And here I thought I'd actually be able to drop this on time. Thank all that onslaught of TGS news and my need to condense everything for this late entry. Enough of that. Let us journey.
The less I say about this the better and trust anything I could say about this has already been covered. This does bear repeating though. Megaman deserves way better than he's been given as of late. Let us hope things get better for the Blue Bomber as a whole.
I guess the Capcom's fucking up sync is perfect for the announcement of Bayonetta 2 XXXCLISVELY 4 WII U!!! All we know it's coming and for now that'll do. Let's see if I actually can finish the first one before this drops.
Well from one 2nd chance to another we arrive at Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge. Blood, Ayane and a promise to make it more like NG2. Let's see if Team Ninja can deliver on the promises made to those scorned by the original.
From one promised remix to another we have Kingdom Hearts 1.5 ReMIX which includes Final Mix 1, Re:Chain of Memories and HD versions of all the cutscenes from 358/2 Days because who really wants to play that again. No word of a release date or if even a 2.5 is in the works. We can only hope.
No snappy segue here. Kamen Rider Super Climax Heroes is looking to stand out from previous iterations by adding a free run mechanic and retooling the characters. I stand by my promise like I do every year to find broken ass shit Day 1 which I will of course. I'll have everything you need to know when the game drops.
Groups of heroes from an anime with a special story for the game? We got it. Saint Seiya Ω Ultimate Cosmo is just that. The game's backdrop is a fighter which does make sense for the subject matter. I'll take a look at it when it drops and see what I find.
We finally get some more information on Ken's Rage 2. Not only does the first series get a big expansion but Part 2 is included as well. If you haven't played the first one at this point you might want to wait on this one even though the first one was crack. The trailer shall bless you with more info on what's new here.
There's always time to take out to talk about Injustice. All you need to know storywise is that Bats and Supes be beefin dawg. Expect high levels of prep-time. HIGH LEVELS OF PREP-TIME!!!
Here's more Okami HD. Buy it. That's it. This game speaks for itself and doesn't need me for a cosign of it's PURE FUCKING AWESOME!!
Invisible segue. We learn a lot here about DmC and the reasoning for what's happening. I'm intrigued by it but I gotta get this in my hands because that's what really matters. January 15th the world will do just that.
All we know about this is that it's a BlazBlue spinoff. Any other questions you might have I don't have answers for. Those come soon from the ones who have the answers we all seek.
E.X Troopers. I'll be getting this but I gotta add this to my import list because "it's too much like Lost Planet." Whatever. Your loss, my gain.
Layton vs Ace Attorney and AA5. The crossover and the return of Naruhodo. OK. But I still don't get AAI2. Bullshit. That's another conversation for another day.
I gotta say I'm very intrigued by the possibilities that Nilin has for offense in Remember Me. If you weren't hype for this game this may get you on board.
Ultimate Ninja Storm 3. Hype for the simple reason that we'll be able to play out all the awesome that the manga has been pushing out lately. If it can live up to this is the question we now look to answer.
Same as the above but I'll be able to reenact crack from the years and years of reading this manga. This has the potential to surprise a lot of people. And it'll do just that. Trust me.
Wing Diver. No more needs to be said. Admitted Pale Wing Stan. Real Fucking Talk. Earth Defense Force 4...COMING FUCKING SOON BITCHES!!!!!
What was once Project P-100 is now The Wonderful 101. This is work of Kamiya-san. This will be crack. No more needs to be said.
Robot ninja hunts down zombies and Ryu Hayabusa. These are words I never think I'd utter in a complete statement. Yet here we are. Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z is the collaboration between Keiji Inafune & Team Ninja. Don't really know much outside of that. However, we will soon.
The above games of Double Dragon Neon and Hell Yeah!!!: Wrath of the Dead Rabbit only beg one question. DO YOU HAVE BOTH OF THESE YET? IF THE ANSWER IS NO THEN YOU FUCKING DID IT WRONG AND SHOULD TRY AGAIN!! FOR YOUR SAKE AND NOT MINE.
Under Night In-Birth dropped last week and the game is nothing short of crack. To check out some matches feel free to drop by #DoaGHThaDOJO and take a peek at how the game is evolving after a week out.
And with that out of the way let us get to our TV wrap up portion of our broadcast.
Kamen Rider Wizard. This shit is so fucking awesome. Haruto is just a beast and we're only 4 episodes in. This is going to get better. How much is up to chance however. Maybe if I ask nicely...PLEASE!!!
I never thought I'd be hype for something on Mondays that isn't RAW after that one show just disappeared off the air. Cue some years later and here's this Revolution show. The lights have gone out. People go on journey to turn lights on. Asses get kicked. You don't need to know anything more than that. Just watch.
And that ends that. Dexter will be joining the review portion as it premieres on Sunday. I can't wait for that. And when I get 5 seconds to watch Go-Busters I'll put a review up.
P.S: Victor Newman, God to the Game. Congrats to The Young & The Restless for 10,000 Episodes. Now that's a feat.
