Marvel VS Capcom 4EVER - The Perfect Dream Game
(This is going to be something different from my blog's usual content. I don't just love pokemon, I'm also a really big fan of crossover fighters. My very first fandom was Super Smash Bros. and it was where I started writing fanfics. I may not be all that good at 2D traditional fighting games, but I enjoy the time I spend on them. As such, I will be talking about Marvel vs Capcom and what I would want the 4th game to look like)
-
The Marvel VS Capcom series is a franchise founded on hopes and dreams. When an unlikely collaboration spawns one of the most fantastical crossover events in history, well before Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was conceived, you can imagine that it is fondly remembered and well regarded in its popularity and gameplay.
And yet, with such powerful Intellectual Properties populating the series, the games are rife with copyright power struggles and negotiations. So much so, that the game had been in limbo for as many years as it had been played competitively. The demand is there, the problem is that no one can decide how much money both sides should be making to allow for a character to be put into the game and to get punched in the face.
To put it into perspective, Marvel VS Capcom 2 came out in 2000, and it pulled a Masahiro Sakurai and included every character from the past games plus a little extra. The game was entirely 2D with mostly reused sprites, which is how it got away with a whopping 56 characters on the roster right out the gate. This also created some balancing issues as the top tier characters from previous games were also top tier here as well, though that topic of discussion is beyond my area of expertise. All you need to know is, there's a reason all the top level matches have the same 5 or so characters.
Now, as for Marvel VS Capcom 3, that title came out in 2011, a whole 10 years after the arcade experience was brought home. The hype was still there, but the series would run into some licensing issues in the background. It's how we got Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3 less than a year later, and how Marvel VS Capcom Infinite came out the way it did. Though perhaps it would be best if you, the reader, looked into that yourself, as I'd rather talk about Marvel VS Capcom 4, or rather, what it could potentially be.
Since the Marvel VS Capcom Fighting Collection was announced, I have been ecstatic about finally owning these games that I would rarely see. I didn't go to arcades all that often, but I always liked going to look at all the cabinets and all the games I've never seen before. Remember, arcades were a big deal back in the day, and the internet wasn't, so this is where you would discover games you haven't heard about. This is how I learned about Marvel VS Capcom, and how I fell in love with crossover fighters in general. I was a 90's kid growing up, so these quarter consuming cabinets were like a vivid dream to experience. And being on the autism spectrum meant that a strong first impression would consume my waking thoughts for years on end. It's my hope that a rail shooter collection comes out soon so that I can reexperience 'The Ocean Hunter' in all its glory.
Back to the topic at hand, the rerelease of these games would imply that relations between Marvel and Capcom have mellowed enough that all the licensing headaches for this collection passed like a mild flu. It's a bit of wishful thinking, but the door might be open for a potential new iteration of Marvel VS Capcom. I mean, everyone has been talking about it lately, so I figured I'd put in my own two cents.
Before we begin, we do have to go over why MVC Infinite isn't being given the honorary title of number 4, and there are a few reasons. One of them being the confusing order of titles of the franchise. Marvel VS Capcom 2 is actually the 4th in the series, starting with X-Men VS Street Fighter, though it could also be the 6th of you started with X-Men: Children Of The Atom. So what would that make UMVC3? It was an updated rerelease sold less than a year after MVC3, so does it count or should it be a separate thing? MVC Infinite didn't use a number in their title, though if you tilted the ∞ sign you would get the number 8, which is the exact number of games in the series if you count UMVC3 as a hefty DLC bundle.
The other reason is because of all the executive meddling that poisoned the roster. What is a Marvel VS Capcom game without Wolverine or any of the X-Men? Well, you get MVC Infinite, that's what. On top of the squandered roster, there were loads of criticisms over the models looking the way they do. I'm not gonna dwell on this bit for too long, but don't be surprised when you hear people boldly claim that Infinite isn't a true MVC game.
So, what would a Marvel VS Capcom 4 look like? Everyone has their own ideas, but it seems that no one can decide on a concrete roster for Launch Day. I specify 'Launch Day' as it's to be expected that a big game like MVC4 will have DLC, it's how you keep a game like this alive for as long as there is work to be done. I mean, I've yet to hear anyone complain about DLC for this series, except for when UMVC3 was announced, but that is the exception that proves the rule. As long as it doesn't happen again, you can do no wrong.
Well, what do I think? After all, this is my post, my idea. As such, I'm proposing a base roster of the best of both worlds, the absolute pinnacle of popularity for the birth of the best beat 'em up game ever made. I'm talking the top picks like Cyclops, Ryu, Wolverine, Chun-Li, Captain America, Mega Man, Deadpool, Dante, all the fan favorites that would guarantee a Day 1 buy for everyone.
