With Tekken 7 having experienced its largest tournament ever at Evo 2018, many top players thirsted for its title. The prestige of winning a 1500-player bracket was undeniably one of the biggest motivators.
When the dust settled, Sun Woong “LowHigh” Youn took the most important tournament of his career to date, with his Shaheen play overcoming everyone in his path. After the tournament, I got a chance to sit down for a quick interview with the champion.
Responses edited for length and clarity.
Corey “Missing Person” Lanier: First of all, congratulations on your win at Evo 2018. As a first timer on the Evo finals stage, how did it feel?
Sun Woong “LowHigh” Youn: When I first walked on the stage, I couldn’t imagine how many people were there to watch. When I saw them, my mind went black and I felt like I was going to faint. Once I sat down at the station though, I felt no nerves at all.
Missing Person: At what point did you start to think you could win this tournament? Was it in Winners Semifinals, where you beat Qudans, or was it in Winners Finals where you beat Lil Majin?
LowHigh: It was definitely in my first set with Qudans. It was the most tense set for me, as it went down to the wire, but when I won that, I realized this could be my chance.
Missing Person: It’s interesting that you say that was the toughest set. Let’s talk about Grand Finals, where you again faced Qudans, and he started off by resetting the bracket. What was going on in your head when he reset?
LowHigh: When the reset happened, I just took a second to process it. I realized that I was taking too many risks, and using a lot of high risk moves. They were all caught by Qudans. So when the reset happened, I optimized my play, and tried to play more stable.
When it reset, I really wasn’t disappointed with myself. I tried to match him damage for damage, and it just simply wasn’t working. So I had to make adjustments, and I was able to do so.
Missing Person: You’re now an Evo champion, but the Evo tournament was nowhere on the Tekken World Tour. With the finals of Tekken World Tour coming up, which would be a more prestigious win for you: Evo or Tekken World Tour Finals?
LowHigh: I feel like the Tekken World Tour Finals would be a bigger win personally. As you know, TWT Finals is an invitational, and the bracket would be set in stone. I would have a lot of time to prepare for the tournament, so I feel like the win would be better for me than Evo.
The sales of this sixth entry could make or break the tale of souls and swords.
When SoulCalibur VI was announced at the Game Awards last December, it had been over 5 years since the previous game had been released. During that time, there was a lot of uncertainty about the series’ future — at least until this new game was announced.
Now, in an interview with DualShockers at Gamescom 2018, producer Motohiro Okubo explains that the series still isn’t exactly out of the woods yet. SoulCalibur VI itself almost didn’t happen, as Bandai Namco had low expectations for the franchise at that point, and it took a lot of convincing for him to actually be given the green light to do it.
More importantly, Okubo confirms that the future of the franchise could depend on the success of the game. When asked about whether SouCalibur VI could be the last SoulCalibur game if it didn’t sell well, Okubo stated “Yeah, that’s right,” he continues by stating, “We don’t want to blackmail the users by saying that it could be the last one, but as it is, yes.”
With this, Okubo has made it pretty clear now how much the fate of the franchise rests on this latest entry. Will this be the final tale of souls and swords, or will the series once again rise to prominence? We’ll find out when SouCalibur VI launches on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on October 19th.
Wake Up Wednesdays is completing its delayed wake-up and bringing their last interview from Evo 2018 to YouTube with today’s new episode: this time Bizarro Mike talks to Street Fighter legend Seth Killian — renowned player, commentator, and all-around expert on all things Street Fighter. They discuss what it’s like to commentate the game, how volatile Street Fighter V can be, Tokido’s “complete optimization” approach to SFV competition, and much more.
Watch for new episodes of Wake Up Wednesdays on Capcom Fighters to stay posted on Capcom Pro Tour news.
Kenny Omega playing Street Fighter V. Xavier Woods playing Windjammers. There’s a massive crossover between wrestling and the fighting game community, one that’s only grown thanks to the visibility of the aforementioned stars. (And also aided by Bandai Namco’s crossover friendship with New Japan Pro Wrestling.) When you discuss the FGC and wrestling at the same time, those are the names that get brought up.
