Continuing their month long coverage of Dragon Ball FighterZ, Game Informer have created special character breakdowns for new characters Tien and Yamcha, as well as Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Vegeta. While only short overviews, they give eager DBFZ fans a glimpse of the overall skill sets of each fighter.
For SSB Goku, he’s a more aggressive version of the full blooded Saiyan. He gains a handful of new specials which have him crossing the screen at great speed, including a divekick and a teleport which has him appearing behind the opponent and kicking them in the back. He also has an unblockable gut punch — perfect for breaking down an opponent’s defence but it has quite the lengthy start up. The heavy version of the gut punch puts opponents into a crumple state, allowing for a tag combo. Similar to Gohan’s Father/Son Kamehameha, SSB Goku can beef up his Level 3 Super, the Kaioken x 20 God Kamehameha, with a powerful uppercut if you have two spare Super bars.
Like Goku, SSB Vegeta is geared toward offensive play. He gains a jumping command grab which slams opponents into the earth, while his Dash Kick has morphed in a rekka. Vegeta can follow up the Dash Kick with two extra attacks, including a side-switch and a flip kick which allows the Saiyan to disengage if he hits a blocking opponent. His Big Bang Attack becomes his 236+Ki Blast while in Super Saiyan Blue, and his Level 1 Super now has him rushing his opponent down with a rapid flurry of punches and kicks. Vegeta’s Final Flash can also be enhanced by spending two bars of the Super gauge, adding a super-powered gut punch onto the end of it.
Yamcha has a special place in Arc System Works’ heart and it shows in their design for the desert bandit. Yamcha’s regular Wolf Fang Fist is a rekka, allowing Yamcha to mix up his opponent with highs, lows, side-switches and even a launcher. Players can control the trajectory of his Spirit Ball Super, so you can determine in which direction your opponent flies at the end of the attack.
Unlike the other three characters, Tien is still in active development, so things like his idle animation are still a work in progress. Tien’s moveset collects together techniques from the original Dragon Ball, alongside Z and Super, to make him a well-rounded fighter. His Volleyball Attack has Tien dashing forward with a low-hitting strike and punting his opponent into the air. You can either start a regular air combo after launching your opponent skyward, or you can simply smash the opponent back down to the ground with a powerful spike. He does have a diving knee attack as well, which acts as a fast-moving overhead.
Tien can summon Chiaotzu to freeze his foe in place for a short time, so he can move in to attack. Finally, both his normal and Shin Kikoho drain Tien’s health to balance the relative power of these Supers. His Shin Kikoho can be used multiple times in a row, with each consecutive use draining both his health bar and Super meter. It can be a worthwhile gamble, as four consecutive blasts of the Shin Kikoho can kill a full health enemy.
You can check out all the video breakdowns on the Game Informer website and stay tuned for more information over the coming month.
In its first major offline tournament, Fight of Gods publisher PQube are going all-out to determine who will becoming the “One True God” of fighting games. Along with a special cross-shaped trophy which will proclaim said player as a deity, the Revolution 2017 grand champion will also be crowned with a literal crown of thorns.
Well, when I say “literal crown of thorns”: it’s a circle of barbed wire spray painted gold, but it certainly looks similar to what the Son of God (and infinite expert) Jesus wore when atoning for humanity’s sins. Those players in second and third won’t lose out either, as they will also be rewarded with thorned crowns of silver and bronze. I suspect PQube couldn’t find frankincense and myrrh at such short notice.
The Fight of Gods tournament will take place this weekend at Revolution 2017, with passes being available at the door if you wish to compete. It is not yet foretold whether the Fight of Gods tournament will be streamed from the event.
It’s real, folks! Following previous leaks on ShopTo and Amazon, Capcom have officially revealed Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition. Along with the highly-requested Arcade Mode, Arcade Edition comes bundled with an Extra Battle mode, a revamped UI, a Gallery and (of course), new V-Triggers for all characters.
The Arcade Mode will have players going on a trip down memory lane, fighting against characters from different entries in the Street Fighter series. Extra Battle Mode will have players completing four time-exclusive challenges to unlock a special premium costume each month. You can see a glimpse of one of these premium costumes in the gallery below. There is more stuff for Capcom to announce regarding Arcade Edition, so keep an eye out for their presentation at New York Comic Con this Friday.
