So it's a new year! A lot's happened so far - someone's bought the domain name for "Gaming Everything" and created their own site, the bastards; a broken arm has made life difficult just after Christmas; and the stress of running a game room at an anime convention has gotten the best of me. So, this may likely be the last post I make on this blog-slash-review site, but if I come up with any other clever name I may resume with a hopefully better schedule.
And what better way to round out this project than with my thoughts on the currently revealed characters of one of the first games I covered; Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. There are currently 38 characters announced, two of which are downloadable content, and range from the typical to the downright odd. Of the characters I added on my wishlists, only four have made the cut so far (Zero, C. Viper, Nathan Spencer, and Thor) while two were confirmed to NOT have a chance of making it in (Power Stone characters and Mega Man X, those bastards!), though rumor is the statement about X not making his way in has been removed. Let's take a look at each character currently announced, and try to decide who would make our best teams of three.
Akuma remains the intimidating foe he's always been. His combos appear to be quite powerful, as do his supers; his hadouken looks larger and more powerful than Ryu's, and he also has a super that appears to stretch across the screen in a haze of purple. Akuma haters should watch out: he seems ever so devastating in the little we've seen of him so far.
The Sun Goddess from Okami looks to be one of the most complex characters we've seen yet. Amaterasu looks to have different runes floating around her that can call upon the help of different elements and attacks; think of them as "stances" that you might see in other fighters. Video so far shows the wolf looking rather broken, but there's a thing about complex characters - they can either be absolute beast mode or totally worthless. Will each phase Amaterasu uses contain a full move list, or will a normal sized move list be split into each individual stance? We'll have to see when we finally get our hands on the game.
Arthur is a fucking badass. I think very few saw this one coming. King Arthur retains a lot from his retro days, including his goofy high legged run and jump animation and a huge number of his weapons, from his trademark lance to torches. He can gain golden armor for a boost of power, where after a certain amount of time he is dropped down to his signature heart-covered boxers. Arthur is one of the most nostalgic characters revealed, and more characters like him are certainly appreciated.
Steve Rogers rejoins the fray with his classic red, white, and blue. He seems fairly average, perhaps a bit on the stronger side, but there's honestly not a whole lot that looks to have changed with ol' Cap'. Captain America appears to be much better in the melee department, a very up-in-your-face style, with the star-faced shield being a back up option for when the opponent tries fleeing.
The first new character announced, Chris has an amazing array of weapons at his disposal. Seeming to be the new trend, the S.T.A.R.S. member has plenty of firearms, ranging from pistols to shotguns to rocket launchers. He can even set down mines, reminiscent of Snake in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Redfield will likely be a character that will keep his distance, fighting from afar with a bit of tactical strategy as well.
The first lady of fighting games returns, and she doesn't look vastly different from before. It appears now she can use her lightning fast kicks as an aerial combo as well, giving the Interpol detective more use in the air, but whether Chun-Li actually plays differently or not we'll have to wait to find out.
Another long-ranged firearms user, Dante already appears to be a force to be reckoned with. A recent video has shown the mercenary has over 40 moves, most of which are either quick or powerful, and incredibly versatile. I can already imagine seeing him in a high percentage of people's teams.
Deadpool is fucking hilarious. The merc with a mouth breaks the fourth wall several times to harass the player, rambles ridiculously throughout matches, sings to himself, and even uses his own health bar and super gauge to beat his opponent with. Between his hilarious antics and his long-range pistols, prepare to see a LOT of Deadpool once the game is released.
Doc Doom looks to have retained many of his moves from MvC2, only several of them look improved. The beams he shot out of his hands, most notably as an aerial super, now appear to be wider bolts of lightning that cover a wider range. The laser he shoots is now much thinner, but Doom is looking to be a great character both up close and from afar.
I know literally NOTHING about this character, but gameplay footage shows him to be a powerful beast. This ruler of the Dark Dimension uses fire-based attacks, with one of his supers flooding most of the screen in flames. He looks like a powerhouse character, with little speed and the possibility of being punished should he leave an opening.
Ahh, the character no one gave a shit about when she was added to the roster. The official MvC3 site has literally no gameplay footage of her, and even of the four pictures they have, only one is of her NOT getting her ass kicked. It's as if EVERYONE forgot about her being in this game. What little footage of her that can be seen shows little difference from her playstyles in her previous games.
