gear-project

[gear-project]

We got ourselves a Starter Guide.

Lucy’s a new character, but I’ll put this in the Movelist+Evolution tag anyway for convenience.

(GP’s note: The Quickhack functionality reminds me of Baiken’s old Baku Seals in Accent Core.)

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Gaming Loyalties.

There was a point where I felt I had convinced myself that Guilty Gear was the last fighting game I would ever play.

Call it burn out, exhaustion, or the feelings of old age.

But most recently Strive has been silently reminding me of all the past fighting games I got in to, not because of what the game has, but what it lacked.

I have been on a regular grind in Soul Calibur VI of late, forging weapons, earning gold, pushing my skill to further heights in that game.

Injustice 2, I still grind away to make the best outfits. I may even go back to playing Mortal Kombat 11 in the future.

Under Night in Birth, a story I want to dive back in to with its latest entry. Melty Blood Type Lumina, which I had only just scratched the surface of when my PC was still working. Dragonball FighterZ, while not entirely fondly remembered, still engaged me.

Samurai Shodown, GG’s predecessor, even in its simplest state as of the latest game, still continues to push onward.

Skullgirls, a game I own but barely comprehend, BlazBlue Crosstag and Central Fiction, two games I won’t give up any time soon.

Ikemen, the modern interpretation of M.u.g.e.n., something I have yet to explore, and of course Street Fighter 6, Virtua Fighter, Dead or Alive, DnF Duel, Tekken 8, and the Capcom fighting collections.

I still play Strive with the hope that the future will be better, but even Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising has disappointed me, so I cannot say I am not somewhat bitter and cynical.

Of course, not as bitter as I was in the days of Street Fighter IV, but it seems that in these modern times, it’s hard to predict what results will continue to engage me and the people around me.

Even Fatal Fury and Marvel Tokon may disappoint some, but in my case, I no longer feel AS GUILTY in shifting my loyalties to the games that matter to me.

Don’t misunderstand however: Xrd, Accent Core, Missing Link, Isuka, all those games forged an essential LINK in a chain that has bound itself around me and DEFINES me. Those definitions of GG won’t ever leave my soul, which continues to BURN.

Am I disappointed? In the current state of gaming it would be easy to say “yes”, but I am looking towards the future and what I see isn’t the end of the story, but yet another chapter in the saga.

For all I know, I may not live to see the true conclusion!

Just as 1983 brought a Great Crash to gaming, lessons evolved from it, games evolved from it, we might yet see such an upheaval once more very soon! Developers have to make mistakes in order to grow, despite ambitions and what they “strive” for.

To me it was never about strictly money or entertainment, but I see these ambitious ideas and wonder how many branching paths will they produce? Some paths lead to mistakes, while others lead to improvement and innovation.

My legacy is founded on content, not balance, not netplay, not even netcode or social media. The World Tours, Edge Master Quests, and the Medals of Millionaires I have earned, will always be a part of me, even the Robo Ky Factory for what it was.

Others’ standards and tastes will obviously be different, but I sincerely think there will come a day when people see the values I see in games that need to be brought back in earnest.

Not all imbalances are chaos, not all netplay defines a fighting game, rosters are NOT more important than offline content. These lessons are what has been cultivated in me in these current times.

I just wonder who will truly hear them?

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Japanese culture got sequestered because of the quarantine, but despite this a lot of individuals take a great deal of inspiration from Japanese culture.

Chipp’s Eastern Chipp Kingdom, despite being situated in South Africa holds an annual Haiku contest, and much of Chipp’s taste is a variant offshoot of Japanese food standards.

Izuna has much of his origins based in Japanese mythology, but on the flipside, he has no particular language or dialect.

Nagoriyuki was born in Nigeria, but raised mostly in ancient Japan.

Then there’s Axl Low, it’s not explicit, but the GG Bible hints that his Girlfriend Megumi Saito is Japanese. Axl’s fighting style is also very Japanese despite him originating from England. Axl’s also recently Time Slipped to the Warring States period of Japan (as told in the Dual Rulers anime). Johnny’s Iaido sword draw style is also very Japanese in origin.

