I grew up playing a lot of fighting games and I still love them. I've thought about the various games I've played over the years and comprised a list of my favorite fighters. What are some of your favorite fighting games?
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The Danganronpa series has quickly become one of my favorite franchises. The series has tons of merchandise, three main games, an anime, manga and even light novels. It’s a big deal. One of the most important and iconic characters of the series is none other than, the mysterious, beautiful, crazy, lovable Junko fucking Enoshima! She is the main antagonist of the franchise and in one way or another, always a major presence in the story. ****Spoilers**** Junko and her older twin sister Mukuro Ikubasa lived a rough life growing up. From a young age, Junko was infatuated with despair. As a teenager, Junko would become a popular model and be crowned: “The Ultimate Fashionista.” Enoshima however had big plans for the humanity and would turn the very world we know on its head. She would start preparations for what would be known as, “the worst, most despair inducing incident in the history of mankind”. Otherwise known as, “The Tragedy.” She even had her own memory erased at one point to test a machine and became Ryoko Otonashi temporarily. This was in preparation for The Tragedy. Junko would then paint the world in despair, causing meaningless death, crazed cults, uncontrolled negative emotions and chaos would envelop the entire world because of her. Including the: “School Life of Mutual Killing of Class 78.” Enoshima Junko is five foot five and a half, 97 pounds with an ‘ideal’ hourglass figure. She has big, round, proportionate breasts and her blond hair is usually seen in two pigtails with a pair of hair-clips (styled after the two sides of Monokuma presumably). However it’s possible that her natural hair color might be red (eyes too) as insinuated by the Danganronpa/Zero light novel. Junko Enoshima’s accessories and hairstyle change slightly depending on her personality. The 'True Ultimate Despair', Enoshima Junko has no personality, yet every personality. As she is easily bored, she tends to drastically change her personality on a whim. With this change, her expressions, manner of speaking, posture and a looks change. She can be shy, quiet and depressing then all of a sudden is loud and extremely vulgar. She chooses how she wants to act, when she wants. It’s so fun and cool to experience her erratic behavior. Junko is a despair inducing enigma with loads of charisma that essentially destroyed humanity. Her influence transcends logic and reason. Her effect on the world is so powerful it continues to be in a state of despair even if she’s not there. She brainwashed, “inspired” and gathered a dedicated following literally willing to do anything for her. People have murdered their loved ones or done other heinous acts in her name. Junko was even able to get five kids to take over a technologically advanced city and have those children murder adults for fun. Hope has been fighting back against despair but what future influence could Junko inspire? A successor perhaps? Junko loves despair so much she loves to inflict it upon herself. From killing those she genuinely loved in the most violent, cruel way. Betrayed possible love interests and even family. Even when facing execution, she was filled with happiness for the despair she would be able to feel. During the Mutual Killings of Class 78 she worked in the shadows for most of the game until end. In two of the main games, in one way or another, she was the final boss. Even as an artificial intelligence! Could she get any cooler? To wrap things up, Junko is a great character in her own right that is amazingly beyond comprehension. She is an icon, a symbol of despair that caused the worst, most despair inducing incident in the history of mankind. With good looks, charisma, manipulation and love for despair, Junko, The True Ultimate Despair, is a one of the more interesting, fun, memorable and sexy antagonists in video games today. With Dangaonronpa 3 on the way for Playstation Vita and Playstation 4, I can't wait to see what role she'll play in the game.
Important side note: Junko is video game waifu for laifu. Q: How's it going?