Now comes the million-dollar question — how much does Arcade Edition cost? Well, if you already own Street Fighter V, you will get everything in the Arcade Mode update free of charge. This includes the upgraded UI, new V-Triggers along with Extra Battle, Gallery, and Arcade Mode.
For those who have yet to give Street Fighter V a go, Capcom are releasing Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition as its own game. Not only will this include everything in the Arcade Mode update, but all the characters from Season 1 and 2 — for $39.99 USD.
The Arcade Mode update and Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition will release on January 16th, 2018. For more information, make sure to check out the Capcom-Unity blog or the official Arcade Edition website.
Strap in folks, as we’ve got tons of Dragon Ball FighterZ info coming down the pipe over the next month. Announced today as the cover game for this month’s issue of Game Informer, the magazine is diving deep into DBFZ — complete with developer interviews, new gameplay footage and hopefully, more information on new characters joining the roster.
In this first teaser video for this month of Dragon Ball FighterZ, we’ve got a glimpse of two new stages. One of them is a ruined version of West City, while the other looks to be Amenbo Island. Dragon Ball Z fans will recognize the ruined West City from the History of Trunks movie, while Amenbo Island was where the Z-Fighters first encountered Dr. Gero and Android 19 during the Android Saga.
With those two stages revealed, it brings the overall stage count to 10:
Planet Namek
World Tournament Arena
Cell Games Arena
Rocky Field (Noon/Dusk)
West City
Ruined West City
Amenbo Island
Sacred World of the Kais
Outer Space
I’m personally holding out for a Kame House stage, along with either Kami’s Lookout or the Hyperbolic Time Chamber being DBFZ’s training stage. The Game Informer teaser also promises footage of Yamcha, Tien and both SSB Goku and Vegeta, so keep your eyes peeled for more footage coming later this month.
Versus games are like buses — you wait for one and then several coming along at once. While many FGC members are deep in the lab with Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, another multi-franchise (or at least multi-timeline) crossover game has finally come to the West. As the first Vs. game designed exclusively for consoles, Gundam Versus will be many people’s introduction to this style of fighting game. While impenetrable at first, Gundam Versus promises a highly engaging arena fighter once players wrap their heads around its combat system.
If you’ve never played a game in the Gundam Vs. game series, it’s tennis doubles, a third person action game and a 3D fighter all rolled into one, with a bit of resource management thrown in for good measure. Gundam Versus can be played in either 1v1, 2v2, or 3v3 modes, with 2v2 being where the game really shines. 1v1 duels are fun for learning the specific quirks of your Gundam, but the large maps means that you spend most of the battle chasing down your opponent. 3v3 are a little too hectic at times and prone to turning into a slideshow, should one player have a bad connection. Whether you’re playing 2v2 or 3v3, being a lone wolf is a recipe for disaster, as gung-ho players will be quickly gunned down in a hail of multi-colored projectiles. Movement, footsies, and teamwork are the name of the game — and it can take some time to get used to its unique take on the Versus fighter.
As each Mobile Suit can quickly close distances by boosting or using special movement commands, learning how to evade enemy shots and attacks is the first thing you really need to learn. There is a short tutorial which teaches players the basics of movement and combat, but it will take a fair while before you’ve mastered Boost Hopping, Boost Canceling and the new Boost Dive mechanic. The Boost Dive has Suits dashing back to the ground, giving players another way to mix up their movement and refill their Boost meter. This means that the first few hours of Gundam Versus can feel frustrating if you’re a newcomer, as you have to deal with experienced pilots dashing circles around you and then dicing you up into little metal pieces. Once you have a handle on your jet-powered footsies and are paired with good opponents however, each match feels like a frantic ballet as you and your opponent try to outmaneuver each other to find that one precious opening. When health-bars are low and each team is down to their final respawn, matches become absolute nail-biters. The core combat of Gundam Versus is fantastic once you get the hang of it — just be prepared for that to take a couple of hours.
When picking your Mobile Suit, they generally fall into three categories: Shooting, Fighting, or Various. If you prefer zoning and frustrating your opponent from a distance, Shooting-class Gundam are the way to go, while Fighting-class Gundam are all about getting in your opponent’s face and making them panic. Various suits are usually jacks-of-all-trades, with some being classed as Various-S or Various-F if they use more projectile or melee attacks. You’ll also need to factor in the cost of each Gundam, as players sacrifice Cost Points whenever they respawn during a match. You’ve only 1000 Cost Points to use in a standard match, with suits ranging from 200 to 500 Cost. While you may want to pilot that super cool 500 Cost suit as soon as you boot up Gundam Versus, you’ll end up losing the entire match if you die twice.