But not only are they not the lone wrestlers of the FGC, they aren’t even the only wrestling champions in our community. Those that watched the Evo 2018 pools for Tekken 7 may not have known that the masked player “BloodySamoan” wasn’t just some random King enthusiast — this is a man capable of performing King’s move list in real life on anyone that crossed him in-game. A few weeks after Evo, he did just that to defeat Liam Fury for the IPW Heavyweight Championship. In the process, he added his name to the very small pool of FGC players with pro-wrestling gold around their waist.
During that Evo 2018 stream, prior to all of the above, I was among the ignorant.
I saw Mike “BloodySamoan” Mulipola’s match versus Japanese Hwoarang pro “Batz”. Mike may have lost, but I was impressed enough by his play (and by his obvious passion for the game — and King) that I thought to myself “Ah, I’ll just google him and tell him I thought he did well. Dude seemed really good, and he traveled a long way for Evo.”
I found his site. Galleries of bright, punchy illustrations appeared. Dynamic poses, labored form, and eye-popping design were bread crumbs down to a little blurb I had to read twice just to make sure it was real: “During the weekends, I spend my time dropping people on their heads as a professional wrestler for Impact Pro Wrestling.”
Few people get to live one of their dreams. The Liger of New Zealand is living three, and I absolutely needed to know more about how he pulls that off. Luckily, he was more than happy to share.
Crow_Spaceboy: You’re not just a pro wrestler, or an artist, or a fighting game player. You’re all three of those things, and you’re very good at them all at the same time. So to find a starting place, I just want to ask: what came first?
Mike “BloodySamoan” Mulipola: What came first? First for me was comic books. I fell in love with comic books when I was 5 years old. All I wanted to do as a kid was draw… and then came pro wrestling. Pro wrestling was the closest thing to real life superheroes I had ever seen when I was a kid, and around that same time, the first Tekken came out. King was in it. There I was, just a kid just mashing buttons, and I was like “He has a suplex! He’s a wrestler!”
Crow_Spaceboy: It was a natural progression.
BloodySamoan: Yeah. There’s a line of discovery through each of them.
Crow_Spaceboy: It sounds like most of your life you’ve been drawing or playing Tekken. How long have you been wrestling, though?
BloodySamoan: I’ve been wrestling for just over 12 and half years. I’m the current IPW Heavyweight Champion, and I just won it this past weekend for the first time. Before that, I was the Armageddon Cup Champion and I’ve been tag champion a few times… but even though I won the Heavyweight Championship, easily the best thing that’s happened to me is that one of those Tag Championships was shared with King Haku.
Crow_Spaceboy: For those that don’t know about New Zealand’s Impact Pro Wrestling, give the wrestling-loving FGC a bit of a rundown on the IPW.
BloodySamoan: Impact Pro Wrestling in New Zealand was the standard-bearer for the modern era of professional wrestling in this country. In the ’70s, New Zealand was a hotspot — we had Peter Maivia, Ric Flair, Andre the Giant, and others. Then, for years there was no pro wrestling at all until IPW opened up. We’ve been around for over 15 years, produced talent like Dakota Kai, TK Cooper, Johnny Idol, let’s see… Travis Banks. I’ve had many hard hitting matches with him. New Zealand has really made a name for itself thanks to IPW.
Crow_Spaceboy: That’s incredible.
BloodySamoan: It’s great. I had a tag team match recently at one of the comic conventions in New Zealand with Travis. He teamed up with actor Michael Rowe (Deadshot from the TV series Arrow). So he got to jump into the wrestling ring and bust out some DDTs and flying elbows for this comic book crowd.
Crow_Spaceboy: This is a good time to talk about the new IPW champion, isn’t it? Tell us about Liger.
BloodySamoan:Liger is a bully. When I put the mask on and step in the ring, I just want to hurt people. I just go out there and drop people on their heads. I’m Samoan, and there’s a certain stereotype for Saomoans, but I think I’ve turned it a bit with the mask. I laugh at how similar I am to Samoa Joe. We’re both larger guys, mean, but also deceptive and smart.
Crow_Spaceboy: This is a good point to mention that one of Liger’s finishers is the “Donkey Lariat.”
BloodySamoan: [laughs] Yeah.
Crow_Spaceboy: It’s good. It’s a good name. Five stars.
