Persona 4 Arena Ultimax: Out in NA, It's Time You Burn That Dread

[Rutger]

Keep in mind both BB and SFxT had great starts. How deep or how liked a game is is not something that can easily be forseen.

Okay maybe BB's start was good and not great (it's debatable) but I think you get my point here.

I think there might be a misunderstanding on my part, I was only talking about the overall quality of the games(BBCT vs P4A.)

You are talking about the number of people playing the games right? If so then yeah, I agree with you.

Wow, I disagree with a fair bit of what's been said since my last post.

The fact that it was from a well received JRPG was actually a fairly big turn-off for me as I haven't played the series and expected (and still do, actually) inside jokes and a much lower bar being set for getting you attached to the characters. I will never get a lot of the stuff going on unless someone can get me to play the Persona series, which I hated the small dose I've had.

I was looking at it as a way to get new people into fighting games or maybe get some of those that never play the anime fighters to start giving them a chance. I can see why this would be a turn off, but not everyone playing will have played Persona 4/3.

 

[Lythium]

It'll definitely be a way to get anime/RPG fans into fighters, if they are interested though. Because AAA auto-combos.

 

[Smooth Criminal]

I wasn't trying to make the thread devolve into a "versus" argument. I really wasn't. I felt that I needed to clarify why I didn't like BB all that much. It is a good game.

As far as scenes go, I'm probably gonna join the Tampa one when it forms. Kurushii lives around here, iirc. I'm going to see if I can get in touch with him/her after the game drops.

Smooth Criminal

 

[LivewiresXe]

We'll have a scene where I live, because well, I'll run it.

In all seriousness, comparing it to BB and GG is fine and all, but it's clearly its own kettle of fish. I'll still play the FGs that I like until there's no one left to play them with, haha. It is kinda disappointing to hear people talk about how they're waiting to see how well P4A is going to do, and if they're going to switch from BB (not necessarily anyone in this thread, I'm talking locals). I mean, they're made by the same dev, but they're pretty different. I can understand that you can't play every game out there, but it still bums me out.

We'll see how it goes, regardless. And yeah, I agree with Ryker. BB scene gets very little support from its own community, it's a bit disheartening.

Aye. We took a lot of flak from the Street Fighter and Marvel communities over the series and instead of fight back and to support the game, a number of people just kinda rolled over in defeat, went all "maybe they're right since there's a lot of them..." and kinda took it. The Blazblue community has certainly never been the unified front that the KOFXIII community has seemed to be for the past year.

 

[Lythium]

@Smoove: Nah, I wasn't trying to say you were, haha. Because you do have legitimate reasons for not liking it, and I get that. Just like I have reasons for not liking Capcom FGs, etc. To each their own~

@Livewire: I dunno, I'm probably going to get ninja'd in the process of replying to this, but I feel like the BB scene has never really stepped it up (in my opinion, anyway). The players don't turn up for tournaments, and it's a poverty community that mostly can't afford to go to majors. Also, it's surprisingly difficult to get new people into BB. They might like it, but they don't play it for a variety of reasons: no pot monsters, not popular enough, too anime, the list goes on.

Also, I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say one of the reasons that KOF got such good numbers at Evo was the free Mai shirt. :3

 

[Jam Stunna]

I guess what worries me about P4A is that, among the people who dropped BB, many of them can't really say why they did. I can tell you exactly why I stopped playing SF4, but for BB, it just stopped being fun. That's not very specific, so there's not much a community can do to help that.

I got into BB because a bunch of the friends I made in college were GG heads, so we all got BB when it came out. When we get together now, we'll still play GG for kicks, but no one even mentions BB anymore. It just kind of faded away.

I'm afraid that the same thing will happen with P4A, where there'll be strong support in the beginning, but that people will drift away over time without necessarily having a concrete reason why. Those are the hardest people to win back.

