masterLEON

LEAVE MY SLOSHING MACHINE ALONE! IT’S ACTUALLY DECENT AGAIN!

Fix the bridge collision boxes, clearly they’re too thin. Add more concrete!

I can also confirm that the same thing does NOT occur when shooting up at someone standing on a tent canopy in Hagglefish Market. I tried by accident, several times, and failed to splat someone from below.

AoF is in an odd position. It’s a very rough game but it has also innovated many conventions not only for SNK fighting games but fighting games in general, but is largely forgotten as time goes on. While some of AoF’s conventions have carried on into mainstream, some never get used again, or only get used exclusively by the AoF crew.

Here’s most of AoF’s innovations:
-1st fighting game to introduce a Super Move (and I don’t mean the Haoh-Shoukoken, I mean the Ryuko Ranbu)
-1st fighting game to have a dash (double-tap forward)
-1st fighting game to have a mid-air back attack (press C when jumping over your opponent)
-1st fighting game where you can attack more than once mid-air (on the way up and on the way down)
-1st fighting game where the camera zooms in and out, giving the characters a wider playfield (NEOGEO version only)
-1st fighting game to display battle damage (the characters faces get bruised and their stance changes slightly)
-1st fighting game with ‘vacuum’ moves (a multi-hit special move that ‘locks’ an opponent for all the hits if they get caught)

Art of Fighting only innovations:
-characters can negate projectiles with a well-timed punch (including the Haoh-Shoukoken). This even carried over to other games, like KoF, but only for the Kyokugen characters (Ryo, Robert, Yuri, Takuma). It seems inconsistent between games however.
-Spirit gauge that fuels special moves. The implementation is AoF-only, but holding buttons to charge is now a universal mechanic.

There may be more, but these are the ones off the top of my head.

@CharlieGirl AoF came out almost a year after Fatal Fury.

@Kyloctopus What cliffhanger ending? If you beat the game straight without continues you unmask Mr. Karate and find out it’s….Player 1 from Street Smart

I wish we could’ve had some of our Super Sea Snails from Splat2 transfer to Splat3. I still have over 400 in the other game! (I rarely used them in 2 as I didn’t care much for making optimal builds)

@Geit_de Trades (when two players kill/splat simultaneously) usually happen in Splatoon because most of the weapons are projectile-based not hit-scan based, not necessarily because of the tick rate. If a shot is is the air it’s still active, and will remain active until it lands, regardless if the player who shot it was splatted or not. Now, tick rate does affect how frequently players’ systems are trying to communicate their game states to one another. If information from one Switch doesn’t reach the others in time, but the redundant info on subsequent packets does, it’ll look like weird things are happening. Teleporting, shots hitting late/all at once, shots ‘not doing any damage’, trades, and so on. Obviously, higher is better when everyone involved has a similar setup, but that’s only one part of the internet gaming puzzle. Since this is 2022, I’m hoping you’re using a gigabit ethernet switch for your setup (if it’s a managed switch even better), and your upload can handle at least 35mb/s per player plus overhead for whatever other internet traffic you have going on in your household. (and really, you can get by with much less upload speed than that). Oh, and increase the MTU setting of every Switch to 1500 if you haven’t done so already. If everything’s good on your end, then we can go back to blaming Nintendo for their shoddy p2p network code/settings…or the rage-quitters on the other team.

I got it, I got it. F-Zero, but ONLINE!

But seriously, regular tracks were getting old real quick with the GBA entries. What about an interplanetary rally? Point to point. Sprawling routes kind of like Star Fox, with hidden exits that can cut time with riskier segments. Bring back customization. Maybe make it a graphical showcase but with different terrain and cosmic forces that’ll give our HD Rumble something to do? Come on, just make SOMETHING!

We’re overdue for slosher representation! And Blaster, Nozzlenose, .Gal, Aerospray, and ‘O-Matic, I suppose.

They need to tweak the positions of the Ultra Signal drops when they get taken. Based on the RPS Splatfest, on the Shipyard, the Signal in Rock’s possession dropped too close to Scissors’ spawn to defend against. Rock’s territory pretty much had free reign over Scissors’ spawn as well with the right weapons. Maybe put up a few more inflatable barriers to obscure the view of the defender’s spawn and center the Ultra Signal’s positions more within the attacker’s territory.

