Sometimes people write because they feel they have something important to express that will change the world. Some people write because it gives them the opportunity to square themselves with some of the darker questions rattling about between their ears. I am writing today because I have an itch that needs scratching. I have caught a serious case of Marvel vs Capcom 3 fever and the only thing that can quell it is writing about it!
When I was younger and became fixated on some new game coming out I would sit in class and write lists that related to the game; a list of features, a list of characters, of moves/weapons/stages/ninjas/cyborgs/peacocks etc. that I knew to be in the game. It was all very fruitless (as I personally promise this post to be) but it gave me something to do to kill the wait until the game was released. In some strange way, making these lists and recalling every detail about the game I could was the next best thing to playing it, kind of like many people remember reading an instruction manual of a newly acquired game to kill time during the torturous ride home to play it for the first time. This will be just like that, except way before the game comes out, and way more OCD.
So the list I have a hankering to do is a full list of all of the characters featured in MvC3 and my overall impressions of them from a variety of standpoints (mechanics, design, utility, visual etc.) based on the 30 or so matches I played at NYCC 2010 and of course the tons of footage that has been all over the web for the last six months. I am just going to write as many impressions as I feel like right now and will continue in parts until I have covered the whole roster. As of this writing 34 characters have been confirmed (not including the 2 confirmed DLC characters Jill and Shuma Gorath) and strong speculation points to us seeing 2 more characters, namely Hsien-Ko and Sentinel, announced right before the game's February 15th release. Here we go! GET HYPE!!!
Here's to ten more years of hype!
Akuma
Akuma was just announced this week as one of 2 characters that will have to be unlocked before playing. Several sources have indicated that as you play the game you earn Player Points (pp) and that certain things will unlock as your pp rises. While its being said that an averag player will earn roughly 2k pp from one arcade run through and that the unlockable characters become available at 2k and 8k pp this seems a strange move. If a few quick runs through the sure to be easy arcade mode is all it takes, why make us play to unlock them at all I wonder? Especially after how people applauded Capcom's choice to have all 35 characters in Super Street Fighter 4 unlocked from the start, you would think MvC3 would follow suit. Its far from a big deal, but is odd enough to mention.
That said, Akuma is a total beast. I must admit that I am one of those shoto haters who was moaning that I didn't want another character slot to be taken up by one, but after seeing the reveal trailer and a few full matches, I can't stress enough that all you doubters (myself included) need to put the Haterade down and slowly back away.
One thing I noticed very quickly is that Akuma bucks the sad trend I have noticed of Street Fighter characters looking plain compared to the other combatants in most VS series games. In fact, Capcom did a pretty good job of remedying that problem throughout MvC3 with some notable exceptions (Ryu looks horribly out of place in this game visually). While not quite as imposing as his character model in Super Street Fighter 4 (SSF4), he looks appropriately muscular and exotic as befitting a character of his infamy in the Capcom U.
Each and every one of his special moves are swathed in that signature "psycho"purple that we have seen in countless SF titles, but here it crackles and sizzles in a way that is just hypnotic. It perfectly conveys that he is dipping into a power far more sinister and violent in nature than Ryu's. From his basic fireball all the way up to his iconic Raging Demon hyper combo (appearing here in its most visually arresting form yet) exudes an evil that is both imposing to play against and utterly cool to wield. "Dark Hadou" indeed!
From a mechanics and gameplay standpoint, Akuma is all gravy. He appears to posess nearly every single move he has ever posessed in the characters history. Dive kick, demon palm, air fireball, teleports, air fireball super and his version of the Shoryu Reppa are all in. The only move of note I have not seen is his "red" fireball from SSF4. Either it just hasn't been shown or they deemed it superfluous given the size and strength of his normal fireball. Besides that, if you have been repping Akuma since the old days, you will be extremely pleased with the moveset here.
