See these piles of boxes?  This currently includes the following:

-The figures that I bought from AX this year
-Figmas/Nendoroids from my parents’ house that I couldn’t bring over on my initial flight here
-A new little something I bought from bigbadtoystore.com

Honestly, this initial post is going to be very short since not only am I just really lazy right now, but Shirukii already covered the Fate figure, I’m just posting my little thoughts on it.  Hence, this post is split into two (or it will when I write the other part up tomorrow…), so without further ado, let’s take a look at:

Alter Saber Lily

Released in part due to selling out of Good Smile’s Distant Avalon figure, Alter’s own Saber Lily figure seemed to be released specifically to quell the cries of the poor souls who could not get Good Smile’s version (to which Good Smile noted and proceeded to produce the Golden Caliburn version); at least that’s how I felt when I bought this figure at AX since I pretty much lost hope of ever getting Distant Avalon.  Of course, that didn’t turn out the way I had expected, but I still think pretty highly of Alter’s attempt: while not as big, it captures the flowing skirt portion very well, and has a different sort of brightness when compared to cousin.

The figure only consists of two parts besides the base: Saber herself holding Caliburn’s sheath (which doesn’t actually work as a sheath), and Caliburn.  Again, most parts of the figure seem much brighter than Distant Avalon, most of it having to be using brighter colors shades, but also because only slight touches of pink are seen throughout Saber’s attire, whereas Distant Avalon had a more even ratio of white to pink.  Even the Alter versions armor leggings are white, which is strange to me since they are supposed to be metal grey or whatever color is used for armor.

Also, this is just nitpicking, but when comparing the two figures Caliburns, aside from Alter’s being a bit smaller, the design at the top seems detailed differently: Alter’s little symbol looks more like a penis. o_o

Work attire, play attire.

Overall, the figure has enough good points for me to like it in a different way compared to Distant Avalon, and not argue whether Alters or Good Smile’s version is better.

Alter Fate Testarossa -Phantom Minds-

Yes, Glaive Form is upside down. 

I don’t think I really can add anything that Shirukii hasn’t already said: Fate comes with a ton of variations of Bardiche that all look really awesome to use no matter which one you choose…except for Axe form which has no yellow parts.

Speaking of the yellow parts, I had already kind of expected it, but the material used for them looks really weak.  I had thought they would be a bit more sturdy than what is used for the Fate figma, but it’s actually about the same material; a bit more density, but it feels just as easy to break should the figure take a bad fall from something like an earthquake.  I am a bit scared for that, but what’s done is done.  Maybe that’s what Axe form is really for?

As opposed to Shirukii seemingly displaying it with Scythe, I’ve chosen to use Glaive as mine.  Since the yellow parts on glaive break away from the main staff, I think they’ll survive a bit more should something happen.  I’ll switch to scythe once I find a more permanent place to live, as well as having a better place to put them besides a the top of a drawer.

That about covers it for now, I’ll post a part two later.  Just feeling a bit lazy, so much so that I didn’t really want to write about Marvel or SFxT info from Gamescom. Will get to those eventually.  As for how to end this to set up part 2…

Target Confirmed.  Start Attack.

We will hold battle position.

-Jay

This is more of a personal post about me talking about myself rather than the news reposts I’ve been doing for the better part of a few weeks, but it’s also my own way of planning how to approach UMvC3 when it releases this year; perhaps it could inspire others to do the same if they haven’t already.

The most comprehensive list of changes to the original cast of MvC3, as well as gameplay mechanics, for UMvC3 were compiled at here while I was away.  While looking at it, I’ve begun to reflect on my own team and whether or not I’ll be switching mains.

No, that’s actually not really the truth.  In almost any game I’ve been somewhat competitive at, if that game is part of a series, it’s natural for me as it might be for others, to change what characters they play in depending on how the new system for that particular fighting game is.  This of course can fall along the lines of “tier-whoring” but I think it’s more of an analysis on what made a character you like and used well work for that particular system and what now works in the new system.  If you’re driven by a one-character love, then that’s fine; God knows I love Chun-Li enough to attempt to be competent with her in any incarnation in any game (which, coincidentally, turns out pretty well in some games).  But a lot of us are also playing in hopes of winning a tournament, and sometimes we can feel that no matter how good we can get at what might be a mediocre character, we’d have a better chance of winning if we were to find another character that can fulfill that same role either better, or just as well with more bells and whistles to boot.

I could say more on this, but it’d also require me to think and structure my sentences better to actual make it comprehensible and entertaining to read.  To get back to my main point, I present what was my current tournament running team that I only recently was able to use decently.

Wesker – ß (Samurai Edge)
Doom – α (Plasma Beam)
Spencer – Γ (Armor Piercer)

What this team does in a nutshell -

Wesker – A lot of the inspiration and strategy for this Wesker comes from the Marvel 1.0 Viscant video on Cross Counter, and Maximillian’s “Assist Me! Wesker” tutorial series in which both Viscant and Ma uses Wesker on point as a VERY effective battery.  Typically, a full BnB combo with assists can lead Wesker to dealing 500k with the option to character reset with st. A and have an opportunity to mixup or reset a character with an airthrow that can typically lead to around 250-300k damage, cross up attempts in the corner using assists, or, my personal favorite, a jump loop combo in which Wesker is able to deal another 400k damage, which, added to opening with a full BnB combo, is enough to kill low health characters like Wolverine, Magneto, Amaterasu, Chun-Li, etc.  It’s these tools that make Wesker one of the most effective characters in the game and the reason why he’s so overused.  Assist wise, Wesker hardly ever gets to use it, but if he is snap backed, his Samurai Edge Assist is great for combo extending.