With no music or Pony to add why not pimp myself a bit and just remind you that yeah I beat Super Mario Brothers with the same Fire Flower I received in 1-1. I'M AWESOME BUT YOU ALREADY KNEW THAT!! I'm planning a video to talk about the run and what I learned from it and how it'll affect how I approach #RunDatReXXX in the future. I'm ready to take on the next game but that'll be once I gather some tech to do so. Hopefully that run doesn't take 3 months to do like this one did.
In the next couple of weeks expect the return of #2NiggasSpeakOn, #2NiggasGameDat and some Vlogs for me as well. Be prepared.
And with all things covered I now take my leave. As usual thanks for reading and I'll be back next time with the you know.
Cool Shit went on a bit of hiatus but with me getting everything else current then why not this "weekly" article. Hopefully after this we'll be back on the weekly schedule that this was supposed to be. So without no further ado let us get right in.
I guess we should start with the little La-Mulana miracle that could. The game has been and is available for PC in multiple ways and on the WiiShop in Japan. But thanks to EnjoyUp games taking over where Nicalis couldn't, we'll be getting the Wii version in US & EU on September 20th. So now you have one extra way to enjoy this awesome gem. Have fun.
In our Metal Gear Double Feature we have the new Ground Zeroes. That game will put you back in sneaking suit of Big Boss as he does what Snakes do...SNEAKING DAT SHIT!!!! We also have an extended feature of Rising with Raiden cutting things into many pieces. So where's the place I stick my money to give it all to Kojima-san & Platinum Games?
Double Dragon Neon. Looking good. Looking good. This game has its fair share of detractors but the game looks pretty good. We'll find out the answers to if it plays good in a couple of days. Games that are related to DD that are straight crack are as follows. Double Dragon (iOS/Android/Zeebo), Double Dragon Advance (GBA), Return of Double Dragon (Super Famicom), Double Dragon 2 (NES/PC/TG-16). Plenty to feast on if your fiending for a fix of some Lee Brothers kicking ass, taking names and they back bitch. And the review for Double Dragon Neon can be found HERE!!!!!!
Super TIME Force...I will dare not speak a thing about it. Watch this trailer and prepare to have your mind super mega blown. I will be on this day one because that's what has to happen. Prepare to do the same.
Yatagarasu. Once a doujin PC game now coming to a...THREE DEE ESS?!?!? This makes no sense. Why not XBLA/PSN where a game awesome as this needs to be so more people can play it. At least you'll be able to in English soon so there's your upside. But if you want a taste then just Google the name. Yatagarasu.
The SEGA Hipster collection coming soon. With Jet Set (Grind) Radio, Sonic Adventure 2 & NiGHTS into Dreams. JSR is more intact than ever and the other 2 not so sure about. Does SA2 have Battle DLC? What version of Christmas NiGHTS is included in the package. We'll find out soon.
Welcome to Remember Me. Let me introduce Nilin. She's a Memory Hunter. They have the ability to remix memories for their own benefit or just extract the information needed from a person's memory. We don't know a lot about her yet but the pieces are slowly coming together and sometime in 2013 we'll be privy to the whole story of Nilin and what Memory Hunters do.
We'll take this time to say a bit about Senran Kagura Burst. This is not a review as much as a reminder as how this game currently sits on my shelf unopened as will Project X Zone when it comes for the hope that one day that I'll be able to actually play it. Boobs, boobs and more boobs. That's that. Anime coming soon. Fapping before that.
At least when I imported this I got to play it. And the long and short of it is that other than the HD Sexover nothing's changed as far as I know. So if you were looking at this then wait for a price drop and cop it. It's still 3 great games in one package so you can't beat that.
We now leave gaming behind with my TV & Toku synopsis as of late. Most of the shows I kept up with are off for the season so this wrap up will be a bit different than normal.
Burn Notice is at the Season 6 halfway mark and from the last time I talked about it the show was transitioning to what I thought was normalcy but it just all just got jacked up to holy hell and back. Important people died and Michael is one step closer to ending the hunt for those who burned him. But the predicament that Team Westen is in at the moment is something they'll need to band together to get out of. We'll see in November if they can.
I can wrap up the rest of True Blood in 2 sentences. Season 5 didn't fail to disappoint in any way and Season 6 is going to start right at that point. DIS GON BE GUD!!!
Season 1 of Dallas was a roller coaster of events and then some. The Ewing's came together to fight the good fight against the bad guys. And you'd think after all that beef squashing that they'd live together in peace right? HELL TO THE NAW!!! We learned a lot of truths and the how and where we go from here is going to be interesting journey to say the least.
The wrap-up of Fourze if you can even call it that was a mixed bag for me. I was expecting something way different from the end game than what we ended up getting but it didn't sour me on the experience the show provided and suffice to say it was one hell of an experience. So with Fourze in the books we move from space to magic with who may unseat Shotarou & Philip as my favorite Heisei Rider with Haruto coming in as Kamen Rider Wizard. But Wizard will get his full shine as we get back to Cool Shit as it resumes its normal weekly frequency next time.
