Really cool EVO this year, unfortunately I couldn't go because the family has a vacation planned for Taiwan during November so money is really tight. Had to watch everything on stream pretty much. Historic event for Melty players, as it was the first time MB was a major event at Evolution.
Melty had 146 entrants, so it was divided into 4 pools. Unfortunately Pool 1 and 4 were extremely stacked, so many good players weren't able to make it to Top 8. Sadly Melty got no stream time at all pre-Top 8, which was expected, but EVO also did not let the community set up their own personal streams because of G4 or something like that... pretty dumb if you ask me.
Garu and Chelsea from Japan were able to make it over for this event, which is pretty amazing. On Thursday night, Tempered set up a casuals stream and Garu basically ran a train on everyone, only losing once to Brandino during a 4-5 hour period. Before coming over, Garu stated on IRC that he was starting to play H-Kohaku more than his main(H-VSion), but I was expecting him to play HVS over here since he would be more familiar with the character. H-VSion is also considerably easier to play, and I thought that Garu would get frustrated over the PS2 input buffer and not play H-Kohaku. But he proved me wrong and stuck to his guns, and also played a bit of H-Shiki as well.
Chelsea is Garu's friend, and is nowhere near as well known but he has appeared in a couple of videos. He plays F-Arc in videos, but he was able to run a bunch of characters at EVO like C-Shiki, C-Arc, and C-Sion. I was expecting him to be a bit stronger, but he ended up being about mid-level by US standards. Chelsea however was hilarious and provided some amazing commentary, and it seemed like everybody really enjoyed hanging out with him.
The final top 8 for Melty was pretty much what I expected, although I was expecting bell and sp00ky to get farther in their pools. Top 8 for Melty was unfortunately streamed first on Sunday at 10AM in the morning, but people were able to get up for it and I think it peaked at around 14K viewers. Stream was handled very well, though apparently the player camera was broken so we couldn't get shots of player reactions and the commentator's table like all the other games. bell did a great job commentating and keeping it clean for the EVO stream, but Sp00ky was obviously very tired from streaming SSFIV the previous night so he was pretty quiet. Some people captured some of the matches of the stream and put them on Youtube, but the vids are mostly 1)incomplete and/or 2)bad quality. Luckily someone saved it on JustinTV.
http://www.justin.tv/unowner/b/266597281
http://www.justin.tv/unowner/b/266603408
Very exciting Top 8, as almost every match was amazing. Unfortunately the Grand finals between LordKnight and Garu was terrible as not only was it an H-Kohaku mirror, both players' execution just went down the drain so it was dropped combos everywhere. Very ugly finals, and sadly it gave the impression to many non-MBAA players that the game was very broken. I feel that LK should have chosen a different character, like C-Warc, after he lost the first set, since Garu plays regularly with the best Japanese H-Kohaku, Hagi. It would have also made the grand finals a lot more interesting as well.
Melty getting into this year's EVO was kind of a miracle, and I don't see Melty getting back in ever again, but it seems like the game was able to make an overall good impression. From what I heard, Garu and Chelsea seemed to have a very good time so maybe they can encourage more Japanese players to travel over here in the future.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
BlazBlue
BB is Arc Systems Works' newest fighting game series. From the very beginning, it looked to be very Guilty Gear inspired, from the artstyle down to the character designs, Ragna and Jin being the most obvious. Many people thought it was going to be Guilty Gear's successor, but it turned out to be a very different game.
My opinion of BlazBlue is of intense disappointment. I really wanted to like the game, and I had a lot of faith that it was going to be great since the creators of Guilty Gear were making it. Anyway, I guess I'll start with what Blazblue did right.
The presentation and graphics. The game looks gorgeous, the sprites are really detailed, and like Guilty Gear there's an all-star voice acting cast to support the characters. All of the winscreens are voiced, and Rachel, Litchi, Ragna, and Taokaka in particular have great performances.
The amount of support that ArcSys and its American counterpart AkSys are pouring into promoting the game is amazing. I really wish that all fighting games had the same advertising campaign as BB. To mention only a few things, BB has a semi-frequent radio show called Bururaji, it has an official comic that is also translated, the BB website has 4komas and also has special images everytime a character's birthday comes up, and the limited edition American release of the game came with a tutorial DVD created by the top US Blazblue players.
BB also has, without a doubt, the best console port of a fighting game I have ever seen. The netplay is good(for console fighting game standards, at least), the training mode is great and has tons of options, and lastly I should mention the story mode. While BB's story isn't exactly a very deep one, it avoids the story that 99% of all other fighting games have, where someone organizes a big tournament to see who's the strongest warrior or whatnot. The story mode in BB is perfectly executed, as a somewhat complex plot like BB's is best told in the visual novel style. The Teach Me Miss Litchi tutorial segments are also golden.