Similarly to SSF4 he is an offensive dynamo with huge damage potential, tempered by extremely low health. On one video I watched, one hit from Thor, along with a couple of fireballs had him around 50% health. Factoring in how lethal chip damage seems to be in this game, expect people to try to pin Akuma down with streams of projectile hyper-combos (HC's) to chip down huge ammounts of his life, even when he blocks. Get ready to use X Factor and advancing guard a lot with him to minimize chip/keep him healthy if you want to anchor your team with him.
His combo potential is truly rediculous. His dive kick hits otg and bounces the target back up just enough to continue a combo and it also appears to be an overhead as well, making it a great tool. His air fireball hits otg as well and can subsequently combo into his air fireball HC. His tatsu is sick too. It hits multiple times in the air as well as on the ground and you can combo into his air fireball HC from it as well. Also, whether in the corner, or mid screen, you land fast enoughafter hitting a ground tatsu to dash up and continue comboing before your opponent hits the ground, which makes it possible to finish a chain with a tatsu, dash up, do another chain and then launch them and continue to combo from there.
His Raging Demon is a lvl 3 HC, requiring 3 bars, but it is a great punishment tool. It is fast enough to punish some opponents HC on reaction from across the screen. This can be seen at the end of his reveal trailer where Dr. Doom winds up for one of his projectile HC's and Akuma activates the Raging Demon afterwards and grabs Doom right outof his startup animation. With 3 bars loaded, many characters will be unable to safely execute a HC against Akuma unless its in a combo.
All told, Akuma is a perfect storm of utility, style and badassery that I am sure will make him a popular character choice for both the casuals and the touney players.
Albert Wesker
Wesker seems like a sweet new add to me. The funny thing about him is that he is such a well known and loved villain to the non-fighting game crowd, but I can't quite see casual players making the most out of him. I see a lot of casual types choosing him because they know him and he looks like a badass and then putting him back down when they can't figure out how to use him effectively.
This isn't to say he isn't effective. Quite the contrary, I think he will become a mainstay in many tourney rosters. The primary draw of Wesker is his teleportation move. Using it, he can either put more distance between him and his opponent, appear behind them or appear above them. He also has a command normal where he pulls out his gun and shoots the opponent from afar. It isnt very threatening but he can cancel out of it into a teleport for great mind games. When you combine this with his extremely quick dash he becomes a great rushdown character that experienced players will use to confuse and decieve their opponent in order to get close and start combos.
He has other nice tools for mixups too. One of his specials dashes him forward to strike the enemy and one version of it actually crosses up on hit or block, giving him the chance to continue his barage by making his opponent block the wrong way. Lastly, he has a command throw that he can combo out of. This will be perfect for when people turtle up after he teleports. If it seems like they are guessing the right way to block after a teleport, just throw this out and then go on to combo like normal.Some people do the opposite and instead of turtle, they start doing something we in the hardcore fighting game scene like to call "hitting buttons". For players like that, you could always follow up a teleport with his HC that is a counter attack. Just activate and it absorbs the incoming attack and instantly punishes the opponent (works against HC's too!!) With the right assists in the mix on top of these mind games, advanced players will terrorize opponents with Wesker I believe.
His damage potential is not terribly impressive, but it certainly isn't bad. He can combo quite easily into his lvl 3 HC, which conludes humorously with him hurling A MISSILE at his downed opponent. He also has an HC similar to Spidey's old Maximum Spider, except it combos off of juggles very readily which I am sure will be a BnB combo whenever one gets the drop on their opponent with his teleport mind games. His normals seem to have enough range for him to threaten with chain combos from a decent distance out after a dash.
I haven't seen any truly high level Wesker play yet, but I have a feeling the more experienced players are going to have a field day with him. While I think he falls short in the fan service department, fighting game vets will get a lot out of him and he certainly has enough style and presence to hold his own against the rest of the roster.
Well thats it for now folks. I am thinking I will write a couple more every day or two until release. February 15th is only 27 days away! Get hype! It's gonna be sooooooo pringles!!
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