With the Gamescom build’s new challengers completed, Maximilian made the journey down to the Bandai Namco Entertainment America offices to continue his Dragon Ball FighterZ character breakdowns for the initial six characters. Being the poster boy for the entire Dragon Ball series, where better to start than with Goku?
Unsurprisingly, Max feels that Goku is the “Shoto” of DBFZ, similarly to other simple-to-use, well-rounded fighting game protagonists such as Ryu, Ragna The Bloodedge, Sol Badguy and Yu Narukami, just to name a few. He even notes in regards to his moves that “it all looks really good and it looks absolutely awesome when you do so.”
He has decent range on his normals that make for easy combos, as well as a Hurricane Kick in the form of his Rapid Kick Rush. This flurry of kicks possesses great utility, by providing Goku with powerful corner carry and wallbounces to extend combos. His Dragon Flash Fist is a rush punch that looks similar to Azrael’s Gustav Buster from BlazBlue, that gives him access to a hard knockdown, or a teleport that brings him immediately back down in front of the opponent. Goku can combo into his Kamehamehas from his basic Ki blasts, and they can be angled in multiple directions, either diagonally up if grounded, or straight forward if airborne, by holding up or down.
Though he has a limited pool of specials, Max feels that Goku’s Supers are what make him truly unique. The Super Kamehameha can be angled similar to its normal counterpart, while the Instant Transmission Kamehameha will see the Saiyan teleport behind his opponents before throwing the energy in an upward arc, making it a perfect ender for air combos if you can spare the meter.
Finally, his Level 3 Meteor Smash sees Goku transform into Super Saiyan 3 before immediately teleporting behind his foe for a huge Kamehameha. It’s a great punishing tool but has enough startup to be reactable, with limited tracking as of the Gamescom build so aim carefully.
You can find Max’s previous character breakdowns below:
It’s time for the next episode of the Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 exhibition series, Tension Pulse! We’re looking at a special show this time, as it’s the Pre-CEOtaku Special. Unlike usual, when we have four players battling each other, we’re going to have eight!
Boomcube (Slayer) vs. XAQshinor (Dizzy)
BxA|dotNova (Jack-O’) vs. Mr. Dolphin (May)
1UP|PepperySplash (Johnny) vs. Kami (Zato=1)
TheArm.exe (Ramlethal) vs. zenzen (Ky)
That’s a lot of matches! Boomcube against XAQshinor will be first. Let’s hear from some of the players to see what they have to say about their opponents and how confident they feel in the match-up. Some of them are returning players, so it’s interesting to see how they have changed since participating in the exhibition since last time.
Boomcube
On the match: “After watching Xaq’s footage and taking a full inventory of my own knowledge of the match-up, I feel like my only real path to victory is to abuse Slayer’s inherent buffoonery and whisper mispronunciations of Xaq’s handle into the mic. I am definitely nervous, and trying to prepare as much as I can. I think, at the very least, I’ll be able to put on a good show and exorcise some stream nerves at the same time.”
On his opponent: “I know he’s surrounded by an extremely active Gear scene, including some strong Slayers, and he has tournament results that prove he’s very solid. I have an assumption about how he’s going to play the match-up, and if I’m right, it’s going to be incredibly important that I don’t tilt.”
On his own play-style: “I like making bigger reads early on in a set using backdash cancel, instant air-dash, and forward dash pressure to gain early momentum. I feel like this can disrupt the opponent’s gameplan and force them into situations that reveal how they react to Slayer in general and will allow me more time to adjust as needed. I’m also perfectly content with making people deal with Slayer’s nonsense (dash through cross-up, Helter Skelter, IAD resets, BDC jump) until they prove they have an answer for it.
Or, more succinctly, trash.”
XAQshinor
On the match: “This should be an entertaining set. Slayer is a very volatile character and can end rounds in a heartbeat with one clean hit. At the same time, Dizzy has the lowest stun so the threat is amplified, I’m definitely going to try to keep those explosive situations to a minimum during our games. Slayer also has backdash cancel so it can be tough for you to pin him down sometimes. Dizzy has an easier time of this than other characters though so hopefully I can showcase this a bit. More likely than not, this set will be decided by the neutral.”