Dr. Doom – Again, a lot of inspiration for Doom’s position comes from Maximillian’s “Assist Me! Doom” tutorial series, and the Marvel 1.0 Viscant video, though that particular example is more indirect.  Doom is also a very good battery, though his combo’s aren’t nearly as basic, and I do not use him with assists whatsoever.  In my team, Doom is the Assist character, using the full screen Plasma Beam as a way to lock down opponents, rather than using the generally more popular Hidden Missiles Assist.  I choose this because the Plasma Beam assist is the perfect assist for setting up Wesker’s st. A reset, as well as providing a good blockstring for Wesker to teleport on the other side of the opponent and cross up, or away and rethink.  Other than that, I use Doom as a fairly hard hitting character, as he also has fantastic uses for meter which he also builds fairly well, especially when the opponent is in the corner.   Of particular note, a Doom BnB into Sphere Flame and XFC’d into another Sphere Flame deals 1.3 Million damage: this was enough to kill pre-patch Sentinel, and enough to kill Thor and Hulk should the need arise.

Spencer – Inspired (more “ripped off” than the other two though) by Combofiend’s use of him, as well as Desk’s own little combo videos with him, Spencer is used as my anchor, and the one most likely to receive an X-Factor Level 3.  Spencer is a bit more predictable in his patterns due to his use of the Zip Line move to really get around and cross up, but scoring that hit usually means a dead character, so Spencer has the ability to clean up fairly well.  Compared to Wesker and Doom, my Spencer is fairly basic, but I’ve found him effective to use in most matches I play him with.

Team Synergy – Altogether, the characters seem to interact well together, with the exception that rarely any DHC combos are used concerning Wesker and Doom, as Maximum Wesker doesn’t always combo into Sphere Flame depending on positioning.  DHCing into Spencer is a matter of timing with Maximum Wesker, but Doom’s combo into Air Photon Array, again with timing but less so, can DHC into Bionic Arm or Bionic Manuevers.

The Team CAN achieve the DHC glitch, though it’s only used practically in certain situations i.e. Doom dies because I made a mistake in calling him as an assist.  Spencer, on point, can do his jump combo into Zipline in the corner and set up for Bionic Manuevers, then DHC out with Wesker’s Counter Super, then OTG after the opponent falls.  Doom can also fill this role, but requires 3 Meters to do so: the plus side is that, in the corner, Doom has access to what Maximillian calls the “Brain Dead” combo in which Doom does a simple air loop, land, OTG, and repeat for a maximum of 3 times before using Sphere Flame.  It’s good to know I have the DHC glitch in my arsenal with this time, but I’ve never had a chance to actually use it.

The team in UMvC3

First off, the DHC glitch is gone, so that entire last paragraph is rendered useless. ;_;

For now, all I have to work with regarding buffs and nerfs are the initial gameplay notes from Comic-Con in that link in the 2nd paragraph.  The game will be playable this week at EVO and more information will most likely be gathered, but it wouldn’t be too farfetched to say that the nerfs and buffs to the original cast are most likely the ones we will see in the final game.  So what does this mean for the team I already have set up in vanilla MvC3?

Wesker notes from NeoGAF:
- Much lower health overall. Estimates put him in the 800-900K category now. We are talking at least a 200K drop in health.

- Appears to have slower teleports (?)

- Air throw pushes the opponent all the way to the corner making it harder to follow up.

Conclusion:  Thanks to Wesker’s dominance in MvC3, he appears to have received nothing but nerfs.  Wesker now requires fewer mistakes after a combo due to his lowered health, ironically making him able to kill HIMSELF in that same mixup game that can cause 900k if an opponent guesses wrong.  Slower teleports mean Wesker cannot cross-up as easily, and anyone looking to play the teleport game with him will need to adjust.  Wesker’s Air throw was originally very easy to follow and OTG no matter which direction you sent the opponent (Back would toss opponent right next to Wesker when he landed, Front would toss opponent a dash away).  Personally, I used the Air Throw in the Corner anyways, but it does mean one less option Wesker has, and more usage of the Air Combo Loop, meaning it could be more predictable.

Doom notes:
+ Dooms j.H laser is faster

+ Faster cr.L

+ Launcher appears to be safer on block

+ Overall, Doom’s projectiles appear to be faster now

+ Doom’s forward throw causes a hard knockdown now

+ Air S moves faster vertically

+ Air S causes ground bounce on juggle

Conclusion:  On the other hand of the spectrum, Doom has received nothing but buffs according to the build at Comic Con.  Dooms Laser was a very annoying spacing tool in MvC2, but lost this effectiveness in MvC3 due to the fact that the laser did not travel very far unless you super jumped/in flight mode.  Whether this means UMvC3 will now take after Doom’s MvC2 laser remains to be seen, however.  Doom’s cr. A (L) was already pretty fast and spammable, making it faster seems to be unfair.  Launcher/S being safe on block is neat, but most of the Doom Blockstrings involving dash-cancelling might still be better than whiffing Launcher or having it blocked.  Projectiles being faster makes Doom’s spacing more effective, and should be advantageous for beating out other assists should it carry over to the Assist version.  Doom’s forward throw now has the potential to be followed up midscreen and not just in the corner.  Air S being faster makes getting Doom back on the ground more effective, especially for cross ups in the corner.  The ground bounce could become a problem if Doom cannot achieve the “Brain-dead” combo because of achieving a ground bounce, but I’m sure Maximillian will clarify at EVO if this is true or not.

Spencer notes:
+ New OTG Dive bomb move “Death from Above” that Spencer can combo after connecting

So far, the only information is that Spencer has a new OTG move.  Aside from damage being reduced from X-Factor Level 3, Spencer looks unchanged.  Whether this is good or bad will depend on what changes happen to the rest of the cast.