Nya: I’m good, chillin’. Alan: I’m sick, so … yeah … stuff … things. Q: So, Persona eh? What is that all about? Alan: It’s a fairly long standing franchise created by Atlus. This time around there is going to be a lot of cool stuff, so I’m looking forward to it! Nya: The next game in the franchise had a new trailer at the Tokyo Game Show, so we Atlus fans are excited. Q: Interesting, interesting. This next installment is a pretty big deal then? Nya: Definitely, it’s lit. Alan: If I could trade my soul so that I’d get this game earlier, I would. Q: Did you guys even play any of the previous ones? Weebs. Alan: Of course! Well, 3 and 4, since the Persona franchise didn’t really “become” the Persona franchise until those games had come out. I’ve played the fourth one multiple times, and restarted my way through the third one more than once. Nya: I’ve played them all. I never beat one or two though, just partially. I’m also not going to play the dancing one … as a side note, Persona 3 is my favorite. Q: Think they are going to connect this installment with the previous ones then? Nya: From what I can tell, not at all. Personally, I’d like to see some kind of connection. But I’m okay with it being a stand alone game. Alan: I do believe that they will probably connect Persona 5 with 3 and/or 4. Like Nya said, there hasn’t really been a lot of talk about any overlap in the media so I can’t say that it’ll happen for sure, but I would definitely like to see it! Q: Who’s your favorite character so far? Alan: The Protagonist, hands down. Nya: Ann Takamaki. Q: You're weird, what do you even like about that person? Nya: Aside from being hot? Um … I don’t know she’s kind of American? That’s cool. I’m Canadian by the way so that really has nothing to do with anything. SHE’S HOT, NEXT QUESTION. Alan: He’s obviously a total badass, and being a badass is something that I can relate to? Because he’s the main character, and wears super cool and fashionable clothing? Cause I’m actually trying to steal his aesthetic? Q: How about out of the new Personas then? Alan: Arsene? Maybe Captain Kidd? Goemon looks pretty mean too … Okay, no, Arsene for sure. Nya: Umm, Kidd looks cool because pirates are awesome (Captain Kidd was also real BTW) but I’ll go with Goemon the thief (based off a Japanese outlaw from the 1550s). Q: Let me guess, you have opinions and explanations about why you like this Persona as well? Nya: Because of the “Kabukiness” of his design. Reminds me of Jiraya and Kumadori. YOI YOI! *Spins head* Alan: Well, like all of the other Personas, Arsene is based on a character in real life. Unlike the stories of Bizet’s Carmen, Captain William Kidd, Ishikawa Goemon, and Zoro, Arsene Lupin is a character that I immediately identify with. The gentleman thief persona in itself has always been a favorite of mine from my youth, so to see that come through in this game is really refreshing and exciting for me! Q: What's new in this trailer? Alan: That’s kind of a broad question. There is a lot of stuff going on in the trailer. New locals are a big part of a new game, so there is that. Then there is the whole thing with the new and improved Velvet Room, and its interesting new occupants. And speaking of places that are beyond the mortal realm, the Palace location is definitely a new tidbit of information. We also got to see some new boss enemies and maybe even got a little bit of a look into how Personas are captured. Seriously, this is too much for one question! Nya: What’s new? The characters, setting and improved graphics, menus and Personas. Lawl. Q: Well, what did you like, I mean, did anything really stand out for you? Nya: The platforming and Morgana mostly. There’s a part in the trailer where Ryuji Sakamoto freaks out because the “cat” is talking. Morgana then states that she’s not a cat and introduces herself. I laugh every time. Also while this may not be in this trailer, one may never forget … the highway slide. Lastly, that mouse part. I wanna be a mouse. Alan: I think what stood out was the sheer number of new monsters and interesting combat aspects that were present this time around. We’ve seen the All-Out-Attack, a special combat tactic available to players when they’ve knocked down their enemies in a single turn, but it was the first time we got to see some of the additional visuals involving the guns. This probably indicates that they might be bringing back the piercing/blunt physical damage type aspects. Then there’s the whole leaping into photographs, and jumping off buildings and just platforming in general which is definitely a first for the series. Q: Wait, they didn't have platforming before? Alan: Nope, I think it’ll make for an interesting dynamic. Nya: Negative. The other trailer also showed the Protagonist aka MOI, sneaking around. Could be cool. Q: