Doom Turtle Needs Your Help...

The PS2 era was the golden age of gaming that still holds a lot of charm for people today. It was the era that became the golden age of JRPGs And that doesn't just apply to the PS2 era, but other eras as well. But what if I told you there is a small studio that was working on a turn-based JRPG that became an inspiration of several turn-based JRPGs that you need to send your money to? Let's jump right in.

I'm back with a brand new post that talks about a turn-based RPG that I genuinely loved so much. You would know that the PS2 era was the golden age of a lot of games developed by Japanese companies. Not just the PS2 era, but also other eras as well. Doom Turtle is a small team that is known for making indie titles. And what they made is a turn-based RPG that absolutely blew my mind--a turn-based RPG that is a combination of Mega Man X: Command Mission, The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age and Super Mario RPG.

Introducing Legends of Starkadia, a sci-fi turn-based RPG that stars an Earthling teen, Mikey, who would then get accidentally sent into a Starkadian empire. He land face first in a battle between good and evil, starting in Scrap World. Now, it's up to Mikey and his allies to defeat the forces of evil.

The field outside of combat has the top down view Super Mario RPG uses. There are enemies on it and touching it will get you into battle. You strike first by touching the enemy from behind and the enemy strikes first when it touches you from behind. When you have more than one character, you can switch between leaders using the buttons that switch leaders.

The combat in Legends of Starkadia has up to three characters in battle. In combat, you are introduced with attacks and abilities that require perfect timings to increase the effects. The game introduced two mechanics similar to Super Mario RPG and chain gauge and the Teamwork gauge that is consumed from using Teamwork abilities. When you make a perfect button timing, you'll increase the chain and it holds up to five levels. The higher the chain, the higher the effects. But blow the timing, you lose the chain and have to start from square one. Perfect button timings also increase the Teamwork gauge. It holds up to three bars and chosen from using a separate window, making the combat similar to the three respective turn-based RPGs. Each enemy has a weakness, so if any of the attacks match the criteria, the enemies get stunned and they take a lot of damage.

I'm gonna say, the game is so near perfect. The combat is great, the Teamwork abilities are awesome and making perfect button timings increasing the chain is an interesting touch. I get to play the game for free before the pricing model came. I even left a review on how much I have enjoyed this game. Currently, the game only spans on Scrap World and two hours of gameplay where you can experience Mikey, Frank and Drake. Fortunately, we got some big news in regards to the future of Legends of Starkadia.

Doom Turtle has recently posted an article that tells us that the transition to the pricing model is live with some good news that we have just changed everything. What does that tell us?

The part came with some good news that the team is going to get back to work.

The make the deal sweeter, the game roughly had 28,000 total downloads. As of now, it has officially surpassed 200,000 downloads, which became a huge wake-up call for Doom Turtle to realize how important it is to finish development.

The support edition comes with exclusive skins and the original soundtrack.

And here's the original soundtrack for Legends of Starkadia. There are currently nine of them. If we look closer to the last three tracks...

There are three bonus tracks for planned planets, Sci-Fi World, Library World and Prehistoric World. This serves as a teaser to the next three planets beyond Scrap World. I am amazed that the selection of planets would be similar to Mugen Souls Z, which has twelve planets.

Steam listed this game as a sci-fi turn-based RPG, which became a learning curve. And as you look at the splash art of this game, you'll see five characters on it. We know Mikey, Frank and Drake are their names, but we don't know what are their names of the fat one holding a wrench and the female character holding a gun. We can find out what their names are now that Doom Turtle is going back to work on this game, thanks to surpassing 200,000 downloads.

Beyond the characters in the game's splash art, more characters will join Mikey's team since it's gonna have twelve characters, which I wouldn't be shocked that the cast of heroes would be big, unique and colorful as Lord of the Rings: The Third Age and Mega Man X: Command Mission down the line. I mean, we have Frank as the Hadhod and the Massimo of this game. Even so, the combat is great. It is actually similar to Mega Man X: Command Mission and Super Mario RPG. The big selling point for these games are Teamwork abilities, three characters in battle and making perfect actions to increase the chain and keep it intact.

I look forward to the future of this game now that we changed everyting by surpassing 200,000 downloads. That's more than enough to give Doom Turtle the surge of energy they need. So, will it have the same treatment as Deltarune to release in separate chapters or compile all of the chapters into one game to choose a planet to warp to? I don't know and I don't care. I just want Legends of Starkadia to have more planets beyond Scrap World.

If you're interested in seeing Legends of Starkadia go beyond Scrap World, the game is available for $2 and the Supporter Pack is also available for $5. Every purchase directly funds the developers' studio bucket needed to build the remaining chapters beyond Chapter 1. Here's the link to the game and the link to the Supporter Pack.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2618160/Legends_of_Starkadia_Chapter_1/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/5243840/Legends_of_Starkadia_Supporter_Pack/

BREAKING: Mega Man X: Command Mission is Coming to PlayStation Plus

In today's post that has some breaking news, I'm talking about a turn-based JRPG that I hadn't talked about in ages. And that is one of the turn-based JRPGs in my childhood, Mega Man X: Command Mission. Now, I played Mega Man X: Command Mission when I was a kid back in the day. I hadn't played this game for decades and guess what? It's apparently changing because Mega Man X: Command Mission is officially announced at State of Play to launch on the classics catalog September 15. If you're not familiar with this game, I'll explain it now.