But I'm also proposing a massive DLC roadmap for the game's foreseeable future. With a plan of releasing new characters for the game as time wears on, the starting roster and number of characters don't really matter that much. Granted, there are some characters who are nonnegotiable for the starting roster, like Spider-Man and Morrigan, but as long as everyone understands that there will be loads of DLC characters coming down the line, you can guarantee that Launch Day sales will go through the roof.
Think of this potential game to function like Fortnite, or more specifically, like a live service. Now, I know that live service games have performed very poorly, but that's usually because of bone-headed executives making the decisions for the developers. There are live service games that do very well, like Splatoon for instance, or the aforementioned Fortnite. Since the plan is to gradually release new content, it'll pay to make everything accessible to the players by turning it into a live service.
Of course there's the issue of what the base price for the game will be or if new characters will be paywalled. You have to charge SOMETHING to make a profit, especially if you want to pay your team to make new characters. In a perfect world, the game and characters would be free and all the monetization would be made through cosmetics. But the fairest asking price would be between $60 and $70, with the promise that all characters released through DLC will be free. Of course, the developers and the company won't leave the money on the table, they'll probably whip up a battlepass or something to engage daily play. Again, as long as the characters are free and everything else is cosmetic, we can't complain too much...
In order to keep the game fresh, however, new character releases should be released in bundles. Even with the starting roster of about 30 or so characters, fans will always want something more out of the game. But the developers are only human, and crunch time is one of the worst things you can do your workers. As such, the DLC shall be 'seasonal' with each release period being named after a Marvel VS Capcom title. For instance, 3 months after the release of Marvel VS Capcom 4, the first seasonal DLC will be called 'X-Men VS Street Fighter' with 6 new characters from these Intellectual Properties, and more coming later down the line. The seasonal DLC will last until a sufficient number of X-Men and Street Fighter characters have been added to the roster. That might get stale quickly, though, so maybe the rest will come out later in between seasons.
Following this trend, after 'X-Men VS Street Fighter' we'll get the 'Marvel Super Heroes VS Darkstalkers' DLC pack. And then following that, we can get the 'Clash of Super Heroes' pack, which is the subtitle for Marvel VS Capcom (which is the fifth game). Then comes 'New Age of Heroes', followed by the 'Fate of Two Worlds' pack, then the 'Ultimate' Pack, and finally the 'Infinite' pack. The idea here is to cram this $70 game full of characters so that everyone who bought it will have their money's worth, and all the fans get all the characters they could ever want. Masahiro Sakurai, the Lead Developer of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, left the industry with one of the most ambitious crossover games of history. A dreamed up version of Marvel VS Capcom 4 has to meet and exceed this insurmountable expectation of crossover greatness. Even if I'm not all that familiar with either Marvel or Capcom properties, I would want nothing less than to make as many people happy as possible.
So that's the plan, but what about the gameplay? I mean, you can't just release Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3 again with more characters and expect everyone to be happy, right? I mean, no, but the ironic thing is that a lot of people would love to have that. In fact, there's a massive mod scene behind UMVC3 right now and they're adding in loads of characters. If you're comfortable with tinkering around a bit in computer files, I highly recommend giving it a look. (It's also extra apparent at how apathetic people are about
MVC: I, though that game is also getting its own mod update).
Anyway, as for gameplay, if we HAD to add something, I had the idea of throwing in something called the 4EVER Assist. It's why I titled the post the way I did, as this is how you add even more characters to the game. See, back in Marvel VS Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, there was a random assist feature that you could pick along with your two main characters. This is where a majority of the games new sprite work came from, aside from newcomers like Venom and Captain Commando. Basically, you technically had a team of three characters, though the assist varied in strength and usage. The weaker and less effective assists could be called more often, but the stronger and better assists had very limited calls.
This assist system had very little risk to the player, which is why each one was ratioed with different number of uses. In other installments, each chosen fighter could be called for an assist, but summoning them recklessly could leave them vulnerable to combos from the enemy. But if you got clipped along with the assist you called, well, expect the crowd to start singing 'Happy Birthday', if you know what I mean.
Anyway, for my idea of Marvel VS Capcom 4EVER, both assist systems are combined, turning what was traditionally a 3v3 fighting game into a 4v4. The 4th character cannot be controlled, but they offer some benefits over regular fighters. For one, the player will never be out of assists if they are brought down to their last character, making comebacks a lot more feasible. Secondly, all characters on the roster can be delegated as the 4EVER assist and allows them to use exclusive moves when called as an assist. And thirdly, since it is only one move, you can have new characters exclusive to the 4EVER assist list that otherwise wouldn't make the cut, like Nick Fury or Cut Man. Not to say that these characters can't be promoted to fully fledged fighters down the line, but it'd be nice to have them around otherwise.