Hmm, how about that Palace thing? Nya: Well it’s going to be the Persona 5 equivalent of Tartarus and the TV World. So, that doesn’t surprise me much. Alan: The Palace to me is another indicator that Persona 3 had a strong influence on this installment. Much like how Persona 3 had the Main Characters (MCs) school transform into a giant tower, the Palace definitely appears to be an equivalent of that. Q: I saw some guns dudes, guns are cool. Oh and masks! Lots of masks … Alan: Hey, like I said before, I think they are trying to bring back the piercing mechanic that was prevalent in Persona 3. As for the masks, I think it’s only natural for a group of thieves to want to hide their identities, don’t you? From that trailer though, I feel that these masks might have something to do with how the MCs collect new personas. Nya: I, Sir Nyamechus Reginald Esquire Hemmington the Fourth no likey guns. So personally, for the most part, I’ll be switching to some sweet blades and other weaponry. In Persona 1 and 2, you simply summon your Persona mentally, I guess. In Persona 3, you use an Evoker, shoot yourself in the head with extreme swag, and summon your Persona. Persona 4 has you like, crush a card or something and then, boom, Stand. I mean Persona. So in 5, looks like the mask are connected to summoning and collecting Personas. I love it, shit looks sweet and it is time. To. MASK. UP! This ain’t Bleach though ... Q: This seems like a lot of gameplay elements, anything that you'd add though? Nya: SEX. Okay sorry, I mean I would like to see more depth to the Social Links. I’d even like to see the possibility of same sex relationships. It’s 2015, I’m PC bro, I’ll throw down. That was a South Park reference for anyone who didn’t get that. But yeah, I want to be able to hang out with my girlfriend in game and perhaps have the relationship have special effects in battle. Like a “super mega ultra magical love spinning kick barrage … of love.” Alan: For me, I think I’d like to hear my protagonist talk. Like, one time. Please? Cause every single protagonist up to this point has been disturbingly silent. Oh and the damn social links! When I go to the movies, it doesn’t up my entire evening so I should be allowed to fraternize with my friends during that time if I so choose! That said, I’d also like if handling social links was more complex in the future. Being social in real life is pretty challenging, so I think a little added difficulty couldn’t hurt. Q: We ended up asking you a lot of questions, anything we missed? Alan: Umm, not really? There were a couple of cool character designs showcased this time around. This trailer and some of the news released afterwards also revealed the name of the MCs organization, called Phantom Thieves of Hearts. We got some more information and visuals about a “new” MC, Yusuke Kitagawa. Oh, and the addition of the Persona names, and some of the other gameplay cutscenes really made this an exceptional trailer. Nya: The soundtrack. Persona always has great music and each new trailer had me bobbing my head or tapping my feet. I expect nothing but greatness from the composers, singers and whatnot. PERSONA 5 OST, WHOOOT. Q: This sounds amazing, so when can we expect this game then? Nya: I dunno. Next year. Alan: Atlus is saying that the game will probably be coming out in summer of 2016. It’s all very exciting. Q: Sweet, later! Alan: Ciaossu Nya: Bye Felicia. Danganronpa Ultra Despair Girls: Another Episode is another installment in the Danganronpa series. It is the latest game that takes place between Danganronpa 1 and 2. In this game, you are Makoto Naegi’s sister, Komaru Naegi who has been a prisoner in Towa City. Five children called the 'Warriors of Hope', are hunting down and killing adults in order to create a utopia for kids. Komaru and Toko Fukawa (Genocide Jack) must work together to survive this horrible tragedy. The game is a major deviation from traditional Danganronpa gameplay. This a survivor horror, third person shooting game as opposed to it's engaging, visual novel style of play. A sensible change in gameplay because this game doesn’t take place in the classroom type setting like the other games. This game is outside in the world after the world’s most tragic event has already happened. While the gameplay has some cool and interesting things about it (it is fun), overall it’s easily the weakest part of the game. It’s not as smooth as other shooting games and the game offers an easy cop out with the use of Genocide Jack, because she cannot take damage (pls nerf). There are tons of collectables in this game for completionists and personally, I found it replayable. I beat it twice. Throughout the game you can find books, journals of victims and lists of characters "profiles" to read which add to the game’s lore. You can see profiles