The little kick-ass Sentai that could is undergoing a major retooling which I'm not all in agreement with but I understand I'm an end user in all of this. Toei doesn't care that I think Go-Busters is awesome as it was however they need to sell the show to kiddies so kiddies buy the toys. So how does Toei go bout dat derrty? Change the kick ass opening theme to some hot ass garbage. Speed up the endgame 20 episodes early and prepare for a random team-up with Gavan. I'm going to keep watching because I'm way too invested into the show to quit now but all this for toy sales and ratings is just crazy. Let's hope Go-Busters can still be a great Sentai after all of this madness.
This moment in Pony Awesome brought to you by Turnabout Storm Part 3: Twilight. If you haven't watched the series up to this point make sure when you get to Part 3 to watch this episode first before Phoenix's side of it all. Meshes better that way.
And now we have our JOTKING Moment of Clarity with actual original music featuring Raisi K.
I just enjoy listening to his beats and I'd think you will to. So make sure to hit him up Youtube listen to some beats and download that The Throwaways Mixtape.
And I think that about puts us at where we would be a week ago. So Cool Shit From The Week That Was will be back on Monday and I'll have that what you need.
And to leave you is some Exclusive 2nd Impact High Level Gameplay provided by #DoaGHThaDOJO. Why. 2nd Impact > 3rd Strike and 3S is The Shend's Turf. Shouts out to all the work he does giving 3rd Strike a home on YouTube to thrive. On that, I'll see you when I see you.
This is going to be different from my normal way of reviewing because this is one of those times where I don't want to rob you of all the great things this has to offer. That alone should say a lot of this game's quality not only withstanding but to the franchise of Double Dragon as a whole. WayForward did a job way beyond excellent with this game. But having played and enjoyed Batman: Brave & The Bold on Wii previously I had no doubts this would something to behold. And WayForward has one hell of a track record making wonderful games. Very rarely do they slip up and if they do their slip up at the end is a lot better than most full efforts.
The question you may have now is how does this stack up to the rest of the series? At this juncture this game as part of the lexicon of the series sits with games like Return of Double Dragon, Double Dragon II (NES/PC/TG-16), Double Dragon Advance & Double Dragon (iOS/Android) as a great representation of what the series is all about. DDN is not as much of a remake as it is a love letter not only to Double Dragon but to the 80's as well and it's all there.
The game takes a second to get used to less so if your familiar with recent incarnations like Advance or the iOS/Android version. Once you get going however things start to become second nature really quick. The game does an excellent job early on teaching you how to deal with your foes and learning to adapt to their quirks as they adapt to the current scenario is a real fun draw to the fun of the experience. Another part of that experience is the visuals by Genzoman. Which honestly a lot of people disagreed with. Very, very, vocally so but within the experience of DDN fits perfectly with the game's overall tone and was a wise choice to get him on visual support. The 3rd part of the mixture which may be the game's standout feature is the music by Jake Kaufman aka virt. The music he created for this game completes the trinity of awesome this game has to offer and needs to be heard regardless you play this game or not. It's just that damn good.
All I can really do now is say this gets a COP DAT ASAP!!! and you need to do it however you need because I needs DAT SEQUAL LIKE YESTARDAY SON!!! Game is 800 MS Points/$9.99 on PSN or free until January if you're a PS+ member. So there's no excuse in why this isn't in your digital library. And if Yoshihisa Kishimoto the creator of not only this series but the Kunio-kun series as well is giving the yeas and nays about the final product then you should take that to the bank as a you should be on this and that the game is in more than capable hands.
Playing Double Dragon Neon is the most fun I've had gaming all year and this is just me on the solo tip. Haven't even done Bro-Op yet so I know that's going to enhance the fun even more so. So at this point what are you waiting for? A signed invitation. Go kick some ass now!! And have some fun too. That's the point of it all.
-Triple Da G.O.D! AKA #GAMINGZNUMBA1DOPEMAN
P.S: Just as a friendly gesture I'll leave this here.
This has been a hell of a week for the game with reveals and news out the culo. But now that the dust has settled and what we have is a lot of confirmations of what was leaked. So let's get to the breakdown.
Evile Cole MacGrath. Other than the constant bitching about a wasted character spot according to J that he's point for point from inFamous2. Regardless of what your opinion is I think this was a wonderful pick and no combining them together is stupid idea because it doesn't make sense. There's 2 Cole's now. Live with it.
Wanna call him Jack the Ripper. Do so. Call him Raiden. Do that too. Is he a representative of what we seen so far from Revengance? Hell to the yes. Blades everywhere. If this is any indication of what he'll be like in Revengance then it's time for Bayonetta 2. I'm keeping an eye on him. He's gonna be an early top tier. Bet it.
Hi, Nariko. I missed you. Heavenly Sword was awesome and needs a trophy update. However, Nariko is looking so beast. But this Nariko I speak of so I didn't have a doubt for a second she'd be overly sick. She's another one to watch out for. That L3 looks all kinds of super dirty. I'll be abusing that. Trust.
