SoWL

Yeah, my bad, it's a bit more complicated than that. There are actually two different thresholds for when the life bar starts flashing: one activates after a combo if it leaves you with less than 20% of your life, and the other one activates even mid-combo if you get below 10% of your life. What you want to trigger is the latter one. For Faust, 5K c.S 2HS 236S should be enough. Haven't seen that Ram video, so I can't really comment on it. Mission 19 is as simple as that burst throw one. Just hold up and do a throw as soon as you leave the ground; if it doesn't come out, you're probably too slow with your throw. And 24 is the only mission I still haven't done, myself

Sorry, I kinda got distracted by stuff Good job comparing the moves with Nitro Royale, that was one of the things I wanted to do. At the very least, I should check out Saya's normals and compare them with what we've seen in the videos. That's her Variable Rush (C+E). But since there are clearly more than two supers per character, we should still keep an eye on them. Here are the Assist translations: Natsumi: The Brakes Don't Work for Some Reason Kaigen: Seiyaku Taigi - Ichioku Sougyokusai (Pledge of Cause - Hundred Million Honorable Deaths) Henri: Bullet Storm Spica: Star Strike Miyuki: Perfect Swing Another Blood: Unleash the Forbidden Blood, and Assault Dragon: Dragon Breath Franco: It's Showtime, Let's Kill'em! Sakura: Bring it On Carol: The Chalice Void And various bits of info from that article. Not as much as I thought, but still nice. - Power Gauge rises from landing and blocking attacks (should've figured this out right after the videos ). In the current version, you get more gauge while getting hit. - All Variable Rush attacks are invulnerable on start-up in the current version. - The Assist cooldown mostly depends on the amount of damage they deal. - Ein's Vz61 Scorpion shoots forwards with the A button, upwards over the whole screen with B button, and downwards after a jump with the C button. - Chris Reeve has no invulnerable frames, so you can stuff the throw by simply hitting Ein on its start-up. - Al's Cthugha & Ithaqua fires Cthugha with the A button, Ithaqua with the B button, and both with the C button. Not surprising, though the fact that we only saw the C version in the videos is mind-boggling. - Ruili's A version Tetsuzankou has fast start-up, B version knocks down, and C version can be followed up. - Garyoubi is actually a rekka series that goes A>B>C. B version is an overhead, while C version is a low. I assume you can skip the B version, or even use the B and C versions separately. - Since Ruili is so small, you may have to come with character-specific combos against her. - Carol's cooldown is about 25 seconds long, and her start-up is about 5 seconds long.

To do the IK during a combo, you need to hit them until their life bar starts flashing, then RC a move that should be easy to follow up, enter the IK state (the screen freezes thanks to the flashing life bar), and land the IK after the RC'd move. For Faust (the character I do the missions with), it's as easy as c.S 236S RC IK.

Seems like opponents may not eat the donuts while being pulled by the scalpel? http://imgur.com/qN8IN0t,MgGDqkL,lxZjxT1 I'm trying to do it in Training mode, but the best I can do is make them go over the donut on the scalpel's initial hit. Not like it matters much, since you want them to eat it most of the time, but it might be important if you're pulling them in for the kill.

The main thing to note in that interview is that the character select screen currently has 10 playable slots and 16 Assist slots. Doesn't mean that we can't get more later, of course. Also, there are going to be supers that cost 3 stocks of Power gauge. The system info and command list are up on the game's website: http://www.examu.co.jp/nitroplus_blasterz/ The main pick-ups: - The game has a fourth attack button, E, or "Heavy Action". It's similar to Guilty Gear's Dust button in that it launches the opponent with 5E, 2E is a sweep, and j.E is its own attack. 5[E] causes guard crush unless blocked with Banishing Guard. - You can't escape throws during Banishing Guard. - The alpha counter mechanic is called Counter Raid. It's performed with 6AB. - 6A is a universal anti-air. - Variable Rush is performed with CE. - Infinite Blast is performed with ABC (to no one's surprise). The command list doesn't seem to be final (there are not enough supers for each character, for instance), but I'll translate what's there. Ein: - Upward Palm Strike - Vz61 Scorpion - Chris Reeve - Colt Python - Elbow Strike and an Upward Palm Strike Al: - Cthugha & Ithaqua - Scimitar of Barzai - Double Strike - Atlach-Nacha - Cthugha & Ithaqua God-Beast Form - Scimitar of Barzai Mora: - Sledgehammer - Dead Rising - Across the Nightmare - Combo Sledgehammer - Child Play Ruili: - Tetsuzankou - Garyoubi - Senpuuchoukyaku - Hishouryuukyaku - Soukokoukazan (up-close) Saya: - Explosive Meat Blob - Meat Arm - Anti-Air (additional input) - Meat Metamorphosis - Meat Feast - Firm Meat Arm I'll translate the Assists later today. Oh, and there's also this article that covers all characters, which I'll cover later, as well. Too bad it wasn't up when I was looking up the kanji in the command list http://dengekionline.com/elem/000/000/984/984524/

