i already know a bunch of people who'd want to come back to UFS just because tekken was announced. if only it'd come out sooner because when it does come out (what like mid-late summer? i dunno) i hope their interest is still there by that time.

Eh, not impressed. While I enjoy new content being added, tekken is mediocre at best. Most of the characters lack flair and the game is sub-par in general. I guess something is better than nothing at least.

Here's something I have to say to anybody who hates any UFS franchise its had or will have...

...

have you ever done any research? No, seriously, have you ever nerded-out and spent hours on Wikipedia, reading about character bios and plots and all that?

Well, I'm one such a man who has done so for every franchise UFS has (except Penny Arcade, but I read some of their webcomics. Decent stuff). Once you've done the copious amounts of research that I have (which is in part to my fan sets; I know more than I need to lol), then you'll learn that the 6 fighting games UFS has (I'm already including Tekken) are all extremely interesting. I'll attempt to shed some light on I can without going off into huge rants.

King of Fighters is probably the least important of the franchises, and that's ONLY because King of Fighters has a roster that's an amalgamation of other SNK games, so really, treating it as "canonically" is basically like any other crossover: it looks kinda ridiculous. Never the less, even in KOF's interesting crossover "world", it still manages to have decent, everchanging plots. Although I agree with most people here that Mai has had more than enough reprints, ironically enough, STG hasn't actually made Mai support that suits who she really is: a persistant ***** who doesn't know when to quit. Although one would probably think she's just generic female ninja 1, or she's a giant flirt, she's really neither. She's pretty much an immature chick who is almost sociopathic when it comes to her love towards Andy Bogard (she, like many other farce characters, has made wedding plans, although it's assumed Andy has no love for her)

Street Fighter, let's face it, is THE fighting game, and that isn't a "fanboy" in me talking (because I like SS and Tek better), it's that whole "SF2 is Capcom's best-selling game of all time and hasn't yet been beaten" thing. Either way, as with pretty much any other fighting game, Street Fighter's storyline best resides on Wikipedia. In my opinion, the game really got interesting with Street Fighter 3, and its many incarnations. There, you have a guy who's basically a modern-day Jesus (Gill), government experiments (Necro, Twelve), familial death (Remy, Makoto), etc etc. As a fighting game, like I said, it's the original, and who doesn't remember the days of popping in quarters to show off their button mashing? Who doesn't remember the days of "Hey, if you give me 5 bucks I'll teach you the HAW DUU KIN/fireball"?

Soulcalibur has the best storyline of any of the 5 current franchises. If you argue with me, you are wrong. Soulcalibur is a giant, epic journey throughout ancient times, yet with a bit of a modern fighting style. As far as I'm aware, it's the first weapon fighter to use a 3D access, and SC2 was widely heralded. SC has some of the most in-depth storylines. For example, you might think Ivy, Taki, or Mitsurugi are main characters, but if you read into SC's history, you'll find that the primary characters of SC are Cervantes, Siegfried, Nightmare, Kilik, Xianghua, and Maxi. You'll also find that a lot of popular characters are boring as Hell (Ivy, Mitsurugi, Lizardman, Alexandra twins), yet some of the more forgotten-about characters are extremely interesting (like Yun-Seong, who's sword can see into people's souls).

Samurai Showdown is pretty much the most "cultural" of the games, and has a lot of references to real people and actual events. One especially can't compare it to SoulCalibur, because almost every character in the game has a sword, and is of Japanese decent.

Darkstalkers obviously stands out the most in that it's, well, creatures of lore. Nothing much else to say here.

Tekken truly has the best storyline, and unlike any of the other fighting games (although I can't speak on behalf of the first KOF having never played it), it's story has been around since Tekken (1). Each Tekken game feels like a movie series, in that we see new faces, new backgrounds, while the story thats been in place continues to evolve and change.

TLDR version: Go on Wikipedia, and do some research. You'll learn a lot of really cool and neat things. Except Guilty Gear: that's really just a bunch of hype in a bag =D

JTakaS4 said:

Thank you for pointing that out I had some players at my store who said the same thing .

MarcoPulleaux said:

Two things:

1) Great points. Thank you for them. I especially like your point about Tekken having the most cohesive and cinematic storyline; I agree completely.

