Yokohama Freedom

Yesterday, I paid my first visit to Yokohama Freedom.

I went on Satou's recommendation, since he said it was a good arcade for Guilty Gear. It's also half the trip Mikado is, so that's a plus.

 

 

 

Pretty loud of an entrance for such a small arcade.

The first floor is, as it is with most arcades, a lot of UFO catchers and something to do with Hatsune Miku. Yawn.

The second floor is nothing but rhythm games and mahjong cabinets. More yawns.

Once you make your way up that third staircase, you'll be greeted by a crowd of people watching the closest cabinet. That's how you know it's where the action is.

From left to right: two AE2012 cabinets, two 3S cabinets, a CVS2 cabinet, and two +R cabinets.

The top floor is every bit as small as the two floors below it, but it manages to cram a lot of games in such a tight space. Aside from the cabinets pictured above, there's also a full 8 player EXVS setup (as well as a Gundam Terminal), and two head to heads that rotate out different games on each day of the week. Yesterday, those cabs had Garou: MOTW and MBAACC. Today, they had Marvel 2 and SFEX2 (lol).

As for the level of play: it really is pretty high, all things considered. On a good night, it's not too much lower than Mikado. Otherwise, it's still higher than most arcades that have +R.

Still, I find myself winning a lot more here than I do at Mikado. I guess I still have to make that trip up to Takadanobaba, after all.

The Mikado Chronicles: Part 1

When I first went to Mikado, it was a lazy Sunday morning. I had nothing but free time, so I figured it was as good a time as any to make my first trip up to Takadanobaba. I wasn't necessarily expecting the best competition, seeing as it was a Sunday, but I didn't care. I was going to pay my first visit to the greatest arcade on the planet, because, well, what else was I going to do?

I arrived at Takadanobaba Station at around 9:30 AM. Having already checked Google Maps for the location, I was feeling confident I would be able to find Mikado within minutes, seeing as it's right next to the train station. This was when I learned my first hard lesson about Japan: everything is next to the train station. I wandered around for roughly an hour before I finally found it.

You can tell just by looking at Mikado that it's no ordinary establishment. Most arcades in Japan are as visually loud as possible; Mikado, on the other hand, is relatively understated. It's not in a particularly busy part of town, and there's really not much else to the exterior other than the sign in front. Instead of trying to catch your attention with UFO catchers, neon signs and advertisements, Mikado dares you to walk through its doors.

Some people have the love for games Mikado requires; for everyone else, there's plenty of other arcades to choose from.

The first floor of Mikado doesn't have any fighting games at all; rather, it boasts a large collection of classic shooting games, with the Space Harrier cabinet catching my eye as soon as I walked in. In a small section to the right are the rhythm games, followed by the staircase that leads to the promised land.

Once you make your way up said staircase, you're greeted by rows upon rows of head to head cabinets. This floor is substantially larger than the first floor, which obviously means there's a hell of a lot more games. To your immediate right are yet more shooting games, though these are more modern titles (most of the Cave games are up here). In front of you is a row of mostly SNK fighters; to your right are doujin fighters and to your left are the Capcom fighters.

In the far right corner of the room, lies the main attraction: six head to head +R cabinets.

After purchasing my Aime card from the machine next to the +R cabs, I sit down and play +R for the first time. Against the computer. For about an hour.

I know it's a Sunday morning, but come on!

I decided to take a break and grab lunch at this amazing ramen shop down the street. It'd have to be busier after noon, right?

Sure enough, it was busier when I returned. What used to be empty rows between the cabinets were now filled with people. They were all playing Enein, a new 2D fighter made by the same developer that gave us Akatsuki Blitzkampf. Among them was a German exchange student, who ended up becoming my interpreter later on that day. We talked for a bit; about fighting games, being a foreigner in Japan, the works. Turns out, he used to play Guilty Gear in Germany! After becoming acquainted with each other, I excuse myself to the +R cabs, hoping that I'd be able to finally play someone.

It didn't take long for someone to show up.

This guy wearing sunglasses sits down at the cab in front of me and scans his Aime card. His name read "ヒ　ロ　P". Never heard of him. Of course, all that means is that this guy doesn't get his matches recorded. For all I knew, I was about to face one of the best players in the area.

I then notice that his cursor is hovering over Anji. I'd figured that every Anji player had fallen off the face of the planet by now.

Heaven or hell, let's rock.

Or get rocked, rather. I don't remember the first match, but it sure did end quickly. Determined to play against this guy as much as possible, I insert my 100 yen and play him again.

One thing I noticed immediately was that this guy plays super respectfully. After he scores a knockdown, he doesn't immediately go for a mixup. Most of the time, he places a meaty over you and waits for you to self destruct. That, and he has a really, really strong neutral game. He can anti-air any jump arc from anywhere on screen, and he definitely autoguarded more of my 5K/2S than I should care to admit.

This may sound like a troll playstyle (and it kind of is), but he makes it work because he's patient. I'd wager most Anji players would tire of this playstyle quickly and resort to a Fuujin based neutral game.

After the sixth or so game, I decided to take a break and play against this Venom player that just showed up. I beat him six times, then he left. I still didn't feel quite ready to face the Anji player again, so I waited for a bit and finished arcade mode. Feeling like I had enough time to reflect on what I did wrong, I go up to the cabinet he's playing on and try again.

I do considerably better this time around, managing to win some rounds. He's starting to use Fuujin against me now, though he's awfully specific about when he likes to use it; usually, he tries to bait a coin and then Fuujin on reaction. I catch on to this quickly and stop throwing coins, which ended up being a good decision (go figure). We now start playing a more complete neutral game, though I still end up coming short.

After our third match, this guy comes up and I get off to let him play. This guy plays Axl, and he's pretty damn good. Yet, he's losing to the Anji player, too. He hasn't changed his playstyle much, either.

That's when it hits me: this guy is nuts.

Needing another break, I went over to talk with my German contact. After 20 minutes or so, the Anji player walks towards us. Using my rather basic Japanese vocabulary, I get his attention by saying: "闇慈が上手”.

This is where the fun starts.

We start talking about Guilty Gear, though it's mostly him asking the questions: how long I've been playing, how I knew about Mikado, etc. When I mention that I learned a lot by watching videos on Nico and Youtube, he asks what players I know of. Naturally, I start listing Johnny players first. Satou, Suzume, DC, etc. He misheard DC as Dizzy, then starts asking about what Dizzy players I know. I then correct him (rather garishly): "No, DC".

He laughs, and says in English: "He's crazy".

We step outside to talk more (and so he can smoke), when he compliments me by saying I'm a strong player, and that I play similarly to DC. My sense of pride and ~10% win ratio both say otherwise, but I accept the compliment graciously.

Once he finished smoking, we went in to play a few more games before I left. We had all agreed to enter the team tournament that upcoming Saturday, so I had already set up my second visit to Mikado.