Besides the obvious addition of new characters like Swamp Thing and Doctor Fate, as well as extensions to the ongoing Injustice storyline, one of the major new features in Injustice 2 is the new Gear system. Similar to collecting loot in an RPG like Destiny or Borderlands, players can outfit characters with specific gear to boost stats, gain special abilities and change their appearance. In a special interview with Injustice 2 designer Derek Kirtzic, PlayStation Access have found out some new bits of information about the Gear system.
The interview goes over things like the ability to see your opponent’s Gear loadout after a fight, the ability to change outfit colors as part of Gear customization, as well the in-game currency system which allows players to sell old pieces of Gear to gain Coins. While most competitive players won’t be interested in Gear, Kirtzic did say that Ranked Matches will allow players to keep all the cool cosmetic customizations, but the stats will be at their base level. He did not make it explicitly clear that Abilities won’t be locked out when playing in Ranked mode, so you may be able to use different character Abilities in Ranked.
Ahead of a full gameplay reveal at Killer Instinct World Cup next weekend, Iron Galaxy have revealed the next fighter that will be coming to KI. Following in the footsteps of characters like Shadow Jago, Kilgore and Omen, Shin Hisako acts as the fourth “remixed” character for Killer Instinct, where elements of a pre-existing characters are reworked to create a new, unique fighter.
For Shin Hisako, she no longer wields her naginata, but a katana containing the spirit of her beloved father. Having purged herself of the centuries of hatred which tied her to her grave, Shin Hisako now takes up her father’s sword to defend the world from the forces of Gargos.
The bonds tying her to the graveyard where her corporeal form was buried have been severed… pic.twitter.com/D08T9x1Iyi
Shin Hisako is scheduled to launch later this month, with Iron Galaxy revealing more details about the redeemed warrior at Killer Instinct World Cup next weekend. Her new design has her wearing the signature sode shoulder armor and suneate shin guards of a samurai, combined with a black and gold dress to no doubt symbolize her purged spirit. According to combat designer and formerly of this parish Adam “Keits” Heart, Shin Hisako is “more straightforward to play than regular Hisako,” but with some cool stuff still thrown in. I imagine this will probably be manifest in a change to her Wrath meter, seeing as she has let go of her hundreds of years of anger. The next character will also be “100% new,” so keep your fingers crossed for Joanna Dark.
All I can tell you about Shinsako is that she is much more straightforward to play than Hisako, but still has some interesting wrinkles.
Continuing the theme of sides clashing at 2GGC: Civil War, 2GGaming have announced that the next Saga in April will be decided via a special character-themed round robin. Similar to Smash Summit voting, select players from the greater Civil War crew battle will be nominated for the round robin via Twitter, followed by a round of voting which will decide the character that player will use.
Six players will be chosen from the pool of nominations on March 3rd, with the community then voting for the character that each player will use. Each player has a selection of five characters that the community can choose from, so ranging from their main to the character they solely reserve for styling on people in bracket. Say if a player like DNG|Kameme makes it in as one of the six, the community will vote between his character pool of Mega Man, Yoshi, Sheik, Dark Pit and Wario.
This round of voting will end on March 24th, with the six competitors being locked into using their community-voted character. The character who wins the round robin will then decide the title of April’s 2GGC Saga. So, if Kameme’s Yoshi wins the whole thing, April’s event will be 2GGC: Yoshi Saga where the world’s best Yoshis will no doubt be invited to compete to see who is the best. You can find the full list of players and their respective character pools here.
If you are desperate to see your under-represented character get a chance at the spotlight, take to Twitter and rally your fellow mains to the cause. (Otherwise, we’ll probably end up with 2GGC: Cloud Saga.)
Leaping straight out of the Golden Age of DC Comics, NetherRealm Studios have announced that Doctor Fate is coming to Injustice 2. Wearing the magical Helmet of Fate, alongside the cloak and amulet of Nabu the Wise, the sorcerer uses ancient magicks to defeat his opponents.
With his magic manifesting in the shape of giant ankhs, Doctor Fate acts as a zoning character, firing off bolts of magic to keep his opponent away or juggle them in the air. Ermac seems to be his great inspiration, as well as a bit of Shinnok thrown in for good measure. From the trailer, it seems his trait is the ability to summon three ankhs which orbit around Doctor Fate’s body, which can then be fired off all at once to lengthen a juggle or cause the opponent to stand and block these projectiles.
His super is especially cool, drawing the opposing player into the amulet on his chest, where three other armored magicians proceed to conjure up a storm of projectiles to damage the opponent. Expect more magical mayhem when Injustice 2 launches on May 16th.