My ninja Danny 4Tesk. Where you been? Aint seen you since the PS1 my dude. Glad to see that you're here because I almost thought they forgot about you. You seem to packing tech from your games from what I can recall. That L3 of yours is something I'll be keeping an eye on. So grimy. But again, welcome back. Now go back and bring OG Lara, Spyro and Crash with you. Please and Thank You.
With the game less than a month away today we finally get a real look at the cast outside Hilda and I have that breakdown you know you need.
So let's start with Yuzuriha, who I'll be playing because she qualifies under my 2 rules I try to follow when selecting a character. Hot chick & cool character design. Usually never fails. And if those fail then find a character with a rekka game until I can make a decision. However, Yuzuriha as far as her abilities have the gamut covered. Nice keep away and excellent rushdown abilities. What I did notice is that she has under her life bar A, B, & C. From the footage I think they are some kind of combo limiter in which each letter corresponds to a move she's allowed to do once in any given situation. This does make for strategic decisions in both her keep away and rushdown options. Once players know their situations and gain matchup knowledge then I really see Yuzuriha becoming a major threat.
Next up is Seth who I honestly have to say reminds me a lot Nanaya from Melty Blood at least from the perspective of how his moves looks and his rushdown plays out. He does also come standard with a Aoko-like fireball that isn't made for zoning wars but more for accentuating his rushdown options. Seth's only thing is staying in. He has no reason to dangle because he has all the tools needed to get in and stay in on his foe. I'll definitely have to keep him in mind seeing as I main Nanaya in MB.
Everybody say hi to Cie--Orie. To make a long story short, Orie has all tools to play whatever game your comfortable with. She has every possible offensive pressure option available to her. The reason this is because she has some help from her extension of self and a giant ass rapier. Her rushdown game is more about hit confirms before she can mount her nastier options. Her mid range and zone game are helped by her extension of self to either start a rushdown offense from distance, zone out or continue combos from anywhere on the screen. All in all, Orie has myriad of offensive options. Up to you to put it together.
If you were looking for that character that's all about that close up game then Linne is your girl. Her whole game is centered around the rushdown. She has a fireball that's more for mid range use to get back into her comfort zone. Her whole game is being right next to her foe. And there's no reason to do anything else with her because she's built around the rushdown. You could mid range zone if you want but with her fireballs being her only legit poking tool I can guarantee you won't make much headway with it. Moral of the story: Get in, Stay in!!<
Don't confuse Hyde as a character with a long range game even with 2 tools for that warfare. I think we call that a red herring. Hyde's game is using mid range pokes to start his rushdown offense. And what I think I'm seeing is that his moves work in conjunction with each other for some sweet looking combos. So your only job is to find safe ways to approach and start hurting people. You can try to go against what Hyde's built for but I wouldn't suggest it.
Kind of ironic that we come to Carmine after speaking about Hyde because they have similar game plans for offensive pressure. However, the reason for Carmine's way of the mid range is because all of his normals double as mid range pokes. He does have a couple of fireballs but 2 of them are for just mixup pressure from close and far away. And they should be used for just that purpose so you're not giving up ground while you're rushing down. So your choices for pressure is either the mid range poke or using a fireball to mixup and get in that way. Which considering aren't really bad choices.
I'm not going to make the he's overcompensating for something with a giant ass scythe joke but I will talk about it so you understand the proper use of it. Luckily for Gordeau his weapon of choice isn't a detriment to him frame wise because he can chain from it on hit or block to try to get a better deal for mixup possibilities. As far as combo use goes, his specials with it only begin and end offense but rarely extends pressure and combos as you think it should be able to. It can be used as a long range poke it you want but from what's seen it doesn't do his game any good. So using it to bring the opponent to you seems to be the best course of action to aid in his rushdown.
Waldstein is the most interesting grappler I've seen in quite a while. He's similar to Hyde in the fact that his throws work in conjunction with each other. He has a couple of setup into his chain throws which give him ways to vary his approach to drive you into the ground and some of those options have a hit of super armor as well. He also has a nice poke game as well with those giant arms of his. Beware of the fact they are pretty slow and he'll have to Chain Shift to keep the offensive pressure when he's using those up close.
Merkava is a straight threat if for no other reason than that he can be anywhere on screen at anytime due to his long range pokes, flight mode mixups and many options that lead to hard knockdowns that facilitate all of his offensive needs. It would seem your job with Merkava is figure out when you need to get in and when to back away to bait a way in to do your worst to your foe.
What I like about Vatista is that her mid range and zone game compliment her ways to get in and rushdown are so great. She has the tools to switch her pressure at will and it'll be a major part of your gameplan to be effective with her. So as long as you vary your approach and keep your foe guessing you'll have much success I'd bet.
And that covers everybody that had a featured video. Just know that this game comes out September 20th and DoaGHThaDOJO will be following the evolution of this game very closely. Now time to pray for a console release.