Picking a Gundam is half the struggle though, as there are over 90 playable Mobile Suits in Gundam Versus. You also need to pick a Striker – Gundam Versus’ version of Assists – from a list of over 100. Not only that, you have to unlock every Striker by playing as certain Mobile Suits, meaning you may be searching for hours before you find the Striker that’s right for you. With Bandai Namco adding more Suits via DLC, you’ll never be short on new characters to try out, but the overwhelming number of characters means that you’ll be stuck on who to start learning the game with. Personally, I found Freedom Gundam, Gundam Barbatos, and the original Gundam to be good suits to start off with. Certain series like Mobile Fighter G Gundam, SEED Destiny and Gundam 00 Season 2 have been cut from the initial roster, but it’s more than likely that fan-favorite Suits will be added back in with future DLC.
Rather than opting for a bonkers cinematic story where all the pilots from each Gundam series crossover a la Super Robot Wars, Gundam Versus keeps it simple with its single-player modes. Ultimate Battle is your standard Survival mode, where players battle wave after wave of enemy Gundam while upgrading their suit with stat bonus. Trial Battle on the other is akin to Arcade Mode, as pilots fight through a gauntlet of combatants, complete with the occasional branching path. Each trial is dedicated to a specific series from the Gundam multiverse, just to add some variation. A little bit of story or inter-character dialogue would have added some flair to this mode, but you do see a special CGI intro for each individual series which is kind of cool. Besides that, Free Battle gives you the ability to create custom matches to test certain Suit combinations. With no bespoke Training Mode to speak of, you’ll have to cope with setting your Free Battle opponent to stop in order to learn new Suits.
This guide from UnlimitedBrettWorks should help ease you in during those first few hours of play.
Most of your time with Gundam Versus will be spent fighting online, and the netcode is hit and miss. Unlike most fighting games where you only have to worry about one dodgy connection, you can be facing down three rubbish connections if you’ve got particularly bad luck. If you have good connections all round, it can play like a dream, but all it takes is one person’s spotty WiFi to bring a match to a grinding halt. As I’m playing in Europe, the small player base for Gundam Versus means I had to turn regional filtering off in order to get matches. US players should be fine keeping the regional filter on, but continental players may struggle.
Along with Casual matches and player lobbies, Gundam Versus does come with a Ranked mode where you can better control connection quality. Greenhorn pilots are weeded out straight away, as you complete 50 Casual matches to even play Ranked. From there, you have a variety of settings which allow you to avoid bad connections and select specific teammates. One setting auto-rejects opponents with less than a three bar connection and you can set it so you only get grouped with teammates running a specific cost Gundam. Having played with my fair share of 500 Cost teammates who just loved dying within 20 seconds of the match starting, you’ll be happy to have that second filtering option. For the best experience with Gundam Versus, play with a static teammate. You’ll save yourself a lot of hassle.
Despite the lackluster single-player modes and the absence of certain series from Gundam Versus’ line-up, it oozes with a reverence for Gundam. From the fully-voiced cast, to the authentic hit sounds and music straight from the show; it’s clear that the developers love them some Gundam. All of the models are faithfully recreated from the show — but the lighting can sometimes make them look less like giant mechanical war machines, and more like Gunpla kits. The actual arenas are a bit bland in comparison to the highly detailed models, and the camera does have a tendency to go ballistic whenever you and an opponent are in close range. As good as some of the show OSTs are, I will go mad if I hear the original Mobile Suit Gundam theme again.
For diehard fans of the show or the other Gundam Vs. games, you’ll be in robo-heaven with Gundam Versus. Some will be put off by the exclusion of series like G Gundam and SEED Destiny, but the introduction of mechanics like Boost Dive add another layer of complexity to its already rich combat system. If you’re new to the series, soldier through the initial difficulty curve and you’ll find a rewarding fighting game that will keep you engaged for hours.
Announced at GT-X this weekend, Dan Fornace has revealed the next fighter coming to Rivals of Aether. Acting as RoA’s long awaited sword character, Clairen is a time-traveling black panther who journeys back to the past in order to save her beloved Fire Empire.