 

[LivewiresXe]

@Smoove: Nah, I wasn't trying to say you were, haha. Because you do have legitimate reasons for not liking it, and I get that. Just like I have reasons for not liking Capcom FGs, etc. To each their own~

@Livewire: I dunno, I'm probably going to get ninja'd in the process of replying to this, but I feel like the BB scene has never really stepped it up (in my opinion, anyway). The players don't turn up for tournaments, and it's a poverty community that mostly can't afford to go to majors. Also, it's surprisingly difficult to get new people into BB. They might like it, but they don't play it for a variety of reasons: no pot monsters, not popular enough, too anime, the list goes on.

Also, I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say one of the reasons that KOF got such good numbers at Evo was the free Mai shirt. :3

Well yeah Lythi, but as has been said before something had to happen for it to be seen as popular enough to be brought into EVO 2 years in a row (counting 2010, since that was just a weird thing that was last minute). And...I legit didn't know people who signed up for KOF got a Mai shirt.

 

[Lythium]

Also, I should note that I'm not trying to put down any of the communities in any way, just being honest here.

And I hope this game does well and people continue to support it after it comes out.

 

[#HBC | Ryker]

Well yeah Lythi, but as has been said before something had to happen for it to be seen as popular enough to be brought into EVO 2 years in a row (counting 2010, since that was just a weird thing that was last minute). And...I legit didn't know people who signed up for KOF got a Mai shirt.

Something had to happen? How about the game touted as the sequel to Guilty Gear came out? If Street Fighter 5 is the worst fighting game to come out since Sailor Moon - Pretty Soldier it'll be at EVO because it has a big name. What's indicative of the community's lack of support is the way it was dropped from the line-up after two years being chosen as low man on the totem pole when ****ty game with big name SFxT came out.

 

[Jam Stunna]

I've heard that Arc Sys didn't push that hard for BB this year at EVO to ensure that they'd have a spot next year for (presumably) P4A. Wasn't it dropped from SBO as well in favor of P4A? It looks like everyone is ready to turn the page.

Also, I think it's a pretty safe bet that, unless something drastic happens, SFxT will not be at Evo next year, big name or not.

 

[#HBC | Ryker]

SFxT is also an infinitely worse game than any BB game.

 

[Lythium]

BB wasn't at Evo this year for a lot of reasons though, mostly lack of community support. You see the same names showing up at majors: Lord Knight, HeartNana, Veteru, etc., but it takes more than a couple players to support an entire community.

But it's also player turn-out and money involved. BB doesn't really have either. The demographic that plays BB tends to be young, broke, or a combination of both. Meaning they can't travel to a lot of tournaments, and turn-out and support for the game goes way down. Also, BB doesn't have hundreds of pot monsters showing up for its majors, and it hasn't had any new blood in ages. TOs don't want to bother running tournaments for a game that nobody shows up for, not that I can blame them.

 

[LivewiresXe]

Something had to happen? How about the game touted as the sequel to Guilty Gear came out? If Street Fighter 5 is the worst fighting game to come out since Sailor Moon - Pretty Soldier it'll be at EVO because it has a big name. What's indicative of the community's lack of support is the way it was dropped from the line-up after two years being chosen as low man on the totem pole when ****ty game with big name SFxT came out.

I'm sorry - I know that was a serious post but...there was a Sailor Moon fighting game?

 

[Lythium]

There's a couple Sailor Moon fighting games. They're hilariously bad, so... go Youtube dat shizz.

Mercury bubbles blast.

edit: Well, Pretty Soldier is a beat-'em-up, but still. Look up Super S.

 

[Minato]

Mr. Wizard sounded like he regretted putting in SFXT shortly after the game was out. A lot of people bought into the game's hype before its release, so I can't blame him. Everyone wanted 2v2 early on and now people hate that format.

While I don't like SFXT, I'm glad it was in Evo to give the new game (and the real devoted SFXT community) a chance. The game didn't take any game's spot in the lineup anyways, it was shoehorned in.
BB has been in the lineup twice now, and their last turnout wasn't exactly spectacular.