Welcome back to the new age of heroes. Or not. Another major gaming event means another drop on the characters of PlayStation® All-Stars Battle Royale™. Gamescom has brought us Dante from DmC: Devil May Cry. Ratchet & Clank from the eponymous named series. Sackboy from Little Big Planet. And Spike from the Ape Escape series.
First up for analysis is Dante. From what we've seen from DmC he looks to borrow his complete playbook and should be a nice demo for what he'll be doing in January.
Next up is Ratchet & Clank. Now unlike Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank work very well as a force as this trailer demonstrates. Rumor is the good Captain Quark will be assisting them as well. Can't wait for that.
Time for the spotlight on Sackboy. Now Sackboy seems to be sticking to the script from Little Big Planet and using objects from the games to fuel his offense. I really like the choice to have him really stick to his roots.
Enter Spike from Ape Escape. He has the best of the best from Professor and he uses all of it very well. He even gets some assistance from his ape friends as well. This was one of my picks that I wanted to make it and here he is. I can't wait to tear it up with him.
The other pieces of news are the game has been pushed back to November 20th to get a bit more development time in. It's a better thing that will make for a better game. And if you buy the PSTriple version then you get the PSLifeAfterDeath version free. Sweet deal. I await the arrival of the Battle Royale.
Episode 3 of the epic that is BlazBlue is here and it seems we only have a small wait before we know what's really good. This trailer awaits my expert analysis so let me do what I do best and analyze it.
Let's start with the 3 new characters!
This is Amane Nishiki or BlazBlue's Bridget. That's a dude. That's a dude. Just so you know. It would seem that his drive revolves around the use of his ribbon to aid in his rushdown.
This is Azarael who looks a lot like Roa from Melty Blood and plays with rocks like Mukai. It seems his drive is all about summoning rock walls.
This is Bullet! Who's a sexy combination of Nagi from Bloody Roar and Zenia from Arcana Heart. Her drive are those pile bunkers she's packing.
And everybody save for Lambada-11 is back as far as I know at the moment. The what, how and why from Continuum Shift is something we'll soon find out.
The super duper awesome upgrade bonus is Noel trading the hat and pants for a short skirt which in my opinion is just too hot for words!
The Loke Test is currently in progress. Be sure to stay tuned to DoaGHThaDOJO for all that footage and here for all the latest updates
-Triple Da G.O.D! AKA #GAMINGZNUMBA1DOPEMAN
UPDATE: Looks like ASW released some information for the Loke test. Mainly the movesets of every character available. When a complete change log is released I'll update that here as well.
This trailer doesn't confirm much we didn't already know. But it looks really pretty though. A similar effect could be had if you had the Matching Service version and a VGA cable. You have your HD, your online, those bad alternate names so Capcom doesn't get sued and semen for blood. It would seem at this time even the JP version is edited at least in the violence category. The JP version of the trailer confirms this much to be true. So unless there's some option to turn it on which there should be then I'll be forced to play the game as it was meant to be by other means.
Remember, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure HD Version is due for release on 8/21 for PSN and 8/22 for XBLA. WRRRYYYYYY!!!
With Capcom's hope that the 2nd chance for this game comes with the release of the DLC and the start of the re-balancing process that I feel that a real look at what this game does well really needs to be highlighted. Let's be honest here for a second. I see the hate spewed at this game because of actions that don't hinder gameplay as much as people claim is unwarranted and you wanna know why? Most of you hating don't know what or why you're hating in the first place. You're doing it so you don't feel left out but while you're worried about how your peers are going to see you if you're not joining in then you're the one missing out. In the FGC and gaming period it's just one of those things that just so happens to be very commonplace. Now I'm not going to stand on my soapbox and scream I'm holier than thou because of my enlightenment on the subject because I was once there too. I took gaming advice from people who had no business giving it out in the first place. I got to the point that I'll be my own judge, jury and executioner when it comes to this stuff. And because of that I was able to discover things about games that others never did due to their complete dismissal because of not giving it that real chance. With Street Fighter X Tekken that's where we are now and I hope that after you read this you'll take that 2nd look and give this game the chance it deserves to nurture and help it mature into a great fighter that'll be enjoyed for years to come.
Question is where do we start to look. Honestly, the game at the core is fine. Conceptually speaking anyway. It just so happens that the execution of said concepts have been this game's downfall. If you want to look at Street Fighter X Tekken as a good game then you kind of have to very obtusely. Nobody said getting to the good was going to be easy though. Luckily though we don't have have to go that far. Remember that Capcom vs SNK 3 you always wanted? This is about as close as you're going to get to that for a long time. With that being said, Street Fighter X Tekken is made up of a lot of the basic concepts that made the CvS series so great. That CvS, especially 2 was a real middle ground of what was great about Street Fighter & King of Fighters and it was enough of both combined with heart and character that made those great games. What factors of this game links itself back to the Capcom vs SNK series?