Overall:

It’s pretty hard to give a read on Spencer since I want to attribute his lack of information being that no one actually played much of him rather than that really is the only thing different about him, but he’s staying for the time being.  Doom’s buffs seem to only improve him significantly, so it’s safe to say that I will be keeping him as well.

Which only leaves us with Wesker.  Overall, Wesker seems to still be a top contender, since there is apparently no changes to the amount of damage he is able to do, his options still look like they are there, just different and maybe not as good, but not enough to rule him out completely as a character.  I might have lucked out in regards to always having to switch characters, so why would I bother with this entire report if I’m going to stick to the same character?

Well what about the other characters?  Is there a character that can do what Wesker does, but better? Despite not having that much info on the newer characters, I’ve prepared some choices on who I believe could potentially fill Wesker’s role just as well, if not better, in my team.

Option 1 – Strider

Maximillian mentioned that the reason he used Wesker is that he is because his playstyle resembles Strider’s from MvC2.  I never got competitively good at MvC2, but I’ve seen enough videos from MvC2 and a good read on the current gameplay videos of Strider in MvC3 to be certain that Strider is probably my best bet at a replacement.  The big hit I see here is mainly damage potential, but of course that’s only because no one’s been able to really experiment with Strider in the lab as opposed to always playing against a human opponent; he could potentially have  a jump loop we don’t know about yet.  Other than that, Strider has OTGs, teleports, and speed to match Wesker, as well as his own special tools like his animal and orb summons.  While Doom rocks don’t work quite as well here as opposed to MvC2, I can see Plasma Beam working just fine in that department.

Option 2 – Vergil

Option 2 – Vergil

Granted, Vergil’s gameplay hasn’t even been revealed yet, but there’s more to me picking at the game’s release besides “He’s such a badass.”  In DMC3, Vergil only had access to the Darkslayer style,whereas Dante had 5 styles to choose from.  Dante’s teleport is derived from a single move from the equivalent of Vergil’s Darkslayer style, the Trickster style.  Dante has alot of his styles integrated into his moveset, so naturally Vergil must also be so.  What Vergil had were only positioning Teleportations, which made him less versatile, but allowed him to get in and out of enemies’ faces very quickly in DMC3.  It’s safe to say Vergil will have access to these teleports, and that they will work similar to Wesker or Deadpool.  What he has available during/after these teleports will make or break my deal with him, but I’m fairly certain that Vergil might be just as good as Strider in providing for this team.

And finally…

Option 3 – Phoenix Wright

Wright, on the other hand of speculation of characters who gameplay we don’t even know yet, is just my personal favorite who I WILL make competitive because he’s motherfucking Phoenix Wright.  If he has no teleports, then so be it, I don’t need that shit.  HOLD IT THAT.

Conclusion

EVO is this weekend, so a final verdict on Strider might be available as early as next week.  Vergil and Wright will come with time.  For now, I’ll enjoy the strengths Wesker has now before the four months are up and make the most out of salty runbacks on vanilla Marvel before shit goes down this November.

Can’t think of anything witty to end this with.

-Jay

Before my next tour out, I got something in the mail.  Now what could it be?

Hmm, don’t remember having my figures from AX being sent individually…

Wait a second…those words look familiar…

Can it possibly be!?

OMG it is!

Wow, I totally forgot to take a picture of it still inside the box.

All bullshit aside, this is actually a used Saber Lily figure that I just happened to see on ebay at the right time after deciding I would be purchasing Distant Avalon no matter what.  Initially, I was a bit skeptical about buying it from ebay due to how many counterfeits are out, so I asked for a few more pictures from the seller to confirm it’s legitimacy.  He obliged and I was able to score the figure for $300 with free shipping.  I actually was expecting it to come tomorrow while I was away but I guess I got lucky…and it doesn’t hurt Los Vegas, Nevada really isn’t that far away.

I’ve stated before I’ve wanted to get one of these since Fate/Unlimited Codes came out and I’m more than thrilled to have been able to get even a used one.  Granted, I haven’t done an incredibly detailed look of the figure yet, so I’m sure there might be a few dirty spots here and there depending on how well the seller took care of the fig, but I’m happy to say she’s authentic.  Now I know I’m about 2 years late trying to review this thing, but I might as well.  I don’t have any special lighting equipment, so the pictures I’ve taken are quite frankly the best I have.  My bed is also the only good surface to take pictures of since it’s not cluttered with anything.

Saber comes with two swords, Excalibur and Caliburn, as well as Avalon.

So obviously, Excalibur can fit into Avalon…

HERPADERPA

Caliburn can’t though, due to the engravings and amount of plastic near the base.  None of it really matters, but it would’ve been interesting if it could.

Overall, the figure looks gorgeous, the flow of the skirt captures her actions in a way the Saber Lily figma cannot.  It’s quite clear that Saber Alter ~Vortigern~ took a lot of it’s inspiration from alter it terms of the skirt design.  One thing I do have to complain about is the removable hand that holds Avalon:  the empty hand version tends to fall off pretty easily.  Whether this is just wear and tear over a 2-year-old figure or if that’s how it was made is up in the air, but I notice it more with the empty hand version than the Avalon holding version, which still tends to fall off pretty easily, but manages to hold Avalon just fine.

Speaking of the Avalon holding hand, the floating effect you see in the promotional pictures is done via clear plastic peg that connects the two.  From far about 2 feet away, it’s only really visible if you’re specifically looking for it, otherwise half the time I don’t really see it.Come at me, King of Heroes.

There is one more rather major complaint that I’ll make about the figure, which after some googling, turns out every owner of this figure has.  As you can see hear, Caliburn is held in a looped hand, meaning you need to slide the handle of Caliburn through it so she may hold it.  It’s actually not hard at all, and again reminds me a lot of the figma version.