But it's also player turn-out and money involved. BB doesn't really have either. The demographic that plays BB tends to be young, broke, or a combination of both. Meaning they can't travel to a lot of tournaments, and turn-out and support for the game goes way down.

Which is funny since that's what I think of the Smash community, yet Smash's numbers are pretty good.
Does our community spend our stuff all on anime goods or something? XD

 

[LivewiresXe]

For the record, even though Blazblue was supposed to be in the lineup, it wasn't TECHNICALLY a part of EVO 2010, was it? So...if we're being specific it was only really in once, right?

And I can't speak for your Smash community, but the Smash community in Ottawa has been dead since the guy who organized the get togethers at his place got a new job, and a couple of people moved. With the founder of Gaming Ottawa and his fiance moving to LA in the upcoming little bit, all that's kinda gonna be left over here is the SRK Ottawa group, which well...while cool guys, is 90% SF and Marvel. Though, not gonna lie. AE 2012 is making me suspiciously consider picking it up with Sakura and Ibuki being good.

 

[Lythium]

Which is funny since that's what I think of the Smash community, yet Smash's numbers are pretty good.
Does our community spend our stuff all on anime goods or something? XD

Haha, maybe?

Despite being on Smashboards, I haven't kept up with Smash since 2009. As far as I know though, our local Smash scene's numbers have gone waaay down. Obviously that doesn't speak for every scene though, haha.

For the record, even though Blazblue was supposed to be in the lineup, it wasn't TECHNICALLY a part of EVO 2010, was it? So...if we're being specific it was only really in once, right?

Yes, BB was replaced by Melty in 2010. However, you can't deny that BB was at least supposed to be at Evo twice. And most likely it was offered twice because the first year it was turned down by the community.

 

[LivewiresXe]

Hmm...this could just be retroactive history stuff I read but, what I heard about it gave the impression that CS1 had recently come out and the community was arguing on whether CT (the game that they'd had more time to practice) or CS (the newer game) should be included. If that's the case, my guess is EVO just said "screw it" and put Melty in.

 

[Lythium]

Nah.

CS1 had just been released in arcades in Japan and such. Basically, it was the game that everyone who played BB was following at the time. However, CS1 was not going to cut it in time for a North American release for Evo, and they were going to run CT. However, CT was dead, no one was really playing it anymore because they were waiting for CS1.

So, rather than run a game that everyone had moved on from and get no one, the BB community decided as a whole (more or less), to let this year slide on by, and they suggested Melty Blood instead.

So, they ran CS2 at 2011 instead. To my knowledge, that's how it went down.

 

[Rutger]

No one wanted to have CT at EVO because the game was terrible and would probably end with Nu vs. Nu.
What Lythium said about BB is better. :/

Melty won the community vote and would have been in regardless of BB, I want to say that it was actually MvC2 that took BBCT's spot.

 

[LivewiresXe]

Nah.

CS1 had just been released in arcades in Japan and such. Basically, it was the game that everyone who played BB was following at the time. However, CS1 was not going to cut it in time for a North American release for Evo, and they were going to run CT. However, CT was dead, no one was really playing it anymore because they were waiting for CS1.

So, rather than run a game that everyone had moved on from and get no one, the BB community decided as a whole (more or less), to let this year slide on by, and they suggested Melty Blood instead.

So, they ran CS2 at 2011 instead. To my knowledge, that's how it went down.

Ah, I get it, that makes sense. Thanks, Lythi.

 

[Lythium]

Melty won the community vote and would have been in regardless of BB, I want to say that it was actually MvC2 that took BBCT's spot.

Ah, my bad.

I thought it was Melty, but that sounds right.

 

[Atlus8]

Currently playing some non-fighting games at the moment so I won't have any time to pick this game up!

Will this game have a big turnout?
It all depends on the community, especially here in the states! P4A has been rockin over in Japan for months now and it doesn't seem like it's gonna slow down any time soon! Can't say the same if NA is going to commit to playing this game because we get so damn picky and try to find an excuse to drop a game and move on! (I'm guilty as heck for that!)

