Topic: The Wheel of Fate is Turning! [Fighting Game Central]

I coulda sworn I had made a thread last year for Fighting games, but I couldn't find it anywhere...

Anyways, this is a thread for discussing Fighting games of all kinds. Talk about your likes, your dislikes, your favorite characters, games, and moves - Whatever you feel like discussing, so long as it's a fighting game*.

• I do ask to please keep the Smash Bros. discussion to a minimum, due to it having its own stickied thread. But games like Smash are still fair game.

And for those looking to get into more competitive Fighter discussion, we're welcome to that, too. By default, though, I recommend reading through Dustloop and Shoryuken. I know they can be pretty intimidating, especially to those who are pretty new to fighting games, but they do have a lot of detailed information and links to helpful videos, I've often found them helpful, even though I'm not that hardcore.

Anyways, I'll start by asking: what are your favorite fighting games?

I know mine is probably Mark of the Wolves. It just feels so fluid, at least when I have a decent controller, and every character has a very different feel from eachother, yet there isn't a single character I don't enjoy playing as. That's a huge feat, since usually it's rare that I ever play as more than 5 or 6 characters in a fighting game outside of just trying them out, yet in that game I tend to cycle through all 14 characters when I really sit down with it. You hardly even notice how small the cast is because of it. Truly a swan song for old SNK...

I also want to mention that I recently found out a new Fighting game from Melty Blood's developer is coming to NA this month called Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late. It looks pretty damn cool, too, but don't take my word for it - Here's a trailer.

Fighting games are one of my favorite genres and I've been getting in the competitive side of it this year. My favorite fighting game series will always be Tekken. I just love the style, representing realistic yet slightly exaggerated fighting styles. It's also the perfect speed for me. Not as sluggish as street fighter but not as blinding as Melee. Super pumped for Tekken 7 this year! Hope it comes to America by the end of the year, which I think is kind of likely.

Took recent interest in Guilty Gear and King of Fighters lately too. Gonna need to look into those more. Their wacky casts are what drew me in.

I'm not huge into fighting games mostly because I'm not great at them, but there are a few I enjoy. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is a lot of fun even though I'm not familiar with half the characters. It's totally crazy and flashy, but still simple enough for me to enjoy it.

Injustice Gods Among Us is great as well. I'm a huge DC fan, so being able to play as characters like Green Arrow, Joker, and Flash is amazing. I really like the combo system as well.

I tried playing Street Fighter 4 but the controls make no sense to me. I can handle a quarter circle, but zigzags an full rotations never seem to work.

king of fighters im also a fan of the capcom vs series

Recently been enjoying Guilty Gear.

Bruh, Guilty Gear is mad with them soundtracks. BlazBlue looks cool as well, but not as hardcore as in my point of view.

I normally play Fighting for fun, but I can get competitive. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3, Tekken, Vs Capcom, Smash Bros., Naruto Shippuden:UNS. Anything that's good with mates. Sadly with fighting games, I'm the best out of my friends. I wish I was at their level so I could lose and actually give them more of a reason to play but I like my skill level where I am.

Ditto.

DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 3 = Best fighting game.

Huge roster (even without the multiples of the same character).
Easy 3D movement.
Execution of special moves is the same for all characters (seriously, it's no fun trying to memorise 100 different inputs for an entire roster, it shoehorns you into playing as only a couple of fighters)
Whole game is geared towards epic fights.

I'm not too sure about what my favorites would be. I must say that it's been a while since I touched any. I remember playing Persona 4 Arena Ultimax like three months ago, and the same goes for Skullgirls. I think I've just been too stubborn to buy a new controller (mine's not all that functional).
Ah, that reminds me. I wonder when Namco will make Soul Calibur 6? When they do, please bring back Talim.

@Jazzer94 - Which Guilty Gear and what platform?

@faint King of Fighters is good fun. If I had to name my favorite Fighting series, that would definitely be it (Guilty Gear took a while to get really good, TBH). Though, @Retro, I do have to warn that it's pretty complex. It used to be one of the most complex fighting games around, though these days it's been outpaced. Just thought I'd mention that. But then again, Guilty Gear's one of those games that outpaced it, so...

Zigzags can be easy once you get them down, they do a lot of practice, though. Especially on a D-Pad. I could never pull off those full rotations, though. I don't even bother trying anymore. It's easier to do them with analogue sticks, though, I remember that...

I've been a fan of Soul Calibur, Dead or Alive, & Street Fighter, and also enjoyed Tatsunoko VS Capcom.

As for characters, I like Kilik, Xianghua, & Taki in SC, Ryu Hayabusa, Ayane, Hitomi, and Kasumi in DOA, Ryu, Ken, Sakura, Chun-Li, C. Viper, Dudley, Balrog, Makoto, Izuki, M. Bison, Guile, Guy, & Juri in SF, Ryu, Tekkaman Blade, Morrigan, & Karas in TvsC.