BloodySamoan: The other finish I use, “Cape Killer”, is a reference to the mechanized anti-superhero suits in “Civil War”. I just remember reading that and thinking “Ah, that’s a great name.” I always try to infuse geek references in anything I do, because it’s just who I am.
Crow_Spaceboy: The art that you did for the lariat is great, too. I really love this picture.
BloodySamoan: Ah! That was for the Super Show trading card game! That’s right. It’s a wrestling trading card game. I have trading cards of me: kid version of myself never thought that’d happen. AJ Styles and Ricochet are in there, too, before they were signed with WWE. And then there’s me. [laughs]
Crow_Spaceboy: That’s so great.
BloodySamoan: They wanted to put Liger in and I said, “I’m doing the art for me.” It worked out well. It’s a really good game, too. I recommend it to anyone that is a wrestling fan. I have a lot of fun playing it.
Crow_Spaceboy: What art are you working on right now? What’s the best place for people to see your art?
BloodySamoan: In terms of art I’m working on, I’ve got more Headlocked stuff. Got my “Breat Hart” story coming out in January, and I’m working on an exclusive print for the “All In” event next month. I just finished the Stone Cold Steve Austin story. You can see it all on my site or on Instagram.
Crow_Spaceboy: I’ve wanted to ask: Are you a fan of Tiger Mask at all?
BloodySamoan: Aw, hell yeah. You can tell by my mask design. Misawa is one of my all-time favorite wrestlers. I love the anime, Tiger Mask W, as well. Tiger Mask and Jyushin Thunder Liger are huge favorites. Of course, Jyushin is where I came up with the “Liger” name. But, for the record, my all time favorite wrestler is The Great Muta.
Crow_Spaceboy: You must like the NJPW/Namco crossovers in Tekken 7. Maybe we’ll see a Tiger Mask rage art someday.
BloodySamoan: Give King the Tigerplex ’85? [laughs] When they were announcing the NJPW crossovers, I was so excited. I can give King NJPW shirts and color him like my mask. I love that in the Tekken series, you can tell the makers of the series are huge wrestling fans. Pretty much every character in Tekken has at least one wrestling hold.
Crow_Spaceboy: This is a good place to pivot, because I think a lot of the FGC’s first interaction with you will be the Evo 2018 stream. You had a real tough match with Japanese pro Batz. Walk me through your experience during that time. Have you gone back and seen it?
BloodySamoan: When I was playing, I thought I played pretty poorly. Watching it back now, I think I did okay — it was still early-ish in the morning and I felt like I was still warming up, but I did have a few matches prior to him that I won, which was cool, I guess. But, I still felt unprepared for him. Then I found I’d be on stream and I was like, “Agh, I’ve got all of New Zealand on my shoulders.” [laughs] I do have Hwoarang experience from NZ but Batz’s play is so different. And I love that about Tekken — it’s a very expressive game, you can be very creative and unique with every character. As an artist, I’ve always appreciated how free its system lets you be.
I played okay, it killed me inside that I dropped some combos. I hit the kip-up float then dropped the Powerbomb ender. I thought, “Ah, you idiot!” The second match went better because I was hitting the kick parry. That’s “The Great Muta” spot. Hitting that on stream made my tournament: Dragon Screw into Figure Four. I’m a flashy “highlight reel” sort of guy so anything I can do to be “out there” and surprising, I’ll go for it.
The above combos were made in January, and are still creative as hell months down the line.
Crow_Spaceboy: I love that you call it “The Great Muta” spot. Regardless of how you felt about it at the time, I thought you were impressive — you stood up to one of the world’s best, took a round and made some hype. You also showed something that I’m not sure is super well-known — and kind of dated yourself a bit. The commentators didn’t even know this: you kept trying to punish JFSR with B+1,2. That was -12 in Tekken 6, and is -10 now. I’m guessing you’ve been socking Hwoarang in the jaw for more than a few years, and it was habitual.
BloodySamoan: Yeah, I absolutely rely on legacy skills. [laughs] New stuff, particularly new characters, are my kryptonite. To be honest, I don’t keep up with frame data — I’m a very “feels by” player, so if they change something on me it, always catches me off guard.