The problem comes in trying to put Excalibur in her hand.  I stated in my Vortigern review that Excalibur did not fit into Saber Alter’s hand unless you removed the bottom little peg on the hilt, in which you could slide in the sword and put the peg back on when it snug inside.  Turns out this design came AFTER this figure’s release, since this Excalibur does that have such a thing: I spent a good 2 minutes seeing if I could pull the bottom part out, another few minutes searching the box wondering if the seller forgot to put in the instruction manual, and finding out from other reviews that the fig has no instruction manual.  The only way to get Saber to hold Excalibur is to force it down her hand, and while it’s possible, I’m afraid of scratching the paint on the hand or the hilt, as well as damaging the hand overall.  Hence, she’ll be holding Caliburn for the forseeable future, especially since I might have to move around a lot depending on my work circumstances.  Nothing wrong with it really, though I do desire to one day take a picture of her holding Excalibur.

That pretty much covers it.  Now for some fun stuff…open this in another tab/window and continuing reading, would you kindly…

Heaven or Hell.

Duel 1.

LET’S ROCK.

Told you I’d fucking do it.

I’m running out of room…

Now to leave and not see her for 5 days…why does this always happen. ;_;

-Jay

MOAR EVENTHUBS COPYPASTA

• Above video is a Gamespot interview with Seth Killian.  Along with the usual information tread on before, Seth talks about the play-styles of the characters…which was also tread on before, if not so completely obvious from gameplay videos (Firebrand swoops down like in Ghosts and Goblins, Strider plays like his MvC2 iteration, etc.).  He did add that Hawkeye has 16 different arrow types as of this build, which was to be expected to try and differentiate him from Taskmaster’s angled arrow stuff, as well as Ghost Rider being very “Dhalsim” like, meaning he’s very suited to playing long range. There are also some new Marvel and Capcom cameos in some of the newer and older stages, so…yay?
• The bigger tidbit comes in the latter part of the video, where Seth talks about Phoenix in regards to Dark Phoenix being overpowered.  Seth confirms that Phoenix isn’t as able to follow up air fireballs with teleports as quickly as before, so her mixup game has been weakened.
• A live video feed with Niitsuma Ryota took place today regarding other details for UMvC3.  A complete list of changes was noted here so I’ll only touch upon a few things I found interesting: online features-wise, UMvC3′s match making process is much smoother, which I assume means that it will not boot you back to the menu screen like the original MvC3 did.  Moreover, online lag is reduced, though I’ll have to wait until I get my hands on the PS3 version to be the judge of that (as of now, I find the PS3 version’s online to be atrocious).
• Not everyone got a new move, some only had their attacks and frame data tweaked.  C. Viper is noted to have gotten a new move, which I take to mean that she has a move in Marvel that she doesn’t actually have in SSF4, though it could also mean that the dive-Burning Kick portion of her Ultra II/Burning Dance is in, seeing as how Full Throttle is much different, yet similar.
• Costumes and colors available have expanded past the usual 4. Places that let you pre-order the game have already been stated to give you a download code to a certain costume pack depending on where you buy it.

Personally, I wanted slut-dress Chun instead of Alpha tights again.

• Shadow Mode will not return in UMvC3.  Good thing they realized how dumb it was.
• If UMvC3 sells well, they could make more content.  LIKE MEGAMAN IN THE ROSTER.

I’m going to be mad if there’s an Ultimate MvC3: “Arcade Edition” next year…

EDIT:

Didn’t realize Olaf from Cross Counter posted up some interviews with Niitsuma, Killian, as well as more character changes.  Aside from the ones already listed by fLoE, Olaf has some other character notes, as well as more notes regarding the 4 new playable characters:

• Akuma’s Demon Flip Kick OTG relaunch is more strict on timing, notes it might not even be possible anymore.
• Amaterasu seems unchanged.
• Chun-Li does slightly more damage, slightly higher priority. Considering you had to do a shit load of work (trust me, I know) to get around 400k damage with her, this could be positive, but not something that would make me go back to using her competitively.
• Dante is slightly slower, 1 or 2 frames added to startup on some normals.  Hitstun decay affects him more, so Sky Dance is noted not to work as much, but he’s still very strong overall.
• Morrigan is playable now, better damage and priority, flight combos useful.  Like Chun, I don’t believe this will still make her competitive.
• Ryu’s charge Hadoukens and Shoryukens go more into detail, Hadouken can be made so fast it’s invisible O_O.  Ryu now has a “buff” Super similar to Dante’s Devil Trigger or Wolverine’s Berserker charge.  Gives Hadouken better durability in and out of assists, allows the cinematic Shinkuu Tatsumaki seen in the trailer.    The bounce off of Shinkuu Hadouken might be caused due to the buff super or it might be caused by holding down H a la Akuma, he posted he needs to test it to see which it is.
• Spencer’s has a new “Flying Knee Drop” move, which I assume means the Death from Above move he has.
• Wesker is largely unchanged, apart from his lower health commented by fLoE.
• Dr. Doom is faster overall, j. S falls much faster, cr. A is super fast and mashable (as if it wasn’t in vanilla MvC3), S launch is safer on block.
• Magneto’s Tri-dash is slower, which means unblockable set ups are now harder, if even possible at all.   However, the “ROM loop is now easier,” which I’m guessing he means the Ghetto ROM.  Flight loop seems harder to catch though.
• Phoenix’s changes are the same noted by fLoE, but Olaf notes that “come November, she’ll be a character” and that “Aerial X-Factor doesn’t save her.”
• She-Hulk’s TAC cancel is gone, cr. H/Slide has less range.
• Wolverine can still combo after starting with a Dive Kick, the ground bounce just doesn’t work if the stagger was used to start the combo.  Swiss Cheese move by tapping the attack buttons rapidly a la Chun Li’s Hyakuretsukyaku.
• X-23′s OTG/Ankle Slice has a slightly larger window making it easier to use, air combo range is trickier.