I wonder if I can work in something Gradius-related with the Moai heads.

Well, Chaos DID win Splatoon 2’s Final Fest so let me go ahead and open these ports for the full experience 👍

@Anti-Matter Well, so far it looks like it’s a separate game (and charging 7,600 yen for it, yikes) so it’s not a DLC. Over the years they’ve been making the franchise less serious, at least. (It still gets bad from time to time) Too much seriousness can make a series depressing and unapproachable by all. I found this announcement as hilarious as the bartending “mix, mix, mix…” minigame from FotNS Lost Paradise 🤣

Wait, wait, wait. I gotta bump this Direct up to pretty good because of Fitness Boxing Fist of the North Star! The truest left field announcement of today’s Direct!

https://twitter.com/fitboxinghokuto/status/1569692962376011780?s=46&t=1gc_Gab56t4jyHZvhcrFDQ

Aside from Farming Direct 2022, I thought there was a ton of little surprises for everyone. And right out of the gate with a return to turn-based FE, with ‘stands’ of returning heroes. Also more Bayo3 info, OctopathII, Radiant Silvergun, Golden Eye, Pilotwings 64 with a better framerate, Kirby remake, Fatal Frame Wii remake, Tales remake, Sifu, Theatrythm sequel, and Raincode (raincoat?), lots of stuff to chew on. Not the best direct but a lot of “blink and you’ll miss it while you’re complaining about rumored things that weren’t guaranteed to be in the direct in the first place” news.

@Don Lots of people only think there’s just Turf War. But In Anarchy Battles (ranked mode) you get variants on common shooter modes like Domination (Splat Zones), Payload (Tower Control), Capture the Flag (Rainmaker), plus Clam Blitz (I got no comparison on that), and then there’s the co-op horde mode (Salmon Run). People also forget about the single player campaign, too. But this is pretty much all the modes until they drop some new ones later for this numbered release.

Any Nintendo game that has a sprawling overworld area, usually with huge draw distances, that needs optimizing, you can probably bet Monolith Soft will have a hand in it.

Man, so much attention to world-building is what makes this series feel so alive!

Check out the world map! It’s kinda mind blowing!

It’s the most complete Splatoon experience to date, basically. But the continuation (conclusion?) of the Squid Sisters’/Agent 3’s behind the scenes work is enticing. That, and if we’re reaping the chaos from the end of Splat2’s final fest, does that mean we will be exploring some order in Off the Hook’s DLC? Hmm…

@Rykdrew The size of a company has no correlation to what they can do, though. It’s all down to the teams that actually work on the games, and their experience and expertise. I don’t think we can get bots in Splatoon because :
1) Splatoon is made by the Animal Crossing team. Think about that for a second. I cannot expect complex A.I. from them. And from what I’ve played from both games and the Octo Expansion, basic is all they can do. Rock-dumb A.I. that can be defeated with a little smarts and patience. They don’t seem to have the expertise to make an A.I. good enough to help teach a player how to play the game and utilize all the mechanics at their disposal. That’s the point, right? You want targets to shoot at, but also be able to learn the game from them. As it is, just going through the single-player story mode (obstacle courses, basically) is a better teacher than the enemies you encounter. Substandard A.I./bots are not good for the overall experience. Truth be told, I can still fire up my older computer and play Unreal Tournament, UT2004, or Quake 3 Arena, load up some bots and have a good time. But that’s only because they don’t need more than simple A.I. since the game mechanics themselves are simple. Even Mario Party, from your example, only needs simple A.I. (plus a higher performing ‘rival’ for increased challenge…and cheats, Lol). For Splatoon, the ink makes things much more complex and more open for new styles of gameplay. And we need to hold those bots up to higher standards.

2) Splatoon is literally Nintendo’s first in-house multiplayer shooter. Even though the game is fun, popular, and somewhat groundbreaking (IMO, and I’ve been playing FPS’s since Wolfenstein 3-D), the Animal Crossing team adapted the genre and put their twist on it (the whole ‘ink’ mechanic) with the goal of creating a competitive, eSports-ready game. So they are focused on making the game playable online first and foremost. Bots consume extra resources and dev time that could have been used to polish up the game to make it more appealing to stick around and keep playing. That brings me to the next point.

