Genesis 4 was a rather hot topic, in both the hype leading up to it, and the issues revolving around the accidental incorrect damage setting. That issue has been discussed at length by players and organizers alike, along with compensation being made for effected players, but Genesis 4 was certainly much more than an organizational misstep.
This highlight reel, put together by YouTuber GRTr4sh, showcases some of the most intense moments in the final moments of the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U tournament. Salt from players, accidental inputs and intense back-and-forths are on full display, along with a brief reliving of the settings error.
Skullgirls 2nd Encore has recently been enjoying a second wind, with players’ longstanding dedication paying off with larger tournaments. One such tournament, Frosty Faustings IX, has been previously mentioned on the Skullgirls community’s tournament calendar as one of the events they were directly focused on. The result was a great tournament with a strong turnout.
Frosty was this past weekend, with the game being streamed and reuploaded by MeleeEveryday. If you missed out on this event, or maybe you just want to relive all the clutch comebacks and clean play, our friend Liam has compiled a YouTube playlist for easy viewing.
With the Injustice 2 beta out we’re seeing gameplay surface from some high profile players. You can check out a roundup of this gameplay here, but we also have some internet personalities getting access. One notable personality is Maximilian, who has gone over the beta and his feelings on many things on his channel.
He talks about everything from the general game feel to smaller details like minor bugs. He also covers the gear system, which seems to be giving gear at a much faster rate in order to allow players to fully experiment with it, but there’s also an option to play without gear in a “competitive mode” though both players have to accept the terms meaning your opponent can choose to play with their beefed up gear while you have an objectively weaker character. Check out the video below for his full thoughts.
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is a game that’s gone largely underplayed by the community at large, thanks in large part to the unfortunate Wii exclusive nature of the game and the relatively unknown Tatsunoko characters. It has seen play at a few Evos over the years, even seeing play as a main game a few times, but players who love the game are having to struggle to keep playing.
While this is an unfortunate landscape for any fighter, the TVC crowd hasn’t given up on their game and they continue playing every chance they get. One such chance was at Frosty Faustings IX, where the game had a healthy showing and a respectable Top 8. If you missed the event, MeleeEveryday has compiled all of the VODs into one single playlist.
With Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite taking clear inspiration from Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, especially with its tag combo system and the rumored return of Giant characters, you could expect more players going back to this often overlooked title in the Versus series.
One of the most powerful characters in the Street Fighter universe often gets treated very generously in-game as well. Akuma traditionally gets a slew of options and just deals with the downside of lowered health. This glass cannon gameplay has been a staple of the character for decades, but he has some noted changes from past incarnations. If you’ve been struggling to get the hang of Akuma in SFV, we have this basics tutorial which should help you out.
jmcrofts goes over a lot of Akuma’s choices, and even talks a bit about his design philosophy as opposed to previous incarnations. He covers the basics of Akuma’s moves and goes over changes from past incarnations, new moves and unique move properties. He doesn’t touch on anything too complicated or much of his V-Gauge specific stuff, but another video is said to be on the way breaking into all that.
We live in an age where balance changes are a regular part of fighting games. We all wait with baited breath whenever a patch is on the horizon, praying to every deity known to man that our character will get buffed, instead of nerfed into the ground. While nerfing certain overpowered tools is necessary at times, buffing weaker fighters is usually better for the life cycle of a game, instead of nerfing the stronger ones.
To examine this philosophy and give some reasoning as to why buffs are generally better than nerfs, Gerald from Core-A Gaming has gone into the history of both sports and fighting games, looking at instances where gives players more options to score or win a match has, more often than not, resulted in a more engaging game for everyone. From basketball, he takes the addition of the three point line and how this gave smaller players the chance to score, as they could avoid dealing with some lanky player guarding the hoop. For fighting games, he gives the example of the notorious Street Fighter II: Rainbow Edition and how while the game was beyond broken, it added certain elements like air specials, a teleport for Dhalsim and a fireball for Chun-Li that would go onto make Street Fighter more exciting, by increasing character options.
Psychologically, no-one likes to lose something of value and when a loss of a character option results in a game becoming less exciting, you can understand why people virulently hate nerfs. This does not mean nerfs are all bad, a clever nerf can actually give players more options, as seen with the changes to Shoryuken FADCs during the life cycle of Street Fighter 4.
As with every Core-A video, this analysis is worth a watch if you are interested in the methodology that goes into balancing a fighting game.
Melee is one of the most refined fighters around, with a lot of complexity in both the dexterity required and the way to think about the game itself. While many core concepts overlap with traditional fighters, the completely new landscape of a Smash game takes some adjustment, even if you are familiar with the series on a casual level.
To help you acclimate to the environment, the folks over at theScore esports sat down with several top Melee players to advise how the game should be thought about in order to succeed. Many of these talking points should help with Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as well, so learn from the best and improve your game.
About a year ago Japan got a Skullgirls Arcade cabinet, along with a physical release of the game courtesy of Arc System Works, so we’ve been seeing more and more Skullgirls play this past year. If you missed our last article on Japanese Skullgirls highlights, you can check that here.
Just like last time our feature player is Poccola, who regularly records and heavily edits his matches with jokes, special effects, and commentary in a truly unique fashion. He’s been uploading compilation pieces of all of his play from 2016, so we have some cherry picked footage here. If you haven’t checked him out already, you’d be doing yourself a favor by doing so now.
Square Enix recently announced a brand new fighting game for Taito’s NESiCAxLive 2 service. Called Million Arthur: Arcana Blood, the game is based on their Million Arthur mobile game franchise.
The franchise itself revolve around the story of a cultural exchange student who gets transported back into time and ends up pulling Excalibur from the stone, as per the legends of King Arthur. He ends up participating in a grand tournament for him to be able to accumulate “holy blood” and return to the present.
The currently confirmed cast includes the following.
Arthur: Blade Protector (voiced by Mamoru Miyano)
Iai Arthur (Quick Sword-Draw Arthur) (voiced by Sumire Uesaka)
Nitou Arthur (Dual Swords Arthur) (voiced by Arthur Lounsbery)
Touzoku Arthur (Thief Arthur) (voiced by Ayane Sakura)
Zex Siegfried (voiced by Yuki Kaji)
In addition to this, the game has an assist system, similar to other games such as Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax, allowing the player to select “Support Knight” characters to help them in battle.
Million Arthur: Arcana Blood is set to launch in Japanese arcades sometime in the fall. Before that, the game will be playable at Taito’s booth at the 2017 Japan Amusement Expo this February 10 to 12. In the meantime check out some gameplay footage recorded off Square Enix’s Nico Nico stream.
Injustice: Gods Among Us was a fantastic game with a great story to tell. That game did, however, pick up halfway into the story. A lot of Superman’s rise to power and the escalation of world affairs was left a mystery, but recently all of those mysteries were solved in the comics. The Injustice comics covered the five years between the events that set Superman on his violent path, but if you aren’t interested in catching up on everything, here are a few breakdown videos from History Behind the Warrior.
Year 5, the final year before Injustice: Gods Among Us, is missing from these breakdowns, but will likely be uploaded soon so keep an eye on his channel. As for Injustice 2, he has uploaded this next video compiling everything we know about the story of Injustice 2 so far, including a bit of speculation on characters and allegiances.
