantly worse 8-way run and weaker Guard Impacts. Battle flow changed, as this is the first SoulCalibur with a more robust combo system.
Still, the new characters fit right in with the universe, as Setsuka, Zasalamel, and Tira found themselves battling the original cast and a host of new styles that custom characters used. The Character Creation Mode established new ways to play, and has returned to every game onward. There was also a good attempt at mixing the game with the strategy genre in one of the single-player modes.
I’m into the Just Impact mechanic and the new characters, but I didn’t like how ineffective 8-way run is, and the longer combos. The added variety of custom fighting styles was nice, but it seems like it took needed development time to polish the game.
SoulCalibur IV
The next-generation SoulCalibur graced two platforms this time as opposed to SoulCalibur III, which was a PlayStation 2 exclusive. The fourth installment had Star Wars characters, Darth Vader for the PlayStation 3 and Yoda for Xbox 360 [Not to forget Starkiller, in a move to promote The Force Unleashed games. – Editor]. It’s a bit more on the ridiculous side, but that didn’t help the game much anyway.
Somehow, this iteration just lost that feeling the previous games had. Blows lacked the impact they used to have, making it feel like the fighters swipe at each other with feathers. The customization features expanded, but a bland story compounded with a “meh” combat feel didn’t make this one nearly as memorable as II. Having different armor parts reduced turtling, but leaving your opponent in undergarments just added more to the ridiculousness.
There’s not a lot that I would like from SoulCalibur IV apart from the deep customization mode and the return of the concept of guest characters, though not as outlandish.
SoulCalibur V
It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost five years since the release of the last proper fighter in the series. Although the fighting formula received some tune-ups–advanced Just Guard pushed Guard Impacts out of the way, which in turn utilized a new power meter–the game battled with some controversial decisions that marred its returning glory.
Bandai Namco promised a dramatic, expansive storyline, but due to development constraints, they ended making a botched, basic slideshow, only one-fourth of the volume they intended. Other than Character Creation, there put out hardly any single-player content, which still matters a lot to the general audience. It also didn’t help that a lot of the “classic” characters were replaced or simply missing–you won’t find Talim, Yun-seong, or Zasalamel, and a new generation of fighters took place of the majority of the cast.
SoulCalibur V felt good for the most part, but I would much rather have dynamic, meterless Guard Impacts rather than having to burn meter for them. Just Guard was a little unwieldy to use. As for the power meter, I prefer to just have a Critical Edge associated with it rather than spending it to extend combos. Long combos don’t feel as fun in SoulCalibur. More single-player content and the return of the classic characters obviously would please a lot of fans.
What’s Next?
Namco Bandai needs to reforge its fighter for the modern age, where fighting games are more social than ever thanks to instant sharing from consoles to Twitter, YouTube, and Discord. There needs to be that “meme factor” that drives fans to be excited about the characters and lore again, not just about the fighting or competitive aspects. The hardcore community will always be there, but Bandai Namco needs a bigger market to justify continuing the series.
An esports push would also be welcome, since that’s the bread-and-butter for most triple-A fighting games now. The Soul series has always enjoyed popularity in Europe, particularly France, but other countries certainly can find room for it, should the fans accept the new iteration.
Which characters do you want to come back? Do you prefer the classic or new fighters? And if you could select mechanics across all games, which ones would you like to see in SoulCalibur VI? Let us know in the comments, and let’s hope Bandai Namco is listening.
With the numerous players across the diverse fighting game community, it’s hard to know who’s who–especially when traveling to new events. Thankfully, a new, community-maintained app lists active participants in the scene with useful tidbits about them.
The FGC Scouter app has a simple interface–all the players in its database can be found in a list view, or by writing search terms. Clicking on a player shows their main character, home state or country, notable placements, and a few relevant tidbits about them, such as tournament or team achievements or outstanding quirks. It’s also possible to enter game characters or places as search terms for results.
There are no more features currently, but that’s because the app is in beta. Player photos are coming on a voluntary basis (so you can send a real photo of yourself if you’d like that displayed). Eventually, the app will display more specific data, like set counts, for example. Possibly the biggest feature coming are “Player Cards,” which will be informative images to be overlayed on streams when the appropriate participant shows up. Here’s one example of a prototype:
The idea for the FGC Scouter app came from Sway, a New York Guilty Gear player who was up on stream with another strong player, but neither commentator knew them. While this was initially intended for commentators, Sway reached out to the creator of GunFrame, AnBi.
“If they want to be added or want to correct/update information, please DM @FGCScouter on Twitter,” Sway told SRK. “The goal is to get more exposure to all the players in the scene, so the more correct info the better!”
To get involved, use this form to send an image of you to be added. Reach out to any of the collaborators of the project with questions or if you would like your information to be added or clarified: Sway, DEB, Daymendou, wne, Blaze, and AnBi.
Alongside added functionality, an iOS version is planned in the future. Currently, FGC Scouter specializes in Guilty Gear, but more games will be included.
Get the scoop on players participating at tournaments–such as Frosty Faustings IX this weekend–by downloading FGC Scouter for free from the Google Play Store.
With the numerous players across the diverse fighting game community, it’s hard to know who’s who–especially when traveling to new events. Thankfully, a new, community-maintained app lists active participants in the scene with useful tidbits about them.
The FGC Scouter app has a simple interface–all the players in its database can be found in a list view, or by writing search terms. Clicking on a player shows their main character, home state or country, notable placements, and a few relevant tidbits about them, such as tournament or team achievements or outstanding quirks. It’s also possible to enter game characters or places as search terms for results.
There are no more features currently, but that’s because the app is in beta. Player photos are coming on a voluntary basis (so you can send a real photo of yourself if you’d like that displayed). Eventually, the app will display more specific data, like set counts, for example. Possibly the biggest feature coming are “Player Cards,” which will be informative images to be overlayed on streams when the appropriate participant shows up. Here’s one example of a prototype:
The idea for the FGC Scouter app came from Sway, a New York Guilty Gear player who was up on stream with another strong player, but neither commentator knew them. While this was initially intended for commentators, Sway reached out to the creator of GunFrame, AnBi.
“If they want to be added or want to correct/update information, please DM @FGCScouter on Twitter,” Sway told SRK. “The goal is to get more exposure to all the players in the scene, so the more correct info the better!”
To get involved, use this form to send an image of you to be added. Reach out to any of the collaborators of the project with questions or if you would like your information to be added or clarified: Sway, DEB, Daymendou, wne, Blaze, and AnBi.
Alongside added functionality, an iOS version is planned in the future. Currently, FGC Scouter specializes in Guilty Gear, but more games will be included.
Get the scoop on players participating at tournaments–such as Frosty Faustings IX this weekend–by downloading FGC Scouter for free from the Google Play Store.