Will the game be good?
I admit that I have hardly seen much videos of the game, but the game will obviously appeal to people that liked BB/GG! Game speed looks slightly faster than BB and I'm glad it is because BB was too slow for me!

EVO lineup?
Depends on the community! I remember hearing when GG was once in the EVO lineup and ended up being dropped the following year! There was a huge uproar in the GG scene, so what did they do? They had a side tournament at EVO when GG wasn't in the lineup and there was a BIG turnout for the game! GG returned to the official lineup the following year!

UltraChenTV had s segment on P4A last night, and it's a pretty good look at the game from people who aren't inside the hype bubble. It starts at around 26:00 in:

http://www.twitch.tv/ultrachentv/b/326973925

^Pretty much covers a lot of what is expected!^

Too many fighting games?
P4A may need to compete for attention! GGAC+R will be out sometime soon, TTT2 will be out next month, same thing with DOA5, and even JoJo's Bizzare Adventure which was announced not to long ago! P4A has a nice month to leave a good impression to have some solid ground for a tournament scene!

 

[Lythium]

I always love when Atlus posts, because he always sounds super enthusiastic in my head. Must be all those exclamation marks. :3

On-topic: I heard a rumour that quite a lot of Japanese SF players have started picking up P4U in arcades, so maybe that may sway some of the reluctant players, who knows? I know some people locally who are interested in this game (mostly SF and Marvel players) who I didn't think would be interested at all. Fingers crossed!

 

[Atlus8]

On-topic: I heard a rumour that quite a lot of Japanese SF players have started picking up P4U in arcades, so maybe that may sway some of the reluctant players, who knows? I know some people locally who are interested in this game (mostly SF and Marvel players) who I didn't think would be interested at all. Fingers crossed!

No surprise there! I've seen Kazunoko playing the game and I'm sure Tokido will be playing the game as well! That's the beauty of the Japanese fighting game scene, all the games get played and keep getting played for years!

 

[LivewiresXe]

I agree with a lot of your points Atlus, so I can't argue on that. However, I do say I kind of get the mental image of you being like a hyper 16 year old when you post stuff. Not a bad thing, it just comes across as enthusiastic naivete.

 

[Minato]

Yeah, now I recall that BB has been in only once. For some reason I thought CT got in once before, but that was the one the community passed on.

My prediction for Evo is AE, Marvel, TTT2, and KoF as the easy 4. I honestly think P4A has a decent chance being that fifth game with Atlus backing it up. I have a feeling MK9 will be back as well though having Evo at 6 games again.

Also, what Japanese players? Tokido and Kazunoko/Inoue obviously don't count since they were already a given.

Edit: Oh wait, Kubo, I guess, counts.

 

[Lythium]

I don't actually follow SF, so I don't remember their names. ._.

Next year's Evo could be pretty crazy, I'm hoping they'll give some of these new games a chance. Hard to say how it could go though, it's a bit early.

 

[Atlus8]

My prediction for Evo is AE, Marvel, TTT2, and KoF as the easy 4. I honestly think P4A has a decent chance being that fifth game with Atlus backing it up. I have a feeling MK9 will be back as well though having Evo at 6 games again.

You know, I do like MK9, but with MLG picking up the game for their season, I think it should not be in next year's EVO lineup!

As far as the EVO lineup goes:
AE
UMvC3
KOFXIII
TTT2

(+2 games)
P4A
DOA5
GGAC+R (if the Reloaded version is released on console and not just AC+)
VF5 (side tournament had a turnout of 192 at EVO this year!)

Also, I remember reading up that Capcom might be announcing another game at SBO this weekend!

 

[Jam Stunna]

P4A has outsold every fighting game in opening week sales in Japan:

http://www.siliconera.com/2012/08/0...ek-sales-outsell-street-fighter-and-blazblue/

What that means long term, who knows, but it's a good sign methinks.

 

[LivewiresXe]

Also, apparently nobody plays 360 over there because the PS3 version sold like 12 times more. Weird.

