We’ve entered a strange era where companies routinely reveal release dates for release date revelations. AOne Games, developers of indie horror-fighter Omen of Sorrow, is the most recent example of this in their interview with portal13.com:
I know you’ve said Q3 for a release date. Could you give us a month or a date?
Budinich: We are going to announce the launch date on July 24th. Along with two new characters.
Outside of this revelation, there was a healthy amount of discussion in regards to the game’s mechanics and development — from the standpoint of both designers and fighting game players. Anyone interested in how a fighting game can come together with just four designers should absolutely check out the interview here.
More gameplay options might be coming for ARIKA’s new fighter.
Fighting EX Layer is finally here, now available for download from the PlayStation Store. However, those that want to mash buttons against CPU-controlled opponents might find the included gameplay modes a little lacking: there are no Arcade or Survival modes included in the game’s current build.
But — that may be changing in the future:
Q: Do the devs plan to add arcade mode in the future? What about adding an option to return to training stage after a ranked match?
A: I'd like to answer those questions once our roadmap is settled. Ideally, I'd like to announce something around EVO18. Please hold tight! -Mihara https://t.co/abi0Vmcqkk
It definitely looks like we can expect some kind of expansion for the title to be announced in the future, according to ARIKA’s Mihara-san. In the meantime, you can play the Kumite mode, which is tucked into the Training mode options; head to the Opponent tab in the training options and set CPU Format to “Kumite” to fight rotating CPU enemies in the training room.
One of The King of Fighters XIV‘s newcomers is Gang-Il, a fascinating character that brings a new take on the Taekwondo style traditionally represented by Kim Kaphwan.
A large part of both of his offense pressure and his juggle filler comes from his air Hangetsuzan, or QCB+B/C. Since he has the ability to cancel directly from his j.A into Hangetsuzan, Gang-Il has a lot of ways to pressure and mix-up the opponent. Today’s video from Persona Entertainment explores the damage potential and style of Gang-Il, which makes heavy use of EX Hangetsuzan’s float property combined with his jump cancels.
The cosmic deity Rosalina is quite a powerful character in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, so it’s no surprise that she is a top pick among competitive players. With the trusty Luma at her side, it often seems like you are playing as — or fighting against — two separate characters, and the Beefy Smash Doods are here to show us that this sensation is no mistake, nor has it been fully explored.
Giving props to Rosalina main Falln for many of the discoveries,the Doods expand on the many specific instances in which one can “desync” Luma from Rosalina in a video entitled How To Control ONLY Luma. The tutorial begins with a few techniques that would not (or should not) be unfamiliar to avid Smashers, but branches off into some more advanced techniques that really allow Luma to shine on her own.
You can check out that video below, and click here for more Smash 4 tech from the Beefy Smash Doods.
The online grind — and the quest for improvement — never ends.
Frabisaur is continuing his fight online in Street Fighter V to help provide viewers with some real-time match tips and insight as he takes on Ranked opponents in Walking the Path. You can catch up on his grind — input lag, random online craziness, and all — through the ranks in the videos below, or head right over to the Walking the Path playlist to watch it all.
Keeping up what is now somewhat of a yearly tradition, Storm Collectibles is premiering exclusive Street Fighter, Tekken, and Mortal Kombat figures at this year’s San Diego Comic Con. The toy lineup includes an Ermac, a Shin Akuma, a Heihachi Mishima, and a Street Fighter V Alex with a unique color variant. Each figure contains additional hand and head attachments, and other accessories. Images of the full set of exclusives can be seen in the gallery below.
If you are planning to attend SDCC be on the lookout for these premium limited figures, as they are being made available to convention attendees only!
On July 1st, Xbox Live Gold subscribers will be able to download a copy of Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown as part of Xbox’s monthly Games With Gold subscriber incentive. The download will, of course, be the Xbox 360 version of the game — but since it is one of the older titles that has been greenlit for backwards compatibility, the game should install and run on the Xbox One just like any other.
Virtua Fighter is praised by many members of the fighting game community for its highly-technical gameplay, and it is a franchise that has aged very well for that reason. For a brief explanation of how the download of Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown works, a video containing a full description of the Xbox Games With Gold July update can be seen below.
SoCal’s biggest fighting game bash is on its way — get ready!
SoCal’s best and those that wish to challenge them will be gathering once again — this time in Ontario, California — for SoCal Regionals 2018, being held on September 14-16!
SoCal Regionals 2018 is a Capcom Pro Tour Premier event, and part of the Tekken World Tour as well as the Injustice 2 Pro Series! It’s also the “Dramatic Battle” stop on the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Tournament Series, featuring Street Fighter Alpha 3. Registration is open now at smash.gg. So, what else is on the fight card this year…? Tournaments will be held in the following titles:
The leaks appear to just keep on springing for the remaining nine upcoming DLC characters for BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle. It seems that the recent version 1.11 patch for PlayStation 4 may have also brought with it some new data for the currently-unannounced fighters — as now each of their 16 colors, including the three paid DLC palettes, has been revealed.