The original wrestler-turned-mayor looks like Zangief's replacement, using less combos and more powerful hits. Looking like quite the grappler, Haggar can be seen pulling out a lead pipe as a weapon, throwing large haymakers, and performing powerbombs and piledrivers as his moveset. He looks like a more interesting version of ol' 'Gief, but other than that he seems to be a cool version of a generic grabbing powerhouse.
More Darkstalkers love is a great thing. One of the last reveals on the roster, Hsien-Ko looks like a make-it-or-break-it character; she'll either be incredibly good and a great counter pick, or total garbage. She has projectiles, but mainly fights up close, and has great ways to close the distance between her and her foes.
Bruce Banner's angry side seems largely unchanged. The game appears to be a bit slower than it's predecessor, with the exception of aerial combat, so Hulk appears to be slightly slower and just as powerful. His Gamma Charge dash attack can easily help close the distance between him and a foe that's better at on the other side of the screen.
Tony Stark was one of the first announced to return, and he doesn't appear to have lost much steam. Iron Man looks good no matter where he is on screen, with long range beams, close range blasts, and the ability to fly and hover around in the air. He's looking very much like an above-average all-around character.
There is no footage of Jill in action. All that we know is that she will be offered as downloadable content and included in the Special Edition version of the game. However, it has also been noted that Jill will play drastically different from her play style in Marvel vs. Capcom 2, so we'll have to wait until the game is released to see what she can do.
Mag-fuckin'-neto! Expect to see ol' Maggie at the top of the tier list. He's still powerful, he's got hard hits up close, he's got hard hitting projectiles, he can hover about in the air, and he can pull enemies close to him for a super. Rapist.
This big piece of shit kinda pisses me off. Let's forget what he plays like for a minute: look at him. He looks so fucking stupid. We lose a spot that could easily go to, for Marvel alone, Gambit, Venom, Carnage, Nightcrawler, Psylocke, Jubilee, Sabertooth, Colossus, Cyclops, War Machine, Elektra, Beast, Cable, Juggernaut, Iceman, Ms. Marvel, Nick Fury, Songbird... And this big-headed fuck up gets a spot in? I'm all for new characters, but retarded looking, keep-away laser spammers is not what I had in mind. Consider the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing near the top of my least favorite character list.
The second Capcom character reveal, Morrigan looks very similar to how she played in Tatsunoko vs Capcom. Lilith no longer joins her for her Darkness Illusion super, and her air dash looks much more easily manipulated to go in several directions instead of just slightly up or slightly down, but other than that and a few new supers, she looks nearly the same.
A surprising newcomer that shouldn't have been surprising, Jean Grey looks downright devastating. Showing us the first level 5 super, her move sets and supers are not only covered in flame, but several either quickly sweep across the screen or completely fill it. She's fucking beast mode rapist, and likely to top the tiers of tourney play.
Capcom's staple fighting character icon, Ryu returns with more or less the same. He still uses hadoukens, his shinku-hadouken now able to be moved towards aerial targets, as well. I mean, it's Ryu.
GODDAMMIT.
Everyone's really hating on She-Hulk, but I think she's an interesting new character. She's got strength comparable to the Hulk, but she can actually dash, and has interesting attacks and supers. She doesn't look to have much in the terms of long range like the Hulk, so expect to fight with her up close.
The first announced Marvel DLC, Shuma-Gorath has also yet to be seen in action. Like Jill, this tentacle monster will be included on the Special Edition version of the game.
Nathan "Radd" Spencer was one of my top wishes, and he looks pretty badass. His bionic arm looks to close the distance from runaways, with both attacks as well as drawing them closer like Mortal Kombat's Scorpion. His supers are interesting, and I'm genuinely excited to play as him.
Peter Parker brings back Spidey, who appears to be nearly as talkative as Deadpool. He's got some interesting supers, and looks to be one of the speedier characters in the game. He has an opposite move of similar to Spencer, able to pull himself towards his opponent instead of vice-versa, which should be good for locking foes in the corner.
Just like in MvC2, Storm is looking pretty beast. With whirlwinds to pop up foes, lightning ball attacks that travel the screen, and a blizzard super that takes up a large chunk of screen room, expect her to again remain in everyone's roster.
