The State of Now and Things to Come

It took me much longer than I wanted to get around to writing this. Though it may have been for the best, as I can now compress what was going to be 3+ posts into one.

Where do we start?

I still play +R when I can. Having to take several month long breaks at a time due to work is a downer, but it does help in some ways. Instead of playing too much and "burning out" (something I'm sure a lot of people reading this have experienced), I get to jump into the game cold a few times a year. This approach, while not ideal for a few reasons, does have its upsides. Namely, you get a chance to re-create your playstyle on the fly; whatever old habits/tactics you may have forgotten will come back to you when you need them, but until then, the gaps are being filled with tactics that are pertinent to whatever matchups you're currently playing. It's actually been tremendously helpful with learning a few matchups I had been struggling with.

I started playing Gundam again on a whim. I had only played Full Boost a few times since I'd been in Japan, and I basically ignored Maxi Boost for the first month or so due to the crazy queues. I jumped in on a free play shuffle at GameSpot Versus a few weeks ago and didn't do so bad once I remembered how to play. It is odd to think that to date, I've still spent more time playing NEXT than any other Gundam VS. That NEXT experience helped a bit though, as Epyon really hasn't changed much from that game, and is even a little stronger, I think. I'll probably start putting Gundam on my arcade rotation; DOA5 has already become stale, anyways.

Speaking of GameSpot Versus, I went there a few months ago on a Sunday and found myself in the middle of something that I wasn't even sure existed anymore: a KOF98 ranbat.

I had actually never played OG98 in Japan at that point, only UMFE a few times here and there. The show of players was pretty impressive, and in typical 98 fashion, the cast representation was excellent. As you'd expect, there were quite a few older players there, but there was no shortage of younger players, either.

The highlight for me by far was witnessing one guy OCV two players with Shermie, in tournament! I had never seen anyone use st.C quite the way this guy did, which was inspiring to me as a Shermie player.

I decided to play a few games, not expecting to win, obviously. I just wanted to see how well I'd fare, and maybe learn something new.

As it turns out, I came away with a new appreciation for something I never gave 98 due credit for: it is an incredibly timing intensive game. I think this has to do with the fact that I had never actually played KOF98 on a Neo-Geo before. Before then, I had mostly played the game via FBA, and online, at that. Needless to say, the difference is immediately apparent. I found that I actually knew the right answers in a lot of situations, I was just horribly mistiming everything. As I caught on to this I started to play much better, but still didn't end up winning against the guy I was playing.

The unfortunate truth of the matter is that, no matter how much that may have made me want to play 98 again, the game is really quite dead over here. KOF in general is already a tough sell in Japan, and 02UM is the only one with a sizable playerbase. It's a shame, because I wouldn't mind picking up where I left off in that game.

Which brings me to the other game I once thought I'd be playing much more than I am now: Virtua Fighter 5.

To say this game is dead is an understatement. When I first came to Japan, most arcades had a token VF cab, with a few arcades sporting entire rows of VF. Since then, VF cabinets have been slowly disappearing to make room for DOA5 and TTT2. One of my favorite arcades (Pasopiard Yokohama) ended up getting rid of all their VF cabs earlier this year. This now means that in order to even find a VF cabinet, I now have to go all the way up to Akihabara. This isn't to say that I don't go to Akihabara frequently anyways, but it's hardly a stone's throw from where I am.

That's not even the beginning of it. Back when there were local cabinets, it was a pain to find anyone that wanted to play, anyways. Every so once in awhile there'd be a half-decent player, but past that it was very difficult to find anyone outside of the few VF hotspots. A game like +R still manages to attract a few people at most arcades (even now that Xrd is out), which is good enough for a weekday night. All of this signaled a very clear message to me: VF is dead.

I feel like a large part of the problem is that Final Showdown really wasn't the game it should've been. While I do like most of the system changes it brought, there were more than a few questionable choices made in regards to character design: did Akira really did a full circular jumpkick? Did Jacky's iaigeri really need to launch on normal hit? These kinds of things wouldn't be too bad if over half the cast wasn't near-unplayable and forced to rely on gimmicks to win. It's easy to say now that the game needed more playtesting, but I don't see how a lot of this stuff wasn't caught early on, especially considering how well 5R and even 5 Ver. C were balanced. Perhaps this was just Sega's way of getting over a game they were tired of working on? I can only hope that the future holds better things for VF, at this point.

