A few days ago, Famitsu published interviews with two of Japan’s most celebrated BlazBlue players, Goro and Dora. The former has been a very strong Makoto player going all the way back to the Continuum Shift era and has made appearances in many national tournaments. The latter is an American fan-favorite most known for his play with Bang who placed third at Evo 2014. He has traveled overseas on occasion with the help of Team St1ckbug, and is now sponsored under Team Black Eye.
During their discussion, they touched on a large number of topics, including the Japanese BlazBlue scene, ways to improve and play better, and opinions on the current game’s balance. We recently reported on their personal character rankings, but far more interesting than are their individual thoughts on approaching the game and how they interpret Chronophantasma in its current form. When asked about the game, both players had unique insight on how it plays:
Famitsu: It has been some time since this version came out in the arcade. How does the game feel to you?
Goro: With this version’s Makoto, it’s no longer the case that you can’t be touched by your opponent, so that alone makes it fun (laughs). The fact that I too will get a turn on offense makes it really fun. If I get a turn on offense and still lose in spite of that, I can think ‘I didn’t play well’. Against Tager and Hakumen, who I am particularly good against, my win rate is very strong and I am confident. I can take my time to look at my opponents position, and have plenty of time to think about what I want to do. I favor these kinds of slow space matches. Even if Tager and Hakumen want to speed up the match, they can’t, so I can play calmly.
Famitsu: On the other hand, are there any characters you are weak against?
Goro: My win rate is particularly bad against Tsubaki. Tsubaki is quick, so it’s hard to have a slow-paced match. Also, I often get counter hit by her followups that are available on whiff (laugh).
Famitsu: It has been some time since this version came out in the arcade. How does the game feel to you?
Dora: A difference from the previous version is that defensive tools have been made weaker. Fewer characters can expect high damage from a reversal, or to maintain a good situation afterward. As a result, if you don’t have strong defense, it’s hard to win. The competitiveness of the game has risen, and of the players that used strong characters and won, we know now which one of them were ‘real’ so it’s an interesting version. It’s a game made for hard workers so it’s worth a look.
Famitsu: Do you have any characters you are strong or weak against?
Dora: I don’t like Taokaka, Kokonoe, and Kagura. All of them have strong low-profile moves, and are often crouching in neutral. Even if Bang lands a jump attack on them, since they’re crouching the return is low. In particular, vs kokonoe, 3C’s reach is long and on hit the return is large. Just using that a lot makes it difficult. Arakune is also difficult for me. Bang’s 5D no longer guards against overheads, so it’s difficult to anti-air on reaction. Even if I use 2D, if f of g is used, it doesn’t matter where I teleport, I’m guaranteed to get hit. If the land from jump attack and use overdrive I’ll lose too. Honestly, I think this matchup is rather helpless.
Both players ultimately come away with their own individual perspectives on the game, but some common ideas are shared among the two. It’s worth noting how they approach the ideas of matchups and go about learning them.
Next, they were both how they practice and what they value in seeking to improve:
Famitsu: What kind of things do you do to practice? (training mode, etc.)
Goro: Excluding when I am actually playing, little. Finding new combos or thinking about setplay is something I am not suited to, so that use of training mode is something I avoid.
Dora: Arcade training mode doesn’t allow you to change how the dummy techs, so I don’t practice okizeme. Combo practice, Setplay research, and personal practice are what I do. Also, checking that I am holding the stick properly. In the winter, My hands get rough and I end up using band-aids, and that can influence how I handle the stick or my form. As a result, I can end up not being able to stand up for overheads. Actually, this came up at tokaigi too. My hands still aren’t fully recovered right now, so this is what I prioritize the most for personal practice.
Famitsu: What’s the trick to becoming good at BBCP?
Goro: The most important thing is that even if you cannot win, you tolerate it and put more money in the machine (laughs). Taking opponents of the same level, slightly above level, and significantly above level and saying ‘Today I’ll spend money on people of this level’, as your way of practicing, should provide a nice variety and work well.
Dora: This is the trick to all fighting games, but I believe it is how to communicate with other players. If you want to figure out why you lost, but you don’t know how, or simply playing your own way without any input, there’s only certain parts of the game you can become good at. Even if you are weak at the beginning, exchanging opinions with various people is good. 2 brains are better than one. Communication is important!
An interesting component of both these questions is actually the cultural differences between how Japan plays versus the rest of the world. They play in arcades, and arcade training mode is limited and makes them have to approach practice in a different way.
It also marks a part of Goro’s answer, where he states you have to be willing to lose money against stronger players to improve. Each time you lose and decide to play again in an arcade, that’s another one hundred yen gone, but you do learn from each loss. Additionally, Dora’s emphasis on communication is a good follow-up to Goro’s answer–the need to not only play strong players but be able to communicate ideas with them is a key component to fighting game improvement.
There are a few more questions included in the rest of the interview, so we encourage readers to check them out in their entirety, either by visiting Famitsu or heading over to Dustloop to see them translated into English.
But before we end, we’ll leave you with their final words:
Famitsu: A comment for the readers, please!
Goro: BB is a game, and I think it’s best to have fun while playing it. For me, that ‘fun’ is hard to identify, but, given that there is winning and lose, I want to win. Recently, I’m more often having matches that I win, but I’m not satisfied with the contents of the matches and am thus not happy. That kind of ‘how do I want to win, or did I win how I should have?’ experience is good too. At any rate, please find your way to have fun playing!
Dora: Shinjuku Sportslands has 8 nesica cabs running. Come play!
Source: Famitsu, special thanks to Errol for providing translations.