I'm almost sure that the third King is Leo's sister, since she's being set up as this powerful entity without actually getting any proper characterization.

There's a pretty elaborate post about it in this thread (which you should've checked before making this one): http://www.dustloop.com/forums/index.php?/topic/9225-p4au-adachi-vs-kanji/

The burst throw mission wants you to jump-cancel your second attack and throw Ky as soon as you leave the ground. When I cleared this mission for the first time, I felt like it's easier to do after 2HS, but now that I try to do it again, I don't see much difference between that and just punching Ky twice with 5P.

There are people in this very thread who expressed their interest in reading the VN, which is reasonable, as some of them might come for Saber and stay for some other character they've never heard about. The VN might be 12 years old, but it has only been translated into a language most people understand a bit less than five years ago, so it might've as well come out right then. In the first place, spoilers have no expiracy date for those who are spoiled, so the reasonable thing to do is be polite and use the tags (it's not like that takes that much effort, anyways). Yeah, it's not in the rules, but if you can only be polite when the rules force you to, you're going to have a hard time communicating with others. Back to the original point. What would you think if you picked up a game with "Heroines" in its title and noticed a few males in it? Personally, I'd suspect them to be female, as well, no matter how they look. Otherwise, it's false advertising, plain and simple. Making Ruili playable instead of Taoluo means that the new devs realize that, as well. Sure, you're free to wish for whatever you want, but don't expect any sympathy when your favorite male character doesn't make it. Luckily, Nitroplus has more than enough titles to find a good female match for any male you might want. You want to play as Romeo and overwhelm opponents with feral strength? Mora should fit your bill. Want to be a hero of justice and kill some mages with Kiritsugu? Sounds like Ein to me. This is a game, first and foremost. Playstyles take priority over characters.

...Not sure if you're serious, so I'll just quote this:

VERTUEUX is performing the opening? And it doesn't sound like that gargling mess from Lost Christmas? Good, good. Though I kinda expected Ono Masatoshi to do it (or maybe even Watanabe Kazuhiro).

Who the hell uses Overdrives, anyways?

Do you mean something other than her level 2? Because I just rewatched her matches while paying close attention to her life bar, and I'm not seeing it. A few times it did feel like her life bar moved in the other direction, but since she wasn't doing anything at the moment, I assume it's just the video quality playing tricks on me. Also, don't forget that using Blast gives you temporary health regeneration.

Pardon the double-post, but I've put together an imgur album covering all of Saya's moves that were used in the vids: http://imgur.com/a/nuPYf For the record, she can't run, only dash (though it's more like a short skip). Also, some more general system findings: - There doesn't seem to be any increased landing recovery after a short hop. - There is an Alpha Counter-like mechanic that lets you spend 1 bar to perform an invincible attack from the blocking state.

Axl is one of the few characters who might be worth using Hemi-Jack on. At least that's what I thought after fighting him in Japan

Zato is a blank slate painted black, the title makes all kinds of sense.

