Amidst all of the pre-release hype for Zeku — who will glide into the game next Tuesday — we may have potentially learned about another aesthetic upgrade coming to Arcade Edition in January.
On the official Japanese Street Fighter V Character Page, Capcom posted a video of Zeku knocking out Menat with his Critical Art, Batsuzan Gaisei. Normally, this would just be a quick showcase of his Super, but Capcom appeared to accidentally upload the clip occurring in the upcoming AE build of the game, which will see a number of graphic overhauls made to the title.
In the clip (which was captured by X-Kira before its removal) we can clearly see the new golden hit counter, lifebars and timer that will be implemented in January, with the final blow punctuated by new golden triangle graphics, which flash across the screen for but a quick moment, before giving way to new blue K.O. letters that quickly transition to gold.
However, when the video was uploaded to Capcom Japan’s YouTube channel — where it is currently set to private — it lacked any effects, merely showing the CA animation and Menat’s Japanese K.O. cry. We’ve included both videos below for the sake of comparison.
You’ve probably heard the news that the ninjutsu master Zeku will be Street Fighter V‘s next DLC character. Perhaps more fun than seeing Zeku’s ninja skills and transforming abilities in action in his reveal trailer was listening to Zeku’s theme — which is as lively and dynamic as the experienced ninja himself.
Thanks to VesperArcade, you can check out an extended cut of the preview theme in the video link below.
As we’ve been documenting, some of the craziest new tech to come from Pokkén Tournament DX involves Braixen’s new homing cancel. This cancel opens up Braixen’s Field Phase versatility considerably — in theory.
America’s most successful tournament-level Braixen, Double_FGC, was originally toying with this new tool as a means to setup guard breaks with some of the slower, more powerful supports in the game. But as a character with a dominate Field Phase, wouldn’t you want to stay there?
That’s where these new, frightening setups come in. While lower in individual combo damage, these new setups incorporate faster charge supports, drain the clock, and lock the opponent down in a Phase many characters have trouble going toe-to-toe with Braixen in.
Not much emphasis has been placed on Ryu as a character in Street Fighter V over the course of Season 2. While he has become staggeringly weaker in this version of the game, he still can be optimized to continue to be a threat.
In this video, World Warrior shows off some nasty hard knockdown setups for Ryu, in a similar vein to the ones he showcased for Ken and Akuma. Utilizing various tricks including left/right mix-ups, this gives Ryu more damage potential than just his neutral game provides.
In this video from SSBM Tutorials, they discuss the tricks Sheik can perform in conjunction with various stage platforms. That’s not the only thing she can do, but this one gets a little more tricky.
Using a combination of short hop, fast fall, and her neutral air, she can create an insane amount of pressure from a tactic known as the Sami Nair. While this sounds great in theory, in practice, the amount of precise inputs required to do this and not get an up-air or down-air makes this one of the more difficult techniques in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
If you’ve been paying attention at all to the tournament circuit this season, you know how great Echo Fox’s Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi has been. Starting with a brand-new character in Season 2 — Akuma — he has struck at just the right times this year. Emerging from the losers bracket in top 8 of Evo 2017, he absolutely dominated the bracket, getting straight into runner-up Punk’s brain during the Grand Finals.
Tokido’s masterful play completely sealed his place in not only the annals of fighting game lore, but Capcom Cup as well. Does he have enough gas left in the tank to win it all in December?
The Murderface Returns for Blood
Last year, I called Tokido a favorite to make it to Grand Finals of Capcom Cup. I was decidedly wrong, given that he lost his only two matches at the event. The big upset was his first-round match against the Dominican Republic’s DR Ray in a result that no analyst would have ever predicted, and he didn’t have any more luck against Eita in losers bracket. While this exemplifies that not a soul who makes Capcom Cup can be slept on, it also shows some flaws to Tokido’s game.