Skrull looks fucking stupid. I mean, sure, he saves up four spots that would normally fill the Fantastic Four, as he has all four of their powers. Sure, he has an amazing moveset using the Four's powers, and amazingly at that. But... he looks fucking STUPID.
Taskmaster, meanwhile, looks fucking awesome! This smug bastard can copy any opponent's moves and use them against him; in comic book lore, the only person to defeat him is Deadpool due to the merc's erratic and unpredictable thoughts and actions. It's hard to tell who all's moves the villain comes packed with, but Spidey's Spider Swing can be seen, AND he comes packed with a sword, bow, and pistol. This mother fucker is amazing.
Thor already looks underrated, mainly by how little he's been shown. He has what looks to be a really fun moveset. He looks like he can fight from anywhere, with his lightning attacks spanning the screen and his hammer being powerful up close. Strange how we've seen little on him to this point.
I dunno, Trish is interesting, but something's not clicking with me. Not too particularly interested in using her, honestly. She uses a large blade, nearly the size of her body, throwing it out during a super. She can also summon attacks from a demonic summoning circle. She looks alright, I suppose, but I likely won't be playing her.
It was a surprise to see her return until it was announced that Megaman Legends 3 would be coming to the Nintendo 3DS. Tron is a silly character, using the servbots to do her bidding. It appears many of her old moves return, as well as supers used by her and Servbot from MvC2.
I fucking hate this character. I fucking hated his games. I fucking hated that he was in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. And I fucking hate that he's in Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Let this fucking character die, and give a character that's actually likeable and worth a shit a chance to be in this game. Fuck.
Crimson Viper appears as one of the newest characters on the roster, and she looks to have brought all of her moves from Street Fighter IV with her. Her moveset literally looks near identical. Let's hope they're not as high of a learning curve to pull off in this game as they were in her debut.
The traitorous Albert Wesker looks to finally make a playable debut and has always been a fan favorite of the series. He not only looks badass, but his combos look quick and fierce, and when you can't think things can get any crazier, this son of a bitch pulls out a big ass missile and throws it down on his opponent. Wesker pisses excellence, and because he does so you can expect to see him on a lot of teams early.
One of Marvel's most beloved characters, Logan brings back several moves and supers he had in past games. He still looks quick, and he looks to bring back combo potential, but he still looks weak. In a game where nearly everyone except him can hit you nearly anywhere, you can't afford to be weak. I see him being picked by his faithful followers, but he's not going to be one of the best characters of this game, either.
Bitch all you want, but it's better than two Wolverines. X-23 is hot, and dons two claws per hand plus one on each toe of her boots. She looks faster and more powerful than Wolverine, and has a moveset that looks much more useful than the veteran fighter.
Zero makes a return from Tatsunoko vs. Capcom with many of the same moves, only improved. He combos a bit faster, his supers are vastly better and more useful, and he genuinely looks like a better character overall. Let's hope there's a little more balance to him than in TvC, however, and cross our fingers that X DOES in fact appear as DLC, considering the high demand for him has caused Capcom to apparently pull their deconfirmed statement.
That's the entire revealed roster to this point. I'm particularly impressed with even the details we've seen as well; from the visual changes that happen to the HUD (such as during C. Viper's fire based attacks), to the characters calling out the names of their partners during a tag (Spider-Man: "Maaaggiiiee!" to Magneto, for example, is one of my faves). The levels look amazing and include many newcomers' locales, such as an Umbrella Corp lab and the Ghosts N Goblins graveyard. And the dialog between characters is outstanding:
Spencer: "How much of that suit is bionic...?"
Iron Man: "Just the arm? What? Couldn't afford the rest of the suit?"
C. Viper: "I've found M.O.D.O.K., leader of A.I.M. ...Understood."
Storm: "Will you never learn, Erik...?"
Magneto: "I grow weary of these encounters."
It seems a lot of characters will have dialog chemistry with each other. It's these little touches that make this game look great, and feel like it wasn't rushed and given little time. The game arrives the day after Valentine's Day, but I'm sure a lot of us are already in love. Everyone, enjoy Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and we'll see you somewhere down the line.
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