This year is about to become big for the FGC because we are getting new fighting games on the docket that are about to enter a new generation of gaming besides KOFXV, which was already released. We got three new fighting games upon us below. I'll go into detail on each fighting game.
Street Fighter 6:
If you played and enjoyed Street Fighter V, that's good. From what heard, the game went off to a disastrous start. Specifically, the launch roster ended up with a disappointing 16 playable characters, but more characters get added every year. However, despite years of attempted improvements, that didn't fly and that made things a bit worse. The netcode is terrible that they had to keep on choosing the boring training stage like in Street Fighter IV. We begged Capcom to fix the netcode, but they wouldn't listen.
But Street Fighter 6 won't be the case because it has a shockingly excellent 18 character roster at launch with twelve returning fighters and six new fighters. Each of them have unique moves and the biggest mechanic of the newest iteration is the new Drive System, which I heard is the best mechanic. It is used with EX special moves, cancels and defensive options. The Drive Gauge starts fully stocked at each round and replinishes overtime so that characters can have a wide arsenal of offensive and defensive maneuvers. But don't use it too much or you will enter a burnout state. It leaves you vulnerable and trying to block the Drive Impact will cause a stun. That's a risk. But if you're confident, you might win a round while in burnout state. That's a reward.
The only thing is that EX special moves only deplete your Drive Gauge rather than your super gauge so that it can make saving it easier when it comes to supers. In fact, it makes it easier to expect lv. 3 supers to be executed. It's because they are cinematic like Them's Fightin' Herds and executing it while below 25% HP makes it more cinematic. The netcode in SF6 is out of this world and well done. Capcom finally did a great job implementing it so that our online matches can be enjoyable and we don't have to keep on picking the training stage. It's freaking out of the park. And there's crossplay between PC, PlayStation and Xbox.
But that's not the only thing because Street Fighter 6 gives us the possibility to make our own guy for Battle Hub and World Tour. In Battle Hub, you'll meet up with other players' guys and do almost anything. There are arcade cabinets of classic Capcom games if you wanted a refresher course. You can even fight other players' guys.
In World Tour, it is SF6's story mode where you take your avatar to a journey around the world and meet with fighters. It has RPG elements and meeting other fighters will learn new moves. Your progress you made on your guy during World Tour will carry over to the Battle Hub to show off other players.
If you liked your guy, but want to set your own parameters, there's always Fighting Ground. It is a perfect mode for local matches and online matches when it comes to hosting offline and online tournaments. And there's Training where you can choose your character to train without waiting for an opponent giving you time to polish up and Extreme Battle where there are gimmicks that make fights crazy. If you're willing to experience the classic of a fighting game, Fighting Ground is the way.
The only best thing I like about Fighting Ground is when you're at the stage select screen, the first part of the music plays. Then at the character select screen, the second part of the theme plays and I couldn't stop listening it. But it goes back to the previous state when going back to the stage select screen. This is something that I'll embrace time and time again since it is making its first debut at EVO 2023.
There are three different control types. The Classic control type offers a traditional and full set of controls you see in previous Street Fighter games while the Modern control type offers inputs to make combos easier to execute while the offline only Dynamic control type have three buttons and an AI to perform combos for you.
The battles in Street Fighter 6 are well-polished and fun to enjoy, but there's one thing that makes battles more fun to enjoy. The realtime commentary system. It is an interesting feature that makes battles even more exciting to experience. It's the only thing that previous Street Fighter games don't have, though it doesn't fully capture the commentary.
The newest iteration marks the new era of the franchise following the fall of an evil organization called Shadaloo at the hands of the World Warriors. But a new evil rises...
In conclusion, Street Fighter 6 is gonna be an amazing game for everyone to enjoy. Even me. The battles are amazing, the netcode is excellent and well-implemented. It is making their debut at EVO 2023 and it's the opportunity to celebrate the release of the newest iteration of the franchise. I submitted it to my Q before release so that I can just wait untl the day it gets shipped. Capcom Pro Tour 2023 is upon us and Street Fighter 6 is gonna be the main title of the circuit in 2023 and onwards.
Don't expect players to use the Modern control type because all offline tournaments are gonna ban it and will only use the Classic control type, which institutes a traditional six button control scheme. But some online tournaments can restrict players to use the Moden control type.
In all things Street Fighter, the newest installment is not the only thing on the docket because there is a new live action Street Fighter movie in the works by Legendary Pictures. Remember the previous live action Street Fighter movies? They are crappy and trash because the characters look terrible and abmysal. Ryu and Ken wore their gi, but they don't have Hadokens. And now that a new Street Fighter movie is coming, I hope the characters perform their moves like in the games and don't look crappy.
