Smashboards Creates: Battle of AGES, a SEGA platform fighter

[osby]

Job #50: Vyse (Skies of Arcadia)

Moveset:

General playstyle: Vyse is a well-rounded character who doesn’t excel or fail at any particular area. Thanks to his high-priority disjointed attacks and special moves, he can easily handle zoners. His quick and weak moves allow him to combo heavy characters without much trouble. He’s able to fight at both close and long-range due to his ability to close gaps quickly. However, Vyse doesn’t really excel at anything, leaving him with mediocre kill power and recovery. He’s an easy-to-pick-up character who might have trouble going against technical characters like Akira or Ulala at the hands of an expert.

Notable normal attacks: Vyse wields a pair of cutlasses and slashes his enemies with them for most of his regular attacks. These are disjointed but not very long compared to the weapon range of other sword-using characters such as Sakura. Moves such as his back aerial, forward smash, and up tilt use his cutlasses consecutively: he first hits the opponent with a weak slash of his reverse-grip blade before launching them with a strong slash from his other sword. As a pirate, Vyse has no trouble with resorting to dirty tactics. Be it tripping his opponents up with his down tilt or stabbing them in the back for his down throw.

Specials moves:

Neutral Special: Skull Shield. Vyse summons a spectral shield with a skull on it. The shield is almost as long as him and slowly moves forward before disappearing, lightly pushing other fighters and items, while reflecting projectiles. He can use this move consecutively but doing so will make it last shorter and weak enough to be breakable by strong projectiles. Vyse may call “Come forth!” or “Skull Shield!” when using this move.

Side Special: Quika. Vyse crouches before rushing forward, surrounded by blue energy. This move doubles Vyse’s run speed and airspeed as he dashes forward. This rush can be canceled into a jump, dodge, dash attack, or air dash. Vyse will also be able to hit anyone by just dashing into them, though this is a pretty weak form of attack. Its effect will end in a few seconds and Vyse has to wait for a while before using it again.

Up Special: Cutlass Fury. Vyse's dual cutlasses glow as he strikes twice with each weapon, jumps high into the air to come down for a final blow after declaring "Cutlass Fury!". Strong and sends Vyse high into the air but will self-KO him if he fails to grab a ledge during the ascend.

Down Special: Counterstrike. When executed, Vyse will take a defensive stance. Damage from any attack he receives will be halved and the knockback will be ignored. In addition, Vyse will automatically counterattack any basic physical attacks. While it doesn't make him immune to damage like most counters, it's still an effective move as it comes out quick and doesn't have too much ending lag.

All-Star Move: Pirates’ Wrath. Vyse unleashes his true power, showing his enemies what the ultimate pirate can do. The attack causes Vyse to strike an opponent (or three) with a massive bolt of lightning from his cutlass which initiates a cutscene where he slashes them in the shape of the skull and crossbones. He starts off the move by holding up his cutlass and saying, " Behold... " As the lightning strikes, and breaks apart the scenery, he flies forward into the cosmos, then slashes into his enemy yelling, " Pirates' Wrath!".

Other:

Aesthetics: Vyse’s appearance is largely taken from his last HD playable role, SEGA All-Stars Racing Transformed, with updated textures. Most of his palette swaps change the color scheme of his clothes similar to his crew members. He’s voiced by Tomokazu Seki in Eastern regions and Christopher Sullivan in other regions.

Entrance animation: Vyse slides down along a rope and then drops down before turning around and brandishing his cutlasses.

Taunts:
Taunt 1: Vyse throws and catches his cutlass and says “Nothing is impossible!”.
Taunt 2: Vyse fist bumps and cheers happily.
Taunt 3: Vyse waves his cutlass in a “bring it” motion and says “Can always give up.”

Victory Theme: Victory in Battle (Skies of Arcadia)

Victory Animations:
Victory 1: Vyse slashes with his cutlasses before balancing one over his back, grinning cockily and saying “Is it over already?”
Victory 2: Vyse waves his pirate flag in the air before planting it to the ground and standing by it triumphantly. He’ll sometimes say “See all that just now?”
Victory 3: Vyse stabs one sword down into the floor and puts a foot on it while holding the other one over his shoulder. He also says “Heh! That was easy.”

 

[Speed Weed]

OK, I think enough time has gone on now: osby's moveset wins by default!

Onto the next job:

Job #51: Submit a Skies of Arcadia stage

Alright so you saw this coming, like, why the **** wouldn't Skies of Arcadia have a stage-

ANYWAY, the game does have a lot of great locations to pull from, so this should be pretty cool. You know how stage submissions work by now, so uhhhhh yeah that's it, pretty much!

Mothman wishes you luck.

 

[YoshiandToad]

I maaay need this tweaked slightly, as it's been a LONG time since I watched my sibling play this but I think this is a pretty good stage setting:

Job #52: Crescent Isle

Speculated to be the Blue Rogue's permenant headquarters post game, Vyse originally becomes stranded on this island, and spends two weeks here before being rescued by party member Gilder. Vyse later makes this island his permenant base after becoming the captain of the Delphinus.