Mega Man X: Command Mission is a turn-based RPG spin-off for the Mega Man X sub franchise primed to launch on PlayStation Plus Premium on PS4 and PS5. Command Mission's entails the original characters never before seen in any of the mainline games like Steel Massimo, Spider, Marino and Cinnamon. The original story involves X and his team's struggle with a group of villains known as the Rebellion Army, led by Epsilon. Their goal is to turn Giga City into their nefarious... Holiday Inn resort to make Reploids a part of the Rebellion in the Northern Hemisphere. It's up to the Anti-Rebellion League to stop the Rebellion Army.

During combat, it uses a queue window to determine who is next to perform an action and is manipulated with decreasing or increasing speed. There are sub attacks that consume a small amount WE and Action Triggers that require at least 50% WE. The higher the WE, the more powerful it will be. Each character has a Hyper Mode, which offers temporarily fortified armor and augmented power. Examples include X's fire suit, Massimo's golden armor and... Marino's sexy Quicksilver armor. Look at them thighs. Look at how attractive and juicy they are.

If you need a better plan, you can equip Force Metals, trinkets that augment the character's stats. I equip Analyzer on all characters to unlock Analyze on the combat menu. With it, I can pinpoint the enemies' weakness and their stats. If the enemy's data shows that it can take 150% or 200% damage from water attacks, it is intended to convey an enemy being weak against water. Now this a sound strategy that is basically coined to explain how we exploit weaknesses in Visions of Mana.

But very loosely, an enemy is weak against water attacks, but strong against fire attacks. Perfect examples would be Mach Jentra and Botos. An enemy is weak against fire attacks, but strong against thunder attacks. The perfect examples are Wild Jango and Scarface. And finally, an enemy is weak against thunder attacks, but strong against water attacks. The perfect examples would be Silver Horn and Ferham. So yeah, Silver Horn and Ferham are both weak against thunder, but not against water as they are, of course, strong against water. It is imperative to equip certain weapons that exploit weaknesses. That's what the star by the number of damage taken means.

The thing is, Capcom gave it a shot at making a turn-based RPG spin off for the Mega Man X franchise. While a fan favorite, it turned out to be a fail. If we look at the Metacritic scores and the sales for both versions, the PS2 version scored a 69 out of 100 and sold 36,635 units. The GameCube version scored a 67 out of 100 and sold 18,599 units. The PS2 version is relatively better than the GameCube version in terms of the rate of random encounters. One battle system designer has expressed his stark interest in making a sequel, implying a hypothetical Command Mission 2 would have enemies present and visible on the field instead of annoying random encounters while Nintendo Life listed it as a game they like to see on the Switch. And guess what? Since we have GameCube games on the Switch 2, the GameCube version could one day be playable on the Switch. But I prefer the PS2 version.

Fortunately, there is one good news. With the success of Onimusha: Way of the Sword and Mega Man: Dual Override and a brand new Okami on its way, Capcom is looking to follow SEGA's footsteps by reviving more of their IPs that have been dormant for decades. Other than collections and the mobile game, Mega Man X could one day make a comeback with the opportunity for a Command Mission remake to have the same treatment as Expedition 33 with the use of the RE Engine, innovative and cinematic turn-based combat that involves pressing a button at the right time to deal more damage, enemies visible outside of combat, new features, better cutscenes and change the way we equip Force Metals without the use of slots and balance the bosses and the regular enemies' level range.

And not just Mega Man X, but also Asura's Wrath, Viewtiful Joe, Darkstalkers, Final Fight, Breath of Fire and any of the other treasure trove of their IP just waiting to be brought back.

Speaking of Breath of Fire, this leads me to my point. Since Mega Man X: Command Mission will be the first turn-based RPG of the mid 2000s by Capcom to ever launch into the classics catalog, the notorious Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter now has more of a chance to launch into the classics catalog. This allows a precedent to be set, especially for fans of turn-based PS2 JRPGs in the golden age.

I know what you're trying to ask. Am I gonna revisit Mega Man X: Command Mission? Obviously, but this time, it's gonna be way different than the time I played this game in my childhood. How is gonna be different? Well, during my childhood, I had trouble because I kept on escaping battles and rushing through the game. But I can change that, by doing this.

Defeating the members of the Rebellion Army requires a little more time levelling up, so stalling and fighting more battles to level up the party enough before moving on is the way to do it. And also equiping stronger weapons and weapons that exploit weaknesses is a sound strategy, especially when defeating the bosses after a fewest amount of turns, so when I'm going against Wild Jango, I need to have fire-type weapons because thunder-type enemies are weak against fire. However, defeating Epsilon is gonna require more time in the oven levelling up the party.