Now we come to the most important part of this entry: my thoughts on Guilty Gear Xrd.

If you've been following the Xrd forums on Dustloop at all this year, you've probably seen me posting about the game. Some of the information I posted around the game's launch was admittedly incorrect, but at the time all we had to go on was speculation, experience, and whatever the training mode monsters found (a group to which I definitely don't belong). Now that frame data has been published and translated (big ups to the translation team, I know how hard that can be to coordinate), we can start working more in concrete, less in "what if".

So, what about Xrd? It is a lot of things, and yet there are a lot of things it is not. It is a good game; we'll just get that out of the way right now. It's decently balanced, and I feel it has the potential to really be something great. But it's not there yet, if you ask me. It is also not a replacement for GGXX. While it is very much a Guilty Gear game, it doesn't recreate many of the things that made the XX series so good.

I'll spare you the complaints and cut to the chase: ASW needs to figure out the direction they want to take Xrd, and they need to run with it once they do. I see the benefits of the new Roman Cancel properties and how they can be applied to create new mixup situations that didn't exist before. The problem is that as of right now, a lot of YRC mixups amount to little more than the most basic of FRC mixups that existed in XX, only with slowdown. I also don't appreciate the option selects that YRC's have created so far, the most egregious of them being the mid-combo burst safe YRC OS. While there were characters in XX that had FRC's that allowed for burst safe combos, they were different in that you always had to commit to whatever move you FRC'd, and that was often the only burst safe point in the combo (there are, as always, exceptions). In Xrd, all you have to do to keep your combo burst safe is be between 25-50% tension and press three buttons at once: if they don't burst, you get the weakest button you pressed. If they did burst, you YRC nothing and punish accordingly.

Before you start making excuses for the game and saying things like "Just don't burst", let's not forget another game we used to make that same excuse for.

Things like this aren't that hard to fix, and it's likely that we will see a solution to this in the next iteration of the game. I just hope that it comes sooner rather than later.

Again, I want to reiterate that I like Xrd. It's not like one bullshit option select is ruining the game for me. It's more so that I see Xrd as a game that is more ambitious than its creators wanted it to be. It has a radically re-vamped system that brings with it a whole slew of new possibilities that only a series like Guilty Gear would have the gall to explore, yet a cast of characters too straightforward and bland to even begin to fully explore them. There's probably a few reasons as to why that is, and not wanting to overwhelm newcomers to the series is likely on the top of that list. I'm fine with that, as long as the game evolves in a way that takes advantage of the new system more than it currently does.

On a final note, words do not describe how beautiful a game Xrd is. The animation wizards at ASW clearly spent a lot of time and effort in making the character models move as elegantly as the sprites that preceded them, while taking full advantage of the kinds of effects that can only be done in 3D. If it weren't for the PS4's current state of incompatibility with PS3 sticks, I'd likely buy one just to play this game at 1080p. As it stands, the arcade version runs at 720p and still looks incredible, so don't feel too left out if you're in the same boat as me.

There's still more I want to write about, but that will wait for another day. In the meantime, I'll be working on a few posts in the near future, including my more recent visits to Mikado, and why Guilty Gear is the best fighting game ever made (you haven't heard anything like it, I promise). Stay tuned!

Hindsight Isn't Upscaled

I was recently invited to play vanilla VF5 online. It had been awhile since I last played vanilla, so I figured; sure, why not?

Upon playing the game for the first time in at least a year, I immediately noticed something as soon as the first match started: this game looks like shit. Like, not even just a little bad, it looks fucking awful. In fact, if I had to guess, I'd say that this game isn't being upscaled at all.

How? How did Sega release such an awful looking port? How did nobody notice it sooner? I at least had the excuse of playing on various dying CRT monitors from the early 00's before now. This game was released in late 2007 for the 360, and as I recall, there were plenty of 1080p displays on the market back then. Even on a 720p display, I highly doubt it would look any better since the 360's internal resolution is lower than that.