As for favorite move? I awfully like Ryu Hayabusa's move in DOA, where you knock your opponent up into the air, teleport to their location, and spiral slam them into the ground.

I also have Samurai Showdown II on my Wii that I really need to get into more (it was just so unforgiving), and a briefly had King of Fighters XIII, before my dog ruined it (the dog puked on it, after my bro took it out of the console & didn't put it back in the case), so I never really got to get into it too much. Oh, and I also had, Bleach: the Blade of Fate which was quite good.

@CanisWolfred Guilty Gear Xrd PS3 US copy I imported due to impatience, When I eventually get a PS4 might buy it or the next iteration on that.

I at least try every fighting game I can get my hands on, so my list of active ones is quite large. But the general gist is that I don't like 3D fighters for the most part.

• Guilty Gear: my absolute favourite fighter. Great balancing, creative characters, and an epic story. Couldn't ask for more! And XRD takes everything to a whole new level of awesome! Also: best soundtrack EVER!!!
• BlazBlue (up to Continuum Shift EXTEND): BazBlue was like a godsend to me back when Calamity Trigger came out, since Guilty Gear was in the hands of SEGA Sammy back then. The animé approach, combined with unusually high production value just got me right away. The balancing never quite hit the spot, but was still very good. Sadly, the succes got to Team Blue, and the series just keeps disappointing me now, especially with the story, which went from intriguing (Calamity Trigger) to stupid (Chronophantasma), and the characters, which are just continuously trying to rip-off Guilty Gear (especially now that XRD has new characters, BlazBlue suddenly receives characters that play suspiciously similar), so I've dropped the series by now, and only play Calamity Trigger anymore.
• Melty Blood (Act Cadenza V2 only): I don't think Melty Blood will continue anymore, but it's still immensely fun. The balancing could use some work, though. And the story is connected to the Nasuverse, so it's seriously hard to understand fully.
• Arcana Heart 2: not a good fighter, but still fun. I'm not a big fan of the design choices, but some characters have very entertaining and creative movesets. Can't say much about AH3, though.
• Garou - Mark of the Wolves: the best fighter from a technical standpoint. Even today, barely any other fighter got even remotely close to the perfection this game has with its balancing. The typical tournament approach is a letdown, though, and I don't like the hit 'n run combat.
• Under Night In-BIRTH (actually Undernight Inverse, but japan): haven't played it yet, and it takes MANY cues from BlazBlue in terms of character design, but employs a far more interesting story. The presentation is very cool, and I love the combat speed, but the ludicrous combo potential kinda holds it back. Recent balancing patches toned this down immensely, but it's still kinda lame to watch a character wail on the opponent for almost 30 seconds flat.
• Yatagarasu: A nice, but lazy game. 8 characters, and 2 are very much clones. The visulas are decidedly low-key, but still don't look that well. It's good enough for a PC game, but the cancellation of the 3DS port was a slap in the face.
• Vanguard Princess: for a free PC title, this game looks just gorgeous! The character designs look like Ikki Tousen knock-offs, but still work very well, due to the extremely fluid animations. Combat is very well-balanced, but could still imporve, but the Vanguard-Assist system works surprisingly well, and allows for a lot of freedom in terms of combo creation.
• Touhou Fighters (from Shanghai Alice): the Touhou fighters are what brought me to the series in the first place, and now I barely play these anymore (I do play the bullet hell games), but the projectile-centric combat is very satisfying and easy to use, but hard to master. Sadly, the games really lack the passion on the dev end, since the balancing has some very obvious flaws.
• FATE/Unlimited Code (PSP version): a really fun game for a 3D fighter, and as a fan of the Nasuverse characters, I can say that it captures the atmosphere very well. Balancing worked, and the movesets all had their fun sides, making it very entertaining to simply explore potential combos alone. Too bad it never was successful enough to warrant a real sequel.
• Castlevania Judgment: many people hate this game, and I absolutely understand why they do, but I'm still having a blast with it. Balancing is kinda subpar, and the controls are somewhat irritating, but the characters and their ridiculously cool designs really make up for that. Kinda sucks that Konami has Capcom'd Castlevania.
• Skullgirls: a title I've been watching ever since the first Filia idle animation was revealed in 2008. The way it turned out is great, and I love the creativity that went into the characters, animations, and moves. The balancing still trips a bit, and the 3-character tag system is kinda overkill for my taste, but still very well-made. Also: BEST. NETCODE. EVER!!! (every fighter should use GGPO!!!)
• Super Smash Bros. (Melee/Project M): no further comments on that, I've grown tired of discussing Smash (and Canis doesn't want too much Smash in here anyway, thankfully).
• My Little Pony - Fighting is Magic (EVO alpha release only): a real shame Hasbro went this far on what could've been the best competitive fighter from fans. Detailed animations, creative movesets that take cues from the series in great ways, a baffling level of balancing right from the start, and some admirable effort and passion made this my most anticipated game of 2012/2013, right until Hasbro went nuts with the cease-and-desist order.
• (EDIT - Completely forgot this) Pokémon/TYPE.WILD: a Pokémon fighter. No, not that ...thing.... BamCo is pulling out of a dark place. A purely fan-made Pokémon fighter in 2D. The system is a bit convoluted, and the balancing definitely has issues, but the overall presentation is nice. Just the character selection is somewhat difficult to understand.
• (EDIT - How could I forget this game?!) Million KNights Vermillion: can't believe I forgot about this burned-out star. I was putting a lot of faith in this title becoming a bigger thing, but it never happened. The character designs are a bit over-stylized, and the balancing is actually pretty awful, but I just can't abandon it. The animation work is very good, the soundtrack has that certain PUNCH to it that I'm missing in many games, and the overall production value was considerably high for a small company like NRF (I think they went out of business, though). A sad title that will never rise to its full potential. Still trying to get the source code to work on better balancing, but I'm not hoping for much...