Crow_Spaceboy: Still, legacy skills can carry you really far. You are ahead of people just picking up Tekken for the first time, more often than not.
BloodySamoan: Yeah. I went 4-2 and placed 193rd, and I won the side tournament and got one of those ZOWIE lag-free monitors. So regardless of what happened, I got a memento. Not bad considering I wasn’t originally going to go to Evo — I was going to the States for the “Headlocked” convention, and Evo happened to be two weeks later, so I stayed a bit. My expectations were exceeded, because I was mostly going to have fun and test myself.
Crow_Spaceboy: Do you think not having any sort of pressure or expectation helped you?
BloodySamoan: Yeah. I take everything in stride and just play my game, do my thing. It helps me focus on the important things, just working on each match as it comes.
Crow_Spaceboy: Switching gears a bit — you juggle so many disparate things. Art, wrestling, gaming. Do you have any advice for others trying to accomplish their dreams?
BloodySamoan: I manage to juggle it because I love everything I do. It’s not easy, I don’t have a schedule, but I just try to do a little bit of each every day, at least. If you love something you find the time to make it work. You have to find the time, then do it. In terms of a mantra? “Do the work, don’t be a dick.” That’s all you need to succeed in life.
Crow_Spaceboy: It’s good advice.
BloodySamoan: Maybe I should follow it. I showed my “King Moves in Real Life” video to Batz before our match and said “If I lose, I can do these moves to you in real life.” [laughs]
Crow_Spaceboy: [laughs] Sounds like Liger said that.
BloodySamoan: Psychological warfare, there.
BloodySamoan: Ultimately, I had a great time. Evo 2018 was great. I made a lot of friends, played great games, got to share my love of wrestling and Tekken 7. You know, I know the Bullet Club. I’m friends with Bad Luck Fale. We’re in a time where I’m surrounded by people at Evo with Bullet Club shirts and it’s just crazy.
Crow_Spaceboy: On that point… this is probably a flippant question: Kenny Omega’s played Tekken. You play Tekken. You’re both champions. Any chance you’ll throw down with him?
BloodySamoan: Kenny Omega… [laughs] So, two years ago when New Japan came down to NZ, I hooked him up with the local FGC to play Street Fighter V. I went and met him, and he was playing, I played with him, got my ass kicked because I don’t know that game. I asked him if he wanted to play some Tekken and he was like, “Nah, I don’t play that.”
Crow_Spaceboy: He played Tekken with Xavier Woods. There’s a storyline there. Sounds like you might need to beef.
BloodySamoan: I’ll catch up with them both next time. I’ll smash ’em. Teach them how to play King properly.
Crow_Spaceboy: One of my goals this interview was to avoid saying anything that would get myself Donkey Lariat’d from the other side of the world. But I can’t help myself, I have to ask: You think you’re the best Tekken player in the wrestling world right now?
BloodySamoan: [pauses, laughs] I would say… I’m up there? “Best Professional Wrestler King Player”? Yeah. I’ll take that crown. I’ve seen Xavier and Kenny play Tekken separately. As an aside, I want to play Lil Majin, just because of his energy and vibe. He gets it.
Maybe the collective FGC doesn’t know his name yet: BloodySamoan, Liger, Mike Mulipola, whatever you choose to call him. But we should, and I think we should both for his many individual talents and for the fact that he represents the passionate, hardworking, and creative qualities that make the FGC so great. He has seamlessly chased divergent passions and weaved them through our niche scene, making it a better and more interesting one in the process. Liger, bully he may be, proves that you can find the time to do what you want in life, no matter what.
Wake Up Wednesdays continues its post-Evo coverage with this RobTV interview.
Bizarro Mike is back to continue Wake Up Wednesdays right on into Thursday (i.e. “delayed wake-up” Wednesdays) with this interview with RobTV at Evo 2018. They discuss RobTV’s thoughts on attending his first Evo, his time on ELEAGUE’s Street Fighter V reality show The Challenger, and much more!
An interview with Seth Killian is still incoming from Wake Up Wednesdays, so stay tuned.
Wake Up Wednesdays is back in the aftermath of the summer’s biggest FGC throwdown!
