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Review: Samurai Shodown (2019)

  Developer – SNK Publisher – Athlon Games Release Date – June 26th, 2019 Platforms – PS4- Reviewed, Xbox One Samurai Shodown represents my earliest fighting game memories. I didn’t play Street Fighter 2 at my arcade, it was always too packed. Mortal Kombat was an easy way to guarantee my handful of quarters would be wasted against Scorpion’s nonsense. That’s still happening in Mortal Kombat 11 by the way. Samurai Shodown was the one for me. It was the game that I first got a chance to play seriously in the arcades. The first fighting game where I was learning how to compete against other players and watch others put up quarters up to try and take me out. It didn’t have the fantasy or fatalities of Mortal Kombat. It didn’t have the flash and mass appeal of Street Fighter 2, but it didn’t need it. What it had, nobody else did. Fantastic sprites, that referee, sparse music and what felt like the pixel perfect representation of all the great Kurosawa flicks my grandfather had on VHS. Samurai Shodown may not be as big as some of it’s peers but it’s just as worthy. It’s reach and inspiration can still be seen and felt in games across different genre’s til this day. Some games like Soul Calibur probably wouldn’t even exist without Samurai Shodown paving the way for weapons based fighters. Samurai Shodown arrives during this fighting game renaissance that has fans spoiled. After trying their hand at numerous sequels of varying quality, and a 3d game of questionable quality, they’re now completing the modern fighting game revival. A brand new title, with it’s gameplay rooted in the 2d style, and the classic action the franchise is known for. Samurai Shodown for the uninitiated is not a fighting game about flash. You don’t pull off magic strings or air launchers into super moves. In this game it’s rare to even combo a normal into a special move. Samurai Shodown was, and still is a game about the very fundamentals of fighting games. Concepts and terminology that have crept into the more casual players vocabulary is what this game builds it’s entire core around. Footsies, spacing, defense, mind games, these are the core of what separates Samurai Shodown from other fighters. Now don’t get me wrong, these concepts are core to every fighting game no matter how casual you think they are. However, Samurai Shodown emphasizes these techniques because it’s gameplay revolves around patience, instead of flash. Most fighting games of the last few years have made moves to bring in the more casual audience. Whether it’s via easy super attacks, auto combo’s, and more comeback mechanics than you can throw an X-Factor at. You can absolutely pick-up Samurai Shodown and mash some buttons, and in a lot of ways it’s pretty great as a pick up and play game. Like I said earlier, combo mechanics are pretty simple, and move-lists are pretty small in comparison to most other games on the market. Anybody can just have a go of it and start slashing each other left and right. Each character comes equipped with three “Super” attacks if you will. One, will guarantee disarm an opponent if it lands. The other will expend all of your rage and is probably the flashiest attack in the game, the Lightning attack. Lastly, each character has one big super move that hit or miss you can only perform once per fight. Regardless of which character you use, these super moves share the same input so once you learn them, you learned them for everybody. However the real depth comes from the using the tools at hand to best your opponent. The life bars in Samurai Shodown have always been a scam. They exist, but don’t be surprised to see gigantic chunks of it vanish in a handful of strikes. A handful of counter hits can end the fight before you knew what hit you. If you get hit with a clean super attack, it’s not uncommon to see a clean 70% of your health gone. The focus on fundamentals in the absence of flash, high damage counter hits rather than 30 hit juggles, and footsies and spacing instead of a comeback mechanic create a much more tense and satisfying experience. As for the rest of the package, Samurai Shodown goes for a stylized look looks fantastic while still managing to maintain the spirit of the original. Music is sparse, and used to accentuate the tension and danger that combat can bring. As for the rest of the package, it’s unfortunately one area where they held on to the roots of the franchise a bit too much. The game features a standard arcade mode, along with survival and time attack modes. Each character does have their own story, and it contains a surprise or two that I won’t spoil here waiting for you during the climb to the final opponent. Dojo mode promises to take the AI learning mode from Killer Instinct, Shadow Lords, and implement it to help you train against your own habits and your friends styles. In the limited time with the mode, it actually seems to work as advertised. Facing off against my own Galford was eye opening, and I quickly learned how bypass my set-ups after a few matches. Training mode is pretty bare-bones by industry standards, and the tutorial will teach you all of the basic game mechanics but doesn’t go past that. The online is the true meat of the package, as the single player offerings are minimal at best. Outside of a gallery, the game features very little in the way of unlocks. Online also comes with a pretty standard selection of modes. You have the ranked mode, which is standard fare. Lobbies for casual matches are present and pretty much the same as most other fighters as of late. It unfortunately doesn’t feature a rematch options so after each fight you’ll have to load