I've also got the idea of adding something called the 4EVER Ability, a passive effect unique to each fighter. This is closer in execution to Pokemon Abilities but tailored to the team fighter combat system. Basically, each fighter offers a different boon that affects the whole team, and since you can choose three fighters and a 4EVER assist, you can have four passive abilities active at once. However, if a fighter gets KO'd, their 4EVER Ability is negated for the rest of the match, leading to a structural degradation of team synergy. Of course, the 4EVER assist cannot be KO'd, so a player can make a last stand with at least two active 4EVER Abilities in play.
Here's a short list of 4EVER Abilities that would be in the game and their function:
Cyclops - "Dreams don't die!"
Super Meter Generation is increased by 1.5x
(Hitting and getting hit generates Super Meter, which can be used for Super Attacks, so an ability to hasten that generation is useful.)
Ryu - "I walk the path of a true warrior!"
All 🡳🡶🡺P attacks deal 2x more damage.
(This boon is restricted to Punch attacks, but all attacks, Supers, and Assists that use this motion get the power boost.)
Wolverine - "I'm the best at what I do."
Your combo is more resistant to Damage Decay.
(The later installments of MVC have a Damage Decay system where the longer the combo drags on for, the less damage you'll deal overall. Other fighting games have this. Wolverine's ability caps the damage drop-off much earlier.)
Ken - "Here's to a good fight!"
All 🡺🡳🡶P attacks deal 2x more damage.
(Same as Ryu's ability, but for 'dragon punch' motion attacks.)
Spider-Man - "With great power, comes great responsibility."
Damage increases by 2x for each bar of Super Meter you have.
(With you being able to control 3 characters, the Super Meter maxes out to 5, meaning a potential 10x damage increase for your combo. The damage is instantly reduced when you spend some for a Super, however.)
Mega Man - "Mega Buster, Power UP!"
Super Attacks deal 2.5x more damage.
(Super Attacks cost Super Meter, but they hit very hard, can fill the screen with damage, or even be used to counter other attacks. However, Mega Man's ability is still susceptible to Damage Decay, which Super Attacks tend to generate quickly.)
Hulk - "Hulk is strongest there is!"
Damage is increased the more HP you have.
(This ability grants a massive power boost in the first minute of the fight, but it wavers later on. Tagging in other characters is also risky if they are brought in recklessly and lose some HP during their assist calls.)
Captain Commando - "Let's go, Commandos!"
Assists deal more damage the more HP they have.
(Because of how integral Assists are to making combos, dealing more damage through assists is a powerful asset. But it can only scale up with how healthy you keep your teammates.)
Captain America - "Freedom prevails!"
Reduces damage taken while blocking.
(This one is self-explanatory, given how strong Cap's adamantium shield is. It's also crucial in avoiding chip damage during critical moments, as most attacks will still whittle down your HP bar, even while blocking.)
Mike Haggar - "The Mayor of America!"
Throws deal more damage and it is easier to Tech Throws.
(In contrast, working around blocking means knowing how to throw your enemies. This boon also increases the damage dealt through command throws. When you get grabbed, you have a very short window of time to input a grab to negate the attack, this is called a Tech Throw. This ability widens the window by a few frames, but keep in mind that command throws cannot be Teched.)
Doctor Doom - "Defeat is beneath Doom!"
Damage increases gradually the lower your team's HP is.
(MVC3 and UMVC3 had a comeback mechanic called X Factor, where activating it increased your speed and power drastically. But the less teammates you had, the greater the boost, functioning as a divisive comeback mechanic. I'm not sure if MVC4 will have a similar mechanic, so I'm a little hesitant to put something similar as an ability.)
M. Bison - "This place will become your grave!"
Damage dealt to the enemy increases the more Ichor they have.
(In nearly all versions of MVC, there is an HP mechanic called red HP or something to that effect, I don't think it was ever officially named. Anyway, when you get hit, a portion of your HP lost turns into red HP, which you can recover later through healing specials or by tagging out and waiting. In MVC4, this will be called Ichor, meaning this ability deals gradually increasing damage to the enemy as the combo continues.)
Ghost Rider - "Feel the weight of your sins brand your soul."
Counter Specials and Super Attacks deal 3.5x more damage.
(In MVC, Counters in general are rare and rarely used due to how team supers function. As such, this ability grants a massive boost in damage to those specials if they land.)
Dante - "Now it's a party!"
Attack and Speed increase a little bit during Installs. Also extends the duration of Installs by a little bit.
(An 'Install' is traditionally a temporary transformation into a slightly different character, but they typically add in buffed stats and extra moves. You can call it a temporary self buff that may or may not cost Super Meter. It should be noted that Installs do not run out when the character is tagged out and is retained when the character is called back in for an assist, which this ability will continue to boost the damage of.)