Unfortunately, the good stuff ends here. BB fails in the most important department, which is its merit as a fighting game. As a fighting game, BB is terrible: it is not fun to play or watch, the gameplay is clunky, and characters spend way too much time in the air as opposed to the ground. The game honestly reminds me much more of Melty Blood than it does Guilty Gear. It's really clear that Mori wanted to make BB a very different game than GG; however, I get the impression that some of his design decisions were made just for the sake of being different, without really thinking them through. One prime example is being able to throw during hit and blockstun, which is pretty much unheard of in fighting games. While this doesn't seem like a big deal at first because of the much wider throw break window for these type of throws, it led to things like Carl's clap-loop infinite in Calamity Trigger. The burst system was horribly handled in CT, and the new bursts are just as bad in CS.
I also have to mention the ukemi system. There are no true knockdowns in BlazBlue, as every knockdown that can't be comboed after is ground techable and rollable, like Vampire Savior. While this doesn't seem like a problem at first, it is indeed one because BB is a very slow paced game. Many characters can't punish tech rolls, and the slow nature of the game makes it very difficult to maintain offense after an opponent rolling, in contrast to Vampire Savior where the attacker can still maintain pressure after a roll because of the frantic pacing. This pretty much makes BB have very little in the way of okizeme, with some exceptions. In an interview with Mori before the first iteration of BB came out, he stated that he did not want the game to center around okizeme and knockdowns, so it seems this was intentional. He probably wanted the game to not be as momentum based as Guilty Gear, and have the focus be in the neutral game. However, it doesn't work out because the neutral game is extremely shallow and sluggish, as jumping is way too strong and throws are terrible.
The balance in BB is also really terrible. In both Calamity Trigger and Continuum Shift, it's the case of the top tier characters being really good and braindead, while the bottom tier characters are horrible. The gaps between the tiers are huge and the tournament results are a good reflection of this.
BB is also pretty notorious for being an extremely easy game, lowering the execution requirements a la Street Fighter IV. While I don't exactly have a problem with making games easier, I do feel that BB went too far in lowering the execution barrier. Not every game has to be as hard as Hokuto no Ken or Eternal Fighter Zero, but being able to hold a button for 5 frames to get a repeat input is silly, and the easy barrier/throw option select on defense makes blocking way too strong in this already slow paced game.
I should also mention the sound in this game.. to be more specific, the voice looping. BB has the worst voice looping I have ever heard in any fighting game. Characters talk way too much, as they have voice clips every time they attack, move, and block. They even say stuff when they're idle. Voice clips repeat and cut each other off. For example, a character that has the clip "Muda yo" when blocking... if you made them block a multi hit blockstring, you would then hear something like m-m-m-mu-mu-muda yo. Rachel is easily the biggest offender, since there's basically three people talking everytime she does something.
So yes, disappointment. Or rather, wasted potential. There are so many good things about BlazBlue(like Litchi!), but unfortunately BB fails when it comes to the most important things about fighting games: the gameplay. I remember when people were just discovering the little details of the plot and the game presentation(like all the character specific quotes and the intricate story mode), calling BB a fighting game with visual novel elements. However, the way the game is now, it's really the other way around.
My opinion of BlazBlue is of intense disappointment. I really wanted to like the game, and I had a lot of faith that it was going to be great since the creators of Guilty Gear were making it. Anyway, I guess I'll start with what Blazblue did right.
The presentation and graphics. The game looks gorgeous, the sprites are really detailed, and like Guilty Gear there's an all-star voice acting cast to support the characters. All of the winscreens are voiced, and Rachel, Litchi, Ragna, and Taokaka in particular have great performances.
The amount of support that ArcSys and its American counterpart AkSys are pouring into promoting the game is amazing. I really wish that all fighting games had the same advertising campaign as BB. To mention only a few things, BB has a semi-frequent radio show called Bururaji, it has an official comic that is also translated, the BB website has 4komas and also has special images everytime a character's birthday comes up, and the limited edition American release of the game came with a tutorial DVD created by the top US Blazblue players.
BB also has, without a doubt, the best console port of a fighting game I have ever seen. The netplay is good(for console fighting game standards, at least), the training mode is great and has tons of options, and lastly I should mention the story mode. While BB's story isn't exactly a very deep one, it avoids the story that 99% of all other fighting games have, where someone organizes a big tournament to see who's the strongest warrior or whatnot. The story mode in BB is perfectly executed, as a somewhat complex plot like BB's is best told in the visual novel style. The Teach Me Miss Litchi tutorial segments are also golden.