As for the new characters, there’s a lot of characters, so I’ll only cover things I really have things to say about:

• Strider’s Animal summons are very safe, teleports and teleport dive kick is still good, running slide OTGs but hard to combo into without assists, Ouroburos is VERY GOOD: Olaf notes that, even without X-Factor, these things hurt, and that with Ouroburos activated, teleports and assists will lead to constant resets, and states that Ouroburos = dead character unless changed by the time the game releases.  As if Strider needed MORE reasons to be overplayed when the game comes out.
• Ghost Rider is similar to Whip from the King of Fighters series, “very simple and very complicated.”  Still doesn’t seem like it’ll stop him from being at least mid-tier from what the gameplay videos show.
• Hawkeye is challenging to play, needs to have a team built around him to get the most of him, tricks are interesting but pays for mistakes badly.  Level 1 Arrow Super has a ton of hitstun for DHC potential.  Normals are okay, but not great, as expected of a range/zoning character.
• Firebrand has moves that automatically initiate flight, notes the command grab where Firebrand drags his opponent across the floor is his most terrifying move.  Olaf says he’s very awkward.  Dark Fire is the Bread and Butter Hyper, Luminous Body Buff Super wasn’t clear on what exactly was buffed, Red Arremer Super is noted to take different actions depending on what button is pressed: A for Fireball, B for Psycho Crusher-type move, C for swooping divebomb.  Could lead to some terrifying setups.
• Olaf’s interview with Niituma and Killian amounted to “Why the fuck isn’t Megaman in the game?” which I find hilarious.  With Niitsuma, he confirms that Vegil being in the game is because the lead designer likes DMC, as well as the majority of Japan (which I take to mean as Japanese fangirls wet for Dante and Vergil).  Niitsuma says he wanted to avoid overlapping as much as possible, which I take to mean as Megaman being too similar to Zero.  Olaf then points out to him that Megaman in MvC and MvC2 was vastly different to Trigger/Volnutt in TvC, to which Niitsuma had trouble giving an answer.
• Niitsuma says Capcom’s choices were mainly internal, Marvel choices were mainly Unity votes.  Good to know you cared about our votes, Capcom.
• There won’t be any character reveals at EVO, we’ll have to wait at least a month.
• Killian states he’s one of the biggest Megaman fans at Capcom, and that there’s only so much he can do.  He doesn’t know when the next time we’ll see Megaman will be.

-Jay

• Interview with Niitsuma Ryota, Producer of MvC3, was taken with destructoid.com, the article of which is here. Some key things were said, such as the reason UMvC3 was released as a disc rather than DLC is because of the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan throwing off the development schedule.  Honestly, I don’t think that’s a good excuse, if they needed more time to put the game out they could’ve more than likely keep quiet until Tokyo Game Show, or plain out just announce a different release date.  I’d feel anxious waiting longer for it, but it’s better than making me feel like buying ONE game for $110 in the course of 9 months.
• Story Mode is different, just like SF4 to SSF4. Honestly, those shitty comic panel stories were a joke, so I’m indifferent towards this.
• Another interview with Niitsuma with Silicon Era has Niitsuma explaining why Megaman wasn’t included in Ultimate MvC3: Megaman didn’t enter the top ranking for fan requests to put him in…
  …Which is where I call bullshit because, despite this poll a few months back not being officially endorsed by Capcom, Chris Svennson said that they were aware of the list.  And if they were indeed aware, Megaman X was the most requested Capcom character, beating Phoenix Wright, Strider, Frank West, and Vergil, yet they all made it into the game.  Unless Niitsuma was talking about Classic Megaman, his other statement should’ve been his only one, in which he talked about Firebrand being in didn’t have anything to do with fan requests moreso than having a creature-flying character in the game.

• Above is an interview with Seth Killian, Special Advisor for Capcom, with gamespot.  Killian confirms that X-Factor’s damage has been reduced, though I till have yet to see a difference.  What’s more important to me is that X-Factor is now normalized in the sense that everyone seems to have closer to an equal power + speed boost, so we don’t have stuff like Hulk having 200% damage increase whereas Chun-Li has 150% Damage and 150% Speed increase.  With anything, I’ll need a more visual confirmation, and most likely will need to wait until the full version is out to really confirm.
• Seth overall seemed to be reluctant to reveal anything, saying that the game is still in development. Sure it is, but I would think that they would’ve had some more concrete answers, especially considering what Niitsuma was talking about.  It seems they’re still deciding what bonus, if any bonus, people who own the original MvC3 will get.  Better be good and not something like “Alternate Color 11 and 12″ from SSF4.  That shit was stupid.

Seems to be all the news for today, will update if anyone like fLoE updates his twitter with changes again.

I haven’t really talked about Street Fighter X Tekken here because, initially, I wasn’t very excited about the game.  The very first build was an obvious “SF4 plus Tekken characters” version, and I cared even less when the current system was finally implemented later that year, with it’s seizure inducing graphical HUD, as well as how rough the game looked.   By the time of the 3rd batch of characters came around, however, I started to like the gameplay a little bit more, and now I’m officially a fan.  I’m not as excited about it as I was Marvel, but I’m definitely looking more forward to it than Ultimate MvC3 now.

