A Psychotic Little Christmas, Day 1: Over Shiver Mountain

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house
nobody could sleep, not even a mouse
for into the hall, and out the window
I blasted this song from Paper Mario.
So to kick off this holiday countdown of sorts
I bring you the first in a dozen of shorts,
twelve musical pieces rejoicing the season
hand-selected by me, for whatever reason.

Anyways, this track takes place in the latter half of the game, more precisely Chapter 7. Amongst the snowy sights and frozen heights this track is a perfect fit, capturing the mystique of winter with its subtle background synth. The main melody is impatient, rising and falling constantly, yet made catchy via the hard bass and winter bells that accompany it. It's a great piece of music to fit an even better time of year, as Mario and the gang traverse the frosty plains ridden with tough enemies and tougher puzzles.

The piece in general is very cheerful and laid back, as most actual holiday songs characteristically are, yet this one has a more playful nature to it; it's a winter wonderland out there, so go out and enjoy it while it lasts, ya know? It's the impermanence of things that make them beautiful, and this is especially true of winter, coming and going in the blink of an eye. I think this track and the game itself do a great job expressing that, particularly in the sharp contrast of the Freeze Palace encountered later in the chapter.

And that's that! The countdown will continue up until Christmas Eve, with me bringing you one new holiday track every day, so check back now and then if you need a wintery fix of VGM!

The Marvelous Countdown, Day 12: Frank West

The last remaining supplement to the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 roster is none of than zombie photographer extraordinaire, Frank West. This isn't his first time appearing in a fighting game, as he was first on the Wii's Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, but his playstyle has been revamped and refined into something that fits the character.

The first thing you'll notice about Frank is that he can "level up" by taking pictures of his opponent, much like in the original Dead Rising. As he gains experience and levels up he gains access to more and more moves, and many of them improve as he powers up. At the maximum level of 5, Frank is one of the most effective and powerful solo characters in the game. He can throw various objects to keep the opponent away from him, as well as several variants of zombies that can attack and grab the other player to grant you a free combo.

Leveling up looks to be a pain at first glance, but there are ways around it. For each hit in the combo, the photo will give Frank 1 extra experience point, so snapping it during a 10 hit combo is 10 experience all at once. The fastest way that's been discovered to max out his level is through the use of a Team Hyper Combo after a long combo. Certain hypers (like Dante's Million Dollars) last a lot longer than Franks's shopping cart, allowing him to snap a photo or two and level up in one fell swoop. That will be the goal when using him, I believe.

I think he'll be a tough character to get the hang of, but once players find easy technology for landing the big combo and getting to level 5, he'll end up as one of the best characters. And why shouldn't he be? He's covered wars, ya know.

And that wraps up my Marvelous Countdown for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. The game hits shelves tomorrow; are you ready?

Psychotic Informer - 11/13/11

 

 

 

Guess who’s back? It’s Alec, your friendly neighborhood Psychotic Gaming reporter guy! Now with significantly less 3DS news.

1.  Starting off with something exciting, do we have the possible return of God of War? Yes, though the developers claimed the series was only going to be a trilogy, they apparently decided to screw that and milk more money out of their series. And I don’t blame them, God of War is freakin’ amazing. A few weeks back a job opening hinted towards the game, but no one knew anything. Now a new hint has been delivered by our good friends in New Zealand. They put the game up for pre-order on one of their retailing websites, pricing it was...$114? Huhwhat? Probably just a typo or something. Why would the game be $114? But oh well. The website also states that the speculated release date is Sept. 28th, 2012. So get your calendars ready! Just don’t write anything in them yet, because I’m not sure this information is correct. But stay tuned, there’s bound to be more news about this in the coming weeks! (For more information, read the full article)

2. AND THEN ALEC LIED. Because, guess what? MORE FREAKIN’ 3DS NEWS! Now, if you don’t have a 3DS by now, you have no reason not to get one with this next piece of information. The most beautiful 3DS ever revealed to this history of mankind ever is being released in America. The Zelda 3D Bundle. Accompanying the Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D game, we have the best 3DS in the history of awesomeness. I mean, just look at is. STARE AT ITS EXCELLENCE. If you’re not intimidated, I feel bad for you. It’s obviously more beautiful than you.

 

And no, I’m not just a Zelda fanboy. Why would you think that?

But anyway, the 3DS was announced a few weeks back for Europe. It was just announced today for America. It is priced for $200, or $99 if you trade in a DSiXL for it. And it’s going to rock. No release date on it yet, though. (For more information, read the full article)

3. Da hell. A Lego movie. PICTURE IT. A movie made out of Legos. Why? Why not, Hollywood does whatever it feels like doing. Based off the success of the Lego Video Games, they announced a Lego Movie. Nothing is known about it yet, except 80% of it will be animated but 20% will be live action. Huh. More details are expected to be announced next week. (For more information, read the full article)

The Marvelous Countdown, Day 11: Rocket Raccoon

A lot of attention was on Phoenix Wright in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3; nobody knew how he would turn out, and for the most part he was well-received as part of the roster. While he was the hype machine on Capcom's side of the roster, the Marvel half of things has a much smaller newcomer that's gotten quite a bit of controversy leading up to the release of the game. His name is Rocket Raccoon, and he looks to be one of the most intriguing characters in the game.

First and foremost, he's the smallest character on the entire roster, so he'll probably be dropping out of combos left and right. He has a variety of weapons and traps to keep the opponent away from him, and when things get too hairy, he can burrow into the ground to escape danger. However, he is also aptly capable of rushing down and creating an offense, equipped with a pair of rocket skates that allow to travel quickly in any direction that, when combined with an assist, can place the opponent in a very hard-to-block situation.

