Fighting Games Friday: Strive for Goku
Fighting game news has been light for a little more than the last month, thanks to the holiday season being a deader-than-usual period for tournaments and companies. It’s why I’ve focused on features and my always-excellent opinions for Fighting Games Friday posts in that time. That is, outside a separate post about a game where the newest character entry was such big and controversial news that I had to write about it before Friday could arrive last week. Now, we’re shifting back to a more normal schedule with the news in the last week, and info that could come from the currently-ensuing Evo Japan 2020.
It’s been a short while since the last piece of concrete news from Arc System Works’ Guilty Gear -Strive-, thanks to the aforementioned break. Following the reveal of Sol Badguy, Ky Kiske, May, Axl-Low, Potemkin, and Chipp Zanuff, the newest character revealed is yet another returning character who’s been part of several Guilty Gear installments: Faust, aka Dr. Baldhead. He looks as insane as he did in previous installments from his appearance, showcasing the development team’s effort at fitting PG-13-level vore into a game that will likely be rated “T for Teen” — though the anime style helps hide any potential grotesqueness. Also note the creative placement of his needle, a not even subtle phallic symbol.
It’s tough to tell how similar his move set will be compared to his Guilty Gear Xrd iteration from the little footage provided, but he once again has the ability to give the opponents afros during certain attacks. Whether this still happens during his Instant Death move is another question, but it appears to occur outside that. Maybe we’ll get an answer from the playable demo available at EVO Japan this weekend and at the JAEPO arcade show in Japan on February 8th. We’ve already seen that air dashing has been significantly nerfed, and chances are this won’t be the only change.
It will be another while before the game is shown again, between March 20th and the 22nd at two events: The Brussels Challenge in Brussels, Belgium and Final Round in Atlanta, GA. Given the time differences and the current trends, expect to see the previews on the 22nd at both events, with the first coming from The Brussels Challenge thanks to the tournament concluding earlier. No teaser was attached at the end of this newest trailer, so the next reveal (or two) will be a complete surprise. One could finally involve the character teased in the reveal trailer from August.
More challenging battles await…
Tune in to the livestream of #DBFZWT Finals on 8-9 February for new announcements! pic.twitter.com/cd5MCzdXPu— BANDAI NAMCO EU (@BandaiNamcoEU) January 21, 2020
Meanwhile, yet another Goku is coming to Dragon Ball FighterZ: Ultra Instinct Goku, specifically. This is the complete version of the UI Goku, shown through the striking silver hair, the form Goku appeared in near the end of the Tournament of Power arc during the battle against Jiren in Dragon Ball Super. This will be the sixth version of Goku when he arrives (including Goku Black, and not including the fusions), meaning players will be able to create two separate teams of Gokus soon. It’s a real Dragon Ball fighter now.
More importantly, this confirms that FighterZ will receive another series of downloadable characters. The full reveal for UI Goku is planned for the Dragon Ball FighterZ World Tour Finals scheduled for February 8th and 9th. There’s a good chance more DLC characters could be revealed there, along with other news about future Dragon Ball games, like last year.
I expressed surprise that Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is still receiving support from Square Enix in a previous post, despite reports of the online community being dead. Ardyn from Final Fantasy XV was recently added, and now, new outfits are coming for Final Fantasy XII’s Vaan and Final Fantasy IV/The After Years’ Kain Highwind.
Vaan’s outfit is the Zodiac Rider one, inspired by his dreams of becoming a sky pirate. Nearly every alternate outfit for Vaan has been improved over the “gaze upon my muscular chest” one from FFXII, and this one is no exception. He’ll also receive the Deathbringer sword with this outfit, which he could use in FFXII. Kain will receive the Light Seeker outfit, essentially his threads from the aforementioned The After Years. The Holy Lance from both FFIV games will be included with the outfit.
This likely won’t be the last update, and I’ll keep being surprised that it’s still receiving them. But don’t worry, I won’t complain about it.
That’s all for the news in the last week, but Evo Japan will be happening through the entire weekend. Keep your eye on the matches for the biggest games and the side tournaments, though if you’re like me, the time zone difference means you’ll have to catch some through the archives the next day. Evo Japan is nowhere near as big an event the main Evo tournament that occurs during the summer every year, but announcements could be made by the time it concludes. The biggest announcements will be made on Sunday, if there are any.
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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