The button masher’s favorite is back, as Capoeira master Eddy Gordo returns to fight in Tekken 7. Gone are the infamous green and yellow sweatpants, as Eddy’s new look involves wearing some leather trousers and a leopard-print jacket while kicking foes in the face.
Eddy is now part of the Tekken Force in Tekken 7, having pledged his allegiance to the Mishima Zaibatsu to help cure his ailing Capoeira master. The medical technology of the Zaibatsu couldn’t save Eddy’s master, and learning that Kazuya is now the head of the Mishima Zaibatsu, he is now dead set on destroying Kazuya and finally avenging his father.
Eddy was actually leaked ahead of this announcement at a games convention in Brazil, but only blurry photos of the Brazilian fighter were available from the event. You can now see Eddy in all his glory, via the trailer below. Expect plenty of day 1 Eddy mains spinning up a storm when Tekken 7 launches on June 2nd.
Now, this is really cool: as part of a partnership with CEO Gaming, Rivals of Aether is gaining a special skin for its Rock Wall stage, themed around the world famous CEO wrestling ring. This collaboration comes out of Rivals of Aether’s place as one of the headlining games at CEO Dreamland in April, a major specifically for platform fighters and brawlers.
If players pick the Rock Wall stage in local multiplayer, you can specifically choose the CEO Ring skin but when playing online, the stage only appears every other time you pick Rock Wall. As long as one of the players in an online match has the CEO Ring skin, it will still have a chance to appear any time you go to fight on Rock Wall.
This cosmetic DLC costs $5 and forms part of CEO Dreamland’s compendium, so if you want to fight in the CEO Ring but cannot make it out to Florida, consider giving it a purchase off the CEO Dreamland shop. Rivals of Aether has built a solid reputation for adding cool cosmetic updates to help support its community, so it is possible to expect more of these special stage skins in the future. A Steam update should have just gone live to add the stage skin into the mix, so you can start throwing hands in the ring right now.
Delayed from its initial date of the 4th-5th of February this year, the organizational team behind Street Grand Battle have announced the new dates for the event. Taking in place in Lyon, France from September 16th-17th, SGB 2017 will now be a Ranking Event on the European leg of the Capcom Pro Tour.
While Street Fighter V will be the main draw for attendees of SGB 2017, Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, Tekken 7 and even Ultra Street Fighter IV will have tournaments at the event. Before the event’s delay, international players like LIJoe, ZOWIE|Gamerbee, FA|BigBird and BX3|Phenom were confirmed as in attendance, alongside notable European contenders like PxP|ProblemX, DA|Imstilldadaddy, RB|Luffy, Perilous|Packz and MD|Mister Crimson to name but a few. Let’s hope that the previously-announced competitors will still be able to make the new dates.
Another esports organization has chucked their hat into the ring of the FGC, as Splyce have recently signed Marvel god Ryan “Filipino Champ” Ramirez as their first “traditional” fighting game player. While Splyce aren’t a complete stranger to fighting games, having signed Michael “Nintendude” Brancato and McCain “MacD” LaVelle for Super Smash Bros. Melee back in 2015, FChamp’s addition to the team is Splyce’s first foray into the world of franchises like Street Fighter and Marvel.
This signing follows FChamp’s departure from previous team Panda Global, and coincides with Splyce’s recent “strategic partnership” with Delaware North, a global leader in food and hospitality and the owner of the TD Garden arena in Boston. The arena also acts as the home for the Boston Bruins, linking yet another esports team with the world of traditional sports.
With FChamp gaining numerous Top 8 placings for Street Fighter V in 2016–alongside a 13th-place finish at Capcom Cup–and Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite on the horizon at the end of this year, Splyce have chosen well for their first Street Fighter player.
Following some location tests in arcades and general tweaks, Arc System Works have announced–via the latest edition of Famitsu–that Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 will launch in Japan on May 25th for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, for console players looking to get in on this updated version of -REVELATOR-.
Along with the release date, the Famitsu article revealed the new Episode Mode for REV 2, where players play through fighter-specific scenarios, and are introduced to all of REV 2’s game enhancements. REV 2 will be available physically and digitally for PS4, with the PS3 version being digital only. If you already have a copy of Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-, you can upgrade to REV 2 via a special digital purchase.
While Arc System Works has promised a Western demo of REV to help players practice ahead of Evo 2016, it may pay to crack out that Japanese PSN account or import a copy to start your training as soon as possible. However, with Japan getting its official release date, expect news on the Western version in the near future.