Here's the beauty to this. If I get the party to lv. 35, I'll have a better chance of kicking Epsilon's butt and will be overkill during round two with Scarface. But if I get the party to lv. 40, I'll have a very overkill chance of defeating both Scarface during round two and Epsilon in a fewest amount of turns taken. In the sprit of commerce, I think I'll get the party to lv. 40, because it's an overkill way to defeat Epsilon in the fastest amount of time.

I have a Let's Play series planned for Command Mission, but for some reason, somehow, Remote Play shuts off on its own without warning despite plugging in an Ethernet cord, so sadly, it won't be until I figure out why it shuts down without warning. That or until Capcom decided to port it to PC.

Marvel Tokon - First Impressions and Thoughts

"drinks water* Marvel Tokon is dope. In fact, the game is so good and popular, I think it's gonna get years of support, so today, I'm gonna share my first impressions and thoughts about what do I think of Marvel Tokon so far.

First off, if you have been living under a rock, Marvel Tokon has recieved critical acclaim from various critics, indicating that this game has killed it with a Sonic Heroes-esque format in story mode that has five stories, 4v4 tag mechanics and a decent cast of Marvel heroes and villains. A while back, I made a post that claimed that Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls became the new heart of the FGC. And it will be since the game is making its first appearance at Evo France 2026.

Danger_Bot over on the official Marvel Tokon Discord announced that a patch is coming on Friday, which is today, to include fixes to performance issues on PC and provide PC and PS5 stability improvements.

And there are reactions to the post that are overwhelmingly positive because the patch they pushed in had alleviated performance issues that became the continuous point of contention since launch. It also have emojis of Marvel Tokon characters. The one with the most reactions is Black Panther. Both Black Panther and Magik came nip and tuck to each other.

Today's patch came out and it remedies the issues in the PC version and brings in stability improvements for both versions, including fixes for several crashes.

All of the reactions are positive, praising devs fixing issues on PC. This post has the Wolverine emoji having the most reactions so far to honor his Battle Reborn Suit being available to all players for free and his new game by Insomniac coming out soon. It's a good thing I'm not playing it online until the patch comes out to fix issues. But enough with the patch. Let's get into the nitty gritty of this post.

Marvel Tokon is near perfect. The gameplay is decent and its 4v4 tag mechanics became the best. The characters and environment having a blend of American comics and Japanese manga are incredibly charming. The special moves are the best in the game. It has two ways to perform special moves, one button specials with directional influences like in Smash and motion inputs and attack buttons. Both are the same, but the motion input versions deal 100 more damage than the one button versions, which is how the "Good!" text appears in game. The comic book-style cutscenes in the story are the best in the game. I could just sit there and watch them as well.

So, when you assign your team on Battle Settings, the main menu screen displays the four characters on your team and the trim color varies by character you make as leader. That is the coolest thing about this. What you're seeing now has parts of the main menu screen colored blue because Magik is the leader of my team. Now, I will be the first to say, I am not a pro with Magik as I typically am with Annie in Skullgirls or Akali in 2XKO and will be with Atom Eve in Invincible VS when it comes to playstyles. But regardless, I had fun with her.

And what is even cooler is that it generates a front cover of your four-person team when you lock it in on the character select screen. It has the Marvel logo with the player number below it, a barcode on the lower left hand corner and the name of your team. I did find me a team already. What is the initial team I'm using?

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Hellbound Shapeshifters, featuring Magik, Ms. Marvel, Star-Lord and Green Goblin.

But there is a bit of a caveat to this. I am still working on learning Green Goblin since he rides on his glider in his Skill attack to contribute to his C-tier ease of use and his combos are a part of it. Star-Lord is relatively easy to learn. He gives you a nice dopamine rush when shooting projectiles as a typical gun and ball gamer. He is not a Noel-like, but he is fun, though. Ms. Marvel is essentially the Cerebella of Marvel Tokon with a lumpsum of punches. I did a livestream showcasing this team to use online. To make myself clear, the livestream dropped before the recent patch came out.

I can't help but wonder what this team makes me think of. I can't quite put my finger on it. Oh yeah, it sounds a lot like the Adventures of Flynt Buckler. You know, the fictional storybook in Escape From Ever After entailed Flynt's mission to defeat Tinder the Dragon became a backfire and new characters join in? It exactly sounds like that.

When you used the "It's Mahvel, Baybee!" term when Marvel Tokon was announced, it served as a spiritual successor to the Marvel vs. Capcom franchise. Marvel vs. Capcom has been a long line of tag fighting games for almost three decades, with games like Marvel vs. Capcom 2 being a masterclass in tag fighting. Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, however, sold poorly to not have a second season. Well, Marvel Tokon is a spiritual successor to Marvel vs. Capcom, but it's not Marvel vs. Capcom.