It's a versatility that I think will have to be taken on a character-by-character basis; of you're facing a character that can't get in on you very easily, make use of your zoning tools and keep them at bay. If you're up against a character that can outgun you or has a teleport for easy access to close range, mount an offense of your own and get the first blow.

If you find yourself up against Rocket Raccoon, I think you'd have an easier time rushing him down; sure, he has projectiles and traps to limit your approach, but think of the alternative. How are you going to zone him out when he can dash around in 8 directions and, more importantly, burrow under anything you throw at him? It's the lesser of two evils to attack him directly.

With Rocket Raccoon on the roster, there are finally 3 tiny characters in himself, Arthur and Viewtiful Joe. Aside from seeing that team on occasion online, I think that Rocket Raccoon will be used fairly often. His small size and versatility can make him invaluable as both meter-builder and meter-user, making him viable as both a point character and an anchor. He'll be as good as the player is, I think.

The Marvelous Countdown, Day 10: Vergil

Of all the new additions to the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 roster, Vergil is the guy I fear will be the best. At first when I saw the trailer, I assumed he would turn out to be a clone of Dante, as I recognized a move or two of his in Vergil's arsenal, but that theory has been proven wholly wrong. What he has instead of Dante's moves are some of the best in the game; fast teleports and normals with amazing range, tools to create and maintain extended combos, a VERY versatile super that creates a barrage of swords that can attack at a variety of angles, and even a projectile.

To reiterate on the super in question, it summons several swords that will hover around Vergil's body for a period of time. However, if you press certain buttons while the swords are out, they will change formation and attack one at a time from either in front or above the opponent. Even more worrisome is the fact that the swords are spaced out in such a way that they won't lock the opponent in block stun if the first one is blocked, allowing for you to create high/low mixups in between swords. The swords will then combo into each other, making it an extremely dangerous situation to be in.

As with any character with a teleport, your goal with Vergil will be to open up the opposing player's defense using your mixups to land a combo. Any assist that will place a projectile of some sort on the screen will become very effective and hard to block against if you used in conjunction with a teleport, so bring one of those along.

If you're fighting against Vergil, however, I don't really know what one would do. With the universal nerfs to offensive rushdown via the removal of airdash blocking, you'd think it would help a bit, but he doesn't need to airdash, as he has a teleport. Your best bet is to bring an invincible assist along that you can use when you anticipate the mixup coming.

Vergil will probably be pretty popular online, so be prepared to deal with a lot of it. How exactly you'll do that, well, I have no idea.

The Marvelous Countdown, Day 9: Nova

Nova looks to be one of the more dynamic characters new to the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 roster, albeit somewhat straightforward. Strong special moves, the ability to OTG and relaunch all by himself, and a solid flight mode round him out. He's got tools to lame it out (a projectile and more importantly a shield that both repels opposing attacks and locks them in place for a time), tools to rush down (fast Flight mode for overheads, sneaky moves with deceptively long range), and can easily follow up a throw with an extended combo into super. The Swiss army knife of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

If at any point you're using Nova, and you notice that all your red health is missing, fear not; it isn't some weird glitch in the game, but rather a mechanic unique to Nova: his supers will consume his own red health to deal more damage. I feel that the concept of giving up your ability to heal for extra damage is a nice OPTION to have, but unlike Akuma (who can either shoot a myriad of fireballs or a beam), he has no choice in the matter; every time you use a super with Nova, say goodbye to your red health. That irks me a little bit.

Certainly not on the popular and clamored-for end of the spectrum, Nova may not be on peoples' to-do list, but that I feel that he'll be one of the better characters of the new dozen. He can play however you want him to, with the tools he needs to fit any role. That versatility will eventually be recognized, and that's when we'll start seeing more Nova.

The Marvelous Countdown, Day 8: Phoenix Wright

Yes, THAT Phoenix Wright. The lawyer. He's in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. I don't know either.

Okay, so he might be a little out of place in this battle of juggernauts and mega men, but from what I've seen he's one of the most unique fighting game characters ever made, with a lot to bring to the table. Phoenix Wright completely plays by his own rules in combat, having 3 "modes" of play: Investigation, Courtroom, and Turnabout. The goal when using Wright is to get to turnabout mode as quick as you can, but let's back up for a second.

In Investigation mode, Wright collects "evidence" by pressing combinations of buttons, up to 3 pieces total. If you have a "correct" piece of evidence, the picture of said evidence will light up in his custom HUD display. If you have the wrong evidence you can throw it at your opponent and try for another piece.

Once you have everything you need (3 pieces of "correct" evidence), you can enter Courtroom mode, gaining access to some new moves, and the ability to use your collected evidence to shoot projectiles. While Wright can hold his own a bit better than before by taking advantage of his newfound abilities, the goal in Courtroom mode is to land his famous Objection while holding the right evidence. That seems to be where the main challenge will lie, ad Objections are slow to start up and I imagine hard to combo into.

Once you manage to object to your opponent, it's time for Wright to truly shine (literally) in Turnabout mode. All his aforementioned projectiles are faster, his normal attacks produce gigantic Objection fingers, and his Cornered theme begins to play. In Turnabout mode, he is one of the best characters in the game, and gains access to his absurdly powerful level 3 hyper. Be mindful though, that Turnabout mode has a time limit; once it runs out, it's back to searching for evidence.

What I think would be the best strategy is to get to Turnabout mode, use Wright until Turnabout is juuuust about to run out, and then tag in another character; Wright's assists will retain their Turnabout properties, making him a very useful assist character as well. How you'll GET to Turnabout mode, well, that's the part I'm unsure of.

People clamored from far and wide to get Phoenix Wright in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, but now that his playstyle has been dissected and found to be complex, will people actually use him? Or will they opt for a more beginner-friendly character? This is an interesting test of character loyalty in my opinion, but are people up for it?