Let's start with everybody's favorite, the Gem System. Gem Units are in a weird sort of way is a version of a Custom Groove System. Here's how. Gems as we all know bestow upon you magical super powers beyond your wildest dreams. Not really but we know how gems work though. Because the community never gave gems an actual chance here's what you missed. As usual, the meta-game for a fight starts even before it begins. The first meta-game in fighters is at the character select screen where all of your pre-battle setup takes place. In this game one of those games are the selecting of gems. Because the game was designed around this fact a lot of your gem selection flows right into Team Synergy. The game expects you to a degree to know that in order for your battle strategy to function correctly that all of what you've selected works within the confines given. Knowing what your characters do and combing that with the proper gems is what was supposed to happen but it didn't. The give and take of gems wasn't balanced correctly the first time in. I understand the idea and reasoning behind it, however it just wasn't executed correctly for something that was supposed to be the most important part of this game's pre-fight meta-game as it was touted to be. The future of gems are that they're supposedly being reevaluated so that they can be taken advantage of as they were meant to be. Problem is I think it may be way too late for that because of how the game is being played currently without gems and the backlash that follows when they're used. Maybe the balance changes make things better. We'll just have to wait and see.
Now how offense is played out is very similar. Ignoring jabs of course. But seriously though one thing CvS did so well was translate how SNK characters felt in their own games with a Capcom twist. I could only imagine if P-Groove got those EX Moves that I remember hearing was planned and possibly implemented in development. Street Fighter X Tekken however takes a different approach and tries to amalgamate Tekken intricacies into an established Street Fighter 4 base albeit a tad looser. The biggest example of this is the Cross Rush. Which is a magic chained combo which ends in a launcher. I use magic chain loosely but you get it. Tekken is known for strings and launchers and the Cross Rush puts those two together to nod what the other side is known for. Another Tekken nod that doesn't get as much notice is charging specials. Now charging specials is supposed to substitute for the lack of the Focus Attack. But you know how you can cancel a L2 charge and you get the powers of a counter. That's a nod to the Super Charger AKA the Kiai Tame Power Up. I remember when I first found out about it and was geeking because that was a cool nod and marriage between the two.
When we get into more of an indepth look how characters actually function what you may find might shock you. Street Fighter characters are still bound to a degree of links and Target Combos in a free form fashion but the offensive options they do have are a lot more open than from where they come from. When it comes to Team Tekken in order to have them feel as close to normal in a 2D as possible some healthy borrowing from another game had to take place. Tekken characters in Street Fighter X Tekken have the same basic combo structure as characters from...The King of Fighters. You're probably looking at this like WTF does this dude mean? Let me explain. The Tekken cast have a basic combo structure that usually works like the following: Normal → Command Normal → Whatever. Most of Team Street Fighter can't even do that exactly the way it's laid out because they're still bound to their links and Target Combos versus Team Tekken's strings. You've probably played the game and probably never noticed the similarity because I've never heard it brought up at all. The reason for me bringing it up is these things need to be highlighted because it shows that this was carefully considered and actually does work within the confines.
The confines however are a different story and another thing that just for me personally didn't quite add up. The game at its core is a loose version Street Fighter 4 that are allegedly lighter on the mechanics. This also helped Tekken players feel more at home especially with the fact that a lot of Team Tekken's strings are the same here and function mostly the same. The problem is characters still have one frame links and some characters on Team Street Fighter rely on it heavily for extended combos. From my understanding from the facts of the known is that this game was as usual and even much more so here was aimed at Casual Joe Blow. Joe can press buttons and things happen even more so than normally. So this begs the question of why does that execution wall even exist in a game like this?
To be honest I'm not really sure. It just didn't make sense as part of the formula but you have to have something to separate the players and I guess this was that. When it comes to looking at Street Fighter 4 and Street Fighter X Tekken I look at the 2 as I would NBA2K and NBA Jam. NBA2K is the rigid simulation of basketball while NBA Jam takes the basic formula and amps it up a bunch. Street Fighter X Tekken wasn't enough NBA Jam in this situation. I feel the game wasn't loose enough given what could've been possible. I do however understand in the development process trying to play to two sets of fans that do to some degree intersect and give them an experience that reflects both brands on show. So of course the game is more Street Fighter because it's Street Fighter X Tekken. And I expect Harada and crew to have Tekken X Street Fighter more Tekken like. So while I'm a bit confounded into the why I do understand and accept the game for what it is.
The only legit gripe with this game like I do most team games of this type is the lack of accentuating the Team Up. And this game could've taken advantage of that easily with the Cross Assault but it didn't. That was something that could've been borrowed from Tekken Tag. Give players a reason to experiment with certain teams of characters and the cool effects that come from that synergy. For the record the worst offender ever was NeoGeo Battle Coliseum just to state that. There should've been more Special D-Assaults. They had the teams and the cool to do it but it just wasn't executed. Shame that was. I really hope crossover fighters in the future play to that more. I understand why a TvC or Marvel can't but a X Tekken can given what we see in action. Time will only tell.
And that wraps up another episode on Triple Da God Schools Em. I gotta be honest. I'm really rooting for this game's second chance. I have my $20 ready so I can get Cody in the mix and Lalisa as well. What, I'm a huge proponent of that ship so please don't judge me. So let's try to be a bit more open minded this time. Leave all the nonsense at the door and try to give the game a true fair shot. It deserves that much and you owe it to yourself to do just that.