3) Longevity. Nintendo is not like other companies when it comes to online play, we know that. But the one thing we can count on is that unless essentially no one is playing one of their games (mobile excluded), or as long as the services aren’t too demanding (Mario Maker 1, for example), then they’ll still keep their servers up to play. I believe if GameSpy didn’t go belly up we’d still be able to play DS and Wii games online simply because of their combined install base around the world. And unlike games like Lawbreakers, Battleborn, Evolve, and Back4Blood, you can still get into some Turf War and Ranked battles in Splatoon 1 on WiiU! Those games lived and died within Splatoon 1’s lifespan, which is still going on. Adding bots that fill up slots on teams for matchmaking are one thing, but when the entire match is just you and bots, wouldn’t that mean the game has outlived it’s interest? Can you keep playing playing a game like that forever? Just because I can go back to Unreal Tournament and Q3A doesn’t mean I’ll spend a significant time playing. The time for those games have passed. I’ve had some great fun when they were new and populated. But as life happens, we just move on looking for the next interesting thing. Splatoon is no different. It’s like good tea or coffee, the best time to enjoy it is while it’s hot.

Big Man is love, Big Man is life! Ay!

I guess I don’t have to make a ‘Good-bye, Turf War! Hello, Ranked!’ video for Splat3. Nice!

Replays! And with the LAN camera options from 2! That should be a choice, too!

@Rykdrew Honestly, that’s on you for expecting the game to be something it isn’t. Splatoon has always been about online multiplayer with other people. Understandably, bots have been a part of other franchises. But this is Nintendo we’re talking about, they’re late to everything online-related. And you want them to come up with AI that can think up tactics beyond basic run and gun? That know how to be stealthy? That can do complex moves like sub-strafing? That’s stuff not even regular FPS’s could deliver! (I mean, have you played against the female Octolings in story mode in Splatoon 1? They’re not great. Even Agent 3 from Octo Expansion was good only because of buffs) I wouldn’t mind bots, either. But I need them to be smarter than ‘doorstops with higher accuracy’. Consider playing games while they’re fresh. You’re never going to have a better chance to experience an online game the same way as when the game is new and the servers are populated. That’s just how it is.

@Serpenterror @Fizza @westman98 I hope so. I got my expansion pack free for maxing out my NSO time (which is 2 years, 9 months) in anticipation for the time I’ll spend on Splatoon 3. DLC included will be just icing on the cake for me.

@Otoemetry They didn’t say anything about Clam Blitz in 2 before launch and then it dropped later. I expect at least one more new ranked mode to come out.

Compared to 2, 3 is looking like the complete Splatoon experience, especially when adding in the customization and side activities. As for why it’s on the same console generation as 2? It’s a solid sales performer. But also, the dev team may have drastic things in mind for 4, if 3-way Splatfest battles are any indication. Think…larger team battles (8 v 8, or 4-way team battles), vehicles, more melee type weapons and combat. Stuff that may need more power from…wait for it…a more powerful system!

@Rykdrew This is not a new concept for Splatoon, and other games like Breath of the Wild. I’s been like that since the first game on WiiU.

Yeah, this came out of nowhere. As someone who’s progress in Final Fantasy IX came to a screeching halt as soon as I discovered the card game there, this might be dangerous for me, haha 😂

The customization options are through the roof in 3. Way more than just adding new gear as per usual. But 3 months is a really long time between new drops (or should I say, drip?). I’m bummed we got repeating 2 stages as I never thought they were as strong as 1’s designs. But bringing Hammerhead Bridge, Museum d’Alfonsino, and what looks like a tease for Flounder Heights makes me happy as they’re some of my favorite maps from 1. I can’t wait to try out the Stringer and Splatana, even though I’m a Slosher main, but I really need to see the kits. No doubt there’s a Splatana paired with Zipcaster kit, that should go without saying. And I’m glad people can finally get into battles with their friends, on the same team, online. It’s been asked for way too long.