Despite Japan’s destruction, its people and traditions still remain in tact. It was these very traditions that helped save the world when Kum Haehyun used the energy from a massive Sakura Tree to maintain the people’s stability while Sol Badguy fought the Universal Will as Ariels.

I still think it’s really funny that in Guilty Gear, Japan is kind of culturally dead but in Blazblue, Japan is probably the most culturally dominant force in the world. These two paths for Japan in the post-apocalypse

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It’s my Birthday, so as per tradition, I upload my favorite music to the blog, just cuz I feel like it! I hope you enjoy it too!

[gear-project]

. . .

More on the discussion of GG Fanart:

—Criticizing older character designs, while an opinion, is better done by expressing them in outfits of your own creations. Then you can get your own constructive critiques.

—Backlash fanart is a thing, so drawing popular characters in an angst situation is legitimate, but it does make people question if you’re a sadist or not. Some characters are better at angst expression than others, ponder that. By the same token, drawing dark characters in a contrasting positive situation is another possibility.

—I keep saying this, but I feel like not enough fighting game character fanart actually portrays characters in AN ACTUAL BATTLE. You’d be surprised how cool some crossover fights might look in the right setting. Tag Teams, Team Ups against a powerful foe they never faced before. They are fighting game characters, so consider how they fight and what they might do in certain situations.

—Another thing you don’t see as much is the traditional Japanese 4-koma. Light humor, 4 panel comic, very simple but gets a joke across without much effort.

—Yet another idea is to express character development in a single art piece. Consider how character endings in fighting games used to be expressed, all within a single art piece. No text, no words, just art portraying a character at the height of their story and whom they interacted with, a basic arcade style ending vignette.

[gear-project]

Given that Crow was a doctor according to Slayer, Venom reveal to Faust that one of his former colleagues hired the assassin's patient and told to search the head of the UN, and that Crow knows Faust's past. Crow hired Zato on behalf of the Conclave to kill Baldhead's patient?

The overall jist is that the Conclave was using the Bureau to further Faust’s research in to Soul Binding magic as a form of resurrection.

Zato staged the hit as a botched surgery, but his real goal was to silence Faust for good, as the Conclave didn’t want witnesses to their plans. Faust’s patient was a casualty, as Faust was the real assassination target.

While it’s true Crow worked in the Bureau UNDER the Conclave, it’s not made clear how much of Faust’s research he was involved with (though it’s a footnote in a Bureau report that Faust’s survival was a reminder of this project to revive Justice they were working on).

In an ironic twist of fate, Zato is revived from death by the same research Faust once attempted, but as he learned the real plan, Zato could no longer stay a silent witness. (Later we discovered Faust’s research was based on a Tuning method as mentioned by Kum Haehyun).

It’s also true that the Conclave had a firm grip on the United Nations Senate (which might also be one of the reasons Nerville Hammer ended up a U.S. Senator despite his past as a Scientist). Still, how involved Crow was with the U.N., if at all, is never made clear.

It’s also less likely that Crow was the one who ordered the Hit on Faust, as the ambitions of the Conclave themselves were much higher than anything the U.N. Senate could come up with, even any petty sentiment of envy over Faust’s successful career as a Surgeon would be paltry by comparison.

Axus in particular, who wrote the 666 Arcanum, was also making an active effort to censor research on Magic, so to him, Faust was a threat.

Despite all of this, when Faust confronted Chronus, he had only just begun to discover how much his organization had been manipulated. Not just by the Universal Will, but by Happy Chaos as well!

Happy Chaos not only had a hand in orchestrating research on the Japanese people and affecting the quarantine and segregation of the survivors, but it was his connections to Baiken’s past and consequently Bedman (Romeo) and Delilah’s fates that eventually manipulated Bedman in to working and being manipulated by Ariels for various atrocities against the Japanese as part of the plan to wipe out current humanity.

It is a sad irony that the teacher Chronus once looked up to with respect would completely betray those sentiments. Chronus originally simply wanted to save humanity from the Universal Will, but the Sanctus Populi organization he founded was eventually made as a tool for massacre and inhumane research.

But even despite this, the High King of Illyria that Chronus chose would eventually found Vialattea and use his strength and will to completely reform the Conclave and the Sanctus in to the force for good they were originally intended to be.