Every other fighting game I played/analyzed either failed the balancing to an intolerable degree (Dengeki Bunko, Tekken, Phantom Breaker, MvC, Mortal Kombat/Injustice, Killer Instinct, Fatal Fury, every Dragonball fighter), consisted of too many characters I hate (Jump Superstars, Dengeki Bunko, Dead or Alive, Virtua Fighter), or was too slow or sluggish (Street Fighter, Tekken, Fatal Fury, Toshinden, King of Fighters). To my disadvantage, however, I don't like playing fighters online. It's really boring to not be able to sit next to the guy you're playing a fighting game with/against, and the inevitable input lag always frustrates me.

Isn't Xrd made with 3d models?

Precisely. Fully-rendered 3D models, with strong cel-shading, and smart frame-skipping technique to make the animations look more choppy (to invoke a 2D fighter kind of impression).

I've also been playing SSB4 (and Melee) but seems like best keep that talk to the smash thread, though I'm excited for PM 3.5 EU release meaning I don't have to use illegal methods to play it.

Really does look beautiful.

Guess I'll make a list then:

King of Fighters '94, '96, '98 (UM), '99, '00, '02, '03, Xl, Xlll
Art of Fighting 1, 2
Real Bout Fatal Fury
Samurai Shodown ll, V Special
Mark of the Wolves
Last Blade 2
SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos
Street Fighter 2 (HD Turbo Remix), 3, 4, Alpha 3, EX 3
Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
Marvel vs. Capcom 1-2
Capcom vs. SNK 1-2
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom
Tekken 3, TT, 4, 6
SoulCalibur ll
Virtual Fighter V
Killer Instinct (SNES)
Mortal Kombat 1, 2, 3, (Ultimate), 4, Deadly Alliance, Armageddon, 9
Smash Bros. (All)
DOA 4, Dimensions

Since we're bringing anime shows as well:

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 1-3 (PS2) , Ultimate Battle 22
Yu Yu Hakusho: Dark Tournament
Gundam Battle Assault 2 (can't believe I miss this one)

Good times.

I seriously NEED GG Xrd...I can't believe I didn't buy it this morning when I had the chance...even more I can't believe I bought AC Unity instead...

@Kaze_Memaryu - I haven't played Melty Blood since Melty Blood: Act Cadenza Ver. B. I remember the balancing was hilariously terrible, too. I used to juggle low-level opponents with surprising ease. Has the game gotten any better since then?

Also, someone else played and enjoyed Fate/Unlimited CODE? Yay!

Anyways, I played Arcana Hearts 3: Love MAX!!! and it's...suprisingly worse than the first Arcana Hearts. It feels floatier and some of the new characters aren't very well-balanced. Like, I played Story mode as the Evil Nun chick, and she kinda really sucked. A lot of her attacks seem locked as follow-ups to her QCF attack, which is normally fine, but combine that with that attack has, and how few attacks she has that aren't attached to that (and all of those have worse delays) means she's useless against an agressive opponent...which is pretty much what this whole game is about...

Oh, and note to self: Add Vanguard Princess to my Steam wishlist...

So it is the one where I'll need to buy a new PS4 to play.
Awwwsome.

I really like fighting games. I think they have a spot in my top 5 gaming genres. But I'm not into it because of the way you have to memorize numerous combos let alone play it out as fast as you can. Aside from Smash Bros., I'd say I like Street Fighter the most.
Since I'm not an expert, how do I deal with friends(opponents) who randomly mash buttons... and defeat me?