I love them! And they’re consistent with the ‘3’ theme by adding Big Man (whom, as a ray, is also triangle-shaped)

@Paraka Yeah, they didn’t even stop to focus on Billy and Kain in the BG. That said, at least we know they’ll follow on from Rock’s ending. Maybe he’ll pick up a move or two from Kain? Maybe Billy is keeping tabs on Kain for someone… we’ll have to see.

@Paraka Sometimes a still image is all that’s needed to rekindle the hype. Check out Maximillian Dood’s Max Reacts: Garou 2 video, for example. (I won’t link due to the amount of F-Bombs in there, but the Garou part starts at the 4-minute mark) Heck, even listen to the crowd going nuts.

I’m in the 300-400 range so I’ll be safe for a long time.

Worse, however, there is a limit on the eShop wishlist of 400 active titles. Active meaning there is still a page you can visit even if the game is delisted. If you happen to have wishlisted an item like DLC for a delisted title that has no active page, then the eShop still seems to count it even though you can no longer go to the page to untick the heart, nor even figure out what the item is in your list, thus bringing down your effective maximum wishlist limit. My max is now 396 instead of 400, for example. And I have no idea how to fix it.

Everything “NEW” about Splatoon 3 shown so far:

-New location and theme (Splatlands) with all new maps
-New spawn point (off the map)
-New weapon (so far): Tri-Stringer
-New Specials (so far): Crab Tank, Zipcaster, Big Bubbler, Ink Vac
-New weapon models all around (not reskins, geometry has been changed)
-New offensive/defensive mobility maneuvers: “Squid roll”, a spinning Squid/Octo-form leap from ink with invincibility frames, and “Squid surge”, a jump from swimming vertically that increases your damage output while in mid-air
-Individual post-match badges/achievements (not just for Splatfest x10/x100 winning teams anymore)
-New gear brands with new accessories
-New hairstyles and eye color options
-Little buddy! (for single player, most likely)
-Mammalians (single player)
-NEW STORY (y’know, what ‘new’ games usually need)

@Djgoa You get a star next to your name after level 99, and your level is reset to 1* (but you need the same amount of XP per level as any post level 50 level). If you’re on a 10+ win streak with a single weapon, your weapon gets a shine at the tip during team intros at the beginning of the match. And basic question, what about ranked battles? There’s 4 game modes that are not Turf War that’s highly competitive. All the major Splatoon tournaments are played using ranked modes. Progression is Rank C- > C > C+ > B- > B > B+ > A- > A > A+ > S1 through S10 > then the monthly Rank X where you’re given a number rank. And if you end up in top 500, your name gets a crown next to it that even shows up when you splat someone.

People, wait for the Dir- oh wait, it’s still valid! WAIT FOR THE DIRECT! (I’m so hype!)

@Travisemo007 It’s a ranked mode if you haven’t tried it. It’s been in Splatoon since the WiiU along with Tower Control (like Payload from Team Fortress 2 and Overwatch), and Splat Zones which is basically Domination where there’s one or two points that need to be defended (with your team’s color ink occupying the majority of a space for 100 ticks). Splatoon 2 added Clam Blitz to ranked. Collect respawning clams throughout the map and toss them into the other team’s goal after their ‘shields’ get broken. The shields must be broken open with a ‘super clam’ (created after collecting 10 regular clams, picking one up one that got dropped by another teammate, or pick up the one that your goal drops after its shield regens). The shields regen after a number of seconds and must be broken again with another Super Clam.

@Travisemo007 Rainmaker doesn’t count? It’s literally a ‘flag’ that can shoot tornadoes! Only other differences is there’s only 1 of them, and you gotta run it towards the opposing team’s pedestal near their spawn. More exciting than CTF, IMO.

I spent way more time on Unreal Tournament than Quake III Arena as I found the weapons more interesting. Never played much with mutators since everyone and their mothers did zero G and nothing else. But everyone with piston hammers only was a trip.

@Nameless_Shame If you only do the main story you can probably finish X before 3 releases. But the side missions and affinity quests are where all the world building lore content is. The main story is like a quick tour. On the other end of the spectrum, I finished my main exploring by 200 hours, got my flight module at 600, finished the game at around 650, then 100% the map at 700. Mileage will vary. I love XCX!