As for Faust, he has since gone on to save more lives than ever before, and finally obtained a sense of purpose by going back to square one (without sacrificing anything or anyone, not even himself).

We do not know where Crow or even Chaos currently are (which is concerning), but knowing that the world is changing in a more positive way to keep them from causing trouble, is at least the good news. One thing to note about Crow, however, according to Baiken his is a traitor to the Japanese, so his actions might be more closely connected to Happy Chaos’ actions than first glance might suggest.

[gear-project]

. . .

I had noticed recently that GG fanart tends to go through several phases as time goes on:

At the outset there are people who draw a character because of invested interest or curiosity when that character first gets announced as part of the game’s roster.

Later, when it’s made clear that a character may or may not join future rosters, you tend to see fanart from more loyal or fixated fans, or just fans of a single character or pairing (which is what they will typically and regularly draw).

As time continues marching on, you see more high level pro artists come out of the woodwork, who draw specific characters as a rare commission work, or just a situational tribute, or even to celebrate the character’s birthday or some other reason.

You could also include cosplayers in the mix, though their interpretations of character design vary, and some are more skilled than others at costume and cosmetic work to create a desired result. It still takes a level of artistic talent to achieve said goal.

But, see, here’s where things get interesting:

What happens when a character that hasn’t been seen or celebrated by the fanbase in quite some time gets announced as a character in the LATEST game?

Unlike previously, where the character had a smaller collective of fresh opinions subjected to them, you now have a large existing fanbase of creators who begin to shine their spotlights on a character that maybe they didn’t notice as much or pay attention to the first time around.

So a character that might have had a small handful of dedicated fans over the years might suddenly grow in popularity and fanbase size.

I’ve only seen a handful of large works last as long as GG has, so it’s difficult to actually draw comparisons to how fans receive other works as they transition in to modern productions.

But, I seriously think the ones to watch are the ones with the highest most versatile talent, but simultaneously the fans who have been around the longest, as they tend to see these trends in a different way than anyone else! (Not to toot my own horn, or anything!)

It’s when you see the less popular characters begin to shine as bright as the regulars, that’s when you know something good is happening.

[gear-project]

3.5 Million Players, that’s a lot of Hercules Beetles!

[gear-project]

Regarding your last ask: Are you trying to suggest that the Robo-Ky in the trailer is possibly a new model created by our "favorite" shut-in scientist? It would make sense since I doubt that Venom has procured the funds to reconstruct Robo-Ky MK.I.

I make no promises, but Venom’s intro aught to be different at least.

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I did this as a joke tribute, but we’ll see what kind of music Robo Ky actually gets. Hah!

INPUT_COMMAND_FUNCTION_[BIRTHDAY].  DATE_ENTRY_FILE_04_07_2014.

USELESS_HUMANS_DON’T_NEED_TO_KNOW_WHY.

JUST_SHUT_UP_AND_ENJOY_THE_MUSIC.

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Aisha dropped another song recently. I’ll add it to the GG+Music tag for now.

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Interesting design choice to have Robo-Ky wielding what appear to be two katana sheathed to his waist instead of his imitation Thunderseal. I'm curious if he's going to be a dual-wielder.

I’m more curious if it’s THE SAME Robo-Ky!

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It looks like Jam and Robo-Ky will be included in the roster next season.

It’s a very subtle tease, but it’s there!

From this trailer:

Lucy trailer too:

Honestly though, we kinda knew Jam was coming from leaked info for a while now. Robo-Ky is a pleasant surprise though (intros vs Venom will be strange though).

This is definitely the longest dev cycle for a Guilty Gear game I’ve personally been on, so we’re still doing this thing!

Let’s Go, I guess!

[gear-project]

. . .

Lucy announcement coming August 4th.

Probably we’ll get the full release mid-August.

MK Trilogy got buffed, so that’s good news.

Marvel Tokon seems to be a mix of BBTag and Granblue Versus, with just a hint of the Drive System from BlazBlue. Auto combos seem based on Dragonball FighterZ based on attack level starters (i.e. which button you pressed to start the combo). Tag system seems based on match progression and resources you obtain. Also has a swayback from Street Fighter.

Fish Girl got announced for UNIB SysCeles, trailer on YouTube et cetera.

