Dragon Ball FighterZ‘s latest patch was meant to give some of the less-used characters a bit more tools to work with. Now, content creators are starting to unlock the potential of these buffed characters. One of these combo video creators is none other than Final Showdown, who’s discovered a lot of the tech for Dragon Ball FighterZ. His latest videos cover two of the characters affected by the patch: Teen Gohan and Piccolo.
For Teen Gohan, the patch has basically made some harder-to-do combos much easier. This includes a couple of loops that used to be a bit impractical, that are now much easier to pull off in real matches.
His video for Piccolo is much shorter, simply focusing on his orbs, which received more hit stun post patch. This makes combos out of the orbs much easier.
Though we’ve already seen the patch notes for the latest update to Dragon Ball FighterZ, I’ve always preferred a visual aid to compliment a list of changes — especially for such an extensive update, one that altered 24 of the game’s 28 characters, in addition to adding base Goku and Vegeta into the mix.
Content creator rooflemonger appears to agree with my sentiment, as he has recently crafted a full breakdown of each and every single listed patch change that was provided by Bandai Namco Entertainment, covering all the changes to Training Mode, online matchmaking, general quality-of-life changes to the game (such as a faster-moving cursor at the character select screen, the ability to add input delay to offline Versus matches, and the ability to alter your team’s order before the start of the match by holding the applicable Assist button at the Versus screen).
Of course, the meat and potatoes of a patch notes video will be documenting the character-specific changes to the vast majority of the roster, and rooflemonger provides a visual demonstration of most of the buffs and nerfs (as well as timestamps in the video description) sorted by the order in which characters were officially listed in the patch notes. In total, the entire video clocks in at a little over an hour; a lengthy yet very informative watch if you’re interested in the direction the future competitive meta may be leaning in. You can view the full video below.
What were your favorite changes coming out of the latest DBFZpatch? Were there some characters you were hoping to see buffed or nerfed that weren’t altered much, or do you feel certain warriors were perhaps overturned in one direction or another? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
With a staggering 2,484 World Warriors from across all corners of the globe descending on Las Vegas, Nevada for Evo 2018, to compete for the most Capcom Pro Tour points available in the entire season. In the event’s second-biggest tournament, the potential for a plethora of highlight reel moments was higher than ever, and the players did not disappoint us.
Now you can relieve the top 5 moments of Evo’s Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition tournament, as ranked by Capcom Fighters. FAV|Sako styling on HORI|Ishi with his Menat, LevelUp’s Alex Valle’s Blanka, PRO7OTYPE’s Alex shocking upset against Echo Fox|Punk in pools, and of course Mousesports|Problem X overcoming the Raging Demon and defending Champion EchoFox|Tokido to bring the United Kingdom their first Evo Street Fighter Championship; there’s a lot to enjoy here. There’s even a bonus sixth moment of Fudoh|Fujimura’s crazy Fuma Shuriken combo on FAV|Ryuusei’s Urien that even knocked the tyrant into his own Aegis Reflector. You can see the full video below.
Did your favorite moment make the list? Let us know in the comments section.
Notable FGC content creator BornFree sat down with FUDOH | Fujimura at Evo 2018 to get an insight on the player’s top spot in the CPT.
BornFree is known for his in-depth interviews of FGC players, organizers, personalities, and other notable figures in the fighting game community. At Evo 2018, he was able to swing a session with the number one player in the Capcom Pro Tour: FUDOH | Fujimura, known for his accomplished history within the FGC and his killer Ibuki, sat down with a translator to answer some of the community’s most pressing questions.
BornFree began the session by asking Fujimura about his recent name change. Formerly, Fujimura was known as Yukadon — however, by the beginning of Street Fighter V’s 3rd season, he had changed his handle to his legal name. “Nobody told me I had to change my name,” Fujimura said through his translator, Bill. “When you tell people you do video games and esports and stuff like that, people have a tendency to not take it seriously. I wanted to personally, rather than use a weird nickname, would rather use my real name, and try to feel legitimate in what I’m doing.” Although his previous name was considered a bit rude by Japanese standards, it wasn’t the rudeness that caused him to make the switch — rather, it was a desire to be seen as legitimate by those outside the esports bubble.
Fujimura is known for his optimal play — so much so that the Korean community gave him the nickname, “The Machine.” His training regimen is anything but human: Fujimura trains for hours on end, taking little time to eat and rest before going back at it. “When there’s players around and a setup to play on, it would be a waste not to play on it. I feel bad if I don’t take advantage of that opportunity and use that chance to better myself.”