The new characters in this year’s Comic-Con build included, as expected, Dhalsim and Steve, despite the new character reveal trailers not being as obvious as before.  However, while Tekken’s other new character unsurprisingly turned out to be Yoshimitsu, Capcom’s other new character was something I’m sure not a lot of people expected…

This is Poison, a character from Final Fight, like Cody and Guy.  Poison is rather “unique” in that Poison’s gender has a few discrepancy, namely that she is a post-op transvestite in America, but merely hides “her” junk in Japan.  Kind of like the M. Bison > Balrog > Vega name switcharoo, only more gay.

Moar Poison because he/she makes me moist.

In terms of gameplay, Poison’s fireballs remind me a lot of King from the King of Fighters series (it can be argued to be similar to Dee Jay as well though), she has a sort of Jaguar Tooth attack akin to Adon, and a Spinning Bird Kick/Reverse Shaft Breaker hybrid for what’s presumably her anti-air.  She definitely looks interesting, and I’m considering maining her for my initial entry into SFxT.

On the other side of things, the Tag Ultras from the prototype build seem to have made a return, though since Ultras aren’t in the game anymore, I’ll refer to them as Tag Supers.  In this B Roll trailer, Ryu is seen doing a cinematic throw followed by his Focus Attack, letting his opponent (King) stumble towards Ken’s Shipuu Jinrai Kyaku Super.  I assume that the majority of these will remain the same (throw, then attack upon opponent’s recovery) if it’s universal, but it could also be that certain combinations will do different moves.

Pretty excited so far, the only disappointment I had was that Asuka Kazama wasn’t revealed, despite being hinted at in Cammy’s debut trailer.  Wait for Tokyo Game Show I guess.

EDIT

A new cinematic trailer featuring Poison, King, Marduk and…Hugo, Cody, Guy, and Haggar!?  While Haggar is only in for a second and is quickly defeated, the inclusion of Hugo over Zangief is pretty shocking.  And Cody and Guy?  Shouldn’t this be called Final Fight X Tekken now?

And, never mind.

Also just in today is the Cross Assault Attack mechanic.  This is SFxT’s comeback mechanic, where, when your point character’s health is really low, you can call in your partner and attack in a last ditch effort together that lasts as long as your super meter, which drains throughout the assault.  The life bar is averaged out, and only one character is controllable, which seems to be indicated by how only one character is “lit up” during the assault.  I’m wondering if this is how those “Tag Supers” will function, maybe consuming one bar from the super gauge and pausing it’s drain while the animation goes on.

EDIT 2:

A panel with Yoshinori Ono provided some information that passed under my nose.  “Dual Supers” are done by pressing down-back and the Tag button.  That seems…really fucking easy to me, especially if you can combo into them, though I’m sure the startup frames for those will be as big as Ultras in SSF4 (Around 10 frames or so I’ve heard).

-Jay

More Eventhubs copypasta, but with my own little insignificant opinions attached to them.

• As if it hadn’t been said enough already, the remaining 8 characters besides the initial 4 introduced.  Capcom side, Phoenix Wright (FUUUUUUCK YESSS), Frank West from Dead Rising (TvC, where you at?), Vergil from Devil May Cry (“You’re not worthy as my opponent…”), Firebrand from Ghosts and Goblins/Demon’s Crest, Nemesis (STAAAAARSSSS), and Strider (OH SHI-) join the fray.  Marvel side, Ghost Rider, Hawkeye, Dr. Strange, Rocket Racoon, Nova, and Iron Fist join in.  I, like a lot of people, are a little disappointed that Megaman, in any iteration, didn’t make it in.  DLC hopefully?  At any rate, Seth Killian is reportedly not happy about the leak.
• As expected, the DHC Glitch has been removed, as well as the Aerial Exchange glitch.  Again, I’m kind of distressed since I just discovered how my own team can utilize it, but in all honesty it’s all for the best in the sake of balance.
• X-Factor can now be activated in the air.  This kind of makes me upset, since this essentially means people can avoid getting chipped out when their last person comes in.
• Going back to that, I’ve heard that X-Factor has been toned down, but I need better confirmation on this.  From the gameplay videos released so far, Level 3 X-Factor is used too far near the end of a match to really judge, especially since it’s always used in conjunction with a Level 3 Super.

Character specific changes via EG|fLoE’s twitter, as well as just footage from the released gameplay videos. They’re not in any particular order, thought 3 of the 4 new characters are near the end of this list.