But to the general public, there's nothing that can come close to Marvel vs. Capcom 2, until one game that did. And that's Marvel Tokon. Marvel Tokon proved that you can make a new Marvel fighter to be a masterclass to the general public. Again, Tokon is the masterclass of a Marvel fighter to be met with overwhelming positivity. This shows that Marvel has been a product for decades with web-slinging, slicing with claws, causing destruction and so on. The success of Dragon Ball FighterZ allowed Marvel Tokon to come to fruition as the masterclass of a tag fighter because they have rich innovation, right tools and resources and a smaller team. Speaking of, I seem to realize something.

Remember what happened weeks after 2XKO came out on console? Half of the team was laid off due to its flop at launch. The cause of this is that 2XKO has started development when the team was large. However, that contributed to laying off half of the team weeks after console release and ending active development in December after a year due to low player retention falling short of revenue goals, leaving a long chain of disappointment and sadness and the game available and online for the foreseeable future.

They knew that larger teams have no idea what they are doing while smaller and independent teams have the creative freedom and tendency to stay focused on making games properly without the distractions and establish an overkill player base. That's how Highguard became an utter commercial failure to contribute to shutting it down.

Here's the thing. Marvel Tokon was developed by Arc System Works, a small studio that Sony doesn't own. They only helped publish it, which makes it a stark difference in comparison to a modern AAA studios today. Now, imagine if a smaller, independent and focused team started developing 2XKO while staying small. Upon launch, the game would have an overkill player retention and momentum would reach the level needed for long-term sustainability because small scale teams are always focused and have creative freedom to develop games well. This is something that is basically intended to explain how Overwatch is the only commercially successful live service game that survived the impact.

Marvel Tokon isn't the only tag fighter that was developed from the start by a small team. Invincible VS and even SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level were developed from the start by small teams of Quarter Up and 4CYDE Studios. 2026 now has a trifecta of tag fighters that were developed from the start by small teams that have the tendency to take creative risks and drive a high-to-overkill player retention at launch. However, they have made a rocky launch like 2XKO did.

We can cross out Invincible VS for now because I don't think that it's gonna have years of support, especially since over 20 employees were laid off from Quarter Up. We'll cross it out and move on. SEGA vs. Capcom will be getting years of support like Marvel Tokon is since we have a treasure trove of characters and character themes just straight up confirmed during the livestream I watched. That's something we'll be looking forward to and I have future plans for it.

Well, that one just aged... poorly. Apparently, 4CYDE Studios has announced that SEGA vs. Capcom has been sadly shut down and was given a cease and desist order due to using Capcom's characters and likeness. While I'm saddened to hear this darning and devastating news, this one is not depressing nor maddening for me. It genuinely stinks, but that's how things go sometimes. I think the reasoning for shutting down SEGA vs. Capcom is because it wasn't pitched to Capcom for approval.

Now, with 2XKO ceasing active development in December and SEGA vs. Capcom shut down, we apparently have only Marvel Tokon left to support, which is just straight up pathetic to just support the only tag fighting game that is still bearing the Sony DRM that plagued thousands of players, especially since Sony's history of backlash-worthy foolishness like killing discs in 2028 made gamers mad. But we were told to stay tuned to find out what original project 4CYDE is working on. What will the original project gonna be? Will it be an original 2v2 tag fighter? Will it make up for 2XKO and SEGA vs. Capcom's devastating fate? We'll have to wait and see.

Remember what I said that Sona could be the Ulala of 2XKO? I had a interest in seeing Sona in 2XKO like I had with Miss Fortune, Leona, Graves, Vayne, Garen, Lucian and a treasure trove of characters I want and in seeing the singer in SEGA vs. Capcom, until I heard that 2XKO is ceasing active development in December and SEGA vs. Capcom was slapped a C&D order to shut it down. That prompted me to delete and scrap posts that talk about the future of both 2v2 tag fighters that are being left in the dust.

Fortunately, after looking through the book of Marvel characters, I have found not one, but two characters; one that could be the Ulala of Marvel Tokon and the other that could be a Lux-style shoto in Marvel Tokon. And they are Songbird and Luna Snow. Guess what? They are the two heroines that can meet the criteria. And while Songbird could be the Ulala of Marvel Tokon, Luna Snow could actually be a Lux-esque shoto in Marvel Tokon, with snow powers. Pretty cool, huh?

Not only we have Marvel Tokon because we also are experiencing another tag fighter on the DC side of things. And that is DCKO, a 2v2 tag fighter with various characters across the DC Universe. Suffice to say that DCKO is going to be left in the dust as it's gonna be a Mobile game.

Now, if there is one thing I want in Marvel Tokon, I would say an online co-op game mode. An online co-op game mode in Marvel Tokon sounds like a great idea to me. It allows four players on the same team to battle against four players, like how KOF and Dragon Ball FighterZ handled having an online co-op game mode to have three players against three players and how 2XKO handled Duo Play where two players work as a duo. Think about it, I can team up with three of my friends and take on four of our opponents. That would be straight up crazy, don't you think?