[As this date lines up nicely with the Amazon UK May 26 release date, it lends credibility to that being the actual street date, rather than a placeholder; but we’ll have to wait for official confirmation to be sure. – Editor]
[CORRECTIONS: initially misreported that the May 25th release date referred to the Arcade/PC version as well; thanks to BloodWolf for catching the error. – Editor]
Braving the Midwestern chill, last weekend saw the first major battle of the ongoing Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Civil War, as players from all around the world gathered in Ann Arbor for Frostbite 2017. Many Japanese hidden bosses made Frostbite their first out-of-country event and with the Midwest, East and West Coast coming to battle, this tournament was set to be a landmark occasion.
The Gatekeepers Come Forth
With a significant number of PGR players attending Frostbite, this event earned itself a prestigious A Rank on the PGStats Tournament Tier System. Acting as a great place to rack up wins for the next round of the PGR, stakes were quite naturally high, with top 20 PGR players in the mix alongside some of Japan’s most skilled competitors. With such a confluence of talent garnering the majority of attention, it was only natural that some players outside of that upper tier would be lying in wait, primed to cause some upsets
If the past six months of Smash 4 have taught people anything, it’s that nothing should ever be assumed—especially during pools. The upsets started strong, with InC|Wadi sending Ranai, one of the Japanese juggernauts, into Losers with a clean 2-0 victory. Japan got off to quite the shaky start in pools, with LG|Abadango losing to MD/VA’s own Black Yoshi—who actually plays Bayonetta—with another 2-0. Fellow MD/VA player Seagull Joe continued the trend, beating Japan’s and potentially the world’s best Link player T 2-1. Seagull Joe’s pool was home to another major upset, as Michigan’s own Komota was able to triumph over C9|Ally, with Kirby no less. Komota couldn’t quite believe the win himself, looking shell-shocked as his friends rushed to the stage to congratulate him. This match set the tone of the tournament perfectly, with there being several of these astounding moments as the weekend wore on.
While players like Ranai and Abadango grappled with early trips to the Losers bracket, the rest of the foreign cohort picked up the slack and kept the country’s hopes alive during pools. KEN, Shuton and Tsu—all first time competitors at a US major—made it through in Winners, while tournaments mainstays 2GG|komorikiri and DNG|Kameme joined them in the upper bracket. Despite mixed performances during the first day, Japan rallied themselves to defeat North America in Crews. The whole crew battle was one of the best seen in Smash 4 history, with most fights being evenly matched and momentum constantly shifting throughout the two hour long battle. Ranai and komorikiri were able to regain control by the end though, winning with two stocks to spare.
While successful in the crew battle, Ranai had a lot more trouble in Top 48. He unfortunately ran across Ally for his first match, losing to the Canadian Mario 3-1 and going out at 33rd. Ness main taranito would fall to DarkAura while Japan’s own Greninja Some went on an absolute tear through Losers’. Some beat Fatality 3-0, followed by a skin of the teeth victory against finisher CaptainZack and then a 3-1 win against WaDi. Some would unfortunately fall short of Top 8, losing to Shuton’s Olimar 3-0 and earning ninth. For his first US trip and being ranked only 42nd on Japan’s own Smash 4 Power Ranking, many will be looking out for this ninja frog at future tournaments, both home and away.
Both komorikiri and Abadango would go out at an uncharacteristically low 17th place, falling foul of Zinoto and Echo Fox|MVG|MKLeo respectively. For Abadango, his 17th place can be attributed to Kameme’s storming success in Winners, where the Megaman earned a historic 3-1 win against MKLeo before losing to Tsu’s Lucario.
The Canadian Defender
As player after player from Japan fell into the Losers bracket, a large majority of them were put in the path of a certain plumber. Fired up by his early trip to Losers, Ally fell upon the Japanese in Losers’ bracket like an avenging spirit, furiously upsmashing any his way. Following his first win against Ranai, Ally defeated KEN 3-2, Japan’s best Rosalina Kirihara 3-1, Kameme 3-1 in an Evo 2016 runback before finally losing to Shuton’s Olimar 3-1. Combined with his win against T in pools, Ally took out a grand total of five separate Japanese players during his Frostbite run. Japan better be on guard if Ally decides to take a trip to the East sometime this year.