• Phoenix only has one action per jump now, meaning 1 fireball instead of two.  What isn’t clear is whether Phoenix can still teleport afterwards.  If so, I don’t see that setup not being all that different besides reduced chip.
• Wolverine’s Berserker Slash is not invincible anymore, and is slower.  Personally, I never went to training mode to see if Berserker Slash was indeed invincible since it always came out too quick to react, but now that it’s slower I can see Berserker Slash + Assist setups like Akuma being easier to read and negate.
• Akuma’s Tatsumaki Assist doesn’t knock down anymore, victim now flips out after the last hit apparently.  If Akuma has the recovery he does, this makes it’s impossible to go for an air throw mix up afterwards.
• Strider’s Drone Super is now a Level 3, so it won’t be as abused, Clockw0rk style.  I can still see it being a very dominant super though, considering how fast meter is built in Marvel.  In addition, he has the Ragnarok Level 3, making him the first character to have two Level 3 Supers.
• Ryu’s Shinkuu Hadouken now bounces off walls…okay?  He can also charge Hadouken’s and Shoryuken’s via holding the attack button’s down in what seems to be a nod towards Street Fighter X Tekken.
• Dormammu’s OTG Flame Carpet now pushes opponents far away, making it harder, but not necessarily impossible to combo from.  Personally, most Dormammu’s OTG via Purification anyway, and use Flame Carpet for spacing purposes.  Pretty meh change.
• Magneto has a new set of moves that magnetizes the opponent, then can push them away or bring them closer.  This brings to mind Iron Tager from Blazblue with the added ability to push them away, as well as being Super Cancellable.  I would guess the catch is to hit them with the Gravitation (move that magnetizes) first.  Air-to-ground dash is also now slower, which means Triangle Jump will probably be a bit easier to see.  We’ll also need to wait and see if this means his Ghetto ROM doesn’t work anymore, since that particular loop required really strict timing.  Disruptor is also apparently slower.
• Storm, from the looks of the UMvC3 reveal trailer, looks like she was a similar ability using wind.  Again with the Blazblue references, reminds me of Rachel.
• Viewtiful Joe’s Slow Dodge from his games is added as a special move.  In VJ, if you activated Slow and were attacked, you’d dodge, but you’d also do this at the expense of your meter in that game; you needed to have meter in order to retain the the transformation, and would turn back into regular Joe when it ran out.  All that’s irrelevant for now, since it seems like there’s no penalty as shown here, but the move is also super cancellable.
• Taskmaster has a new move called Charge Sting that impales the opponent.  Can also combo from it, though it’s only shown briefly here.
• Spencer (YAY!) has a new straight dive move that OTGs (here it hits X-23 while she’s in knockdown state).
• Tron’s Gustaff Flame Assist doesn’t seem to be as invincible anymore as shown here getting knocked out of it by Spider-Man.  It looks like it took a little longer to start up, so that could be why.
• Ghost Rider OTG’s pretty easily, having 2 Special Moves AND 2 Supers that OTG.  Level 3 is a grab where he uses the Penance Stare.
• Hawkeye’s arrows have different properties depending on the strength used, like Frozen Shot, Poison Shot, Net Show, etc.  Obviously trying to stand out from Taskmaster’s use of arrows.  Level 3 features Ant Man and can OTG.
• Firebrand looks pretty fucking beast, one gameplay video shows him doing a relaunch combo pretty easily.  One Super seems to just power him up, while his Level 3 summons another computer controlled Red Arremer (Firebrand’s species) to fight alongside him.  I’m told it’s a reference to how frustrating it was to fight two Red Arremer’s in the Ghost and Goblin’s games.  Expecting this to be as annoying as Yatterman-2′s robot in TvC.

And that’s it for Day 1 Comic-Con UMvC3 footage.  Wouldn’t be surprised if this was it for the event, but Capcom just might reveal more this weekend.  I won’t be around for a week by then, but it hopefully it’s gameplay footage of Phoenix Wright or something.  We already know they’re there.

-Jay

SON OF A BITCH

No.  I’m not happy about this.

Why this offends me and many others who bought the game:

• It’s been only 5 months since the game came out, and with UMvC3 set to release this November, it will only have been 9 months since me and the majority of people going to EVO will have paid $60-$70 on what was essentially the “Prototype” version of MvC3, while getting the “full” version will cost another $40.  It’s like mother deciding to fuck and get pregnant again immediately after giving birth to a child.  Hats off to everyone who said MvC3 offered the bare minimum of content in a fighting game, you guys had it spot on.
• Capcom cancelled Megaman Legends 3…yeah, I know that doesn’t have a lot to do with MvC3…
  …except when they come out with this bullshit.  Not only is the stage way too white for my taste (example of stages that have either way to bright or dark colors that make it difficult to play in), the fact that they’re showing another Legends stage that’s not quite new, but a nod to Legends 2, especially since just 2 days earlier they had cancelled it, is even more of a slap in the face than the announcement of UMvC3 itself.
• Jill and Shuma are still DLC and need to be bought.  Gee Capcom, thanks for that, it makes me happy to know that, even though you’re rehashing the game like you did with SSF4′s costumes, that I still got some value for spending the extra $10 to buy those two.  Even though they’re on the disc and the DLC obviously just fucking unlock codes.

Honestly, I’m not all that surprised, but I do tend to take the “expect the worst, hope for the best” approach when it comes to future events.  My “best” in this cause would be for the original MvC3 to be getting more DLC that was promised.  Hell, what I could’ve definitely bought was that UMvC3 would, like SSFIV:AE, be DLC and not cost the price of another fucking game in order to buy it.  Especially when I’ve just now gotten decent at the game.  This is my own little rant, but I found that my team is actually pretty competitive, and while any good fighting game player works around the balances, I’m too attached to what I already have, with their setups and ability to DLC-glitch, that to have it all taken away in the span of less than a year is a little upsetting.  Despite all these new characters, I like the ones I have already, and don’t want to bother building another team centering around the newer characters and their attributes…

HOLD THAT.

…Fuck.  Day 1 purchase.

-Jay

Seriously, this box is MASSIVE, and the fig itself is pretty huge for a 1/7.

First of all, many thanks to my co-author Jay for buying me this fig, an easily shrugged off promise from many months ago when the fig was released, followed through upon the second batch. Thanks Jay <3

To those of you who didn’t read the Anime Expo post, I flew down from good ol’ snowy Canada to sunny California to attend AX and meet up with Jay and his gang of weiner friends =D. Prior to the con, Jay saw the second batch of these figs go up for order and decided to have it shipped to me instead of hunting it down at AX. A good call, but for a different reason, there were plenty at the con, but due to its size, there would have been no way for me to have brought it home on the flight back. Jay bought one himself and had to leave it with a friend to be shipped at a later date.

What kind of fig necessitates an instruction manual?!

After promptly tossing this moon rune infested manual aside, I began on the arduous task of releasing Fate from her plastic boxed prison, a feat not to be underestimated. Held down by myriad of tape, plastic wrap and twist ties knotted in multiple directions, half way through I began to think she was packed mid-Nanoha-bondage-session.

Finally out of her binds. Forgive the photo set up, no fancy lighting here, just the inside box packaging (which doubles as a background, neat!) some open window natural light and my camera phone.