for characters related to characters we know already and even learn more about some characters. The character designs are as fun and colorful as always, filled with, “interesting characters”. What I actually mean is bat-shit crazy but I was going to be nice. It’s always fun to see into the psyche and trauma of the insane characters. In this game, that happens to be the Warriors of Hope, the five children who have murdered countless adults in Towa City. Toko and Komaru offer an interesting dynamic in this game. Their relationship and growth were really good. Starting off as the oddest duo in the history of ever because,Toko is… well, Toko and Komaru is a crybaby with absolutely no distinguishing character traits or talent. She's perfectly average. They end up evolving into stronger characters by the end game. It’s fun to see how the gameplay itself captures this growth. In the beginning Komaru is always breathing hard and clinging to her Hacker Gun, even when running. But later on, she doesn’t seem so afraid of the Monokuma’s and she starts standing up straight. Later when she is running, she has the gun in one hand and isn’t holding on to it for dear life. The Warriors of Hope were an intriguing group of damaged kids but they were still no Junko Enoshima. While Monaca offered the closest thing we’ve seen to Junko so far, even she came up short in that department. The Warriors of Hope were still however interesting and fucking insane. These kids were messed up and it's actually really great to experience such insanity. One major complaint I have with this game is the gameplay flow. I find it irritating when games don't let me PLAY the game. Every two steps I take, the game stops, loads and enters various cutscenes. It really ruins the fluidity of playing and can be downright annoying. One thing I particularity enjoyed was the level up system and equipping skills and "Bullet Bling" to the various bullets. All in all, Ultra Despair Girls was a nice getaway from the traditional style of playing Danganronpa and more importantly the heart and soul of the series is still there. None the less, this is easily the weakest installment of the series so far but it IS extremely fun. If you are a fan of the series, do not write this game off as some spinoff, buy it, play it, love it. 7.4/10
The date is September 19th 2015. E3 and the TGS has passed. Here are the games not out yet that have been announced that I am excited for. 10 - Xenoblabe Chronicles X I missed that last game with Shulk but the idea of playing an open world JRPG withe mechs is an appealing thought. 9 - Kingdom Hearts 2.8 In terms of gameplay, Dream Drop Distance was the most advanced. We're also getting a short movie concerning the Foretellers and PS4 gameplay of Aqua while she's in the Realm of Darkness. 8 - Mario & Luigi Paper Jam Aside from Sticker Star, I love Paper Mario and I love the Mario and Luigi Saga...so if you mix them, what's not to like!? 7 - The Great Ace Attorney I've been a huge fan of this series for many years. The idea of playing around in Feudal Japan with an outdated law system excites me...sexually. 6 - Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance I am a newcomer to the series but this is one of the most over the top, fun JRPs I've had the pleasure of playing. 5 - Zelda WiiU (not the official title) Rumors say that this game may end up on the Nintendo NX. But I'm just excited for a next gen Zelda game. 4 - Persona 5 Highway sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide. 3 - Zero Escape 3 One of the most controlled, overly convoluted series I have had the pleasure of experiencing. I really can't wait. 2 - Danganronpa 3 KILL. YOUR. CLASSMATES. PART. THREE. 1- Kingdom Hearts 3 It doesn't even exist. Honorable Mention - Fire Emblem: Fates I was more excited for the game when I thought I had to choose between two side. I don't care for buying different versions for different side of the story. Therefore, I'm less excited. Shoutouts To: Gravity Daze 2 and Legend of Zelda Triffore Heroes
Gravity Rush was the very first Vita game I owned and Kat was my secondary in Playstation Allstars Battle Royal. Triforce Heroes is reminiscent of Four Swords/Four Swords Adventure which was fun as hell with friends. Nintendo and gaming fans a like are still mourning the death of Iwata the former president, may he rest in peace. While I don't claim to understand the inner working of cooperate nintendo, I see an opportunity here. Nintendo has great games and great games coming out but their online is terrible. For fear of smack talk and scaring away younger players, we're unable to speak online and play online properly. Splatoon is the best example. Under eventually new leadership, it's high time Nintendo find a way to let the older player enjoy a proper online experience.
