Here we are, guys and welcome to part two of this update. This one not only provides the final changes to the stage section, official name of Marie's stage and what theme it is assigned to and the final changes to the canon solo match section. It also provides other updates I had to make, like the final updates to the legend key and the character section. Also, this one will not have any updates for Skullgirls X BBTAG because I already posted the next standalone update.
Before we get right into the update, I am gonna announce how can I celebrate the announcement of Skullgirls' first Season 1 Pass and the shift to BBTAG music as a cherry on top.
I have no plans to play the RWBY themes independently, but there is one theme that I'm gonna play independently to celebrate that. You guys are familiar with the Persona 4 Arena version of Reach Out to the Truth, right? It has lyrics on it, but it has an endless cadence and this is the only theme that I'll be playing independently to celebrate the announcement of the Season 1 Pass and the shift to BBTAG music once Marie is fully released. That controversial censorship update cannot stop me from doing so. But that will not be until one thing is implemented first, crossplay.
Since 2nd Encore came out on PS4 and PSVita, crossplay between PS3, PS4 and PSVita was available, until Annie and the Season 1 Pass came out, which on that point, the PS4 is no longer crossplaying with older PlayStation consoles. But there is still crossplay between PS3 and PSVita. With all of the awesomeness that is Them's Fightin' Herds, KOF XV and Guilty Gear Strive, it's time that Skullgirls 2nd Encore gets crossplay between Steam, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch once the whole season is done. As a result, the P4A version of Reach Out to the Truth will not be played until crossplay is implemented and that's when crunch time begins.
But this is not the only piece of news that I stated because there is another one.
Skullgirls 2nd Encore is being played at EVO 2023 as a Community Tournament and as a treat, they are hosting their booth there and gonna have a build for Marie's Alpha hosted there, like last year when they have the playable build that has the changes in Black Dahlia's Alpha. It is a couple of weeks away and I'll be seeing how far they did. Judging from her accelerated development, turns out, Marie's Alpha is gonna have almost everything at launch, including her stage. I can't reveal the theme for it yet, so here's a little hint: it is assigned to an Under Night In-Birth theme.
But that's not all. I have a new feature, the random theme rotation. It goes like this. At the beginning of each match, I will be playing the theme for that point character on both sides at random. The stage's theme will also be a part of the random theme rotation as long as it's one of them in my list of limited stages that you will see later. It's what Street Fighter 6 does. I'll be putting this random theme rotation into action in the future.
That's all of the news. Now, on to the update.
As we approach to the point where I lock everything in for the BBTAG 2.0 period and get everything prepared for the before and after comparison for the BBTAG 3.0 period, I'm gonna talk about the icons I removed from the legend key.
The [-] and [...] icons:
They don't meet up with my standards and are intended to get in the way during the before and after comparison and having them on there is not that necessary and is redundant. Now, effective immediately, when a character is revealed, the [-] icon will no longer appear by their name and when they get into development, the [...] icon will no longer appear.
The [X] icon for non-playable characters:
This is one of the icons that is good to make it easy to tell, but unfortunately, it can also get in the way during the before and after comparison. Effective immediately, the not yet playable characters are no longer having the [X] icon.
The star icon for characters in my wish list:
It's also good for wishlisted characters, but it is no longer the case because I am shifting my wish list to the ones that are eligible for their BBTAG palettes going forward.
Colored the text of the BBTAG character theme names in colors that vary by universe of the theme characters are assigned to to make it unique. Despite Marie no longer carrying the [...] icon, she is still in development.
Because the non-playable characters are no longer carrying the [X] icon, threw in a new section of non-playable characters. If one of them is confirmed, they will be moved to the playable characters section. This process is easier than before.
A while back, I told you that during the current period, there are 26 characters carrying the icon. But after coloring the text of the BBTAG character themes and removing the brackets from the icon, I wanted to share this again.