Just to be sure, I checked the back of the case, and it does say it supports 1080p. If this was Sega's idea of support back then, I shudder to think of what other games of the time offered the same kind of "support".

Unfortunately, I don't have any capture equipment and my camera kinda sucks, so bear with me here. These pictures aren't the best, but if you look closely you can see where vanilla looks awful and where FS fixes it (Jacky's feet are a good example). It's much more prominent in person, obviously, so if you have both games, I implore you to see for yourself. This is almost as big of a difference as the PC port of Dark Souls, pre and post patch.

Guess Who's Back, Back Again

I was getting burned out on fighting games for a bit. KOFXIII had already started to get a bit old even though I hadn't even entered a tournament yet, and Guilty Gear had turned into a rhythm game as far as I was concerned. I couldn't bring myself to want to play anything with two life bars. Sad times, I know.

So, I did what any sensible person would do and built a PC. Now, I was able to play Counter-Strike day and night like I did back when I was in middle school. Except now I had decent internet, a computer that could run it above 800x600, and a mouse that didn't suck. I got accused of hacking (more than once, lol), I defused some fucking bombs, but most importantly, I had fun. All was well.

Then one day, around the time I made my last post, I got a text from a guy I knew from a friend in high school asking if I wanted to play KOFXIII with him and a friend in Cupertino. Well, what better things was I going to do? Not fully knowing what to expect, I went along.

Little did I know, I was soon going to be a member of a fledgling South Bay fighting game community. One that wasn't tainted with false egos, bad attitudes or people that generally rub you the wrong way. Where people can be brutally honest all the time and it can be appreciated- met with laughter, even.

Recently, we've come up with a name for ourselves: The South Bay Cult.

It's just some guys in some guy's living room, but that's exactly what it needs to be. On the big screen, people get mad at Marvel 3 (and sometimes Marvel 2). At the kitchen table, KOFXIII and NGBC are holding it down. And last, but not least, the corner of the room has a four player SSBM setup, where "lag" means recovery.

The guy that hosts it is just the kind of guy that would host something like this; laid back but entertaining. Make no mistake though: even though it's a relaxed environment, everyone here is looking to improve and expand their horizons. Marvel/Smash players are now picking up KOF (thanks in no small part to yours truly), and I'm even thinking of putting more than ten minutes into Marvel 3 one of these days. Maybe.

If our idea for a stream takes off, I'll be sure to link it on the sidebar. You won't be disappointed, trust me.

This is all fine and dandy, but we're just getting started. The meat of this post has to do with my experience at two tournaments that were only a week apart from each other: Super Norcal Install and Norcal Regionals.

This is the part where I remember why I love fighting games and regain my motivation.

For me, SNCI was a test. I had to get as many wins as I possibly could in Guilty Gear against the best player in the room. Little did I know, the one and only Mike Z was there to promote his Suicide Girls fighting game. He seemed far more interested in playing GG, however; especially so once he started playing me.

Playing Mike Z showed me a few things. First and foremost, that American Potemkins are nothing to be afraid of, which I had already started to suspect awhile ago. None of them know the Johnny matchup (how it's supposed to be played, at least), and many of them take huge risks that they think are safe as a result. Secondly, that even the best American players lack defense in unfamiliar situations. Lastly, that you should never, ever, assume your opponent will respect you unless you have good reason to. Half of the reason I gave away as many rounds as I did was because I assumed he'd be afraid to press buttons after blocking a coin. Hah! In any case, I've learned my lesson, and I'll be ready the next time I play him.

In one of our later matches, I was able to get a reaction out of an otherwise stoic Mike Z. I had hit him with a counter hit 5K and I had full meter, so I just kept doing 5K 5HS MSDJ on him. Then, at the end, I did a Low Level 2 into TK Enkasu for corner knockdown. As soon as this happened:

Mike Z: "Was that intentional?"
Me: "Uh, yeah."
Mike Z: "That was cool as hell!"

