Fighting Games Friday: A Tokyo Game Show of Force (Updated)
Last week was surprisingly crazy for fighting game news, thanks to the combination of the PlayStation LineUp Showcase and the Nintendo Direct. The biggest news was the announcement of Samurai Shodown, the newest fighting game from SNK — the title they were really working on while a smaller team developed SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy. There was also news for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Jump Force, Dead or Alive 6, Soulcalibur VI, and Dissidia: Final Fantasy NT. This week is equally as busy thanks to news coming from Tokyo Game Show, which includes more info about some of those same games.
Yugi from Yu-Gi-Oh! was only shown in one screenshot for Shonen Jump crossover title Jump Force last week, essentially a teaser for his full reveal this week. To no surprise, he fights by summoning monsters from his cards, similar to the Pokémon Trainer in the Super Smash Bros. games. Killua and Kurapika from Hunter x Hunter were also revealed, who are joining Gon Freecss and Hisoka from the same series after they were revealed around a month ago. And here some fans thought Killua wouldn’t make it. Tsk tsk.
In fact, Yugi aside, the recent playable character reveals for Jump Force have been a Yoshihiro Togashi love-in. The other two characters revealed this week were Yusuke Urameshi and Toguro from Yu Yu Hakusho, a series Togashi worked on before Hunter x Hunter. There’s some upset about characters like Kurama and Kuwabara not being confirmed with them, but anyone feeling that way should keep in mind what happened with Killua above — they could be confirmed later. But you’ll want to emphasize “could,” especially in poor Kuwabara’s case. You can see all the characters revealed in the TGS trailer.
Jump Force will also have alternate transformations. For instance, Goku can transform into his Super Saiyan Blue (or Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan) form. It’s probably good that these aren’t being saved for character slots, as they can make room for several others.
Jump Force will allow for players to create avatars that are equivalent to other Shonen Jump heroes and villains in the game. It could be a fun feature to tinker with if they’ve put effort into the creation system. This will also have its own story that involves the fusion between the manga worlds and our real universe, hence the presence of landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and the Matterhorn in some stages. The story will have original characters, like four created by Akira Toriyama shown in this trailer. Specifically, they’re heroes Director Glover and Navigator, and villains Galena and Kane.
Several more original and playable characters will be revealed between now and its February release timeframe, making this yet another game in a crowded month. Before that, a closed beta will be held from October 12th to the 14th, though space will be limited. The lucky players picked after registering will have a chance to see if it’s improved since the E3 2018 showing.
Speaking of a game based on a Shonen Jump property: Android 17 was finally revealed as the last DLC character for Dragon Ball FighterZ — at least for the first season. He wears his “Ranger” outfit from Dragon Ball Super’s Tournament of Power arc, and specializes in speed. Bandai Namco will release him at the end of September, along with the previously-revealed Cooler, which has to be sometime next week. A trailer showing him in action should arrive soon. Notably, the Switch version will arrive at the end of next week, so don’t be surprised if the last two characters arrive alongside it. Update: They are arriving alongside the western release of the Switch version, on September 28th. Bandai Namco also provided a trailer showing 17 in action.
Several Dead or Alive 6 characters were revealed last week, specifically Ayane, Marie Rose, Honoka, and Nyotengu. This week, Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo confirmed that Bayman will join them. Bayman has been part of the Dead or Alive series since the first game, and relies on slow-but-strong attacks in his move set, along with several grapples. He wears the same outfit from previous games for his default threads, though adds sunglasses to increase his “coolness” factor. His move set should follow the same format here, meaning anyone who played him should be able to pick him up easily again.
Demonstrations for the game have been provided at TGS, and there’s something revealing about them, so to speak. There’s been a controversy regarding the apparent fanservice reduction compared to previous games, which has all the internet’s best (*cough*) people upset. But I’m beginning to wonder if that’s a façade they want to sell to westerners, as the demonstrations show the kind of fanservice fans are familiar with. In addition to the scantily-clad outfits (including Ayane’s see-through leggings), Hitomi’s breasts bounce like water balloons here. The game also has Marie Rose, who appeals to a certain audience because… well, just look at her. It sounds like they plan to provide several options for how much or how little fanservice players want, which is sad for those of us who wanted more fan freak-outs.
Dead or Alive 6 will release for PS4, XB1, and PC on February 15th.
The newest character revealed for Soulcalibur VI is Raphael Sorel, whose appearance is no surprise. He was important to the Soulcalibur story in the original timeline, who became corrupted by the influence of the Soul Edge. He was accidentally revealed alongside Cervantes at the Melbourne eSports Open a couple of weeks ago, after Bandai Namco showcased the wrong build. Since SCVI starts a new timeline, he’s once again a mere noble fencer. His appearance has received a slight adjustment, as he’s now bespectacled, which makes him look even haughtier. His fighting style doesn’t appear to have changed much, though he’ll have some new and adjusted techniques thanks to this installment’s new mechanics.
Since SCVI is due for a release on October 19th, character reveals for the initial roster should be wrapping up — assuming they haven’t already. The DLC characters being released as part of the Season Pass should start being revealed soon. Meanwhile, an open beta test will take place on the 27th and the 28th.
The character releases for Street Fighter V’s third season have finished, but Capcom is still releasing outfits and other content. More Darkstalkers-themed outfits are coming, with Chun-Li getting a Morrigan outfit, Ed getting a Dimitri one, and Menat getting a Felicia outfit. They’ll join the existing outfits, which featured Urien as Donovan, Juri as Lilith, and Menat as Khaibit — yes, Menat is getting two of them. Surely there’s another character who could have received the Felicia outfit. Also, Halloween-themed outfits are coming for Abigail, Falke, Guile, and Kolin.
Dojos are also coming to SFV, a free and unique stage that can be customized to the player’s liking by adding items and adjusting the background. Upon receiving the dojo, the player will become its Grand Master, but can give that title and ownership of the dojo away to another player if they wish. Players can also join another player’s dojo, and each one can have several members. It’s a neat idea, but they should consider providing a video to demonstrate this a little easier.
All this content will arrive next Tuesday, September 25th.
It feels like these Fighting Games Friday posts are getting long! But convention season is wrapping up, meaning things should go back to normal over the next couple of weeks. You’ll want to note my use of the word “should,” because several of these posts have turned out longer than expected. Once again, we’ll see if I’m right.
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Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