Because of the star icon removed, my wish list of characters I want is now shifted to this list of twelve non-playable characters carrying the icon that represents eliglbility for Skullgirls X BBTAG going forward.
I feel that the removal of icons and leaving the one icon left are gonna make a sound state for the chart in preparation for the Skullgirls X BBTAG 3.0 Before and After. Now, on to the stage section.
Marie's stage is revealed to be Hilgard's Castle and Snow Sisters is the theme to fit perfectly with and there are a couple of theme changes below.
New Meridian Rooftops - MOTOR HEAD -> The Junes Hero
Meridian Area Rapid Transit - VARIABLE HEART -> Sector7
I'm gonna give you an insight on how Snow Sisters is a perfect fit for Hilgard's Castle and why is it assigned to it. Spared from the destruction of No Man's Land, deep in the mountains, away from the ravages of the Grand War, the ruins of Hilgard's Castle bears a gloomy nature Marie once called home. Snow Sisters is the perfect theme for its gloomy and sad cadence to fit well with the stage's gloomy environment.
It is also a perfect theme for Aeon to indicate that she will be eligible for her Vatista palette. I was about to assign it to Princess Amagi-ya, but the environment of Hilgard's Castle is so gloomy that I feel Snow Sisters is the perfect fit. But if they confirmed a variant that bears a sunny and healthy environment, who knows?
I made some changes to this section of limited amount of stages that are assigned to themes that interest me. It now has twelve stages, including the newest one, Hilgard's Castle, now carrying the Snow Sisters name. I'm gonna put that into action once Marie is fully released. I'll be limiting myself to playing on these stages that are assigned to themes that interest me. But to help me decide which of these stages to pick, I plan to create a random wheel that contains these stages, only if I'm on the Player 1 side. In the meantime, I'll do a test, by playing Snow Sisters when I pick Hilgard's Castle.
And here we are. The canon solo match now cemented after a lot of changes and there has couple of interesting ones that I'll go over.
God of War:
If you watched the ending of Eliza's story, Marie went all Godzilla to stop Eliza on her tracks after warning her. That's juicy. There is a challenge where you play as Eliza and your opponent Marie, but in her boss version. And since Marie is being relegated to her playable self, I believe God of War is gonna be played when there is a canon solo match between Eliza and playable Marie. That feels like the part in Godzilla vs. Kong. Great movie, by the way.
END GAZER:
Peacock and Marie have a friendship between them at the Orphanage and this theme would be a perfect fit for this canon solo match since, you know, Xblaze took place 500 years before BlazBlue. The Webtoon adaptation entered its hiatus and it's set to return later this month and that's when Peacock comes in to bring Marie back for the juicy part we'd seen. With the next episode having the juicy part like in Johnny Test and Naruto, END GAZER is gonna fit well with the canon 1v1 match.
Under Heaven Destruction:
Most fighting games have iconic canon solo matches, like Street Fighter's Ryu vs. Ken, Mortal Kombat's Scorpion vs. Sub-Zero, Guilty Gear's Sol Badguy vs. Ky Kiske, BlazBlue's Ragna vs. Jin, Them's Fightin' Herds' Arizona vs. Velvet and Injustice's Batman vs. Superman. These iconic matches are so iconic that fighting games cherish and Skullgirls is seemingly one of the fighting games to have that and I believe Parasoul vs. Valentine is that iconic match in Skullgirls. I assigned it to Under Heaven Destruction and it's deemed a perfect fit. The gallery has an art that features them facing each other to seal the deal. I played it one time when I was watching Skullgalz Showdown. It's strange, but satisfying since Crash Bandicoot.
And that's it for this update. It has been one heck of a long ride and this system came a long way ever since my inception to BBTAG music back in the fourth Tuesday of March 2021 when I gave it a go while watching Skullgirls Slapfest. It started out rocky and rough, but after revisions, it gets better and better. I am amazed at the way this system turned out well to be world-class and in full swing so far. In hindsight, I should've made sure that they are in a right position before making an announcement.