Fujimura likewise appears to have a rival in Daigo “The Beast” Umehara. Having beaten him at ELEAGUE and StunFest France, it seemed as though Fujimura had the Guile matchup figured out — until Daigo took it over Fujimura twice at the UK’s VSFighting, winning his first Premier and proving his strength against SFV’s top competitor. BornFree pressed Fujimura about this rivalry, and his response was careful and deliberate: “It’s tough, and it’s always been a tough match. I play a lot with him, not just at tournaments, but at casuals and things. I’m trying to do everything that I can do get better. Sometimes, that’s just how it goes.”
Ibuki is Fujimura’s character of choice, after Nash was nerfed into the floor. “At first, I was playing around with a lot of different characters,” he began. “But I wanted to try a character that a lot of other pros weren’t playing. I kind of settled on Ibuki, and as I played her, I felt the possibilities with her, and thought, ‘I could probably do really well with this.’” Fujimura’s decision paid off: he is now sitting in the number one spot in the Capcom Pro Tour, and has multiple top placements under his belt alongside two Premier victories.
Fans can watch the full interview here, as well as check out more of BornFree’s fighting game content.
At this point in the FGC, I probably don’t have to tell you that the entirety of desk‘s YouTube shtick is finding the most improbable interactions that fighting games have to offer. He’s been doing this successfully since 2008, and in Street Fighter V since the series began — It’s a testament to his skill and creativity that through so many games and after so many years, he still finds ways to surprise the FGC. Case in point: his most recent manipulation of V-Reversals:
Taking full advantage of the additional frames granted by counter-hits, desk has found a host of (orchestrated) ways to create absurd and interesting combos from moves never design to allow any sort of followups. Check out the video above to see all the ways you can use, and break, V-Reversals in SFV!
With Base Goku and Base Vegeta being released for Dragon Ball FighterZ earlier this week, along with an extensive balance patch, many players and content creators have been hard at work discovering the new possibilities of the latest version. Among those is Maximilian, who is back with full character breakdowns of the new Saiyan roster additions.
Max feels that Base Vegeta will prove to be the stronger of the two characters due to his combination of highly-damaging loop combos, the strongest corner game among the entire Vegeta trio. Though many of his normals and specials are standard Vegeta fare, the Prince of all Saiyans possesses a unique Command Ki Blast that is fired upward and angles downward, which can set up scary Meaty situations.
Where the Base form begins to set himself apart is with his Energy Cutter special, which he can angle for interesting setups and zoning applications. His command grab, “I have no use for Saiyans who can’t move,” will whiff on Crouching foes and can only OTG off of Sliding Knockdowns. He’s also got a pair of versatile Super Special Attacks in his Level 1 Galick Gun and Level 3 Galaxy Breaker that can be used in a variety of situations.
You can find more coverage of the Base Saiyans from the Frame Advantage team, as well as our first post-patch tech roundup. Both of these characters are included in the FighterZ Pass for $34.99, alongside Bardock, Broly, Fused Zamasu, SSGSS Vegito, Cooler, and one more character yet to be officially announced, and can also be individually purchased for $4.99 and come with their own Z-Stamps, Lobby Avatars and colors. A Base Goku breakdown from Max should be following soon.
Continuing their coverage of the recently-completed Evo 2018, theScore esports has released a pair of videos featuring self-proclaimed “Tokido Fanboy” and #EsportsDad Colin McNeil looking back at some of the best comebacks, upsets, pop-offs, fails, and highlights from this past weekend’s monumental event.
From Mousesports|Problem X’s and TSM|Leffen’s historic victories in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition and Super Smash Bros. Melee, Tweedy’s bold declaration to SonicFox to “pick someone else” after besting him in the Starfire Mirror in Injustice 2, WN|LostSoul and ITS|LilMajin’s miraculous Top 8 runs, Cyclops Osaka’s GO1’s multiple Shenron Summons in Dragon Ball FigherZ, the debut of Echo Fox’s Katsuhiro Harada in Tekken 7, and the controversial Bayonetta Grand Finals in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, everything’s documented here.
What are some of your favorites moments of this year’s Evolution Championship Series? Feel free to tell us in the comments! You can also check out theScore esport’s The Story of Evo, with Part 2 set to drop tomorrow, Saturday, August 11th.
Pictured above: Yatagarasu‘s new character, Wagui.
Right now, Yatagarasu sits in an odd place in the FGC. An independent PC game made by three former King of Fighters developers in 2008, it managed a successful crowd funding campaign in 2014 and expanded into a full title — Yatagarasu: Attack on Cataclysm — for Steam and Arcades. Through solid game-play aimed purely at the FGC, this indie darling earned word-of-mouth praise and support.