On his opponent: “I’ve played Boomcube online before so I know firsthand how deadly his Slayer can be. He’s a strong player and shouldn’t be taken likely. I expect him to surprise people with his strength. He’s definitely someone to keep an eye on in the future.”
On his growth since the last exhibition: “Since the last time I was featured in this steam league, Dizzy got some buffs. Some changes dealt with some important flaws with her design and allow her to play a lot more open-ended than before. She’s not as telegraphed, and she also received help with some of her conversions. I feel that many people don’t give her enough credit and I’m hoping that I can show some of what she is capable of this time around.”
BxA|dotNova
As a competitive player, what kind of value do you get from an exhibition like this?: “Being able to play people in a competitive setting is super valuable. Being broadcasted or having something on the line really brings the tension and adrenaline one would feel at any tournament. It’s hard to replicate those kinds of conditions on normal netplay when you’re winding down from work or just casually relaxing. The experience is always appreciated.”
On his opponent: “I’ve heard good things about Mr.Dolphin. I’ve only very briefly played him a few months back, so it’ll be good to have an opportunity to play him in an extended set. He’s a programmer like me so he also understands pain and suffering. I look forward to the May experience as the only consistent experience I really get is against TectalEastside. Playing against another play-style will definitely help me recognize weaknesses in my play.”
On his growth since the last time: “Since my last exhibition, I feel my situational awareness has improved and I’ve developed a lot more Burst-safe routes. I’ve definitely become more comfortable with extending pressure and combos with servants and recognizing unique situations that happen due to the character’s nature. Recently, I haven’t been focusing on FGs at all, but I’m sure this match and CEOtaku will help bring my focus back.”
Mr. Dolphin
On the match: “I think the Tension Pulse series is a really cool idea, you get to see some players you probably wouldn’t have heard of/watched before and it’s something fun to watch on the weekends.”
On his opponent: “I think dotNova is strong, I was a pretty big fan in his Potemkin days, we’ve played before and I enjoyed our matches. A lot of folks hate Jack-O’, but I actually really enjoy that match-up, the interactions with the houses and stuff add a fun sort of mini-game aspect to it where I gotta kill them or her. I’m definitely looking forward to playing against him.”
On his growth since the last time: “I’m not sure if I can tell how much I’ve grown since my last exhibition to be honest, I think my play-style has sort of stayed the same. I just kind of go with the flow.”
Catch the next episode of Tension Pulse live on Silva_hime’s Twitch channel on Sunday, September 17th. It’s more sets than usual, and we’re starting at 9:00 PM ET/8:00 PM CT/6:00 PM PT. HellaBrett and drunkthechicken are going to commentate this extended episode.
Looking to catch up on the last episode of Tension Pulse? Catch up on that below.
Recently, Unequalled Media’s Tyrant, Damascus and several other top UK fighting game players were invited to the Bandai Namco Entertainment European offices to get their hands on the Gamescom build of Dragon Ball FighterZ. While there, UM|Tyrant and GXC|Damacus decided to battle in a first-to-three set after taking a few hours to understand the game’s characters and mechanics.
In this match, the two players choose the teams of Vegeta, Goku, and Piccolo, and Future Trunks, Android 18, and Teen Gohan. Though the two didn’t have a ton of time with the game, they’re still two of the United Kingdom’s top fighting game players and provided a nice taste of high-level play for those looking for more footage before the closed beta begins this weekend. You can see the set in its entirety below!
Dragon Ball FighterZ will be released in February 2018 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam PC.
In the latest episode of FGC Philosophy, Tavian “The Philocypher” Napier chats with Chicago’s Red Bull Proving Grounds winner (and fan of Street Fighter V‘s recent addition, Abigail) The_Cool_Kid93. In the near-forty-minute interview, they discuss a range of topics — including what it feels like to win, The_Cool_Kid93’s relationship with his new wife, and love for Street Fighter X Tekken. Watch the full interview below.
