Pre-EVO 2023 Thoughts

What is up, everyone? Tomorrow, the biggest thrill ride of the year is coming at you live from the beautiful Las Vegas where Mandalay Bay is at and that's where EVO usually takes place at. I am so excited to watch some EVO action. I wish I can make it, but being fear of flying or not being ready to participate in an offline tournament are not the main issues. The main issue is that tickets are expensive despite the fact that they are small objects.

Anyway, onto the thoughts. This year's EVO has more entrants than last year. Street Fighter 6 has over 7,000 players. Wow! Now that's a pretty darn good way to kick off the Capcom Pro Tour 2023 with EVO being its first stop! I am astonished at that number. It's whopping. For the reveals, they are gonna be shown during the Friday Showcase where game developers showcase what do they have in store for us. I have a couple of targeted showcases to look out for.

Hidden Variable is gonna be there to showcase their upcoming and final Season 1 Pass character in Skullgirls, Marie. She has made a lot of progress that a large number of animations are completed, leaving a few animations sketchy and she got voice clips and Kira Buckland reprised her role as Marie Korbel, but sounded different from her boss version. Kira actually voices both versions Marie carries, but the Skullgirl echo is more subtle and heard rarely in her playable version.

It's really starting to feel like not just SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level so far, but also Persona 4 Arena because Marie is capable of summoning her Stand in game. Hilgard has his own KO animation when someone hits Marie, like in Persona 4 Arena, but minus the Persona Break. Her power to summon her Stand in game is also what makes Purity & Strictly a perfect fit like her maid's outfit and that's what I'm gonna play when Marie's Alpha launches. Perhaps I should consider Marie, an undead version of Orie in Skullgirls because Orie is the only character in Under Night In-Birth that can summon her Stand in game, so I screen captured it. And Eldritch Hounds... The world will not be engulfed.

SonicFox and Dekillsage are having yet another iconic grudge match, but it's a special Marie edition where they set up a Marie mirror match. There might be a good chance that all of Marie's animations might be finished before her Alpha. Development should be smooth now that the Xbox port and the Nintendo Switch update are completed, but the update for the Japanese PS4 version is still on the docket. If there's anything I can look for, it's Marie's Orie palette. If it didn't make it to the game, it stays on my palette pack. After that is a special announcement they are having. It can't be the Season 2 Pass because Marie is still in development. It has to be either the return of the SGCS or something interesting.

Eighty Sixed has planned a new addition that is a long time coming to be revealed tomorrow. Whatever that is, I'll get it. Maybe it's a poster or a t-shirt that has the whole cast of 18 characters. Or maybe it might be some decorations.

Over a week ago, GameMill Entertainment has announced Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2, a sequel to the original game that has a ton of new content, such as crossplay, new characters, new modes, gameplay refinements, better VO at launch, better netcode and a meter that is consumed by various actions, like slime cancels, augmented attacks and the most outrageous attack that spends all three bars, Ultimates.

You guessed it. Ultimates are coming to Brawl 2. They are super abilities that allow each character to unleash their maximum potential. The trailer haven't shown any of them, but a gameplay breakdown is gonna be shown at EVO, so we'll probably see what Ultimates look like on it. The first one is like Melee because it doesn't have super moves, so Brawl 2 will be like Smash Brawl because super moves are coming to the game. If you are a fan of Nickelodeon, you know that the orange hours unfold.

EVO is gonna be big, but there is only one developer who will be a no show for the second year in the row, MANE6. Since their acquisition by Modus Games, the developers of Them's Fightin' Herds got a new talent they are getting used to. Sadly, despite that, they are not attending at EVO, yet the third character in the Season 1 Pass, Nidra, is still on the docket. She was announced at Combo Breaker and supposed to come out this Summer. It's August and we should be getting info about that soon. I just don't get why they would not make it at EVO and I'm disappointed. They wanted to attend at more offline events, but not EVO? Only the fact that both Skullgirls and Them's Fightin' Herds having their Season 1 Passes can make me wait for both Marie and Nidra to drop.

Regarding the tournaments, Street Fighter 6 is what I'm gonna watch in celebration of its first debut at EVO. Rashid is tournament legal to mean that he can be played. With it having the most amount of signups, it's gonna be played last at the Sunday Arena Finals. A second character in the Season Pass is in the works and a trailer for them is gonna be revealed there.

Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate has the least amount of signups to be the first game to have Top 6. It's the perfect opportunity to give it a big finale to prepare for the next era of the franchise, which has a public build there. It's Top 6 and it might be a bit shorter than Top 8. I wanted to watch it so that I can find out how will the finale unfold. Don't get me wrong. I am a Mortal Kombat fan and honestly, I don't think Midway is gonna have their case since it was bought out by WB Games and rebranded into Netherrealm Studios. So far in the development of Mortal Kombat 1, 16 characters are confirmed, with Geras being the latest addition no longer Kronika's goon because following Liu Kang's part in restarting history, he is a good guy and is doing his part to find someone who is threatening the peace.

A throwback tournament is coming and this year, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is making their debut as the first throwback tournament. But my main problem is that they are only gonna choose Bonne Wonderland because it's the only stage that is legal and not only brighter, but can also fight lag. It happens both offline and online. This needs to be fixed like right now. Okay? Fortunately, it's one of the games that is a part of the Sunday Arena Finals. Maybe they might announce something of all things Marvel vs. Capcom. The matches in UMvC3 are quicker and it's gonna end in a fastest amount of time. I should be able to watch the whole Top 6.

And that's all I had to say about tomorrow's biggest event. Expect blood to be spilled, fists of fury to be pulled, the bloody moon to strike and destruction to be caused. Signing out.