Splatoon 3: New story, new world location, new mobility options with offensive/defensive properties, all new maps based on the new location’s theme (so far), some new weapons, new specials, visual tweaks to existing weapons, etc.

Bandwagoners: It’S jUsT SpLaToOn 2 dLc, HuR dUr!

Really, what DLC just erases the previous game’s content? (aside from World of Warcaraft: Cataclysm)

Wait for the direct, people.

@Magrane BA-LOOOOON! Lol!

@Mrkittyhead That is also correct 🤣 I also like Mizoguchi’s “A REAL FIGHT!” and “HIP-YAH! HIP-YAH! HIP-YAH! HIP-YAH! HIP-YAH!” (x infinity)

BIG TORNADO!

Back in the days, we had Fighter’s History in one of our college cafeterias. My friends and I often randomly quoted the voices and the announcer, who quickly became our favorite due to how he seems to be genuinely enthused when a character wins a round and is supremely disappointed when your character loses (in single player).

Anyone remember the cover to Capcom’s ‘Remember Me’? Looks like someone at FYQD Studio remembered.

I can see it now, every team will have Tia pre-filled in one of the slots. But yeah, I guess this is why it’s taken a while to come out. Good call on including rollback.

@TioRogerio @PrinceVigo Truer words have never been spoken. Knowing nothing about the game and going in cold, that chapter just hits you in the feels.

I still can’t pass Sweatin’ difficulty. Not because I’m bad at rhythm games (or am I?), but I’m afraid to go too hard on my system’s touchscreen. Darn spinners. Also, the touch sensitivity has gone way down since I have screen protectors on all my DS systems (except my most recent ‘backup, backup’ DS, my official Nintendo refurb New 3DSXL, because getting the licensed HORI ones has gotten too expensive).

Either arcade Galaga or Pac-Man in roughly 1981, or possibly even the Coleco Telstar Marksman at home. Unfortunately, my early memories predate the point I could tell times and dates, and when exactly I knew who Pac-Man was. I do know if it was indeed one of the arcade games, then a chair of some sort was involved. For reasons.

@KingMike I have not seen either of them IRL. But it’s quite interesting looking back and finding out that certain games you saw back in the day are actually considered rare. One of the rarest sightings that I’m aware of is playing an I, Robot in a King Lion supermarket of all places. Then I find out decades later that they only made about 500 of them. In a supermarket! Why? And how? Lol! And maybe not on the same scale of rarity, considering the time period, but I saw an OutRun 2SP Deluxe single in a movie theater in Orlando. I didn’t get to play it since my roomate was kinda anxious about getting good seats for Superman Returns. In hindsight I should have just feigned going to the bathroom for 10 minutes as it would have been more entertaining than that movie 🤣

@OorWullie I always wondered about why the Aero Fighters and Strikers powerups were basically the same even though they were from two different companies. I thought Video System turned into Psikyo, but then the release years on some of the games wouldn’t make sense since they run concurrently. So I’m thinking now the staff shared a mutual relationship or respect for their roots or something so Psikyo wouldn’t get in copyright troubles over a powerup design. Or perhaps Psikyo’s decision to make the design of the powerup bullet horizontal is an inside joke aimed at Video System for wanting to make “vertizontal” shooters for the NeoGeo?

I think I’ve only seen this once in its arcade form but didn’t get a chance to play it. Looks better than the original, Dragon Spirit, and it’s 2-player co-op as well.

I’m surprised there was no mention of Rabio Lepus from last week. It’s the first game by Video System, whom some of the staff would later go on to make the Sonic Wings/Aero Fighters games, while the rest of the staff would split and go and form Psikyo, and start their legacy with the Sengoku Ace/Samurai Aces games. Rabio Lepus is also the 2nd to last game remaining from the huge TGS 2020 HAMSTER reveal event. Tokidensho Angel Eyes is the last game to release from that list.

@Rika_Yoshitake If Noahs got mrgrgr energy like Edea, I’m in!

Create a JP account so you don’t miss out! It’s easy, and for the low, low price of free!

@thinkhector Ninja Gaiden is easier as well.

More NEW maps, yes! Let's GO!