 

[L__]

justin wong had a good first impression of p4 so far

https://twitter.com/JWonggg/status/230891432276287490

 

[Scamp]

I think the only guarantees to come back to Evo next year are AE and Marvel. Obviously some games are more likely to be there than others after that but it's really going to come down to what games are represented at tournies over the rest of the year.

KOFXIII seems likely to get back but we know the entry numbers were inflated by shirt monsters and there actually hasn't been that much support for it outside of Evo, especially at MLG. People do seem to want to get into it after Evo, though, so we'll see.

SFxT could be back if support is shown, but that doesn't seem likely at this point. We're definitely not doing the team format again, that caused way more headaches than anyone could imagine.

Every other game, including P4U, now falls into the 'show me' category. That is, we as a community need to show support for the game in order for it to be included. As it is, I think P4U actually has a better shot than any other new game other than Tekken because the GG and BB community have shown in the past that it is there and it will support a good game at Evo.

 

[Dacidbro]

P4A is.. incredible. Don't miss out.

If you guys need any help figuring out what character to play or system mechanics, let me know

 

[Two-Ell]

lol Dacid, I didn't you know you had a SWF acc. The people posting in this thread are familiar with the game and Dustloop, so you don't need to worry about all that lol.

 

[Dacidbro]

Even so, often dustloop is.. less than helpful. Just ask Fanatiq.

Anyway, let me know if you or anyone else has specific questions, I can try to help!

I pretty much google my name every day, so I just make sure I reply whenever Ryker brings me up. Lol.

 

[LivewiresXe]

Even so, often dustloop is.. less than helpful. Just ask Fanatiq.

Anyway, let me know if you or anyone else has specific questions, I can try to help!

I pretty much google my name every day, so I just make sure I reply whenever Ryker brings me up. Lol.

Whoa, didn't expect to see you show up in here, Dacidbro. I am kind of curious on what your take on the game's balance is, and I'm wondering whether the game has a bit of a 'floaty' feel to it or not.

 

[#HBC | Ryker]

Good to see you're still around, Dacidbro. Does Yosuke really have as much reset potential as I think I see? Everyone keeps saying his combos don't end in good oki situations and It just looks to me that you shouldn't be maximizing damage.

Is there anyone you think is not reasonably viable? I'm not talking unusable, I'm talking not gonna reasonably be winning any significant event.

-------------------------

There's a couple Sailor Moon fighting games. They're hilariously bad, so... go Youtube dat shizz.

Mercury bubbles blast.

edit: Well, Pretty Soldier is a beat-'em-up, but still. Look up Super S.

The fact that I got the name wrong makes me feel a little better having used it as an example.

The fact that I smiled because you used Mercury as your example did not.

-------------------------

Dacidbro, while you're around, I remember you being the one to originally tell me about Yomi: Fighting Card Game when it was in development and you never played it despite it having a good, free online client saddens me. Especially since I really like the game and it holds regular competitions.

-------------------------

For the record, even though Blazblue was supposed to be in the lineup, it wasn't TECHNICALLY a part of EVO 2010, was it? So...if we're being specific it was only really in once, right?

And I can't speak for your Smash community, but the Smash community in Ottawa has been dead since the guy who organized the get togethers at his place got a new job, and a couple of people moved. With the founder of Gaming Ottawa and his fiance moving to LA in the upcoming little bit, all that's kinda gonna be left over here is the SRK Ottawa group, which well...while cool guys, is 90% SF and Marvel. Though, not gonna lie. AE 2012 is making me suspiciously consider picking it up with Sakura and Ibuki being good.

LA meaning Los Angelos or Louisianna?

 

[LivewiresXe]

RE: Ryker, I mean the California one, sorry. Should've specified. My bad on that.

 

[#HBC | Ryker]

Nah, it's cool. I was curious. We're moving a lot in the Smash community for AL/GA/TN. A tournament host moving to Louisianna would be good for them and give me another contact to extend our scene in Atlantic South.