In conclusion and summary, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is dope. I loved the comic book stylization and the designs that have a blend of American comics and Japanese manga for characters. I am loving every second of it. These are my first impressions and thoughts regarding Marvel Tokon. Evo France is around the corner and that's where Marvel Tokon will have its first appearance at.

Why Did 2XKO Flop at Launch?

A lot of people became disappointed that 2XKO is ceasing active development in December due to a low retention. So what happened? Why did 2XKO flop at launch? Let's jump right in.

Before we can actually answer why 2XKO flopped at launch and cite the factors that contributed to its low player retention at launch, we need to go back to the beginning of the game's development.

2XKO started out with six characters in Alpha Lab 1. It became a starting point for the game's development. After Alpha Lab 1 concluded, feedback went all over the place and the devs evaluated their feedback for the next playtest, Alpha Lab 2. It introduced a cast of seven characters, with Jinx as the newest addition. It was a disappointingly smaller playtest as Riot was working on an infrastructure. If we go straight to Early Access, it was criticized for having a small character roster when other tag fighters have a large roster of characters.

So now, we can answer this question. Why did 2XKO flop at launch? There is one thing we need to get out of the way. The game was criticized for having a small roster, especially when choosing two of them. You can't have a tag fighter, in this case, 2XKO, with a small character roster. It's has been the point of criticism for small rosters on a tag fighter, so whoever did this, pays the price.

The small free pool of six characters made it harder for new players to try out the game. That's another subject of 2XKO's low player retention along with having a small character roster at launch. 2XKO launching with eleven characters and a free pool of the first six characters contributed to its flop. This brings me to monologue how development of 2XKO should've unfolded before launch.

February 2025 - 7th and 8th character reveals
March 2025 - 9th and 10th character reveals + Alpha Lab 2
April 2025 - 11th and 12th character reveals

May 2025 - 13th and 14th character reveals

June 2025 - 15th and 16th character reveals
July 2025 - 17th and 18th character reveals

August 2025 - 19th and 20th character reveals
September 2025 - 21st and 22nd character reveals + Closed Beta

October 2025 - 23rd and 24th character reveals + Early Access

Again, a small roster of characters and a small free pool of the first six characters are the two things that made it harder for new players to approach. Other tag fighters I know have a largeer character roster at launch. Invincible VS launched with 18 characters, Hunter X Hunter: NEN Impact launched with 16 characters, Marvel Tokon launched with 20 characters, and 2XKO should've launched with 24 characters and they all should've been free by default because a small roster at launch with the first six characters being free by default is the factor that made it harder for new players, contributing to its low player retention.

In reality, we're having 17 characters this year and will remain that way. The suggestion to how it should've been during development has seven characters. It makes it a total 24 characters. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom has 24 characters if you're excluding the two juggernaut characters, PTX-40A and G. Lightan. With 24 characters free at launch and post-launch characters to be unlocked with Credits, KO Points and through Recruitment Events, 2XKO would have a high to overkill player retention so that it would recieve content for years to come and the team would remain intact. That said, I decided to list the seven characters that should've been confirmed before 2XKO launched.

1. Katarina

Right off the bat, I'm going to talk about the only character that has been absent, Katarina. I have been chasing her for quite some time, until I seem to figure out why Katarina had to be absent. If you look back at the earlier stages, Katarina's kit did not fit well in a tag fighter that she had to be Thanos-snapped from the game. While I am lamenting Katarina's absence, there is one silver-lining to all this.

The first is that if Katarina's kit did fit well in a 2v2 tag fighter, then maybe 2XKO would've had an even number of characters in Alpha Lab 2, Closed Beta and Early Access and cease active development at 18 characters, because Katarina's absence would contribute to having an odd number of characters and that's the one that became a hiccup. That's why I talked about her right out of the gate.

Character roster that should've been (Includes Katarina):

Ahri
Akali
Blitzcrank

Braum
Caitlyn
Darius
Ekko
Illaoi
Jinx
Katarina
Lux
Samira
Senna
Teemo
Thresh
Vi
Warwick
Yasuo

Before we get to the next six characters, let's take a look at the SEGA and Capcom sides that should've been if Katarina hadn't been absent and the key points across the board. We'll start with the SEGA side.

Ahri, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx remain. Lux, Senna, Thresh and Warwick move. The SEGA side would've been Ahri, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx, Lux, Senna, Thresh and Warwick.

Akali, Braum, Darius, Illaoi remain. Katarina introduced. Samira, Teemo, Vi and Yasuo move. That would've been Akali, Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Katarina, Samira, Teemo, Vi and Yasuo on the Capcom side.