At this time I wish you all luck with your new found enlightenment and I'll see you on the battlefield.
Another one of the notes
from Facebook transferred over to the blog. I didn't give this article
that much shine because to be honest it was wrote on a weird comedy
slant but at the same time trying to be informative and really taking a
look at how the situation looked to me personally. But now after really
taking notice of all I really think I have to compliment this article
with a real technical look at the game because the game does a lot of
right that nobody notices at all because of how hive minded and
bulldoggish the FGC can be about things at times. So for now take this
stroll down memory lane and I'll link the other article here when its
done.
This game has become a
hot bed of issues regarding everything this game is about and I just
wanted to ring in on it really quickly and just share what I've learned
and observed from this whole thing.
Full Disclosure is a
wonderful thing. Had Capcom been honest about their plans from the start
then maybe the backlash wouldn't be as nasty as it was. Hopefully
developers in the future will learn that their customers can understand a
business decision whether they agree with it or not. On the reverse
though QA's need to get on their job. There should've been no way that
the 360 version came out as gimped as it was and nobody knew about these
glaring issues until after the fact. Even I gotta look at this as
something fishy. If I can do it in other games on the same system I
should be able to do the same here. If they knew this before the game
released then FULL DISCLOSURE should've entered the picture right about
here. You let the consumer assume (Yeah, I know assumptions makes asses
of you and me.) that what was advertised is what we paid for. And for
some reason the PS3 version is THE VERSION of the game to play. Not that
I'm trying to insinuate anything but again looks very suspicious.
Remember everybody, FULL DISCLOSURE! Say it with me now, FULL
DISCLOSURE!
On Disk DLC was a bad idea and Capcom
should've known this. All their efforts in the past to keep a damn
secret have been for naught in one way or another. Either people leak
info, you leave stuff in the HTML code (Side Note: This happened twice.
See TvC:UAS and UMvC3), or people become nosy when ISOs hit and all the
dirt is leaked anyway. Learn in this day and age people want answers and
they'll go to any lengths to get said answers. We've become an
impatient society and this is one of the effects of that change. At the
same juncture as a society we need to relearn paitence because that'll
help a lot while you're forced to wait because of what I personally
think was just a bad business decision. And cue our new best friend,
FULL DISCLOSURE!!!
I'm afraid I can't be a CapCop snitch
in this matter to see hackers get shine on them. This is for a lot
listed above and when I got my account hacked and Microsoft then left me
on stuck so I really like the karma return that stems from this. On top
of that Cherryl didn't raise no tattletale. However, if you're out there
hacking and getting online I'd back off at this point. Unless the
account you're using to get online doesn't matter to you because you're
gonna be offline till 12/31/9999 and MS will probably ban the console
you're using as well. So while I can respect the "I Don't Give a Fuck"
attitude you have on the subject, think about the risk you're taking
here. On some real shit I just suggest playing the game completely
offline so you don't even tempt yourselves into doing something possibly
detrimental to you and your money. Take it from somebody who's been
there.
I really hope not only Capcom but other developers
have learned something from all of this. Keeping secrets from your
consumer base is bad news because it always finds a way out as we've
seen here and in many other situations in the past. I would love for
more developers to take a consumer first, money second approach to
gaming but it's too late now. Honestly, as soon as somebody bought Horse
Armor we were all fucked. When things like that happened it changed
everything. It let developers know that there is a consumer for that
type of product and it just then became a way of the world and I
honestly don't think there's no going back to the way things were
because DLC is a part of gaming life and it's about the nickel and dime game now. On the flip side, I do understand that games cost a lot
to make and DLC is supposed to offset it but what you put up for
purchase and how much is a bit much to me anyway. That's why I wait for
sales and deals to soften the blow in most cases. We as a community need
to learn the power of our wallets. If we all together wield that power
and show that there needs to be a balance then it can be one. Because as
people used to tell me that "Money Talks, Bullshit Walks." It means
that when money's on the table what you say means nothing. Use your
money to speak for you. Because in conversations like those it's the
only thing in the world that gets heard.
So now we wait to
see what the future holds for this game and others. It's a shame that
great game like this is muddled in all this controversy because the game
could be the next coming and more energy needs to be focused on that
instead of all the issues. I hope everybody involved has learned
something here and maybe we can make a better tomorrow. Or prove we've
not learned a damn thing and just do it all over again. Know what they
call that in the dictionary...INSANITY!! Don't be insane for your sake
and mine.
Been a while since you've seen this expose, huh? However, I'll be starting that slow move of bringing my Facebook Articles to the blog slowly but surely when it's time for that article to get some new shine.
Today happens to be that day for Super DBZ because for the first time in about 3 years there's actually new high level play footage out and this is to mark that occasion.
So enjoy the footage like I am and be reminded of why you should take another looked at an overlooked future classic fighter.
