Author: Sam "Trilby" Foxall

I’m sure everyone’s soul is still burning after last night’s SoulCalibur VI‘s reveal at the Game Awards. Now that the dust has settled, Bandai Namco have let slip some additional details on their fabled weapon fighter.

If you watched the trailer carefully, you’ll notice there were points where Sophitia’s and Mitsurugi’s weapons were wreathed in red lightning, which allowed them to perform Guard Impact-esque parries and then a powerful counter-attack. This is the new Reversal Edge mechanic which — according to Bandai Namco — allows players to “defend against the opponent’s attack and directly counter with a powerful strike highlighted through a dynamic camera.”

This can be seen in the trailer when Mitsurugi parries an attack by Sophitia, and then unleashes a powered-up two-handed slash in response. The SoulCalibur team have clearly been inspired by Tekken 7’s slow-mo moments, and are putting their own take on it with the Reversal Edge system.

Sophitia is able to parry multiple attacks from Mitsurugi before performing the Reversal Edge counter-strike — suggesting that Reversal Edge is tied to a meter that will allow you to enter this defensive state for a certain amount of time. It’s unknown as this time if the Reversal Edge state has characters auto-parrying oncoming attacks, and whether you can exit out of this state without performing the counter-attack.

We’ve also got confirmation that SoulCalibur VI is acting as a soft reboot of the series, with the game “revisit[ing] events from the original Soul Calibur to uncover hidden secrets.” Seeing as Sophitia was dead in SoulCalibur V and the trailer showed off a young looking Mitsurugi, it makes sense that SCVI would be a prequel of some sort. More characters are set to be announced in the coming months, with the roster being comprised of “fan-favorites and some fierce newcomers.”

Sources: PlayStation; Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe

Along with the excitement of Capcom Cup this weekend, fighting game fans will also be getting access to the long-awaited beta of Fighting EX Layer. With both old-school Street Fighter EX players and brand new faces coming to ARIKA’s fighter, you’ll want to get acquainted with the characters ahead of time. Plus with the new Gougi system, there’s bound to be some confusion when people boot up the beta on December 11th.

Well, ARIKA have thought ahead and release not only the movelists of the beta’s cast, but a brief explanation of Fighting EX Layer‘s controls and Gougi system. Similar to other contemporary fighters, Fighting EX Layer has two control schemes — one for veterans and another for novices. The traditional control scheme has players doing usual DP, 360 and QCF motions, while the new ‘Progressive’ control scheme has shorter commands for “faster inputs”. These “faster inputs” shorten motions like down, down forward, forward into just down forward, while it completely changes the way you input Supers. Rather than performing repeat QCFs, these Progressive Supers have players doing Mortal Kombat or Killer Instinct-esque back forward or up down motions.

To ease people in, ARIKA has simplified the Gougi system for the beta. Players pick from pre-made Gougi “decks,” made up of select power-ups. The Aggro Deck for example, focuses on increasing a player’s damage output, while the Infinity Deck is built around giving a player infinite Super meter. Each Gougi power has a specific condition — like spend 10 bars of Super Meter or avoid damage for six seconds — that must be met before it is activated, so you’ll have to tailor your play-style to fit a certain strategy. The full version of Fighting EX Layer will allow players to create their own Gougi decks, so get theory-crafting once the beta ends!

Source: arika

The Infinity Stones have been collected, the Evo champions have been summoned and three warriors have made it through the online crucible. Now it is time to see who will wield the Infinity Gauntlet and rule over the Marvel and Capcom universes. It is of course, time for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite‘s Battle for the Stones finals.

With a handful of players in both Capcom Cup and the Battle for the Stones finals, Top 16 to Grand Finals of Battle for the Stones will be held on Friday — starting at 11am PT and hoping to finish at 9pm PT at the Anaheim Hilton. Grand Finals will then take place at the PlayStation Experience on Sunday at 2pm PT, acting as a suitable warm-up act for the Top 8 of Capcom Cup 2017.

The brackets have now been locked in, and the line-up is available over on smash.gg. Some notable first round matches are Cloud805 versus KaneBlueRiver, Teemo versus ChrisG and Flocker versus Richard Nguyen. There is also the ever-present threat of the Infinity Stones, which have the power to turn any match on its head. If you need a reminder of each Stone’s bearer and their effects, they are as follows:

• Time Stone – Allows the holder to block the effect an opponent’s Stone for one match. Held by Kazunoko.
• Space Stone – Allows the holder to swap places with any player at an equal stage in bracket. Held by Sacktap.
• Reality Stone – Allows the holder to swap the function of three buttons on their opponent’s controller. Held by Stealth.
• Mind Stone – Allows the holder to pick their opponent’s team and Infinity Stone. Held by Teemo.
• Soul Stone – Allows the holder to erase a loss in a three-out-of-five set. Held by Richard Nguyen.
• Power Stone – Allows the holder to land the first hit of a match. Held by Cloud805.

All of the action will be streamed via the BattlefortheStones Twitch channel, so tune in to see who will hold dominion over the world of Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite.

Source: smash.gg

Hoping to tie up a year’s worth of amazing Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 competition, Mikado Arcade is gearing up for the third series of its Tenkaichi Budoukai. Bringing together eight of Japan’s best Guilty Gear players, this grueling round robin league will see one talented competitor crowned as “The Best Under Heaven.”

If you’re not familiar with the Tenkaichi Budoukai (outside of Dragon Ball), players are split into two groups of four — the Spade League and the Heart League. Within these groups, competitors fight against all other combatants in first-to-10 sets. From each league, the overall winner (based on their match record and win/loss differentials) will go on to a final championship group. There is still hope for the second and third place players though, as they are placed in a single-elimination, first-to-five bracket, with the winner claiming the third spot in the championship group.

As for the groups, they are made up of Guilty Gear legends, threats from outside of Tokyo and recent champions. You can find a full breakdown of each competitor via this Twitlonger, but here are the cliff notes:

Group A

• Omito (Johnny/Evo 2017 champion)
• Ogawa (Zato=1/Arc Revo 2017 champion)
• Zadi (Raven/Runner-up of Pre-Evo Japan 賽 [sài])
• Haaken (Sol/Top 8 placer from Pre-Evo Japan 賽 [sài])

Group B

• Nage (Faust/GODSGARDEN 12 champion)
• Tomo TM57 (Leo/Arc Revo 2017 and Evo 2017 runner-up)
• Tourio (I-No/Two-time Arc Revo Top 8 placer)
• Fumo (Elphelt/Jespa Top 8 placer)

Similar to ELEAGUE, these matches will take place over a series of weekends — with the first Group B match taking place on December 16th. For those who wish to tune in live via Twitch, there will be Japanese commentary via Jonio-san, as well as live English commentary, courtesy of our very own Majinobama. If you cannot stay up to catch each set live, every match will be uploaded to the official Mikado Arcade YouTube channel.

For the preliminary match schedule, check out this Twitlonger but stay locked to either Jonio-san or Majinobama‘s Twitter accounts for all the latest updates on Tenkaichi Budoukai Series 3. Whether you’re a Guilty Gear veteran or a casual spectator, you do not want miss this league.

Source: majinobama