2) I'm curious what you meant by "weapon based fighter with 3d access" when talking about SoulCalibur. SoulCalibur (the first) was actually the sequel to Soul Blade/Soul Edge. But I believe that Battle Arena Toshinden, one of the PS1's launch titles, actually pre-dated (or was at least contemporary to) even the arcade release of Soul Blade. It definitely pre-dated the PS1 version. It feels slow or delayed compared to modern fighters, but it was excellently designed, and; as far as characters and backstory, it felt somewhat like a cross between SF, SS, and SB/SE/SC. Historical melee weapons were in the hands of modern fighters, and there might have been an evil organization not unlike Shadaloo.

ALSO, and this is completely unrelated to Marco's comments:

STILL NO PRESS RELEASE! WHAT IS UP?

I'd just like to point out that, even though Soul Calibur has "arguably" the best "plot" of the current licenses, it is still horrible.

MarcoPulleaux said:

o_0

I agree for the most part but Maxi? Over Sophitia? Maxi is part of Kilix and X's story, but he's not all that important to the actual Soul Calibur world...

Also, these are all fighting games. Storylines are great and all, but fighter's aren't exactly known for their boundless epic arcs and tales of heroism, tragedy, drama, love, etc. Not to mention, Tekken is a ridiculously popular fighter, and even if you may not like it personally, it's great for the game because a lot of playgroups need more players desperately...

quarzark said:

At this point in time, I'm half tempted to say what we have been told before when we complained about the lack of players before, in some sort of twisted schadenfreüde. If I recall correctly, it was "STFU and recruit moar."

But I won't, although a good time is coming for those who want to promote the game, as new starters will likely be awesome.

quarzark said:

Maxi canonically killed Astaroth the first time around. What has Sophitia done?

Also, Battle Arena Toshinden is teh shizz. I used to play the Game Boy version. Game Boy fighting games (and obvious tiers lol) FTW!

Dude, at the end of the day, who really judges a fighting game based on the story?

-dusts off Battle Arena Toshinden- I've neglected this game for far too long. ;_;

MarcoPulleaux said:

In the first game of the series, Soul Edge, she was the one who defeated Cervantes when he was alive and wielding Soul Edge... mind you with Taki and Siegfried, but yeah... still more important then Maxi...

DaiAndOh said:

Apparently he does.

DaiAndOh said:

I was mostly referring to how people are talking about the "multiple Jacks" and other clones with obvious lack of foreknowledge. As a fighting game, current Tekken has some REALLY bad game in terms of ridiculous air combos and wall combos.

MarcoPulleaux said:

...EXCUSE ME SIR. LET ME EDUCATE YOU.

Sophitia's story has been tied to Soul Edge (and concurrently Soulcalibur) since the begining of the actual series. Sophitia is probably, apart from Siegfried and Nightmare, the most important individual in the storyline as far as the story's nexus. Sophitia defeated Cervantes (with help from Taki and Siegfried, and was afflicted with shards of Soul Edge. Her children are afflicted with Soul Edge's curse. She, at one point, decideds that the blade has to survive in order to keep her child alive. She turned to killing people and feeding the blade souls. An instant heel turn.

What the hell has Maxi done? Hissi-fit about his pirate crew and killing a golem that came back to life?

((And also, before you take this as a flame, I have no intention of flaming you. This is just the inner fanboy in me talking. Also, Sophitia has been more influential in the storyline.))

Cena said:

What the hell has Maxi done?

Replace Li-Long, who was infinitely more interesting than him.

MarcoPulleaux said:

Just had to point that out.

But seriously, Im glad that Tekken 6 is licenced, though i think they should have grabbed the whole series and did a "best of" set. Just as long as DOA doesnt get licenced, ill be fine.TBH, I really havent been a serious fan of the tekken series since 4 on account of the whole unbalanced tiers and all(T5 ruined it for me). Hopefully VF gets licenced tho. It is, arguably, the best fighting system of the current 3d fighters. Though speaking of tiers, I would like to point out that KOF probably has been the most balanced fighting game series that Ive played. I played a killer Bao back in the day. And i will be honest, Im a HUGE KOF fan. kof 99 was probably my 2nd favorite fighting game (1st being SFA3)