Category: Fighting Games

Ah, remember the good old days of character unlocking? They’re back!

With Dragon Ball FighterZ release on the horizon, there are still plenty of questions waiting to be answered about its content and how to access it. We now know that there are three unlockable characters in the title and they can be made playable through a variety of methods. Some are as easy as buying the game the day it comes out and others require a good amount of skill and patience.

Just two guys and we’re having a good time.

Those who pre-ordered Dragon Ball FighterZ will have instant access to Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Goku and Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Vegeta, (SSGSS for short, Super Saiyan Blue and SSB for extra short.) through an unlock code packaged with their “Day One Edition” of the game. Those not on the pre-order boat will have a little bit of a challenge ahead of them to add the two azure Saiyans to their team.

There are two in-game unlocking methods for the dynamic duo. You can either grind for the characters by saving up Zeni, the in-game currency, or by complete specific game modes under certain circumstances.

If you want to grind for the characters, you will need to earn 300,000 Zeni to unlock SSGSS Vegeta and 500,000 Zeni to add SSGSS Goku to your roster. You don’t need to purchase the characters either, just have that amount of Zeni total. So you can spend your Zeni and still have it go towards these goals.

Alternatively, completing the Extreme Gravity Spaceship Course on hard with an A-Rank will grant access to SSGSS Vegeta and finishing the Hyperbolic Time Chamber Course on hard with an A-Rank to unlock SSGSS Goku. Take note that in order to gain access to the harder difficulties of these game modes you will need to beat them on the normal difficulty first.

Make way for the leading lady to join the ranks of Dragon Ball legends

Android 21’s unlocking method is a lot more straightforward because there is currently only one way to play as the character worldwide. Players in Japan have the opportunity to purchase a guidebook for the game that comes bundled with an instant access code to Android 21.

Folks elsewhere will need to complete the Story Mode to add the cunning android to their roster. According to Game Informer, the story mode can run anywhere between 15-20 hours if you are going for a comprehensive playthrough. It is possible to complete the game mode in around 5 hours if you plan on just dragon rushing through it to unlock the character.

It is great to see Dragon Ball FighterZ‘ approach to character unlocks and pre-order bonuses. While pre-ordering the game certainly decreases the time needed to unlock the blue Super Saiyan Gods, it is not necessary to use the characters. Those who didn’t pre-order aren’t punished for purchasing the game after day one and can obtain them through regular play, not additional pay. This information coupled with the friendly loot system makes FighterZ a strong contender for responsible content distribution in an era that has certainly seen its missteps.

Sources: Game Informer; Prima Games; Shonen Games

While the response to Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition has been positive, it is not without its bugs. Urien has one that is potentially game-breaking until Capcom releases a patch to rectify it.

While toying around in the code, WydD — developer of sfvsim — discovered a bug where usage of Urien’s V-Trigger II can cause his hurtboxes to disappear, which translates into a completely invincible Urien. The bug is a result of his armor for V-Trigger II’s charged moves sharing the same ID as his hurtboxes, so when the armor is removed, so too the hurtboxes. He also notes that there is a PC workaround for now, but this is only in place of what will have to be an impending patch from Capcom.

WARNING! MAJOR @StreetFighter AE BUG!⚠️
Urien loses all his hurtboxes after armor impact on VT2 with V-Skill (charged or not).

Other reported cases: https://t.co/ezgXoY5Pgm https://t.co/VBmiYzAKwD

Nothing is said in the scripts. So I took a look at it inside the game memory pic.twitter.com/cGXu26tGWj

— Loïc *WydD* Petit (@WydD) January 22, 2018

Here's a rendering of the hitboxes and hurtboxes before and after the armor impact.

(I'm not showing here the collision boxes because the game is in a state where I cant get them with accuracy but they are present!) pic.twitter.com/nRK5NlNZ1M

— Loïc *WydD* Petit (@WydD) January 22, 2018

Understand that the bug extends until the end of the move! You just can't punish that because Urien basically no longer has a hurtable body.

This is terrible news before #EvoJapan2018. I'll keep digging by modding the move to check what causes it.

— Loïc *WydD* Petit (@WydD) January 22, 2018

Alright, thanks to @Killbawx who hinted the solution it's because of a bug in the scripts.

The way it works is the following: if you have a hit/hurtbox (armor or not) in the game. It has an internal identifier. One ID can refer to multiple boxes.

— Loïc *WydD* Petit (@WydD) January 22, 2018

This identifier is used to remove all the boxes in case of a hit/armor. In the case of https://t.co/AvTxroAEdD both armor box belong to the same group. So far so good.

The issue is: the armor boxes share the same ID as all the other hurtboxes!!

— Loïc *WydD* Petit (@WydD) January 22, 2018

Meaning: when the armor hits, the engine removes the armor box because it has been hit, but it also removes the hurtboxes as well because they share the same ID.

By modding the script and changing those box ID the script behave as expected.

— Loïc *WydD* Petit (@WydD) January 22, 2018

Hint to the Urien players: if you don't have to change side. Don't touch anything after the move! You will still have 41 interruptible frames left in the script that are fully invincincible. A new way of taunting! That will please @GOOD_NEMO Thanks @HatsonFGC for the idea pic.twitter.com/OYMLLeJt3h

— Loïc *WydD* Petit (@WydD) January 22, 2018

Source: Loïc *WydD* Petit (Twitter)

Fans of the present-gen ports of classic SNK games can rejoice at a couple new additions to the family. The Art of Fighting 2 is currently available for the Nintendo Switch, and The King of Fighters ’98 has been ported to both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

The Art of Fighting 2 was released for Xbox One back in June of last year, and it looks like the Nintendo Switch’s catalog of NEO GEO fighters already rivals that of the Microsoft console’s healthy collection. In regard to the The King of Fighters ’98 port, it is important to note that it is the original arcade version, not the Ultimate Match that has the extend roster and is currently popular for its online match support on PC.

Still, if you would like to pick it up for PlayStation 4 or Xbox One — or The Art of Fighting 2 up on the Nintendo Switch — ports of these classic titles are now available for reasonable prices on their respective consoles’ online stores.

Source: Destructoid