SEGA side:

Ahri
Blitzcrank
Caitlyn
Ekko
Jinx
Lux
Senna
Thresh
Warwick

Capcom side:

Akali
Braum
Darius
Illaoi
Katarina
Samira
Teemo
Vi
Yasuo

Key points:

Ahri on the SEGA side = NiGHTS
Blitzcrank on the SEGA side = Vectorman
Caitlyn on the SEGA side = Gain Ground
Ekko on the SEGA side =  Pulseman
Jinx on the SEGA side = Jet Set Radio
Lux on the SEGA side = Space Channel 5
Senna on the SEGA side = Bayonetta
Thresh on the SEGA side = Mansion of Haunted Souls
Warwick on the SEGA side = Altered Beast

Akali on the Capcom side = Power Stone
Darius on the Capcom side = Knights of the Round

So we now have the SEGA and Capcom sides and the key points for when Katarina hadn't been scrapped. This is the only info to have without a subjective information.

2. Kennen

Kennen is located at background of Bandlewood Crossing, indicating that Riot has deconfirmed none of the characters. He would've been confirmed up front and could be a Sonic-like in 2XKO, but he will never make it to the roster because active development on 2XKO will cease.

3. Ashe

A while back, I mentioned that 2XKO never had a bow and arrow character. In this case, Ashe can be the one that the game would've answered with. She could swing her bow and fire arrows with S1 like how Caitlyn swings her rifle and fired it with S1. I would love to see the Frost Archer, but my hopes have been kaput because the game is ceasing active development and it's not a good thing.

4. Leona

2XKO never had a Targonian character and Leona would've been the first Targonian to ever come to the game if Riot revealed two characters per month up until Early Access where it should've had 24 characters instead of 11. I do love to see the Radiant Dawn, but she won't see the light of day. Heh, light. You get it because Leona has the power of light in her sword.

5. Garen

So, Lux is on her way to 2XKO and I said that her brother is likely to debut as his sister did. However, we are getting Lux, but her brother will never make it as the game is going to cease active development. I just want to experience the brother and sister duo too...

6. Miss Fortune

When the game had its Alpha Lab 1, the Brazen Hydra is one of the stages in Bilgewater. And if you look at the background on the far right, there are wanted posters for Gangplank and Tahm Kench. Miss Fortune should've been in the game in the first place because of the tavern in Bilgewater having wanted posters. Not including her in the first place along with others would contribute to the game's small roster and the misdirection Riot has taken, especially with the tavern in Bilgewater. Our red-haired pirate will never make it.

7. Sett

Sett has been the most popular request and that's something I have heard when watching 2XKO Pools. He, in fact, would've been the desired fourth Ionian character if development of 2XKO keeps going. I was gonna choose Lee Sin, but Sett is the highly requested.

Character roster that should've been:

Ahri
Akali

Ashe
Blitzcrank
Braum
Caitlyn
Darius
Ekko
Garen
Illaoi
Jinx
Katarina

Kennen
Leona
Lux
Miss Fortune
Samira
Senna
Sett
Teemo
Thresh
Vi
Warwick
Yasuo

As I have said before, the 24 character roster is good for a tag fighter. This is how it should've been in Early Access if Riot revealed two characters before Alpha Lab 2 and two characters every month up until Early Access, so I have decided to divide the 24-character roster into the SEGA and Capcom sides that should've been across the board and state the key points. We'll start with the SEGA side.

Ahri, Jinx and Samira remain. Ashe, Garen, Kennen and Sett get added. Braum, Darius, Lux. Thresh and Warwick move. The SEGA side would've had Ahri, Ashe, Braum, Darius, Garen, Jinx, Kennen, Lux, Samira, Sett, Thresh and Warwick.

Akali, Illaoi and Senna remain. Katarina, Leona and Miss Fortune get added. Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Teemo, Vi and Yasuo move. That would've put Akali, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Illaoi, Katarina, Leona, Miss Fortune, Senna, Teemo, Vi and Yasuo on the Capcom side.

SEGA side:

Ahri
Ashe
Braum
Darius
Garen
Jinx
Kennen
Lux
Samira
Sett
Thresh
Warwick

Capcom side:

Akali
Blitzcrank
Caitlyn
Ekko
Illaoi
Katarina
Leona
Miss Fortune
Senna
Teemo
Vi
Yasuo

Key points:

Ahri on the SEGA side = NiGHTS
Ashe on the SEGA side = Skies of Arcadia
Darius on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles

Garen on the SEGA side = Shining the Holy Ark
Jinx on the SEGA side = Jet Set Radio
Kennen on the SEGA side = Sonic the Hedgehog
Lux on the SEGA side = Space Channel 5
Samira on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Sett on the SEGA side = Streets of Rage
Thresh on the SEGA side = Mansion of Hidden Souls
Warwick on the SEGA side = Altered Beast

Akali on the Capcom side = Power Stone
Blitzcrank on the Capcom side = Mega Man X
Caitlyn on the Capcom side = Alien vs. Predator (Arcade game)
Senna on the Capcom side = Darkstalkers
Yasuo on the Capcom side = Onimusha

With no fighting game goggles on, looking at the stats, this should've happened in the first place if Riot revealed two characters before Alpha Lab 2 and every month up until Early Access because again, a small roster on a tag fighter contributed to its low player retention at launch. Then something hit me.