Maybe now I'll actually finish that Nube guide that I've been writing since August

Well, they're actually working on a new ASB patch, so we can still have that. Rather than having just an upgrade of an older game, we now have two different, but fun titles. Gotta repost my Twitter findings here, as well:

Now I'm going to upload the videos simply out of principle At least I'm now ready for the loketest, I guess. Some general thoughts on the game: - It's looking crazy, much more crazy than anything Examu has done before, and I love it. On the other hand, it's nowhere near MvC's levels of craziness, so I don't feel overwhelmed watching it. - That last point might actually be thanks to the Assist freeze, so I don't mind it that much. With Assists as strong as these, it's kind of a necessary evil, or else people would never react to the likes of Sakura or Miyuki. - All the free actions you can take reinforce the idea that the game is very early in development: if something turns out to be a problem in the loketest, they can easily fix it (including that Assist freeze). - That Double Necronomicon combo is going to get a lot of attention: even though Another Blood's cooldown is very long, Al can easily wait it out with her Cthugha-Ithaqua projectiles. Spending meter to cancel into Assists seems like the most obvious solution here, but it's not the only one. - The weakest point of the game for me is the stages. They're lifeless, made with mediocre CG, and don't really evoke any emotions you had while playing their respective games. If Nitro Royale did anything well, it was filling the stages with lots of NPCs that tickled your nostalgia bone and made the fights feel a bit more alive (it also helped that NPCs were drawn better than the actual fighters). Sure, I guess that with so many Assists on both sides, having characters that don't affect the fight on top of that would make a visual mess, but the stages were good even without the NPCs. Case in point: Saya's stage, which impressed (traumatized?) me so much, I just had to learn more about the game and the company that made it. I guess Fuminori's room is just too small for the new gameplay. - I wish I had people to play this with locally. Thoughts on the characters: - Ein got the short end of the stick, since she was represented by the weakest player, but she has the potential to be more than your usual speedster. All the moves where she fills the screen with bullets remind me of Aigis, except that she has infinite ammo and opponents can dodge the bullets even in mid-air. Moreover, that parry can single-handedly make her very dangerous in the hands of a skillful player. She can do a lot, but figuring out when to stay out and when to get in will be crucial. - Mora was my second favorite character in Nitro Royale, and she's looking mighty good here. Leave it to Koichi to make any character he plays seem OP. She's a simple character who can deal lots of damage without even trying, but since her reach is short, you have to spend some extra effort getting in. That midair hammer drop move is going to help her a lot. - Ruili basically feels like a more complicated Mora to me. Their goal is generally the same, except that Ruili has slightly better mobility at the cost of longer, more complex combos. I assume her pressure is better, but I didn't see anything that actually opens people up. We don't know all the properties of short hop yet, so maybe she has to rely on that? - Al, to no one's surprise, is the Ryu of the game. She was more technical last time, with many different projectiles and some traps, but it just makes sense to leave that role to someone more fitting (like, say, Saya). To tell the truth, neither her fireballs nor her DP feel that threatening to me, but her running speed is a bit ridiculous, and her normals feel very good. And hey, she didn't win this day 0 tournament for nothing. - Saya is even more beautiful than last time, and I don't only mean her sprites and animation (her forward dash is soo cuuute!). There are so many ways to use her moves, I just can't wait to see what the best players are going to make out of her. Most importantly, she's a zoner with no moving projectiles, which is one of my favorite playstyles. Unless Muramasa impresses me as much as her game does, I might main this little blob. And some more thoughts on the Assists, along with the description of what they do just in case. - Spica: shoots some projectiles before her in a half-circle, then quickly flies forward. Not a fan of hers, as she doesn't cover much space in neutral, doesn't last long enough to mount any pressure and it's difficult to combo off of her. At least her cooldown is short, I believe? - Natsumi: rolls on her segway forwards, then comes back from the other side after a while. Seems like a good pressure tool, especially since her active frames start as soon as she appears, though you have to keep the opponent busy on your own until she comes back. - Dragon: a huuuuge laser that covers lots of space right above the ground. She can do a lot of work all by herself, but you have to control the ground really well, as her start-up is long enough for the opponent to fall down and easily dodge it. Or you can use her in a combo, I guess. - Kaigen: a quick slash that crumples the opponent on hit. Though she doesn't go that far and her start-up is on the longer side, she still feels worth considering for characters like Mora or Ruili, especially since they can capitalize on that crumple especially well. - Another Blood: summons a blood dragon from the ground that launches the enemy to the skies. One of the longest cooldowns so far, but that's a reasonable price for this much damage. On the other hand, she doesn't offer much beyond that: her start-up is fast, sure, but you can't use her in neutral, you get no oki, and the dragon goes away too fast to be used as a pressure tool. Then again, it makes sense for her to be all about the damage. - Franco: throws a bottle, and then shoots her gun, blowing the opponent away; if the bottle hits, the shots are guaranteed to connect. Her main thing is the fact that the bottle toss is very fast, and that she gives you lots of breathing room. Sounds good if you think you need an extra defensive option. - Miyuki: appears behind the opponent and hits them with a baseball bat in your direction. An anti-zoning Assist for when you just can't get in. She's fast, but that doesn't mean much with the freeze, so she can only punish someone when they feel too safe on the opposite side of the screen. And if you care, she doesn't cross them up. - Henri: fires an air-to-ground barrage from her machinegun. She basically does everything: spacing, combos, pressure, you name it. Even her cooldown is very short. I guess the thing that should stop you from picking her all the time is that there are Assists that can do every separate thing she does better, but there's a reason Koichi picked her for his team. - Sakura: if she is hit, she quickly rushes forward with a powerful counter-attack. As far as counter-attacks go, she's quite good: lasts for a while, deals great damage, can go almost full screen in an instant. Still, she's a counter-attack, so she's reactive by definition. - Carol: After a long start-up animation and some more time after that, a swarm of locusts flies across the screen. It might take an eternity to come out, but that doesn't make it any easier to avoid. The best way to do so would probably be mid-air blocking, but that gives your opponent an opportunity to easily cross-under you. The inevitability makes her really scary. EDIT: For anyone who cares, the videos are now up on my channel. http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVyPvLn8SrUpsoL1RfGwVOVBD9a-P4tGB