Tekken 8:
After the end of Top 8 at EVO 2022, there is a teaser at the end of the balance trailer. Couple months later, Bandai Namco's newest game Tekken 8 was announced and the graphics look gorgeous. It has a new system, the Heat System. It's a new system Rage Drives were removed in favor of and Heat Smashes can be used as them as they said. But Rage Arts are gonna return and they will be much more cinematic than Tekken 7's. Then later, character reveal videos kicked in and so far, 13 characters were confirmed. But they're not done yet because there are many more characters to come before the number of characters at launch is determined.
Fists meet fate as Kazuya Mishima and Jin Kazama clash each other to see who is the most dominant warrior. That announce trailer has them wearing their traditional pants printed with a flame.
Apparently, Street Fighter 6 is not the only fighting game to have a simple control scheme because Tekken 8 is gonna use the simplified control scheme where combos are easier to perform and it also uses one-button combos that you'd perform on Bloody Roar and other 3D fighting games that use them since Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Most people said that the simplified control scheme is for losers. I sort of agree. All offline tournaments can ban simplified control scheme. But some online tournaments can allow it.
Its predecessor is gonna be playable this year at EVO and it's unclear if it's gonna be the last year or not because the newest entry is still a ways to go. But we know one thing. A 15th character will be revealed after EVO. Since Tekken 8 is in the works, will we eventually see a Soul Calibur VII too?
Mortal Kombat 1:
There is a teaser video that they posted showing the second hand of a clock approaching the 12 until a surge has happened and it skipped the 12 to go straight into the 1. Then a week later, Mortal Kombat 12 is actually "Mortal Kombat 1" because of this below.
Warning! The following section contains spoilers below. If you haven't played through the MK11 story, please do not read this and scroll past it.
There was the Keeper of Time named Kronika, who had her one mission to restart history to create the New Era. Under the Kronika umbrella, Raiden will not exist because his actions had made the golden balance between light and dark impossible with Shinnok's decapitation being the cap stone if you watched the first cutscene in the MK11 story. That balance from Shinnok's darkness and Cetrion's light is intended to put the realms to endless war between good and evil once history has been restarted to the wild side under her umbrella. As blood enters its high tides, the hourglass is almost ready. But then, Fire God Liu Kang confronted Kronika in stopping the New Era from happening.
The fight was a success and Liu Kang attempted to restart history in hopes of creating a peaceful new era, until Shang Tsung, Nightwolf and Fujin escaped from the Void to inform that without the crown, history can't be restarted and the realms will cease to exist. The only way to solve this is to get the crown before Cetrion gives it to Kronika because the crown is required to restart history, so the Fire God sends travelers back into the current timeline.
While their presence has changed things a bit, their combined power is not enough to stop Cetrion, so they need the help of Sindel, who became a revenant, to be the key.
Thanks to Sindel's help, that plan became foolproof that her scream put Cetrion on the ropes and others used their combined power to send her back to the Keep reporting her failure to her mother. Some other developments have been made. Jax was convinced that Kronika's promises to him are a cruel deception earlier and Sindel and Shao Kahn teamed up as Outworld's couple to change the way the sortie in the Netherrealm unfolds. Everything has changed in the current timeline for good.
Then later, Shang Tsung wore the crown and sucked the souls of victims, only to fuel the crown even further. After Kronika's defeat, Fire God Liu Kang showed up to stop him and the fate of all realms depends on it. Shang Tsung was defeated and Liu Kang taken the crown. With it, he'll be able to restart history, so he did and history has been restarted to the good side under the Fire God Liu Kang umbrella, thus paving the way for a peaceful new era when Mortal Kombat tournaments will not be conducted, unless they can be fought with honor.
Following the epic conclusion of the Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath story, it is a legend no one will forget. Everything has changed after rewinding back to where it all started. The iconic characters are reimagined like they have been never seen before. Scorpion and Sub-Zero are making peace with other as brothers and they are both part of the Lin Kuei. Raiden is reincarnated as a mortal, but he still has his thunder and lightning powers. Kung Lao returned with his iconic blade-bearing hat. Mileena is Kitana's sister, but there is a lethal disease between them. Everyone thought that Shang Tsung was wiped from existence. But he is back to wreak havoc and this time, he is independent from Shao Kahn and looking younger.
While the rest of Mortal Kombat 1's gameplay mechanics haven't been revealed yet, it features a brand new gameplay mechanic, Kameo Fighters. They are capable of assisting you in battle and a separate selection of Kameo Fighters will appear after you select a main character. It's like in Aquapazza, Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax and Nitroplus Blasterz where you select a playable character and an assist character. They are also capable of making combos longer and it's something that can make it enjoyable since SEGA vs. Capcom. But some playable characters can also be Kameo Fighters that bear their classic looks.