While he was one of the best examples of how to properly play Ryu in Season 1, by Capcom Cup, he had hit his ceiling with the character. You could tell that by how hard he was having to scrape to win his matches. Tokido has always been known to desire to not only win, but do so efficiently. This is exactly why he picks Vega (Claw) in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and why he is credited for the invention of the Akuma vortex in Street Fighter IV. Ryu had no such tech that allowed for efficient kills like this. While again, you cannot take anything away from DR Ray or Eita for their wins against Tokido, the fact that he was stifled by a cast where the character that most fits his profile doesn’t have the creativity he needed was becoming evident.
His switch to Akuma has breathed new life in Tokido. He has certainly unlocked the potential of the character, and thus unlocking the potential for him to close tournaments. While he will be humble enough to say that he doesn’t take a lackluster tournament seriously, that 0-2 will hang on his head. He will definitely be aiming to do better this time around.
How Deadly is a Demon Exactly?
After Evo, the sky is the limit when it comes to Tokido’s Akuma. People had to go back to the drawing board after seeing what he did with the character at Evo 2017. He was tested so many times, both on potential match-up inexperience (vs. Filipino Champ’s Dhalsim), and facing the player that had dominated everyone all year, in Punk. Every test he faced proved he had studied hard enough to ace it.
His spacings were amazing. He had setups that no other Akuma had been exhibiting. He read like an encyclopedia of Akuma tech, incorporating not only his discoveries but things posted on the internet by the likes of KS Tali and RagingStormX to his advantage. This just shows how much Tokido had worked on the character since his release in December.
He understood the limitations of the character. He has low health just like always, but also featured many other disadvantages, such as no full screen fireballs, no jump back fireballs outside of V-Trigger, and not being able to perform a true vortex like in Street Fighter IV. He not only accepted his disadvantages — he made them disappear.
Now that he has had almost a full year with Akuma, what might Tokido be waiting to unleash in Capcom Cup? We’ll all be waiting with bated breath to find out.
Track Record
Out of the top 5 on the Capcom Pro Tour rankings to date, Tokido has won the least number of events on the CPT circuit. Even if you factor in his Brooklyn Beatdown win, that only puts him tied with Haitani, who has won the second least. While his track record of top 8s is impressive — only falling outside two of nine — that still doesn’t speak to his ability to close, Evo be damned. Outside of CPT, he has also fallen short twice at Chinese invitationals, losing to Xiaohai at Uleague and losing to Xian at Lan Story Cup for two runner-up finishes.
I’m not going to sit here and say that winning Evo is something to be scoffed at. Given his run through losers bracket, it’s worth it to say that he can close. The question is more or less how many times does he do it? Is he capable of doing it again?
Training Regimen
A lot has been made of Tokido’s training, which he has constantly been modified since last year. Last year saw him training the physical side of the game more, with him decreasing the amount of time he spent in game as opposed to studying his opponents and setups he can find online. But this year has seen the biggest shift in his game, and is what I believe has helped lead to the success he found this year.
Tokido has talked a lot about the mental aspect of the game, and controlling opponents. He isn’t just a talker, he’s a doer. He has began training his mind, most notably for being in a position to control his opponents. To that end, he has begun to practice meditation and deep breathing techniques. He now practices karate, helping balance him mentally, but also teaching him to problem solve in high-pressure situations. He has even gone as far as to adopt a new snack of walnuts at events, which are packed with nutrients that help foster good brain health.
Another thing that he has changed that not many people have talked about is his change in posture. He got his Murderface moniker for his slouched-over serious look before, which caused him to look more menacing. However, menacing doesn’t always make you stronger. Lately, we have seen him sit further upright, and while this may seem to be a small change, it is actually a big one. People with bad posture tend to see a decrease in blood flow. By opening up his posture to a more upright position, this increases blood flow and allows enough oxygen to get to his brain to keep his mind sharp as well.
It seems that Tokido’s claims that his training regimen may be stronger may actually be true. But it takes going to a deeper level than just playing to make those changes necessary to win.