One Punch Man: The Hero Nobody Knows Announced For Console & PC

For those who might have already noticed from Bandai Namco’s recent fighter, One Punch Man is not in the Jump Force roster. But do not worry, as the Japanese publisher has just revealed that the hero will be receiving his own respected game “soon”. The newly announced game titled One Punch Man: The Hero Nobody Knows, is said to be yet another fighting title which will offer 3v3 battles with iconic characters from the series. The title’s description reveals personas like Blizzard, Genos, Hellish, Mumen Rider, Saitama, and Speed-o’-Sound Sonic were confirmed to be featured in the game among others which will be shared in the coming future. Watch the full trailer for the new game below: One thing that should be mentioned before fully taking in the newly announced One Punch Man title is that the game will not be receiving an English dub when the game officially releases. Reasons for the decision to only have the title in its native language was not shared, but it is best guessing that it would cost more for the title being translated for a western audience. In the meantime, however, you can stay up to date on Bandai Namco’s recent fighter Jump Force by reading our review on the title here. One Punch Man: The Hero Nobody Knows is listed for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.  

Information On New Yakuza Game To Be Revealed Next Month

With Sega just releasing the spin-off title from Yakuza developer RGG Studio with Judgement today, it seems more is planned from the developer to be revealed next month in July. Shared through the launch of Yakuza 5 for PlayStation 4 in Taiwan, video game outlet Gamebase spoke with Yakuza Producer Daisuke Sato that information on a new title for the series will be shared in the coming weeks. At this time, that is not a question I can answer. On July 10, we will announce the supporting actress for the new title, as well as share the latest information on the new title, so please look forward to it. Surrounding what the unannounced title might be can be referenced back almost two years now as RGG Studio revealed the next hero for the series, Kazuga Ichiban. Though the intended last game in the franchise looked towards Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, the possibility of a follow-up title was still on the table as said by the developers. What are your thoughts on another title in the Yakuza series following Yakuza 6? Source: Gematsu

Known YouTuber Etika Confirmed Deceased By NYC Police

YouTuber Desmond ‘Etika’ Amofah earlier today has been found dead by the Ney York City Police Department after his corpse was discovered just yesterday and was confirmed to be the 29 year-old’s body following into today. Last Wednesday on June 19th, Amofah was reported missing with his last interaction taking place late that night. Since then, days-long searches for the YouTuber has been in effect with little to none on where Amofah’s whereabouts truly is. Not until June 22nd is when personal items belonging to the personality were discovered on the Manhattan Bridge being the first piece of evidence since Amofah’s disappearance. We regret to inform that Desmond Amofah aka Etika has been found deceased. https://t.co/sedwZZxglw — NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) June 25, 2019 That following Monday a body was discovered by the authorities about a half mile away from the same bridge that Amofah’s belongings were found at. Though many at the scene were afraid to say that the corpse matched Etkia’s description, it was announced it was in fact Amofah as released by the city’s police department today. Etika is primarily known through his overly-excited reactions towards Nintendo announcements such as Super Smash Bros. character reveals and news circulating around the Nintendo Switch platform. The day Amofah went missing, a video posted by the YouTuber titled “I’m Sorry” was uploaded where he discussed his mental illness as well as apologizing to individuals I his life and on the video platform. Immediately after, the video was taken down which further lead to his channel also being suspended indefinitely following today’s events. Users throughout the internet have protested that YouTube restores Etika’s channel to keep his memory alive through his content. Some even organized a petition for the platform to keep Amofah’s legacy alive: as of writing this, the petition has surpassed 50,000 signatures. You can take part in the petition here. Everyone at Rectify Gaming gives our thoughts and prayers to those close to Desmond.