Bizarro Mike returns to host another episode of Capcom Fighters’ Wake Up Wednesdays, now both looking back at Evo 2018 as well as looking forward to the remaining stretch of the Capcom Pro Tour that lies ahead. Michael Martin starts by offering congratulations to Mouseports|Problem X for his spectacular Street Fighter V win over returning champion Echo Fox|Tokido, and then serves up a couple of great interviews from Evo itself: one of America’s favorite contenders ESE|The Cool Kid 93, as well as Canadian commentary queen Jakyo! Check it out below!
More interviews from Evo are still on the way from Capcom Fighters later this week!
As you all may know, Arc System Works and Aplus Games brought their upcoming arena fighter Kill la Kill: The Game to Evo 2018. During the event, Japanese gaming publication 4Gamer got a chance to sit down and talk to producer Takeshi Yamanaka about certain aspects of the game.
Now, since the game was at Evo 2018, one topic they touched on was how the game was from a competitive standpoint. On this, Yamanaka states that they are trying to make a game that rewards players who take time out to study the game. That said, they also want the game where, even people who aren’t as good can enjoy trying to read their opponent. In addition to this, they’re also trying to make it so that the game’s Story Mode acts as a tutorial so players can learn how to play the game while enjoying the story.
Considering the game’s mixed heritage — combining Arc System Works’ reputation for competitive titles with the Kill la Kill IP’s greater appeal among anime fans into an arena fighter — the above approach does seem to make sense.
Of course, this isn’t the only thing they talk about. They also discuss other things with Yamanaka, such as how they’re addressing issues with the camera, and 4Gamer even tries to get hints about other characters coming to the game. The full interview is available over on 4Gamer, albeit in Japanese. For those interested, Siliconera has a few translated excerpts from it.
What seems forever ago, we talked with Max Schaefer and Runic Games upon the announcement of Torchlight 1, and how the IP’s ultimate goal was to evolve into an MMO. That had always been the goal with the ill-fated Flagship side-project Mythos, but we all know that Flagship never could get Mythos where it wanted to go. Runic wanted to make Hob, and Max still wanted to make that ARPG MMO he’d been dreaming of for years. Enter, Echtra Games.
“When I saw Tekken Crash, I saw my future playing professional Tekken.”
Dimeback, whose moniker is a play on Pantera guitarist “Dimebag Darrell”, has made a name for himself in the Tekken 7 scene for being one of the very few Asuka players to take her to the top. It may have been fate that led him down this path, though, because his most famous character was not who he wanted to play as — in fact, it was a complete accident that he ended up with Asuka at all, as he revealed in his latest interview with BornFree:
If you believe in fate, at least, then Dimeback’s pick is certainly a product of it. “Asuka can kind of ignore frame data,” Dimeback said. “Being able to play the mind games where I can play unexpectedly, is something I like to do.” Knowing that, it’s hard to imagine that he almost ended up being a Kazuya player.
With the revival of the SoulCalibur scene, it was inevitable that its most-famous competitor would be in the spotlight again. Known for her top-notch Xianghua play, Marie-Laure “Kayane” Norindr grew up with the series, like many gamers in the fighting game community. The six-year lapse post the somewhat-disappointing SoulCalibur V only seems to revitalize the French TV show host, who wants to step back into the fray again, stronger than ever.
I took the opportunity to sit down with Kayane at Evo 2018, a fitting opportunity, given the relatively-large Bandai Namco presence, with their SoulCalibur VI stations. We go back in time a bit, we discuss her opinion of the newest title, and even talk about mentorship in the fighting game community.
Woocash: What was Evo 2018 like for you?
Kayane: This Evo was full of SoulCalibur VI. I had the tournament on Friday, Saturday was all about exhibitions. I had a “Play a Pro” exhibition. I also had a team tournament exhibition fighting BxA|PartyWolf’s team, my team won! Then I had a FT5 against him.
I definitely know that he is much stronger than me, I’m doing this to have more experience in the game. I think US now is only playing SCVI, while France, for example, we still need to get used to new mechanics like Reversal Edge. We don’t use that at all. It was a really good experience to come here and play and see what the level is. Now at Evo, I made it to 5th place, I wanted to better! When the game is released, I want to be able to train and get my character better than that.