It given me the opportunity to start that approach in May 2022. The approach is if a character is assigned to a BBTAG character theme that fits perfectly with their personality, they get a marking on my chart. The marking is not just for an assigned BBTAG character theme a perfect fit for a character's personality. It's also for eligibility for Skullgirls X BBTAG when I make BBTAG palettes out of Skullgirls characters that are assigned to a BBTAG character themes that fit perfectly with their personality to promote MvC1 mode and they are eliglble for my special online casual.
When I started the approach, Annie and Umbrella became eligible for their BBTAG palettes since Justice Sword and Active Angel became a perfect fit and making Izayoi and Platinum palettes out of them would be the cherry on top. Then Black Dahlia was announced and her Nine palette was made after finding out that Walpurgisnacht is actually a perfect fit thanks to the elemental bullets of fire, ice and lightning and her wicked personality. And finally, Marie was announced and Purity & Strictly fits well with her so that her Orie palette would be in the works thanks to her maid's outfit and an ability to summon her Stand. All Season 1 Pass characters have been eligible for their BBTAG palettes. It is only a matter of time before a Season 2 Pass is greenlit so that I can expect more eligible characters to be in it.
SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level is using the same approach I am using for its advantage system. If a character is assigned to an advantage that fits perfectly with them, they get a star to represent a main advantage that is perfectly suited for each character. For example, if Sonic is assigned to a Speed advantage, he gets a star to represent an assigned advantage perfect for a character because speed is his forte.
And now, here we are. Everything is now locked in and cemented for the BBTAG 2.0 period after nine updates including the small revisions, with Hilgard's Castle carrying the Snow Sisters name to fit well with its gloomy environment. Even the legend key. There will be no more theme changes until the BBTAG 3.0 Character Pack is confirmed. However, this will not be the final update because going forward, future updates after this will entail the reveal of future characters while some of them will also have updates to Skullgirls X BBTAG if that eligible character is revealed.
It has been a wild ride, man. The RWBY themes were sunset, I started that approach when characters that are assigned to BBTAG character themes that fit well with their personality get eligible for their BBTAG palettes and a ticket to my special online casual and a new feature the random theme rotation was introduced. I am so sad. Well, not sad, but glad that everything is cemented for the BBTAG 2.0 period. That said, the Skullgirls X BBTAG 3.0 Before and After Comparison is in the works and will be released in the coming weeks.
Since all four Season 1 Pass characters are eligible for their BBTAG palettes because Justice Sword, Active Angel, Walpurgisnacht and Purity & Strictly fit perfectly with them, this will be my treat for shifting to BBTAG music. But this one is still WIP because Marie's current portrait is a preview. I really got to know how to add some yellow shading to Umbrella's hair...
The devs said that if the Season 1 Pass is sold well, a bonus fifth character would be confirmed and it should sell well because the update for the Nintendo Switch port and the Xbox port that come with the Season 1 Pass dropped. I want the fifth character to be one of the characters eligible for their BBTAG palette.
If I think about my references, on the era when the Season 1 Pass is available on Steam during Annie's Beta, the chance of it selling well is slim. The chance is slightly increased during the era when it's available on Steam and PS4. During the era when the Season 1 Pass is available on Steam, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, the chances of selling well is significantly increased. And on the era when the Season 1 Pass is available in all four digital storefronts when the Xbox port and its players joined the party, the chance is greatly increased.
Exciting times lie ahead for Skullgirls and now that the Xbox port and the Nintendo Switch update are out of the way and complete, devs can now double their efforts on developing Marie, who will be fully released on all four digital storefronts and that's when Purity & Strictly will be played to the true max, along with Justice Sword, Active Angel and Walpurgisnacht. That's when I'm gonna go full blast. But the update for the Japanese PS4 version is still on the docket. May the "true" Skullgirls launch party where it is now completely open to players that own the game on all four digital storefronts begin.
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