Final Thoughts
Everyone within the top 5 on the CPT leaderboard is a killer right now, with a high percentage chance of winning everything. Tokido is right there in that group.
The problem is that to get there, he will have to face the strongest players in the world. That will be the deciding factor, it will totally depend on who is fully focused enough to bring it home. He’s probably starting to focus on Capcom Cup as his goal right now, but he’s fully aware that everyone is doing the same thing.
It will be hard to make it the year of the demon, winning both Evo and Capcom Cup. But if anyone has a chance to do this, he’s the most serious threat we’ve had.
Some more hints on the nature of the returning master of Bushinryu.
Capcom Community and Esports Manager Matt Edwards is back to introduce us to another new challenger: Zeku, the Ever-Changing Ninja. Edwards kicks off with some history on the long-lost master of Bushinryu, then follows up with some details on Zeku’s stance (and age) switching system, and some tips on why a player would want to pick up the shifty ninja.
Want to learn more about Bushinryu? Check out Zeku’s movelist, and Capcom-Unity’s reveal of his V-System and alternate costumes. Zeku joins the SFV roster on October 24th.
For over 2 decades now, Bandai Namco (back then, just Bandai) has held the license to produce games based on the Dragon Ball manga and anime franchise. In recent years, two of the people in the company handling these games have been producers Ryo Mito and Masayuki Hirano. In a recent interview, Game Informer got a chance to talk to them regarding the process of creating Dragon Ball video games.
In the interview below, Mito and Hirano talks about how Dragon Ball has such a large following — and that this results in a playerbase with varied tastes. As such, their process for deciding what games to make involves making sure that they hit a large number of peoples’ “likes.” Based on this, they then go and look for a studio that can achieve that. Dragon Ball FighterZ is just one example of this, seeing as they knew that a competitive 2D fighter based on the franchise was something people wanted, and that Arc System Works was a studio they could work with.
Regarding future games — and continuing to experiment with the franchise and different genres — they acknowledged that games take longer (and cost more) to make nowadays. They need to look ahead 3 to 4 years when figuring out what to do with the next game, including considering out how the market will move in that time.
That said, Hirano does state the he still believes that their mission is to “elevate Dragon Ball games to the next level” — something he believes Dragon Ball FighterZ will do. Specifically, in regards to the game’s nature as a 2D fighting game (something Game Informer mentions being something more of the past) Hirano states that taking things to the next isn’t just about the games content, but also showing players new possibilities of what a Dragon Ball game can be.
Sadly, saving the world doesn’t do much to help your credit rating.
In the first episode of the fan series Saikyo Ryu Online, Dan Hibiki returned from his Street Fighter hiatus just in time to save the world from a cosmic threat (at least, that’s the story as he tells it). But he came home to find his dojo taken from him, and he must confront the coldest, most merciless enemy he has yet faced: the bank.
Looks like there’s some hard times ahead for the master of Saikyo-ryu… can he endure financial destitution? Who is really responsible for condemning his beloved dojo? Find out below!
If you haven’t seen the first part of Dan’s man-made adventure, check out the first episode of Saikyo Ryu Online!
When you enter any multi-tournament event at Japan’s Mikado Arcade, you have to expect the strangest games may show up. And you have to be ready to play your best, because even in something as niche as SNK’s Fight Fever, the Mikado patrons won’t hold back.
Fight Fever is very much a product of its time. Developed in 1994 by South Korean based Viccom, this SNK-published effort occasionally had some fresh ideas (check out the highly mobile — and highly effective — grappler Chintao!) but largely looks and feels like the Street Fighter clone that most fighting games were back then. Also, the American basketball-player-turned-fighter character is named “Magic Dunker,” which is so exceptional that I feel it deserves a special mention.
The game will never look better then in the hands of Mikado players, so be sure to check out the above tournament for some classic 2D footsies. If you missed any of the previous tournaments in the SSFC2017 series, be sure to check them out here! You can follow the action by subscribing to Mikado’s official YouTube channel, and you can even try to catch the action in real time when they livestream.