Unfortunately, the good stuff ends here. BB fails in the most important department, which is its merit as a fighting game. As a fighting game, BB is terrible: it is not fun to play or watch, the gameplay is clunky, and characters spend way too much time in the air as opposed to the ground. The game honestly reminds me much more of Melty Blood than it does Guilty Gear. It's really clear that Mori wanted to make BB a very different game than GG; however, I get the impression that some of his design decisions were made just for the sake of being different, without really thinking them through. One prime example is being able to throw during hit and blockstun, which is pretty much unheard of in fighting games. While this doesn't seem like a big deal at first because of the much wider throw break window for these type of throws, it led to things like Carl's clap-loop infinite in Calamity Trigger. The burst system was horribly handled in CT, and the new bursts are just as bad in CS.
I also have to mention the ukemi system. There are no true knockdowns in BlazBlue, as every knockdown that can't be comboed after is ground techable and rollable, like Vampire Savior. While this doesn't seem like a problem at first, it is indeed one because BB is a very slow paced game. Many characters can't punish tech rolls, and the slow nature of the game makes it very difficult to maintain offense after an opponent rolling, in contrast to Vampire Savior where the attacker can still maintain pressure after a roll because of the frantic pacing. This pretty much makes BB have very little in the way of okizeme, with some exceptions. In an interview with Mori before the first iteration of BB came out, he stated that he did not want the game to center around okizeme and knockdowns, so it seems this was intentional. He probably wanted the game to not be as momentum based as Guilty Gear, and have the focus be in the neutral game. However, it doesn't work out because the neutral game is extremely shallow and sluggish, as jumping is way too strong and throws are terrible.
The balance in BB is also really terrible. In both Calamity Trigger and Continuum Shift, it's the case of the top tier characters being really good and braindead, while the bottom tier characters are horrible. The gaps between the tiers are huge and the tournament results are a good reflection of this.
BB is also pretty notorious for being an extremely easy game, lowering the execution requirements a la Street Fighter IV. While I don't exactly have a problem with making games easier, I do feel that BB went too far in lowering the execution barrier. Not every game has to be as hard as Hokuto no Ken or Eternal Fighter Zero, but being able to hold a button for 5 frames to get a repeat input is silly, and the easy barrier/throw option select on defense makes blocking way too strong in this already slow paced game.
I should also mention the sound in this game.. to be more specific, the voice looping. BB has the worst voice looping I have ever heard in any fighting game. Characters talk way too much, as they have voice clips every time they attack, move, and block. They even say stuff when they're idle. Voice clips repeat and cut each other off. For example, a character that has the clip "Muda yo" when blocking... if you made them block a multi hit blockstring, you would then hear something like m-m-m-mu-mu-muda yo. Rachel is easily the biggest offender, since there's basically three people talking everytime she does something.
So yes, disappointment. Or rather, wasted potential. There are so many good things about BlazBlue(like Litchi!), but unfortunately BB fails when it comes to the most important things about fighting games: the gameplay. I remember when people were just discovering the little details of the plot and the game presentation(like all the character specific quotes and the intricate story mode), calling BB a fighting game with visual novel elements. However, the way the game is now, it's really the other way around.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Utattemita (Part 2)
Some of my favorite covers and originals are:
メルト (Melt)
Vocaloid: Hatsune Miku
Music and Lyrics by: ryo of supercell
ガゼル (Gazelle) cover, 3M mix
ちょうちょ (Choucho) cover, 3M mix
rockleetist cover, 3M mix and English translated lyrics
Gazelle's version is the classic one and easily the most well known cover of Melt. Melt is a ridiculously difficult song, and it's amazing how she can hit all the high notes during the chorus without destroying her voice. Choucho's cover is also amazing, though her voice does falter a bit during some of the high parts. I also included rockleetist's english cover because she does a good job singing it and the english translation is really good.
Just Be Friends
Vocaloid: Megurine Luka
Music and Lyrics by: Dixie Flatline
ちょうちょ (Choucho) cover
うさ (Usa) cover, Band Edition
rockleetist cover, English translated lyrics
Legendary Luka song, the song is about breakup if you can't tell from the title. Choucho's cover is my personal favorite, but Usa's is also really good as I love the Band edition. Also posted rockleetist's cover to see just how depressing the lyrics are! I could never have guessed how sad the song was before I read those lyrics, since the song is so upbeat. However, rockleetist did take a few liberties with the translation, since JBF is originally written from the guy's point of view, but she rewrote the lyrics from the girl's POV. Some people have a big problem with this, but I don't mind it since sometimes it has to be done to keep rhyme and meter.