Though we’ve already seen Lobby Avatars and heard English voice clips for most of them, this latest development now fully cements that the final characters — that will be released in Cross Character Packs 4-6, following the conclusion of Evo 2018 — are: BlazBlue’s Izayoi, Nine The Phantom, and Mai Natsume, Persona 4 Arena’s Mitsuru Kirjo, Akihiko Sanada, and Labrys, and Under Night In-Birth’s Yuzuriha Sougetsu, Merkava, and Mika Returna. It should also be noted that attempting to play as any of these fighters has been said to make the game crash — including Mika, whom footage was captured of previously, so they’re not ready just yet. Additionally, no additional data has been found for the rumored Senran Kagura duo of Yumi and Asuka, potentially suggesting that they’ve been scrapped or that ASW is being extremely coy. You can see the full video, as well as tweets from Bonus-Run, below. Color references appear to be as follows:
Izayoi:
Color 8: Xrd Millia Rage (Guilty Gear)
Color 9: Rachel Alucard (BlazBlue)
Color 10: Metis (Persona 3)
Color 11: Orie (Under Night In-Birth)
Color 12: Weiss Schnee (RWBY)
Color 13: Alice (Alice In Wonderland)
Nine The Phantom:
Color 8: I-No (Guilty Gear)
Color 9: Celica A. Mercury (BlazBlue)
Color 10: Labrys (Persona 4 Arena)
Color 11: Hilda (Under Night In-Birth)
Color 12: Cinder Fall (RWBY)
Color 13: Marceline (Adventure Time)
Mai Natsume:
Color 8: Raven (Guilty Gear)
Color 9: Kajun Faycott (BlazBlue)
Color 10: Yukiko Amagi (Persona 4)
Color 11: Seth (Under Night In-Birth)
Color 12: Jaune Arc (RWBY)
Color 13: Blossom (Powepuff Girls)
Mitsuru Kirijo:
Color 8: Margaret (Persona 3/4)
Color 9: Litchi Faye-Ling & Lao Jiu (BlazBlue)
Color 10: Maya Amano & Artemis (Persona 2: Innocent Sin)
Color 11: Phonon & Nanase (Under Night In-Birth)
Color 12: Lie Ren & Nora Valkyrie (RWBY)
Color 13: Haru Okumara & Milady (Persona 5)
Akihiko Sanada:
Color 8: Takaya Sakaki (Persona 3)
Color 9: Bang Shishigami (BlazBlue)
Color 10: Takaya Sakaki & Hypnos (Persona 3)
Color 11: Enkidu & Hilda (Under Night In-Birth)
Color 12: Nora Valkyrie & Lie Ren (RWBY)
Color 13: Futaba Sakura & Necronomicon (Persona 5)
Labrys:
Color 8: Minako/Female Protagonist (Persona 3 Portable)
Color 9: Lambda-11 (BlazBlue)
Color 10: Aegis & Palladion (Persona 3)
Color 11: Linne & Waldstein (Under Night In-Birth)
Color 12: Penny Polendina & Ruby Rose (RWBY)
Color 13: Caroline, Justine & Igor (Persona 5)
Yuzuriha:
Color 8: Johnny (Guilty Gear)
Color 9: Izayoi (BlazBlue)
Color 10: Velvet Room Attendant (Persona)
Color 11: Gordeau (Under Night In-Birth)
Color 12: Lie Ren (RWBY)
Color 13: Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic The Hedgehog)
Alright! FYI, if you guys were wondering about the 9 other DLC characters and if they are in a playable state, the answer is no. The color data is present, but trying to play as them after the loading screen crashes the game. As they are not ready yet. Portraits as well.
Also, on the subject of Asuka/Yumi from Senran Kagura, besides leftover code and announcement calls leaked previously, they do not have any models, voices, titles, etc, period. Already went though it and nothing's there for them.
Yeah, but since version 1.02-1.10, she now crashes the game hard, It happened with no crashes since 1.00-1.01. She's also very, very unfinished, but she does have interactions, obviously with Orie, for example.
Hot off the release of Fighting EX Layer, ARIKA has already announced the first patch for the game. The patch — which comes out sometime next week — is set to fix some bugs with a few characters. Affected by the patch are the characters Sanane, Kairi, and Hayate. Now, the patch isn’t to nerf or buff these characters, rather the ARIKA statement seems to indicate that it’s to fix some actual bugs with some of their moves.
What exactly these bugs are is unknown as of the time of writing; so far, nothing about them seems to have been shared in the community yet. That said, whatever these bugs are, ARIKA’s statement indicates that they’ve already scheduled the patch, which may show that they already found them before release, but not before having sent the game in to Sony for certification.
(@gosokkyu) 