Whatever incredible momentum it had, though, has all but fizzled out anywhere outside of Japan. In the years since Yatagarasu‘s near complete abandonment of its Steam version, the indie fighting game market has boomed and moved far beyond what was possible when Yatagarasu was originally in development. A quick glance through at its own steam community page sees players asking the same question about the game once poised to rule all other indie fighters: “Is it dead?”
One thing you should know about Yatagarasu is that it is heavily influenced by Street Fighter III: Third Strike. What’s the most important thing to learn from 3S’s scene? It will never die.
And the same looks to be true for Yatagarasu, which saw new life in it’s announcement for the Enter the Eastward update teased last year. In the truest Yatagarasu fashion possible, the developers have waited just long enough for this announcement to fade from memory before stopping by 4gamer.net to reveal that the update is still on its way and will be adding three new characters:
Wagui, an eldery butler voiced by Shinobu Matsumoto (VA of Akatsuki in Under Night In Birth: EXe Late[st])
A new male character voiced by Kimoto Hoshiko.
A new female character voice by Yumimi Hanamori.
Frustratingly, there’s still no update as to when any of this will touch down on platforms outside of the JP arcade version, or information on the two newest additions to the cast. Yatagarasu supporters are still waiting for promised netplay updates, and physical rewards from 2014 reached backers only last year — the hardest game of patience you can play in the FGC right now, it seems, is waiting for Yatagarasu news.
Evo 2018 presented a unique opportunity to interact with fighting game developers in person. Among them was FGC mainstay Arc System Works, who are obviously well-known for their popular titles like BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle and Dragon Ball FighterZ. Their Western-themed booth had more than just casual stations, however; attendees had the chance to play their most recently-announced project, Kill la Kill: The Game.
Based on the 2013 anime, the teasers from Arc System Works certainly caused much excitement, even in the FGC at large. At first, no one was sure whether it would be a competitive fighting game or more of an action title, and it’s rather the latter. Presented in 3D, protagonist Ryuku Matoi and her rival Satsuki Kiryuin were available in the demo. The gameplay feels a bit like the Naruto 3D fighting games, but a little more dynamic and responsive.
The combat feels divided between zoning and close-quarter encounters. At a distance, it feels satisfying to spam meaty projectiles as Satsuki. She could slash up to four times with her sword in a row, with the final hit pinning Ryuku against the wall. Alternatively, she could charge it for a stronger shot. The other player can counter this by rapidly dodging, in a sliding side-step kind of way, which looked especially cool when two players circled each other. I easily executed combos by pressing the Square button multiple times, often ending on cinematic close-ups and taunts (there seemed to be variation if you held a direction with the inputs). Once I gained enough meter, I could execute either short, long, or Break supers, the later aimed at breaking guard. There were no parries or “Instant Blocks.”
“Ketsui” is a unique system in the game. When under attack, pressing L1+R1 executed a Burst of sorts, getting me out of trouble and initating a rock-paper-scissors face off. It’s very cinematic, conveying a lot of drama and passion, like in the show. Each option stood for something like “Taunting” or “Mocking” and gave an advantage if you succeeded. It initiated some dialogue at the cost of a smooth pace, but this will get touched up a bit; also, it will be very exciting to see this happen between more characters, as for now there are only two.
I liked how seamless the fights felt; even though a match was divided into rounds, it used one 180-second timer, and the music swelled in intensity as it approached zero. The graphics resemble Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2‘s 3D anime aesthetic, and every match was filled with the gratuitous shots and cinematic passion that will surely be familiar to fans of the show.
Unfortunately, we were not allowed to shoot pictures or take video ourselves. However, I did take the opportunity to speak with Takeshi Yamanaka, a producer at Arc System Works’ fighting game department, to learn more about the game.
[The conversation was translated live by an Arc System Works employee. Edited for length and clarity.]
Woocash: How did the collaboration come about?
Takeshi Yamanaka, Producer in the ASW Fighting Game Development Department: I have been received requests from Studio Trigger, the makers of Kill la Kill, for a while. But at the time, we were short-handed, and we couldn’t do it. They kept offering, and initially we declined, saying we couldn’t handle it because of the workload. They were persistent and passionate about doing this, so we decided to do it in the end.
Woocash: Are you a big Kill la Kill fan?
Yamanaka: Yes, I watched the original series, I do love it. What this anime has that others don’t is a burning heat and passion that is portrayed, that’s what I love about Kill la Kill.
Woocash: What was the thought process in making it a 3D fighting game, as opposed to 2D?
Yamanaka: The first reason being, with this being a Kill la Kill title, our target audience is obviously Kill la Kill fans. So we wanted them to enjoy the game. If we had gone with a 2D, anime fighter style, we thought that the hurdle or entry level to that sort of game would be a little bit too high. We wanted to make sure our audience could enjoy it, so we wanted to make it more entry-friendly.