ルカルカ★ナイトフィーバー (Luka Luka Night Fever)
Vocaloid: Megurine Luka
Music and Lyrics by: samfree
実谷なな (Mitani Nana) cover
Luka Luka Night Fever is a eurobeat song describing her nightlife. I'm not a big fan of eurobeat(I can't stand it, actually), but this song is pretty well written and it fits Luka rather well. This song got so popular that the people on nico actually went and created an elaborate dance routine for it. There's also a vid of Nana Mitani herself trying to dance to herself singing it(by recording, of course).
初めての恋が終わる時 (Hajimete no Koi ga Owaru Toki, or Hatsukoi)
Vocaloid: Hatsune Miku
Music and Lyrics by: ryo of supercell
ちょうちょ (Choucho) cover
IMO the best cover that Choucho has done and the best cover of this particular song. Not much to say, it's a beautiful song and Choucho's performance is spotless as always. I'm not really sure what the song is about that, since the lyrics are kind of vague.
MEGANE
Vocaloid: Megurine Luka
Music and Lyrics by: ultra-noob
ゆず茶 (Yuzucha) cover
Megane is a fairly obscure Luka song. If you think girls with glasses are hot, this is the song for you. I actually don't like Yuzucha very much, but her cover of Megane is pretty much perfect.
ブラック★ロックシューター (Black Rock Shooter)
Vocaloid: Hatsune Miku
Music and Lyrics by: ryo of supercell
ちょうちょ (Choucho) cover, Band Edition
Another legendary Vocaloid song from ryo, this song got so popular that there's going to be an anime about it.
ggrks-ググれカス- (Gugure Kasu)
Vocaloid: Megurine Luka and Kamui Gakupo
Music and Lyrics by: Aamin-P
ヲタみん (Wotamin) and clear cover
This is a really cute song about a guy hitting on a girl on the Internet, asking her silly and personal questions, while the girl responds everytime with Gugure Kasu(Just google it, you moron). Tsundere Luka is delicious, and so is Wotamin's performance.
ワールドイズマイン (World Is Mine)
Vocaloid: Hatsune Miku
Music and Lyrics by: ryo of supercell
うさ (Usa) cover
Quintessential tsundere Miku song portraying her as a princess falling in love.
恋は戦争 (Koi wa Sensou)
Vocaloid: Hatsune Miku
Music and Lyrics by: ryo of supercell
Fye cover
This is an intense song about Miku declaring that one must fight for love. The most popular cover of this song by a Japanese nico artist is Yamai's, but I actually don't like it all that much. I think the best cover is done by Fye, who is actually Russian. Her pronunciation is really good, though not perfect, but it's her performance that blows the other covers out of the water imo.
ニコニコ観測(ββ) (Nico Nico Kansoku)
Based on the song 天体観測 (Tentai Kansoku) by BUMP OF CHICKEN
recog
This is a hilarious song about the life of a nico addict. I can totally relate to it since I spend way too much time on nico myself.
Super Mario RPG Rawest Forest
Based on the song "Rawest Forest" by Martin Hagwell, video by Kirbopher15
"Rawest Forest" an arranged version of 森のキノコにご用心 (Beware the Forest's Mushrooms) on the Super Mario RPG OST
僕太 (Bokuta) cover
One of the coolest things ever. Rawest Forest was a song based on the Forest Maze music from SMRPG about the joys of playing the game. Kirbopher15 made a flash video of it that can still be viewed on Newgrounds, and this video apparently got so popular on Nico that people started covering it.
組曲『ウメハラ動画』 (Kumikyoku Umehara Douga)
Based on the song 組曲『ニコニコ動画』 (Kumikyoku Niconico Douga)
僕太 (Bokuta) cover
This is a hilarious song about the greatness of Daigo Umehara and his dominance in the fighting game scene. The song is based on the that big nico medley that was popular a few years ago. The modified lyrics were written by somebody else; Bokuta supplied the vocals.
メルト (Melt)
Vocaloid: Hatsune Miku
Music and Lyrics by: ryo of supercell
ガゼル (Gazelle) cover, 3M mix
ちょうちょ (Choucho) cover, 3M mix
rockleetist cover, 3M mix and English translated lyrics
Gazelle's version is the classic one and easily the most well known cover of Melt. Melt is a ridiculously difficult song, and it's amazing how she can hit all the high notes during the chorus without destroying her voice. Choucho's cover is also amazing, though her voice does falter a bit during some of the high parts. I also included rockleetist's english cover because she does a good job singing it and the english translation is really good.