It baffles me when I'm talking with other Nintendo fans and they say things like "we don't want to chat like PS4 or Xbox." Why? Why wouldn't you want to be able to talk with your friends? Dickheads adn assholes are going to be everywhere in the world, Nintendo can't sheild themselves forever. At some point they're going to have to allow us to play online. There are counter measures and things they can do to limit and punish the vulgar stuff but for the most part you cant censor free speech. It's time to grow up a bit and let us have a real, proper online experience. Some video game narratives are good enough to spawn several sequel and prequel games. For better or for worst. Here are my personal favorite 6 video game series as of right now. #6 - The Paper Mario series: Paper Mario, Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door, Super Paper Mario and Paper Mario Sticker Star. #5 - Shin Megami Tensei Persona : Persona, Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, Persona 3: FES, Persona 4 Golden, Persona Q, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. Also...Persona 4 Dancing All Night... #4 - Ace Attorney Series: Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney: Justice For All, Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney and Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies. There's also the Miles Edgeworth spin-offs. #3 - Zero Escape: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and Virtue's Last Reward. #2 - Danganronpa: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Danganronpa: Ultra Despair Girls and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. #1 - Kingdom Hearts: KH1, KH CoM, KH2, KH 358/2 Days, KH Birth By Sleep, KH: Coded and Kingdom Heart 3D: Dream Drop Distance. Honorable mentions: Legend of Zelda, Fire Emblem, Professor Layton and Disgaea.
#6 - 6WX The most aggressive Sonic player you'll see. He's among the few Sonic's I actually enjoy watching. Places well. #5 - Mr R: The world class Sheik. In my opinion he's the best Sheik player in the world. At least from what I can see. He's movement is solid. #4 - False: One of the smartest players in my opinion. He'll be a force to be reckoned with soon. Sheik and Luigi main. #3 - Dabuz: Despite how people talk about him, you cannot deny this man the credit he deserves. He has completely mastery over his character and a master of defensive play. #2 - Anti: Doesn't go to many tournaments but always wins (until CEO). He plays the whole cast but I usually see him do work with Mario. #1 Nairo: This man is a walking highlight. He has no fear and will get the sickest kills.
Super Smash Bros. Kirby Super Smash Bros Melee Young Link Super Smash Bros Brawl Pit Super Smash Bros for 3DS Rosalina and Luma Super Smash Bros for Wii U
Ness E3 was a bust for me this year. Aside from about 5 games in total, I really wasn't too impressed. Personally I thought Microsoft had the best conference and I have never owned or will ever own an Xbox. But anyways, let's talk Kingdom Hearts. Square Enix announced two Kingdom Hearts games at their conference. Yes, one of them being a new trailer for KH3 but let's start with Kingdom Heart Chi. The game no one was waiting for. It's a mobile game that allows you to make your own character and join one of the Keyblade factions who fight for the remaining light. It takes place around the time of the Keyblade War. This game is a prequel to the entire series and will directly tie into Kingdom Hearts 3 meaning, you shouldn't skip it. It's extremely important to the overall plot. But if we're being honest, no one really wanted KH phone game but I digress. Kingdom Hearts 3, like it was in 2013, is still in development. We got no release date and the trailer didn't show much. If we're being completely honest, at it's core, the gameplay is always fundamentally the same. Once you've played one KHs game you've essentially played them all. In the other trailer we saw the guns and using Disney theme park rides as attacks. Not to mention in previous installments, we've already fought the Rock Titan. The most interesting part of the trailer was Young Xehanort and Young Eraqus talking about the Lost Masters. Seemed like a cheap little trailer designed to keep fans satisfied while they work on the game but I WON'T be tricked. But let's talk about the potential of this game. The general story outline is as such: Sora is trying to fort Xehanort by finding a special Keyblade and 7 Guardians of Light while Riku and Mickey look for Terra, Aqua and Ven. I'm hoping Riku and Mickey act as a playable party in a similar fashion of Sora, Donald and Goofy. Will Kairi be fighting with Riku and Mickey or does she have her own role to fill as a Princess of Heart and a Keyblade wielder. What about Lea who can now too, wield a Keyblade? Where will they fit in in the grand scheme of things? If Riku and Mickey manage to find and save the 3 previous Keyblade warriors by mid game does that mean they'll be playable? Or at least party members? Wouldn't be cool to switch between 3 different parties? You'd have Sora, Donald & Goofy, Riku, Mickey & Kairi then Terra, Aqua & Ven. This is a reach and unlikely but something to consider. If this is about the 7 Lights fending off the 13 Darkness' you should be able to actively play to some degree, those 7 Lights.
If Sora is the only playable character in this game then the franchise would have regressed. In most games you can play as multiple characters and in DDD, Riku had more significance to the plot than Sora did. I could speculate for hours about the infinite potential of this new game but at the end of the day, it's not like it's coming out soon so make sure to play KH Chi in the meantime. |
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