In an obvious reference to Marth’s tipper mechanic in Super Smash Bros, Clairen also has a sweet spot on the end of her beam saber that does additional damage — but that’s not all. It also places opponents in a large amount of hitlag, like Captain Falcon’s knee and Ganondorf’s stomp, briefly locking them in place and allowing Clairen to follow up with another move.
Combine this with an EMP field which can negate incoming projectiles, a Meta Knight-esque dash slice and a rising slash similar to Marth’s Up B, and you’ve got the makings of one ultra-stylish sword fighter. One interesting thing to note is that Clairen utilizes both stabbing and slicing motions for many of her attacks, making her more of a fencer than your bog-standard sword fighter. I suppose her weapon’s both a beam saber and beam épée then.
Clairen and the poisonous pacifist Ranno are both coming to the Steam version of Rivals of Aether on October 17th, costing $4.99. There are no stages included in this double pack, unlike the Ori and Sein DLC from earlier this year. Two more characters are scheduled to be added to RoA this year, representing the two remaining elements, Earth and Air.
For those looking to add a miniature Akuma to their figurine collection, Bandai Tamashii Nations has just got just the thing for you. Launching alongside a Ryu figurine in February of 2018, the custodian of the Satsui no Hado will be available for $54.99.
Unlike the Storm Collectibles Akuma figure, this S.H.Figuarts Akuma is based off his classic SFII design, rather than his divisive Street Fighter V look. He comes complete with two facial expressions, two pairs of hands, a Gohadoken and a backdrop showing the Temple of Ascension stage from Street Fighter V.
You can pre-order this Akuma figure now via the Bandai Tamashii Nations website and check out the gallery below for some action shots of the plastic Master of the Fist.
With the release of Gundam Versus, many players will be jumping into the series for the very first time — completely unaware of how to play this fast-paced arena fighter. Hoping to get new pilots up to speed with the basics of Gundam Versus, UnlimitedBrettWorks has released a helpful primer which lists 15 things rookies should know before going online.
These tips including picking a beginner-friendly suit, learning how to Boost Hop and Boost Dash Cancel, as well as when to activate your Burst. Learning how to move effectively is key to doing well in Gundam Versus, so I would focus on mastering the Boost Hop and Boost Dash Cancels before anything else.
This video is a very basic guide for newcomers — UnlimitedBrettWorks has an extensive tutorial series planned to help greenhorn pilots become Mobile Suit masters, so stay tuned for more. Also keep an eye out for our Gundam Versus review, coming very soon.
Alongside Killer Instinct being 25% off on Steam this weekend, two flagship fighting games are on sale for European PlayStation users. As part of their regular series of weekend sales, both Street Fighter V and Tekken 7 are available for a discounted price.
For those looking to get into Street Fighter V, the base game is currently 65% off, costing £11.99/€14.99. For those who want to get all the characters from Season 1 and 2 alongside the base game, the Street Fighter V 2017 Deluxe Edition is available for 36% off, costing £34.99/€39.99. This deal last until October 2nd, so scrap together that Fight Money before this deal finishes.
As for Tekken 7, it is the current Deal of the Week on the EU PlayStation Store, with it being discounted up until October 4th. Like Street Fighter V, both the regular and Deluxe editions are on sale with the regular going for £34.99/€39.99 and the Deluxe discounted at £49.99/€54.99.
After some beta tests earlier this month, Microsoft Studios and Iron Galaxy have finally released Killer Instinct on Steam. This version of Killer Instinct comes will all 29 characters, all 20 stages, every character color and skin, as well all single and multiplayer modes. KI players on Steam can also play users on both Xbox One and Windows 10 in Exhibition matches, Lobbies, and Shadow Lords multiplayer, expanding the number of Killer Instinct players to over 10 million.
If you already own Killer Instinct on either Xbox One or Windows 10, you will have to double-dip if you want to play the Steam version. As a bonus to everyone who bought the Definitive Edition of KI on either platform, you will receive every Gold and Terror skin pack for free, along with Shin Hisako, Kilgore, and Eagle.
For additional details on the Steam version of Killer Instinct, check out the official Q&A over on Ultra Combo. Otherwise, you can purchase it over on Steam for $39.99.