Though its official release is still a couple of days away, not only has Capcom given some players early access to Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, but some players have been able to purchase the game via stores breaking the street date. The result is that we have even more videos showing off the game, even if it isn’t supposed to be out yet.
First up, we have some Dormammu videos from Olaf Redland. The concept behind the combos shown here is using flight cancelling to continually loop his opponent with his Dark Hole special.
We’ve talked to Olaf a bit more about this, and sadly for anyone thinking we’ve found something gamebreaking, the combo itself isn’t a true infinite. That said, it’s still a pretty good combo, especially with how he can pull it off from nearly full screen.
Speaking of loops, Rynge has shared a video of one way Zero can set up mid-screen lightning loops.
Next up, we have Panda Global’s RayRay showing off a combo for the team of Gamora and Ultron. He seems pretty impressed with the team and says that it’ll likely be his first team in the game.
Meanwhile, Echo Fox’s Justin Wong has been playing around with a number of characters. One of these is Captain America, who Justin demonstrated a pretty damaging Power Stone combo for on his stream in a clip that was shared by Panda Global.
Flash was also on hand in Justin’s stream and showcased some stuff as well. Here he demonstrates a set up for the team of Rocket Raccoon and Doctor Strange.
HiFight also clipped this bit from Apology Man’s stream, showing him teching two throws from a tag in. The interesting bit here however is basically how it demonstrates that players can use tag ins to set up a second throw after the first attempt is teched.
He’s also demonstrated a Soul Stone Infinity Storm extension combo for his particular team of Ryu and Strider Hiryu.
Speaking of teams, Evil Geniuses ChrisG has been hard at work with the team of Jedah and Morrigan, aka “Team Darkstalkers”. The king of Morrigan in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has put together a video demonstrating some concepts for the team.
Last, but not least, UltraDavid shared this un-rollable ground reset for Thor.
#MvCI Thor corner unrollable ground reset w meaty. Pushblock beats overhead/low but grab beats pushblock & grab startup can be tag canceled pic.twitter.com/2QF6hastTu
It wasn’t too long ago that Crayder Studios offered a free demo of their new indie brawler-fighter Wishmere on the Steam platform. Today, they’ve announced that this Steam-greenlit project is now ready for retail release:
Wishmere is the first full release by the two-man team behind Crayder Studios. It’s an ambitious project, whose battle system features heavy meter management and a variety of combo possibilities. If that sort of thing interests you, you can check out the official website to read more in depth about the game’s systems and modes. Wishmere launches September 26th on Steam.
There’s nothing better than a good grudge in the FGC, and apparently Revolution 2017 agrees. The UK’s Anime major has announced that there will be a secondary stage devoted entirely to grudge matches, run by Rice Digital.
So if you’ll be in Europe and fancy proving a point in front of live viewers, get your slot booked. Pick your format and your game of choice — Fight of Gods grudge matches anyone? — and talk to NGI. The matches will all be streamed of course, so the whole world can watch you settle a grudge by perfectly executing a Jesus infinite or two.
The Salty Suite is nothing new, but it’s great to see a bit of flavor added to the UK’s biggest anime event of the year. Hopefully there are going to be some great matches lined up, with plenty of context and a whole lot of salt. Fingers crossed.
Oh, and check out the new Revolution 2017 trailer:
The Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite character guides just keep coming from Unequalled Media and FingerCramp, as we continue to steadily approach Tuesday’s release. This next batch of six videos contains tutorials for Hawkeye, Ultron, Zero, the Mayor of New Metro City Mike Haggar, Ghost Rider, and Sir Arthur.
As usual, Capcom UK Community Manager Matt “The Street Writer” Edwards is back to provide a brief character overview and a breakdown of each of their special moves, Hyper combos and unique skills, such as Arthur being able to jump cancel each of his air specials. He closes by providing an Infinity Stone recommendation for each character, such as using the Power Stone’s ability to negate advancing guard to continue Ultron’s relentless drone pressure, giving Ghost Rider or Zero the Mind Stone to utilize several Hypers continuously, or equipping Hawkeye or Arthur with the Time Stone, which provides them with improved runaway games and powerful projectile loops when the Infinity Storm is activated. You can find all six videos below — which also provide a listen to each character’s new theme.