Woocash: What are the big differences between the French and US scene?
Kayane: Actually, in the US, there are plenty of fighting games and majors where the [newest] game is a demo and anyone can play. In France, we don’t have any public events or tournaments that showed the game. We only had Bandai Namco France invite us for a day in the office; it was me, Hayate, Kiev, and Keysona playing. I only played the game at Evo Japan and in San Francisco. Not much, compared to what I wanted to, but still more experience than some French players.
One day is not really enough to share things and discover tech and get used to new mechanics. The US has much more experience, with events where Bandai Namco was showing the game; I think they are doing a fantastic job showing the game. Thanks to America, we can see how the game is balanced now and how the new mechanics will fit the SoulCalibur universe.
You haven’t felt true terror until you’ve seen this Nightmare replica by Arby’s.
Woocash: What are your honest impressions of the newest SoulCalibur game? You’re somebody the international community really looks up to; do you feel like Kayane “officially” endorses this as a worthy successor?
Kayane: First of all, you guys have to know, I am not in any contract with Bandai Namco, so what I say is always honest. I’ve played all SoulCalibur, from 1, and it’s my favorite fighting game ever. It’s precious to me. I’ve been waiting for six years for the new SoulCalibur.
I have to say, I think they are doing a fantastic job, because they respect all characters, the gameplay styles we love them for. The universe is like how we’ve always liked it. You know the feel when you play the old SC, I think we feel that in VI. To me, SCVI is more like II and IV. Especially for the speed, the movement that is very fast. Even if you play someone like Nightmare, you will feel he’s very fast! That’s how we felt when playing SCII. Speed has been the main difference when playing any other 3D game like Tekken, where movement is more “robotic.” And SC is so much easier. I also think they are paying a lot of attention to solo modes, like Story, and Customization.
For this game to be successful, it needs to reach the main public, not only the competitive players, but casual ones that not only play fighting games. I think it’s important for those casual players to have good matches even if they’re not competitive.
Even if I’m still 27, I feel like a mentor of the community, like a Big Sister. Still not a Big Mama!
Woocash: Speaking of single-player modes, fighting games nowadays have such robust Training Modes. What would you like to see in that mode, and let’s say in Online Mode?
Kayane: I think that in Training Mode, I’d like to see frame data, like it’s in Street Fighter V. I think it’s a great feature to see if [moves] are positive or negative. What they’re doing with Tekken 7 also is really good. I think they have many features for the competitive players, like for recording. You can set the computer react differently or wake-up in specific ways. I would like a computer that is smart enough to be able to train alone at home.
As for other modes, I’d like to see a good Customization Mode. I’d like to make Griffith and Guts from Berserk.
Kayane: I love The Witcher 3, I’ve had such a good time with that game. I even played one of the main songs on piano. He really fits the game. His stage, Kaer Morhen, is perfect. The character really feels like a SoulCalibur character. The movement is nice, they respected his Signs, he has a really nice music theme. Lots of Witcher fans will buy the game to play Geralt.
Woocash: What other characters would you like to see? We do have some returning ones like Zasalamel and Talim, who have been absent, for example.
Kayane: I have my ideas! I was a Viola player in SCV. I loved Viola, because she has a unique style with the orb. She was really fast, and that’s the character I like to play.
Woocash: Wasn’t she a little too strong?
Kayane: She was strong, but to face characters like Alpha Patrokolos and Algol, I had to play her, because my Leixia [Xianghua in SCV] was not strong enough to compete against them. But, for sure, if SCVI is balanced enough, I hope so, then I think any character would be able to win. I think in VI every character has a really gameplay and power, and I think they would balance Viola in another way. If not Viola, then Amy, who was quite popular too.
I would like Setsuka. I don’t play her at all, she’s a really complex character. But I really love her style, her kimono, hairstyle, music, all the story of this character is really dramatic. It’s all about her taking revenge against Mitsurugi, for killing her husband. I love this character very much, and she’s really fun to watch. If we don’t have Alpha Patrokolos because Sophitia is here, we need a Setsuka style. If she is here, it will be in DLC, because she won’t be in story. Mitsurugi didn’t kill her master until later!
Woocash: What is it about Xianghua that draws you?