The roster went heavy on Arcane characters, with Lux being the sixth one. That was in 2021 when Ekko was introduced. Jinx was introduced in Alpha Lab 2. Vi was introduced in Closed Beta. Warwick was introduced in Early Access. Caitlyn was introduced in Season 1. And finally, Lux will be introduced in September's patch. It is kind of weird that 2XKO would be influenced by Arcane because of the graffiti in the lobbies. But listen, I don't want to put a slant on Arcane. I liked Arcane. I thoroughly enjoyed the fight scenes in it and the part where Caitlyn and Vi had sex with each other, contributing to wanting Caitlyn in 2XKO because of Vi.

Expectations:

• Two character reveals per month after Alpha Lab 2 starting in April up until Early Access
• 22 characters and 14 stages during Closed Beta
• 24 characters and 16 stages during Early Access
• All characters and stages in Early Access free by default
• Heavy reliability on League of Legends characters
• Cross-region support
• Arcane Bundle costs $50
• Materializing Katarina
• Custom lobbies
• All above points contribute to a high to overkill retention to continue active development for years to come

Mistakes:

• 8th character reveal in June
• 9 characters and five stages during Closed Beta
• 11 characters and seven stages during Early Access
• First six characters and first four stages free by default
• Heavy reliability on Arcane characters
• Region-locked
• Arcane Bundle costs $100
• Scrapping Katarina
• Private lobbies
• All above points contribute to a low retention to shrink the team and cease active development

If Riot hadn't made any mistakes and met up with the expectations I have listed above during development, 2XKO wouldn't flop at launch. And even if player retention is low enough to not cover rising costs, they could rely on the community like how Blizzard did with Overwatch.

And that is my story about how 2XKO's development should've been and how did it have a low player retention at launch with factors that I have pinpointed. While it is a darn shame that 2XKO is ceasing active development, it's not as bad as the part where WB Games has had a small chip on their shoulder on what happened to MultiVersus as Riot is giving me a refund. What happened to MultiVersus, you ask? It's all of it is what happened. Whether it's predatory microtransactions, the misdirection they were going with the game and abysmal marketing at launch.

But Coach TJ Puma has started a #Save2XKO petition to rally talent and support. Maybe a new 2XKO team can pick up where the old team left off and learn from their mistakes the old team has made like the ones I listed above, who knows?

2XKO is Ceasing Active Development...

So, Season 3 and Lux are fast approaching and we have been waiting for news about them since the Coven Bundle came out. An announcement popped up and unfortunately, it is not looking good. Let's jump right in.

I'm back with a brand new post that has me quite shocked. So, with fighting games rolling around like tumbleweeds in the wind in 2026, you would know that the fighting game community has been thriving, especially recently with the recent ones, starting with Invincible VS, to Avatar Legends: the Fighting Game, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls and even SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level. There are a ton of fighting games beyond them coming. But specifically, I like to point out to the direction of the tag fighter on this post, the League of Legends tag fighter, 2XKO.

So, this game has came out of Early Access and launched on console in January, being met with positive buzz for innovative tag mechanics and co-op gameplay. However, as soon as the game launched on console, things took a turn for the game. Half of the 2XKO team was laid off. Momentum has not reached the level need for long-term development despite the buzz.

As we're approaching the time when Season 3 comes out, We were desperately waiting for Season 3 info to drop along with Lux's launch. Riot Games has posted a message on X, hoping it's Season 3 news and... can you guess what it is? 2XKO is ceasing active development in December with the intention of leaving the servers online for the foreseeable future and refunding those who made purchases on the Starter Pack and KO Points before August 20th.

Wow. I don't know what to say about this matter. I gotta remain calm in a Buena Vista mood about this while candidly sharing how disappointed I am after seeing this devastating and bitter news that just hit me.

Alpha Lab 1 came out on PC and console and during the course, feedback literally went all over the place. Then Alpha Lab 2 became a disappointingly short playtest as Riot was working on the infrastructure to get the game prepared for Closed Beta as the first step of rolling out the game to everyone with giving those who playtested a guaranteed access to the game. Then Early Access launched exclusively on PC and a lot of players were itching to play the game on console and TOs were eager to set up the PS5 versions on offline tournaments.

I wish they can do another year so that we can see more characters in the roster, but that level of retention couldn't cover rising costs that doing another year would cost Riot more at the rate of retention, so they have no choice but to cease active development as a responsible and safe choice, meaning that there will be no more characters after Samira. Not even Major events in the Competitive Series can help cover costs. Overwatch remained an utter success even further after dropping the 2 from the title and keeping it free-to-play.

I made a post on X sharing how disappointed I am about 2XKO ceasing active development due to low player engagement. Even Diaphone is quitting his job to play this game in light of this news and I don't even blame him. Literally weeks after Marvel Tokon and SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level came out, 2XKO is ceasing active development in December and I am very disappointed.