His final match versus Shuton match is a must watch for anyone looking to improve their defensive play in Smash 4, with Shuton setting up a moving wall of Pikmin to lock down Ally. Shuton’s constant bulwark of hitboxes countered Ally’s aggressive approach, punishing his tactic of baiting out unsafe jumps with erratic movement. Combined with the work done by the Japanese Duck Hunt trio Brood, You3 and Raito, Japan has built a style of defensive play which is actually exciting to watch. Expect more Olimars on For Glory in the next week or so.
War Games
Team Ally and Team ZeRo were in constant conflict during Top 48, with players from each side trading blows. Round one of Top 48 saw each team level pegging, with both teams knocking an enemy player into the lower bracket. There was even an unfortunate team kill, with MVG|Salem sending komorikiri plunging into Losers’, following a fractious five game set. Winners’ Round 2 would see Team ZeRo land two crushing blows against Team Ally, with TSM|ZeRo just clinching a 3-2 victory over Dabuz while NRG|Nairo chalked up a 3-1 win over RvL|Mr. E. With Salem beating Shuton 3-1 to reach Top 8, it would be an all Team ZeRo Winners’ Side, while the remnants of Team Ally languished in Losers’.
Losers’ was rife with teamkills, with CLG|VoiD beating MKLeo with a 3-1 victory. After nearly defeating the Mexican swordsman at both ZeRo and Genesis Saga, VoiD may finally be seeing the tide turn in his favour. Following a victory over komorikiri, Zinoto was forced to fight two of his Team Ally compatriots in a row, defeating Mr. E 3-1 before losing to Dabuz 3-0. Zinoto certainly enlivened the Frostbite crowd, with his boisterous “ANTi Sucks!” chants riling up the audience and building up the rivalry between both sides.
Dabuz did take out a few fair members of Team ZeRo in Losers’ though, eliminating VoiD 3-1 and then Salem 3-0. He would then have to fight the chief lieutenant of Team ZeRo, NRG|Nairo, in Losers’ Semis which would end in yet another victory for Team ZeRo. By the end of this first major battle of the Civil War, not only had Team ZeRo won, but ZeRo himself had triumphed as the grand champion of Frostbite. His path to victory was by no means easy though, thanks to the efforts of a certain Japanese Lucario.
A Boy Named Tsu
Despite a fourth place finish at Tokaigi and a respectable 23rd position on Japan’s Smash 4 Power Ranking, you’d be forgiven if you had not have heard of Tsu before Frostbite. While known as Japan’s best Lucario—and unhelpfully sharing his name with a notable Captain Falcon player—Tsu hails from Kanto which contains players like Kameme, Kirihara, Nietono, Umeki and Abadango to name but a few. With a fair amount of Japan’s internationally known top talent concentrated in one area, it’s understandable that Tsu may not be as famous as he probably should be.
By the end of his tournament run, he more than ensured his position within the pantheon of top Japanese players. Starting off with a 2-0 victory over P1|Tweek to make it into Top 48, Tsu’s Lucario defeated VoiD, Kameme, Salem and even ZeRo to make his way into Grand Finals. The combination of Aura and Rage makes Lucario extremely dangerous once he passes 50% on his first stock, as continued damage only makes him stronger. If Tsu was able to take his opponent’s stock and stay at high percent, he could potentially kill opponents at as low as 30%. As such, every match becomes stressful as any damage lead can instantly turn against you, thanks to Lucario’s awesome strength at high percent.
This made every set Tsu played so exciting to watch, as his opponents were forced to play on a knife edge. According to ZeRo in his post tournament interview, he had to call a five minute timeout after he reset the bracket in Grands, as the stress of the first set was causing his hands to violently shake. Grand Finals was akin to something out of Dragon Ball Z, with Tsu and ZeRo trading huge hits and continually changing strategies to defeat the other. With the second set of Grand Finals going to game 5, the tension was almost unbearable. Commentators could hardly contain themselves, there were screams from the crowd upon every hit and you could see the nervousness of each player in their movements. Despite the crowd throwing up their hands in a spirit bomb for Tsu, ZeRo’s infamous plot armor held and he took the tournament with a 3-2 victory in the second set.
For all of the tension and expectation on his shoulders, Tsu was just delighted to play Smash. Constantly coming to the stage with a big smile and staying magnanimous in victory, Tsu radiated a pure love of the game, which is often lost in the stress of high-level play.
Tournaments are so enriched by having a global player pool, with Frostbite acting as a shining example as to why player travel should be encouraged. Great kudos must be given to the Frostbite organizational staff, Unrivalled Tournaments for running the stream and all players and spectators for making the event such a joy to watch. With future Smash 4 majors looking to invite even more international talent to attend, this event looks to be just the beginning.