Kayane: Actually, I was seven years old when I started playing SCI. It was the first fighting game I ever loved, it was so beautiful on the Dreamcast. It’s the kind of game that really made me dream and feel like I’m in another world. When you’re a child, I feel like you really need a model to aspire to. Since I didn’t have any singer or actress to really admire, I felt that in characters from video games.
Xianghua was the Asian, 16-years-old, so cute and kind, really cute, happy-go-lucky. I wanted to be just like her when I was seven years old. Those details made me think that I want to grow up to be exactly like her. I really love this character a lot, I wanted to learn all her moves and combos. I was really faithful to her.
Woocash: You have such a long history with SoulCalibur now, there are many players now that are big that you’ve met as children. You tweeted about some, like you met SonicFox a long time ago. I’m wondering if you’re starting to see yourself as a mentor to growing, younger players? Do you think there’s room in the FGC for personal mentoring?
Kayane: I met a lot of players, like Aris, when I was very young, 12 years old. Seeing how far he’s come now, I feel like wow, in 15 years, you can do amazing things. In my own way, I succeeded in walking into the video game industry in France as a TV host. I now can compete, and I have my own sponsor to compete in SCVI when it will be released.
I just feel like there are many players that have inspired me before, and now I’m getting old, ha ha. Almost 30 years old, I am 27. A lot of people tell me, “I grew up watching your matches in SCII!” and I’m like, “Oh god, how old are you now?” And they say, “18 years old!” “Whoa! So you were a baby when you were watching those.” Now, they are adults, but they still me as, I don’t know, maybe a fighting game model that they have seen when they were young.
But that’s also a good sign, because I also admired players when I was younger. Now I can travel and compete and even see them or play against them. I hope that someday people, who used to be children when they discovered me, will be champions later, like SonicFox. I played him when he was 12 years old, and we played the same character, Viola. I think I was 21 years old. He was not famous at the time, and we played at some bar. He was so strong! I was like, whoa, he’s 12, and he can compete against me in a mirror match? But I started competing so young too, so I know how it is, and I know that you can’t underestimate even children. Now I see how far he’s going in different games. He may compete in SoulCalibur, he’s one of the people that old me that he’s going to come back to VI. I’m really looking forward to that.
Even if I’m still 27, I feel like a mentor of the community, like a Big Sister. Still not a Big Mama!
Woocash: Any final comments? SoulCalibur VI is probably finished by now, but do you have any balancing suggestions or feedback that you would like them to make before release?
Kayane: During the SCVI top 8 on Friday, we have seen that Ivy and Kilik are in the top. Ivy has two new moves that are really strong and define her gamplay: her low throw, and she has a circular move that goes out really far, it looks so strong. Kilik has very, very strong Soul Charge, where he turns into Necalli, ha ha. It lasts until the end of the round, but he loses life at least. In that, he has a free Critical Edge, and he can punish almost every move.
I think these moves are crazy, but we started to discover ways to beat them. I’m pretty sure that with Training Mode, we will find ways. Like with Ivy low throw, you can step, or block crouching. Her circular move, you have to be at the right distance [the move has a blind spot where it can whiff]. These kinds of things. LinkRKC played her well because at the time when you get close to her, he will use Soul Charge to push you back. Knowing that we didn’t have time to practice against this, I think we already have some solutions to beat that. It’s not like Hilde from SCIV where you don’t really have solutions given how crazy she is! I think that any crazy thing that we’ve seen in SCVI, we will find a way to beat that. You have to be patient and wait for Training Mode.
For now, I don’t want to say I want things to be changed. For now, we just see that there are crazy things about every character, like Yoshimitsu using Brave Edge moves, whereas Xianghua doesn’t. I want to see the final balance. Every character has some unique way to fight with the SCVI mechanics. I can’t wait to find out the entire Command List, because Xianghua is a really tricky character that has hidden moves.
Missing Person: At what point did you start to think you could win this tournament? Was it in Winners Semifinals, where you beat Qudans, or was it in Winners Finals where you beat Lil Majin?
When it reset, I really wasn’t disappointed with myself. I tried to match him damage for damage, and it just simply wasn’t working. So I had to make adjustments, and I was able to do so.