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite will be released in North America and Europe on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Steam PC this Tuesday, September 19th. A Japanese release on the same platforms will follow on Thursday, September 21st. You can find the other two groups of tutorials released so far below. Don’t forget to also check out this basics tutorial from Sajam and Rip, as well as the first two episodes of UM|Tyrant’s MvC:I Beginner’s Guide, which covers Infinite’s new mechanics, as well as a detailed breakdown of the powers of the six Infinity Stones.
One of the advantages (and arguably, the primary selling point) of the Nintendo Switch is its portability. The Pokkén Tournament community is clearly eager to take advantage of that, having announced one of the more unique tournament settings seen in the FGC: a shore-side tournament at San Francisco’s Thalia Beach.
Planned for November 3-5, 2017, the tournament is already boasting a list of some of Pokkén Tournament’s best players from around the country, including the likes of:
Allister (NorCal)
IcySoapy (Arizona)
Rokso (Tri-State)
meLo (Missouri)
Bellsworth (Utah)
SirSpudd (Nebraska)
Thulius (Ohio)
Toasty (Texas)
Fosh (SoCal)
Kino (Florida)
You can find out more about this Beach-Side Scuffle here at Burst Attack’s official website. With the tournament entrants already advertised, it’s safe to say that this event will include points towards the previously announced Pokkén Arena Circuit.
Rounding out his character breakdowns for the new characters introduced in the Gamescom build of Dragon Ball FighterZ, Maximilian takes a look at “Earth’s Strongest Warrior,” Krillin.
Noting that he was one of the more difficult characters to get a handle on in the limited time he had with the game — due to his stubby limbs and low damage output — Max feels that, much like in the anime, Krillin does possess a vast amount of hidden potential that will just take more time for players to grasp.
Max begins by going over his special moves, noting that his Afterimage Strike produces a clone that attacks with a leaping kick that goes various lengths depending on the strength used, that can be used to follow-up your attacks and continue applying pressure. Krillin can also hold the button down to make the afterimage vanish right before it lands with the attack, allowing Krillin to confuse his enemies reminiscent of the fake-outs he and Goku used in the original series, while he calls an assist or uses another special.
His double shot ki blasts can go in different directions, covering large amounts of space to supplement his zoner archetype, but they appear to be very sensitive and difficult to control, as they are mapped to various directional inputs and only utilize a single button. His Kamehameha has a unique property compared to the Saiyans and Perfect Cell, as he can hold up while charging it to fire the blast into the air. Currently, he is the only character in the cast with this ability.
His Senzu Bean special functions as an item throw, similar to Faust or Teddie, where Krillin will throw either a rock or a random Senzu Bean in one of three different trajectories. Senzu Beans heal about 20-25% of a player’s health, are extremely rare and limited, and can be picked up by your enemies, similar to Faust’s doughnuts or Teddie’s chocolate bars, so you’ll need to be careful when one drops. The rocks tend to behave in a similar fashion to Dudley’s rose, according to Max. Krillin’s final special, the Solar Flare, seems to have decent range, but stuns the opponent on contact, and could perhaps serve as his Reversal on wakeup
His Destructo Disc super is a fast, low-damage projectile, but can be changed into the Chain Destructo Disc Barrage by pressing any button during the attack — at the cost of up to five bars of meter — for a total of five Destucto Discs, allowing him to fill the screen with projectiles and end matches in style. His Level 3, the Split Energy Wave, has invincible startup and covers a large portion of the stage, granting him full-screen punishes; it can be used as a great fear tactic. You can see the full video below.
Maximilian is hopeful he can get breakdowns of Goku, Vegeta, Teen Gohan, Frieza, Perfect Cell and Majin Buu out before the closed beta goes live this weekend, as they will also be included in it. You can also see his breakdowns for Piccolo, Android 16 & Android 18, along with Future Trunks.
Dragon Ball FighterZ will be released in February 2018 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Steam PC.