Just Be Friends
Vocaloid: Megurine Luka
Music and Lyrics by: Dixie Flatline
ちょうちょ (Choucho) cover
うさ (Usa) cover, Band Edition
rockleetist cover, English translated lyrics
Legendary Luka song, the song is about breakup if you can't tell from the title. Choucho's cover is my personal favorite, but Usa's is also really good as I love the Band edition. Also posted rockleetist's cover to see just how depressing the lyrics are! I could never have guessed how sad the song was before I read those lyrics, since the song is so upbeat. However, rockleetist did take a few liberties with the translation, since JBF is originally written from the guy's point of view, but she rewrote the lyrics from the girl's POV. Some people have a big problem with this, but I don't mind it since sometimes it has to be done to keep rhyme and meter.
ルカルカ★ナイトフィーバー (Luka Luka Night Fever)
Vocaloid: Megurine Luka
Music and Lyrics by: samfree
実谷なな (Mitani Nana) cover
Luka Luka Night Fever is a eurobeat song describing her nightlife. I'm not a big fan of eurobeat(I can't stand it, actually), but this song is pretty well written and it fits Luka rather well. This song got so popular that the people on nico actually went and created an elaborate dance routine for it. There's also a vid of Nana Mitani herself trying to dance to herself singing it(by recording, of course).
初めての恋が終わる時 (Hajimete no Koi ga Owaru Toki, or Hatsukoi)
Vocaloid: Hatsune Miku
Music and Lyrics by: ryo of supercell
ちょうちょ (Choucho) cover
IMO the best cover that Choucho has done and the best cover of this particular song. Not much to say, it's a beautiful song and Choucho's performance is spotless as always. I'm not really sure what the song is about that, since the lyrics are kind of vague.
MEGANE
Vocaloid: Megurine Luka
Music and Lyrics by: ultra-noob
ゆず茶 (Yuzucha) cover
Megane is a fairly obscure Luka song. If you think girls with glasses are hot, this is the song for you. I actually don't like Yuzucha very much, but her cover of Megane is pretty much perfect.
ブラック★ロックシューター (Black Rock Shooter)
Vocaloid: Hatsune Miku
Music and Lyrics by: ryo of supercell
ちょうちょ (Choucho) cover, Band Edition
Another legendary Vocaloid song from ryo, this song got so popular that there's going to be an anime about it.
ggrks-ググれカス- (Gugure Kasu)
Vocaloid: Megurine Luka and Kamui Gakupo
Music and Lyrics by: Aamin-P
ヲタみん (Wotamin) and clear cover
This is a really cute song about a guy hitting on a girl on the Internet, asking her silly and personal questions, while the girl responds everytime with Gugure Kasu(Just google it, you moron). Tsundere Luka is delicious, and so is Wotamin's performance.
ワールドイズマイン (World Is Mine)
Vocaloid: Hatsune Miku
Music and Lyrics by: ryo of supercell
うさ (Usa) cover
Quintessential tsundere Miku song portraying her as a princess falling in love.
恋は戦争 (Koi wa Sensou)
Vocaloid: Hatsune Miku
Music and Lyrics by: ryo of supercell
Fye cover
This is an intense song about Miku declaring that one must fight for love. The most popular cover of this song by a Japanese nico artist is Yamai's, but I actually don't like it all that much. I think the best cover is done by Fye, who is actually Russian. Her pronunciation is really good, though not perfect, but it's her performance that blows the other covers out of the water imo.
ニコニコ観測(ββ) (Nico Nico Kansoku)
Based on the song 天体観測 (Tentai Kansoku) by BUMP OF CHICKEN
recog
This is a hilarious song about the life of a nico addict. I can totally relate to it since I spend way too much time on nico myself.
Super Mario RPG Rawest Forest
Based on the song "Rawest Forest" by Martin Hagwell, video by Kirbopher15
"Rawest Forest" an arranged version of 森のキノコにご用心 (Beware the Forest's Mushrooms) on the Super Mario RPG OST
僕太 (Bokuta) cover
One of the coolest things ever. Rawest Forest was a song based on the Forest Maze music from SMRPG about the joys of playing the game. Kirbopher15 made a flash video of it that can still be viewed on Newgrounds, and this video apparently got so popular on Nico that people started covering it.
組曲『ウメハラ動画』 (Kumikyoku Umehara Douga)
Based on the song 組曲『ニコニコ動画』 (Kumikyoku Niconico Douga)
僕太 (Bokuta) cover
This is a hilarious song about the greatness of Daigo Umehara and his dominance in the fighting game scene. The song is based on the that big nico medley that was popular a few years ago. The modified lyrics were written by somebody else; Bokuta supplied the vocals.
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