Skullgirls had a low player retention, but the game had continued active development regardless because a publisher like Autumn Games is the holder of the Skullgirls IP, not developers that Autumn worked with. It came with the Season 1 Pass containing Annie, Umbrella, Black Dahlia and Marie, expanding it to Nintendo Switch and Xbox and having a Webtoon comic adaptation and a dedicated esports circuit, and Autumn helped made it happen in the first place. And Guilty Gear Strive has been supported for four years since release.

There are literally a lot of characters just begging to be in the roster, like Riven, Sett, Leona, Veigar, Malcolm Graves, Gangplank, Miss Fortune and even Yunara. Yunara would've been literally dope in 2XKO. Same goes for a treasure trove of characters just itching to be in the roster. And nearly every other fighting game is having a long term development cycle. They have been massively successful because these games are not in a live service format as it's now harder to make a successful live service game, especially for AAA companies.

Final SEGA side:

Ahri
Blitzcrank
Caitlyn
Ekko
Jinx
Samira
Teemo
Vi
Yasuo

Final Capcom side:

Akali
Braum
Darius
Illaoi
Lux
Senna
Thresh
Warwick

Final key points:

Ahri on the SEGA side = NiGHTS
Blitzcrank on the SEGA side = Vectorman
Caitlyn on the SEGA side = Gain Ground
Ekko on the SEGA side = Pulseman
Jinx on the SEGA side = Jet Set Radio
Samira on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Vi on the SEGA side = Jet Set Radio
Yasuo on the SEGA side = Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu's Dororo
Akali on the Capcom side = Power Stone
Darius on the Capcom side = Knights of the Round
Lux on the Capcom side = Star Gladiator
Senna on the Capcom side = Devil May Cry
Thresh on the Capcom side = Ghosts n' Goblins
Warwick on the Capcom side = Darkstalkers

Here are the final standings for the SEGA and Capcom sides and the key points. All of this have been finalized as 2XKO is going to cease active development in December because of the fact that the game couldn't have a sufficient player engagement. But I am agreeing with Lux being on the Capcom side for Star Gladiator because of the fact that Lux obviously feels like a pseudo-Star Gladiator character, and Samira being on the SEGA side applying to Valkyria Chronicles since Samira feels like, well, a Valkyria Chronicles character. And Jinx being on the SEGA side applying to Jet Set Radio is actually agreeable that Jinx sprays graffiti in Arcane, but not in League of Legends and she doesn't ride on rollerblades.

It has been a Maggie and the Ferocious Beast mess of things that weren't even half-baked because 2XKO not having a sufficient player engagement contributes to sunsetting active development despite early buzz. For that, I am cancelling my future plans by deleting and editing the posts that pertain to the future of 2XKO. I have a follow up post that have the factors that cite 2XKO's flop at launch coming soon.

Seeing 2XKO ceasing active development is more depressing than my father's death, but I got to stop being depressed about that because being depressed is not gonna bring 2XKO back into active development or gonna fly. I have four reasons to not be depressed. One of them is actually Marvel Tokon. I played the Open Beta before and I am genuinely impressed by the quality that I already found a team for when I get the full game. Since the game is having a ten-year development cycle, I'll be looking forward to seeing more characters and other pieces of content.

The second reason is SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level. In the first livestream, Madxruler and FaRe'N'HiTe have straight up confirmed a bevy or a treasure trove of characters, and it's working; NiGHTS, Honey, Zero, Ristar, Ulala, Shadow the Hedgehog, Falcon and even B.D. Joe have been confirmed. This is definetely something that Riot should've done when developing 2XKO prior to release.

The third reason is a new leadership. I still have a little fire of hope on this one. One user has created a #Save2XKO petition to rally support and talent. Since 2XKO is ceasing active development, maybe a new and independent team can pick up where the old team left off to continue active development under the new and dedicated team and leadership. By independent, I mean not to rely or depend on profits or revenue. If this new and independent 2XKO team picks up where the old one left off, maybe they can give the game a second wind and relegate it from being live-service game, who knows? It worked well with Skullgirls that again, Autumn Games owns the Skullgirls IP, not developers they worked with. I'm not confirming that, just saying it's a possibility.

And the fourth and final reason is Saturday AM: Battle Manga. Son Studios has knocked it out of the park with a 2v2 tag fighter featuring Saturday AM characters. What is really cool is that if we get a Lux-esque shoto character that wields the power of light, maybe that can give us a shine of happiness with its light. Get it? Shine? Light? Lux shines bright like a star with her light in 2XKO? Anyway, the gameplay for Saturday AM: Battle Manga is unknown, so we have to wait until the demo comes out.

My condolences and I'm sorry to the team that struggled to maintain player engagement of this game they pour their hearts and souls into and to Diaphone quitting his job. It sucks to end like this. I wish them the best of luck finding new ways to come back stronger for their next game.