A second reason is that the setting of the battlefield is a very iconic, important part of it. We really wanted to recreate that atmosphere; in 2D, we didn’t feel confident that we could bring out that space, that “spatial impact” that the anime has. That arena, epic battle-feel only comes in 3D.
The third reason is that I feel like as you see all these cute girls, the 3D is definitely the way to go to see them in action, so we went with that.
Woocash: What are some ways the game conveys the feel of the anime? I noticed the music increases tempo as time goes on, there’s the zooming, etc. How does the game’s art lend to that?
Yamanaka: We obviously want to mimic that 2D style shading, bring that atmosphere of the original. In the process of trying to recreate the anime, the original character designer, Sushio, who is very, very particular about how the characters are portrayed, meets with the team every week. We show him what we developed, and he gives his feedback: he jots down many notes and has a lot of requests, and we make those changes very quickly.
Woocash: What can you tell us about the modes in the game? I’m sure there will be a big emphasis on Story Mode.
Yamanaka: It’s going to be kind of like Guilty Gear Xrd’s Story Mode, where it’s an animated tale. As far as the scenario, part of it is written by Kazuki Nakashima, who is the original author of the anime, and he’s also supervising the production of the Story Mode. And this is an original story.
Woocash: Any other modes you can talk about?
Yamanaka: Another mode that you might find interesting is the Digital Figure mode, which you might find familiar from Xrd, where you can set 3D models in a diorama.
Woocash: Can you talk about any characters?
Yamanaka: As the demo stands now, there are only two characters, but it’s not going to be just them. We will be adding more, and I can’t name any fans, but I hope that fans wait in anticipation. We want to keep the fans happy, especially the big ones.
Woocash: When can we expect a reveal or more information?
Yamanaka: We plan on releasing a demo build that will have more characters at Tokyo Game Show, which is in September. The release is planned for 2019.
Woocash: What are the plans for the Western market? Would the release be simultaneous?
Yamanaka: Yes, we’re making many preparations. Our goal is to have a simultaneous, world-wide release.
Woocash: Does ArcSys see this game entering the FGC, appearing at tournaments and such, or not so much?
Yamanaka: We definitely would like this game embraced by the fighting game community; it is a bit on the easier side, but we also would like the fans to enjoy the deep level of reading and interaction in the gameplay, so that even the hardcore fighting game community can enjoy it too. That is the challenge that we’re facing right now.
Woocash: In its current state, is the game complete mechanically?
Yamanaka: In terms of the basic level of gameplay, it’s sort of rock-paper-scissors. The basic low/high, punch/kick, that “circle of carnage” system still needs polishing, but it needs some polishing. As far as the Ketsui demonstrations system is concerned, we want to add a little more of a risk or excitement factor that gets the player going. We want to make it a bit more speedy and not break the tempo as much.
Woocash: Anything else you’d like to add?
Yamanaka: As soon as we announced Kill la Kill: The Game, we received a lot international feedback on YouTube and streams, commenting. We realized that Kill la Kill is kind of an old anime, it aired five years ago, but we still have a lot of fans out there. I think that the fans are really excited; this is what they were waiting for. In that regard, it’s put a pressure on us in a good way. We want to do our best to meet those expectations and maybe even exceed them.
Body Count Fighting returns tonight for more exciting matches!
BCF7 is bringing you another night of fierce title and feature matches from Machinima Studios in Burbank, CA tonight, showcasing the skills of some of the best players in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, Dragon Ball FighterZ, and Tekken 7!
On the fight card tonight:
Title Matches
Dragon Ball FighterZ Title Match: NRG|HookGangGod vs. Echo Fox|dekillsage (Champion)
Tekken 7 Title Match: WayGamble vs. Circa|Joey Fury (Champion)
Feature Matches
Dragon Ball FighterZ Feature Match: PG|Nakkiel vs. Tatsunical
Dragon Ball FighterZ Feature Match: brkrdave vs. Reynald
Dragon Ball FighterZ Feature Match: Dadpool vs. CLN|Yohosie
Street Fighter V Feature Match: Echo Fox|Punk vs. Echo Fox|Justin Wong
Street Fighter V Feature Match: CYG BST|Chris Tatarian vs. 801 Strider
Street Fighter V Feature Match: UYU|Brian F vs. Tempo|Alex Myers
Street Fighter V Feature Match: EliTheCurry vs. Mike L Na
Tekken 7 Feature Match: Jaguar Jerry vs. FGCTim
The battles begin at 5:00 PM PT tonight (August 11); watch the action unfold below on SRKLive, or on the BCF Twitch channel!