The quality on this newest Fate puts the old one to shame. The colors are more vibrant and the painting pays much more attention to detail. The cape on the old Alter Fate, while structurally grand and impressive, has a flat look to it owing to the bland matte purple, almost lavender, coloring. Phantom Minds Fate has a rich dark purple color and a high gloss coating.

The base, nothing too special, same as the box background, but a welcome improvement over the previous Alter Fate’s plain white base. The base has two holes which fit metal rods used to elevate the fig so she’s “in flight”, I’m not too crazy about how it looks since there are two very visible shiny metal rods protruding from Fate’s feet, but it’s not horrible.

Sir.

The stand to hold the unused alternate forms of Baradiche, of which there are three in total. Pretty awesome of them to include this for fast hotswapping instead of having to disassemble and reassemble one base staff with a bunch of add ons. Scythe form seen above in the third picture.


Glaive form, referred to as sealing form in the original series, which makes more sense as this looks only marginally reminiscent of a glaive.

Axe form, previously known simply as device form, pretty boring, no shiny yellow parts.

Another thing I love about this new fig as compared to the old Alter Fate is how she holds on to her weapons. If you’ll notice going from scythe to glaive/axe forms, Fate’s arms and hands change, they detatch at the shoulder and wrist depending on which of the three you’re using. The rods themselves are made of multiple parts, each having a detachable bottom which is removed to slide the staff into Fate’s grip, and reattached afterwards. A point of incredible frustration with the first Alter Fate was her loose grip on zanber form Baradiche, which only worsened over time and required me to use clear tape to force him into Fate’s grip.

Old and busted vs new hotness.

Teaming up.

Note the difference in color vibrancy and sculpting detail. Check out those flowing locks!

Final resting place on my top shelf, which I had to lower in order to have her fit. You can also see some design changes here from series to movie, most notably her shoes and her thigh highs. I prefer the armored boots to the cutesy ribbon heels, but the new stockings are an improvement.

Phantom Minds Fate is definitely my new favourite fig, the detail of the sculpt and the paint job easily bests her first iteration, not to mention the improvement in poseability and interchangeable Baradiche forms. At around $160, pre shipping, she’s more expensive than most figs, even the first Alter Fate which rang in at about $120, but you can see your money’s worth.

There is another Fate fig, by Alter no less, Fate T. Harlaown Shin Sonic Form, but as this is healthy StrikerS Fate, I will have nothing to do with it.

Yep.

- Rukii

I’ve made it a point to purchase either figures from Alter or Good Smile Company because of how accurate most of their figures look in comparison to companies like Gift (whose recent figure, I have no idea why people like so much).  Overall, I think both of them do the best jobs of making figures that capture the essence of a character, especially Good Smile, who have been able to do that with just their Figma series; their colors and details to facial features and clothing stand out much more in their Figma series than Revoltech’s figures do.  I’m glad to see that the same amount of detail carries over to their PVC figures as well, especially in the case of their Saber Alter figure.  Having been impressed with the Figma version I bought a few months back, I was surprised (not really *cough*SaberLily*cough*) to find an actual figure in the works.  It was one of my most sought after items when I went to Anime Expo, but when I did not, I instead opted to purchase one off Amazon as soon as I got home (and for cheaper for what the booths were selling her for, SURPRISE SURPRISE).   In any case, I now have it and I must say it’s wonderful.

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Unboxing wise, Saber’s about as protected from the elements as Dizzy was (which is good, since the box mine came in was a bit damaged despite the bubble-wrap surrounded box), but not nearly as painful to get out of the plastic: I didn’t mention this before, but Dizzy’s twist-wires were initially hard to locate when getting out of the plastic, whereas Saber’s were visible as soon as I looked at the back.

Of other note, the “Vortigern” sword is encased by itself in another mold that is stored no the back, just like other Figma’s, and a sign of Good Smile’s packaging (or so I’ll think until proven otherwise).

Both Excalibur and Vortigern are separated into two different parts in order to easily fit into Saber’s hand(s).  Excalibur isn’t actually long enough for Saber’s open hand to actually cradle, and instead the bottom hilt is shown to merely rest on the open’s hands palm.  This creates a bit of a problem though: if you can tell by that blurry ass picture above, getting the bottom hilt part to attach is a chore because you must press the top part into it, which in turn forces the other arm to move in a way you really don’t want these figures to move, especially if you think you’re going to break it with every little mistake,  like I do.

The entire hilt of Vortigern, on the other hand, its completely detached from the “blade” and slides into both hands, as well as sticking out on the other end for the “blade” to be inserted there, which requires a lot less contact with the figure and more with the sword.  Because I like the overall look of it, I’ve decided to stick with Vortigern instead of Excalibur.

As with the figma version, Saber Alter has 2 detachable hair pieces, one with the visor acquired after her transformation by Sakura/Angra Mainyu, and the one without that shows her soulless, yellow eyes.  They actually require a lot less force to take out than I had initially thought, which is reciprocal to putting them back in so long as you align the pins on the hair pieces to the holes inside the head.

Other random things I’ve come across is that the figure is really “pointy” around her boots and gauntlets, which took me by surprise when I first tried to hold the figure.  I’ve noticed the figure also falls off the base if pushed from the front, which concerns me the most.  While there IS a gap between the pins and the feet, it’s pushed down as far as I can get with my own strength, and I really don’t want to put more effort to push it down further for risk that I may lose my balance and break her somehow.  So far, I’ve just got her box behind her to give her something to fall back on.  Other than that though, I have no other complaints, and she looks absolutely fantastic.

Kaze Ou…

Now, if only Saber Lily ~Distant Avalon~ was reprinted…or if I had enough money to buy her…then I could create the ultimate battle… ;_;

-Jay