That's what I get for taking so long to find a program to cut two hours of footage I got Well, at least that's not all of it, so I'll keep looking. For now, here's more info on the system: Banishing Guard Your usual shield mechanic, allows you to punish moves more easily, builds some meter, blocks chip damage. Performed by pressing D button and can be held, costing no gauge in the current version. Escape Action An invulnerable roll that can also be performed in mid-air. You can cancel into either version from other moves, similar to UNIEL's Assault. It doesn't cost any gauge, even when you cancel into it. Variable Rush For 2 stocks of Power gauge, you can perform a special starter move. Afterwards, you can press any button in any order you wish for a powerful auto-combo. Infinite Blast Once per round, you can perform a Blast. It blows the enemy away and gives you a buff that recovers both health and Power gauge for a while. Performing it in neutral gives you the longest buff, recovering around 10% health and 1 stock of the Power gauge. You can also use it while in hit stun or block stun for the usual combo breaker, though the buff becomes very short. Alternatively, you can use it to cancel your own move: in that case, the buff has medium duration. Partner Blitz Surprise, you can call Assist characters to attack for you! It's performed by pressing A+D or B+D. You can cancel into an Assist, which costs you no gauge. Also, you cannot interrupt them in any way, only dodge their attack. Short titbits that can be seen in the footage: - Both ground and aerial throws are present - You can escape throws - You can block in mid-air (at least some attacks) - Mid-air recoveries are, of course, present - Ground ukemi is present - The Power gauge (and the Blast icon) resets between rounds - All Assist characters start each round at max cooldown - The cooldowns are different between all Assists; they are not affected by any actions the players take - No awesome protag-summoning supers... yet? And some random trivia: this time, the BGM is now made of remixes rather than being lifted directly from the other games. It has this Arcana Heart-ish feel about them, which makes some tracks difficult to recognize. Some of them match the tracks from Nitro Royale, some don't. Ein - Showdown (OST) Mora - White Night (OP) Ruili - Sworddancer I (OST) Al - Kishin Houkou! Demonbane (OP) Saya - Song of Saya (OST)

Yeah, and it's been mentioned twice on the last page The stream is up, the relevant part will start in about 40 minutes. I'm already recording it, so you can expect a Youtube mirror. EDIT: This game is ridiculous, I love it so much. Here's the new stuff from the stream so far: - Loketest on 28th-29th (next week!) - No Muramasa/Sonico/Saber yet - New playable: Al Azif (Demonbane) - New supports: Henri (Angelos Armas), Sakura (Axanael), Carol (Guilty Crown: Lost Christmas)

Doesn't RC get you out of the stance, meaning that you can't follow it up with the stance super?

http://jojogame.bngames.net/images/top/topbn/bn05.png The game's going to get another update, though it's unknown whether or not it's just to keep the JP version the same as the US/EU.

Neither Ram nor Sol are as easy as people make them out to be. Unless you somehow managed to misspell Faust.