So far, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Liu Kang, Raiden, Shang Tsung, Kitana, Mileena, Kung Lao and Johnny Cage are confirmed already and there will be many more characters to come and it might end up with 25 characters at launch like previous games. There will be character reveal trailers along the way to release, which is in September 19.
Pre-orders are live and it comes in three editions, Standard, Premium and Kollector's Editions. A Kombat Pack is confirmed to have six playable characters and five Kameo Fighters. Pre-ordering it benefits granting access to the Beta launching in August, Shang Tsung and a one week early access to the game. They are wondering if it's gonna have rollback netcode, so to confirm it, Mortal Kombat 1 will have rollback netcode across all platforms, including the Nintendo Switch, which the game will also be available on like its predecessor. I'm sure the Switch version will not produce technical challenges, knowing Paladins and Rogue Company are ending support on the platform in late June.
Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate is making its debut at EVO 2023 and because the newest game is gonna come out in September 19, this year will be final EVO MK11 gets its debut at before the franchise takes us to the new era. This is the perfect opportunity to give it a grand finale it deserves and there might be reveals. Since MK1 is gonna be available on the ninth generation consoles and Nintendo Switch and getting a PS5 is now easier going forward, they must distribute PS5s to offline tournaments going forward once it is released.
Can you believe that the Mortal Kombat series has turned 30 years old since the beginning? Eleven mainline games with eight under the Midway umbrella and three under the NetherRelalm umbrella spanning over six console generations and around over 80 characters? That was a long bloody trip the gory franchise has gone though. And now, after the conclusion of Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath, boom, history has been restarted to the peaceful side and Mortal Kombat 1 was announced to mark the brand new era of the brutal franchise where the iconic characters look completely different and the universe gets reborn. This reminds me. I really should be playing through the Aftermath expansion somehow...
So far, in my opinion, I like MKX's story better because it has a lot of my favorite parts. The Kombat Kids became a main part. The truth has been revealed that the Lin Kuei was not the one responsible of the extermination of the Shirai Ryu. It was actually Quan Chi responsible of that raid. A peaceful Outworld was established by a new emperor, following Shao Kahn's defeat.
Plus, the 2021 reboot is so good that it deserves an R-rating to produce strong and brutal violence the games have. People were sick on set because they have not been holding back on the Fatalities and I was intrigued by it. Just look at all that blood. Now that's the definition of strong violence. That's what I like about R-rated movies. They have strong violence, which established by a lot of blood coming out of the characters' bodies. It's only a matter of time before the sequel is greenlit. I bet we're gonna see characters introduced in MKX.
Three new fighting games are on the docket and the FGC is about to enter a new generation. You could be a part of this massive community. People cared about how gorgeous fighting games look. Even me, though I am reunited with playing classics.
EVO 2023 is upon us. This year is gonna be different because not only it's presented by Chipotle. It's also because it has eight games on the lineup instead of the usual nine and there will be the top six finals instead of eight. Keef posted a video, but it's not the EVO skit I'm looking for. It's a reaction to how PvE is cancelled to shift to Story Missions in Overwatch 2. Since this year is gonna have the top 6 finals, it might benefit making it bit shorter.
The only thing about this year's EVO is that Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has made its debut to have a throwback tournament, but my main problem with it is that Bonne Wonderland is gonna be the only permitted stage because it's not only brighter, but also can mitigate lag when playing a fighting game with delay-based netcode. Both offline and online. It's just annoying to see them pick the same stage that fights lag. This needs to be fixed like right now.
Especially on Granblue Fantasy Versus where they had to pick Coliseum in online matches since it uses delay-based netcode. Even on EVO Japan because the guidelines stated that they must pick Coliseum, though it is offline. But it's sequel, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is upon us.
There is a open beta tournament for it that will be played there and rollback netcode is something that needs to be implemented on there so they wouldn't have to pick Coliseum during online. That's what rollback netcode is for. It allows your character to act immediately upon a button press to make input predictions instead of waiting until the signal reaches your remote opponent to perform an action no matter the distance and what stage. And since Street Fighter 6's rollback netcode is excellent while Mortal Kombat 1 and Tekken 8 are getting it, our online matches will play smoothly no matter what stage and the distance between you and your remote opponent.
If UMvC3 is in a spot where the top four games are gonna be played Sunday Arena Finals, Capcom better give us a Marvel vs. Capcom collection, or better yet, a patch that mitigates lag from all stages so that they wouldn't have to keep on picking Bonne Wonderland. It's annoying as heck.
Again, the FGC is about to shift to the new generation as three fighting games are on the docket. You are in for a new gen ride.