Virtua Fighter seems to be using an artificial matchmaking system that lets you play against phantoms of other famous players, though under the hood it seems more hi spec than I remember fighting games even having. Crossplay, Rollback, et cetera et cetera. Wish Soul Calibur 7 got this treatment, sighhh.

If they’re trying to make me buy a PS5 it might be slowly working, though as a PC gamer now, I’m a bit stubborn.

Now if only we got a modern port of Accent Core, that would make my day.

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. . .

Today I asked the A.I. Grok if it could list other EVO moments besides 37, it listed a few but couldn’t give me a definitive list.

I’m surprised EVO after all this time hasn’t made a documented list of key moments up to now? You only read about stuff elsewhere after the fact for a brief blurb and that’s it.

And of course, ARCSys is running events at EVO too, so I suppose there will be SOME kinda news down the pipe, though I’m not really expecting very much.

Well, even if I’m the last guy to hear about it, if it’s GG news, I’ll mention it on this blog in the GG+News tag as always.

Not sure how much of Marvel Tokon I will cover in the future, since I have no immediate plans to save up for a PlayStation 5 console. My priority is my PC, as always, though getting money to fix it is tough right now.

These days I’m pretty lax about fighting games, so don’t expect too much from me. Though, having said that, I’m still casually grinding away at Soul Calibur VI’s Libra of Souls Mode.

I also have expectations for Bloodstained The Scarlet Engagement and Code Vein II, though that’s pie in the sky right now.

Still, I cover just about everything Guilty Gear related, including translation projects, though it’s been a while since we’ve seen more novel updates (read the Links and GG+Novels tags for details).

[gear-project]

I have a minor obsession with wanting to remake a modern hi spec version of this game.

The Guardian Legend Nintendo Entertainment System 1988

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Once GG is, you know, “done”, what else do you have plans for?

I literally have a tag for this, heh.

As for myself, I hadn’t really given it an extensive amount of consideration.

Guilty Gear was practically the first Fighting Game franchise I attached myself to, but it most certainly is not the last.

I’d say I have a huge attachment to most weapons based fighting games, central of which would be Soul Calibur, which might sound strange coming from an American player, since Project Soul is more popular in Europe. That also includes Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising and French Bread games as well.

I consider myself something of a casual translator these days, so if people need my help with something I might lend a hand.

I’ve also gotten hooked on works by Koji Igarashi the creator of the “Igavania” and the Bloodstained games, as well as Code Vein.

I’m old enough to consider myself “retired” from fighting and action games, but despite this sometimes I don’t act my age.

I’m also big on many RPG games, though more recent works haven’t been as appealing, which I hope changes soon.

Outside of gaming I seek stimulation from Manga and Anime, though I’m not much of a collector outside a few extreme exceptions.

And, as always I’m big on listening to music, mostly Symphonic and Metal, but occasionally Techno and Pop.

These days money is tight, so I rarely have enough to keep up with trends or the latest stuff, much less fixing my aged PC.

I’m still grateful for what I have, even more so what experiences I’ve shared on Youtube, but I guess you could say I usually hit major projects when inspiration and opportunity strike at relatively the same time. A working PC would help with that, I hope.

I used to think of myself as an artist, but some parts of that need a refresher and just overall a sense of purpose and direction as well as drive. A lot of art I have seen goes above and beyond my current skill, that much is certain. I just need to engage that part of myself at some point.

Writing just feels more natural for me these days, and while I don’t consider my writing on the level of a movie script, I’ve had enough practice to at least share my experiences and knowledge enough to generate SOME fans, I suppose.

I think I will always be a GG fan, in fair or foul weather, and it will always influence a part of me, just hopefully not everything, as I want to break out in to something else people can know me even MORE for! Something useful and fun, and perhaps even Gaming related.

That’s my hope at least, but it’s a long hard road, so I can’t predict or promise anything yet. More or less, making my own game is my own dream, something to surpass the current concept of a game.

I’m not Hideo Kojima or Daisuke Ishiwatari, but those are my contemporaries, so I got my work cut out for me. Yoshiharu Gotanda and Masaki Norimoto also come to mind.

We’ll see where the future leads, I guess.