Here I am, some fucking nobody that never leaves his house, being complimented on his Guilty Gear play by internet fanboy fap fodder Mike Z. Worse yet, for the easy part of an otherwise "match impractical" combo. What is this world coming to?

Once we sat down for dinner on Sunday night, we were able to talk for a bit. He's a cool guy; very passionate about his work yet unassuming. I had hoped for and expected as much.

Still, we weren't quite done with our hilarious exchanges just yet. Once I told him who I was on Dustloop:

Mike Z: "You're qwerty?"
Me: "Yeah."
Mike Z: "Oh God."
Me: *laughs* "What, have I made you mad before?"
Mike Z: "No, it's just that you post like an idiot on purpose."

At that point, I lost it.

There were other strong players at SNCI, but doing as well against Mike Z as I did was a rite of passage, especially considering how ridiculously hard I used to struggle in that matchup. I hope I get to play him again soon. Maybe at Frosty Faustings?

I arrived at NCR around 3PM on Saturday, not being registered for anything, just wanting to get some casuals in. I knew there would be VF5:FS there in some form, but I didn't expect five (!) setups open for casuals.

I went right in to FS having spotty memory as to how the system's changed from Ver. C. I remembered my good friend from NYC told me FS was essentially VF4's offense with VF5's defense, so I just pretended I was playing VF4 at first. And hey, it worked! I did a lot better than I thought I would, and ended up winning my first match against Dennis, who, make no mistake about it, is damn good at the game.

And I thought I was going to do bad.

It may have helped that my main, Jacky, isn't much different than how he was in Ver. C, and is in fact a bit stronger (people are saying he's high tier, which he already kind of was before). Regardless, that wasn't the only win I manged to get- far from it, in fact. The same people that were destroying me the last time I played them (which was literally four years ago, yikes) were now losing to my absolutely ruthless offense. However, the matches I lost were lost for one reason, and it's a fundamental weakness I have in every fighting game right now: defense.

Everyone that plays against me in VF tells me the same thing: "You fuzzy too much". Well, yeah, I don't wanna get thrown, dummy. I also don't want to eat a mid. So, why wouldn't I fuzzy?

Well, because if they choose to not do either of those things, you're kind of giving them a free opportunity to position themselves and at the very least put you back on the defensive. At most, they'll hit you with one of those stupid 16 frame throws that does 100 damage. Luckily, I only got hit by Wolftemkin Buster once or twice, but still.

Overall, I'm loving FS. Throws are still strong, just not in the stupid way they were in Ver. C. Low throws are way more threatening now, too. I was getting especially wrecked by Taka, who is genuinely infuriating to fight against because no canned strings score knockdown on him. I'm sure I'll get used to it once I have my hands on the game, but, you know, obligatory new game bitching.

As if I haven't already written enough, I still have to talk about KOF. I finally met and hung out with Laban, who is seriously one of the coolest people on the planet. We played some KOF98 on his absolutely shit-tastic laptop, in which he extensively bullied me with alt guard and O. Chris.

When we played KOFXIII, however, it was a different story. As he put it, I was making better decisions. I told him it was because KOFXIII is easy. And, honestly, it is. You don't have to have anywhere near the kind of knowledge to play footsies in XIII as you do in 98, simply because the hitboxes don't extend you as far (at least, that's what I suspect). Nothing against XIII, because both myself and Laban agree that it's a great game, but it really isn't as close to older KOF titles as many people seem to think it is.

During Top 8, I invited the Team Chaos guys to come downstairs and play casuals with us once the tournament was over. They came down at some point, but they didn't play as far as I know. Shame, because I would've loved to play against them all. Maybe they were tired and really wanted to go home. Maybe they didn't want to waste their time on scrubs. I'm glad they came; I just wish I had a chance to play against them. Oh well.

As for the immediate future, I'm afraid all I can say is that I will probably be attending Frosty Faustings (or, as I like to call it, Guilty Gear Christmas) since there's a good chance I'll be living in Chicago later this year. I may or may not make another post between now and when I leave. As always, I'm taking a wait-and-see approach. If I do, though, expect it to be an article about my single favorite mechanic in all of fighting games. I'll give you a hint: Guilty Gear and Virtua Fighter are the only games that have it.