I have more examples but I think that'll do for now. The idea of a 'passive ability' system in a tag team fighting game is a bit foreign but since this game will have loads of characters, it helps to give each one a bit of personality.
I'll leave it at this for now. The irony here is that, if a Marvel VS Capcom 4 were to be in the works right now, I wouldn't be able to play it, owning only a Nintendo Switch right now. Maybe if the Switch 2 is real and can run more graphically intensive games, and that MVC4 gets a Switch 2 port. But this is all a dream for me, so it's time to wake up.
Thank you for reading this far. And remember, only two things last forever, diamonds, and MAHVEL.
2 notes
·
View notes
Capcom at E3 2017
From Capcom Blog
It’s an incredible time to be a Capcom fan, and just a fan of video games in general – E3 is hands-down one of the biggest shows of the year, and we have some truly incredible content for you this year whether you’re attending the show in person or following along online. Read on for a recap of the latest news from Capcom for Monster Hunter: World , Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, and Mega Man Legacy Collection 2. Plus, check out our streaming schedule for E3 , and read about our show floor activities for those of you who are attending!
First off, you don’t have to go far if you’re enjoying the E3 experience from the comfort of your own home. We’ll have daily streams on our Twitch channel from the show floor showcasing all the great stuff we brought to E3 this year. Check out Yuri’s post for the full schedule, or follow the channel and set your Twitch notifications to get updates when we’re live! If you’re attending E3 yourself, you’ll be able to see us in action – literally! We brought our streaming studio equipment with us, and we’ll be live right from the Capcom booth.
Introducing a brand new entry in the Monster Hunter series, Monster Hunter: World was just announced on Monday and will be releasing globally early 2018 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with a PC version coming at a later date. With Monster Hunter: World , we’ve built a brand new world featuring stunning visuals and a living, breathing ecosystem of interactive flora and fauna, making for a gameplay experience like none other. Read Yuri’s debut blog post here for more info, screenshots and the announcement trailer.
We’ve also got a bunch of Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite info to share! First revealed at Sony’s keynote last night, a new cinematic trailer expands on the game’s epic story and how heroes and villains from two worlds will unite against a common enemy. An extended gameplay trailer provides info on eight new characters joining the roster of MvC:I , including Thanos and Gamorrah, each making their first appearance in the Vs. series! Can’t wait to get your hands on this game? Power on your PS4 or Xbox One, because the story demo is available right now! Check out our blog post for more info, as well as our introduction video to the gameplay and systems of MvC:I.
Announced just this past week, we’ll also have Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 available to play! Bringing together four classic adventures, play through the series’ evolution with Mega Man 7 and 8 , and check out the series’ retro revolution with Mega Man 9 and 10 . We’ll have Mega Man 7 through 9 at E3, complete with a selection of brand new remixed challenges for those of you who are looking for a real test of skill. You won’t have to wait long to get your hands on this compilation of classics – Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 will be out on August 8 th , for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The collection brings all four classic games together with plenty of bonus content, including special challenges, a museum of art, music player, and lots more! For more info on MMLC2, check out our announcement post .
Street Fighter has been around for a whopping 30 years and shows no signs of slowing down – we’re celebrating the series’ 30th anniversary this year with a massive wall showing the series’ history, and plenty to play on the show floor!
The recently released Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers for the Nintendo Switch will be available for those looking for an old-school throw-down, while the latest updates to Street Fighter V will be on the show floor with all current characters unlocked, both for free play as well as part of tournaments! On top of all that, Yoshinori Ono, the legendary Executive Producer for Street Fighter, will also be at the show for special signing sessions. Check out the full schedule below:
Street Fighter Tournaments and Signings
(Daily tournament sign-ups begin at show open the day of the tournament)
Tuesday
12:30 PM – Single Elimination Tournament
2:00 PM to 3:30 PM – Yoshinori Ono Signing Session
4:00 PM – Single Elimination Tournament
Wednesday
11:00 AM: Single Elimination Tournament
12:30 PM: Single Elimination Tournament
2:00 PM to 3:30 PM – Yoshinori Ono Signing Session
4:00 PM: Single Elimination Tournament
Thursday
10:00 AM – Editor Elimination Exhibition
1:30 PM to 3:00 PM – Yoshinori Ono Signing Session
3:30 PM – Single Elimination Tournament
If you’re at E3 this year, be sure to stop by, check out a demo or two, and say hello! Or, catch all the latest from our Twitch streams from the comfort of your home (or hotel room)!
The post Capcom at E3 2017 appeared first on Ship 2 Block 20.
http://ift.tt/2rsfY7T
0 notes