This all started when I posted on GAF and stated that Super Dragon Ball Z is the most underrated fighter from the last generation. It started my mind working as to why I would state that when even I'd expect me to say Arcana Heart, Melty Blood or even The Rumble Fish. But here's the thing though.
Arcana Heart is on its 3rd game and Examu is constantly working to keep it one of the best fighters in the business and there's a wonderful community all over the world that keeps that shit going.
The same applies to Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code as well with Ecole keeping the game constantly updated and the community that stands behind it as well.
The Rumble Fish 2 is still played a bit in Japan and nobody on the face of the planet knows this better than I do.
Super Dragon Ball Z however has none of these things going for it. The scene in Japan for the game died a long time ago. It didn't help that it came out before the Renaissance and the worst part about it is that the 2 groups that this was aimed at didn't really give a fuck about the game.
The hardcore fighting game fan dismissed it as a Sparking/Budokai Tenkaichi game and paid it no mind and the Dragon Ball fans need their damn hands held through everything. "If it takes more than 2 buttons to make flashy shit happen then please count me the fuck out."
Here's the problem with all of that though. Super is deep as fuck. There aren't any comeback mechanics or shortcut motions. This is a pure fighting game through and through. Having a pure fighting game is easy when you have Noritaka Funamizu behind the wheel, the wonderful folks of Crafts & Meister and the group of people who brought you the most shitted on fighting game series in history, Arika.
That same series in turn could be the most underrated fighting game series of all time in Street Fighter EX. I could go on forever about EX and how its leagues better than SF4 could ever be but that's another conversation for another day and a conversation we'll be having really soon.
Back on the subject though. Super Dragon Ball Z at the base doesn't really look like much more than just another DBZ fighter but underneath all of that beats the heart of a game that is deep, complex and engrossing.
Super is one of the few games in history to really keep DBZ honest without resorting to all the flash that the games are very known for and the best part it's done by one gauge, the Action Gauge.
The Action Gauge controls everything that is movement based from sidesteps, dashes and most importantly flight. You can't just fly around forever while waiting for a chance to strike. The Action Gauge also lends itself to some advanced gameplay functions like fireball nullification & parries and some other functions as well. Who knew that one gauge could do so much good.
Now this game is very rushdown oriented but it doesn't mean that there isn't a zoning game here and that game is just as if not more dangerous than the rushdown itself. Wondering why this could be the case?
It's all because of the wonders of Super DBZ's most important feature, the Skill System. Now skill systems in fighters have been done and even DBZ did it and still does it. However, the Skill System in this game can make the difference in whether you win or lose and here's why.
The Skill System in Super is designed to do two things. Either compensate for your weaknesses or enhance your strengths. Now you may say that's what Skill Systems do but in Super how you build your character goes a long way in what your options are in battle.
All the characters at their base can compete and win; Even Android 16 who at his base is the worst character in the game. However, an investment in skills to compensate for what he lacks which in this case are his speed and the fact that he only has 2 Action Bars and now your chances of winning have drastically improved because your investment in your character via the Skill System.
This does also work in reverse as well. Let's take Chi Chi for example who's zoning in this game in my view is second to none at base. Now to her credit she does have some nice basic combos and a decent rekka chain but her strength is that she can lock the opponent down with her zoning game because her different fireballs control all the game's possible space. Now by investing in her skills that way you gain additional abilities from her Skill Tree to compliment her zoning game. In this case you'd gain an additional way to keep up zoning pressure and get to use the coolest part about the Skill System which is the Skill Inherit.
With Skill Inherit you're able to steal another character's move or special trait they possess. For example, Vegeta's special trait within Skill Inherit is the must have skill for most builds, the Super Cancel and the Super Cancel in this game opens up a myriad of possibilities of not only being able to do more damage but also by covering a super move that misses. A great use for it is for Saiyans after a missed super can cancel into a Super Saiyan transformation to cover that mistake if need be.
These are just a couple of examples of how you can make a character in this game fit how you play and not playing a character the way they were created to be and it's all thanks to the wonders of the Skill System.
There is so much to this game I didn't get into but in time I'll be showing what this game can really do and I hope that it opens up people to be more open minded in their gaming choices by just giving a game a chance.
I could only imagine if this game really took off. Life in itself is so unpredictable so who knows if this is the start for that catalyst for that change. So do yourself a favor and go pick up Super Dragon Ball Z if you haven't already. You'll thank me later.
-Triple Da G.O.D! AKA #GAMINGZNUMBA1DOPEMAN
For the record do you wanna know the Most Underrated Fighter of this generation is? That would be a draw between Tatsunoko vs Capcom and Castlevania Judgment. Yeah I said it, Castlevania Judgment.
That game has some hidden depth to it as well and in 2012 I'll be shedding light on that on that subject too and Tatsunoko vs Capcom is just better than Marvel 3. Point blank period! There is one other game that even eclipses those two in this generation and takes underrated fighter to a whole new extreme. But I'll be holding that one to the chest until the time is right to blow that game up. Be watching for that one.