The stage has a night and day cycle, and plenty of cameos from Vyse's fellow Blue Rogues.

There is a cannon on the far left of the stage, that players can launch themselves from with a little help from Belle, although due to her clumsiness, there's no guarantee players will be fired at the trajectory the cannon starts at...but being blasted into an enemy from it is sure to send them flying off the island with great speed. Fortunately the cannon isn't fired normally, making the stage hazard player made.

The buildings can actually be destroyed with a powerful enough hit to send a fellow fighter through them, revealing additional Blue Rogues having meetings in there. However, the buildings don't stay destroyed for too long as Kirala and Izmael quickly appear and fix them up with their impressive building skills.

It goes without saying that as an island in Skies of Arcadia, the drop is...far to say the least. You may want to avoid being knocked off the island as much as you can.

Lastly the cameos. Outside the three I've mentioned thus far, I'd love to see some more of the smaller crew appear. If you have any preferences, feel free to add them in.

The big Blue Rogue names like Aika, Fina, Drachma, Gilder and Enrique are all potentially cameos but it'll be dependant on who makes it into the assist role before I want to commit to that...and that's if nobody decides to nominate one of them later as a second rep.

Music? I'm genuinely awful when it comes to picking good tracks, so on the off chance Crescent Isle wins...

...I'll leave the soundtrack in either tonygameman or Speed Weed 's capable hands. I have a feeling both of them will have a far better selection than what I pick should they wish(or hey, if anyone else has a great setlist, feel free to go for it...)

 

[tonygameman]

...I'll leave the soundtrack in either tonygameman or Speed Weed 's capable hands. I have a feeling both of them will have a far better selection than what I pick should they wish(or hey, if anyone else has a great setlist, feel free to go for it...)

Alright, if you think so.

1. Main Theme (Skies of Arcadia)
2. Vyse's Theme (original/Rogue's Landing)
3. Valua City (Super Mario Bros. Z fans may remember this back from the original series)
4. Kingdom of Ixa'Taka
5. Uninhabited Island
6. Yafutoma (Dawn)
7. Battle/Bombardment Medley (remix with a used fan link as a example like Miracle World had; medley of regular battle/airship combat themes)
8. Ramirez's Theme
9. Air Pirate Secret Base
10. Military Facility Dungeon
11. Delphnius
12. Great Silver Shrine
13. Imperial Theme
14. Armada Battle
15. Boss Theme
16. Last Battle

 

[OrpheusTelos]

I’m currently a few hours into Skies of Arcadia and am slowly chipping away at it whenever I can, but I might as well take a crack at a stage.

Job #52: Shrine Island

Shrine Island is one of the first locations in Skies of Arcadia. As the name suggests, it’s the home of an abandoned shrine partly submerged in water. Vyse and Aika travel to the island in order to recover a Moon Stone that landed there.

The stage layout would take place inside the shrine itself. At the beginning of the match, the water level will be pretty high. The stage would consist of a handful of platforms floating on top of the water. As the match progresses, the water will begin to drain as more elements of the stage become accessible, such as slopes and extra platforms. Once the water has been completely drained, the stage takes the form of an arena-like area with two slopes on each side and lit torches in the background for the rest of the match. The Sentinel will also be awakened and try to attack various fighters for short periods of time by shooting lasers at or punching them.

I might come up with my own track list tomorrow when I wake up, but if I don’t get around to it just use the one tonygameman came up with.

 

[Speed Weed]

OK, submissions are closed!

Here are the stages we have:

Crescent Isle ( YoshiandToad )
Shrine Island ( OrpheusTelos )

Here's the poll:

le vote

Vote Now! [Crescent Isle] [Shrine Island]

www.strawpoll.me

 

[Speed Weed]

Alright, the votes have arrived: Crescent Isle will be our Skies of Arcadia stage!

Onto the next job:

Job #52: Submit a Skies of Arcadia assist

OK, so obviously, just like every other series, Skies is getting an assist! The game does have quite the varied cast to pull from, so this should be interesting.

Worth noting that whoever wins will be disconfirmed as result. This is worth keeping in mind because, well, full disclosure - the first "second rep for a series other than Sonic or VF" job is gonna be pretty soon, so even if you don't see a second Skies character making it in, it's still probably in our best interests to keep a healthy amount of options available for when that time comes.

 

[osby]

Job #52: Fina

Fina is one of the main characters in Skies of Arcadia. She's a naive and mysterious girl on a quest to retrieve the powerful Moon Crystals before the evil Valuan Empire does. In battles, she acts as the cleric of the party and fights with her pet Cupil.

When summoned, Fina will stay in place, holds out her hands and cast Lunar Blessing by saying "Moons, give us your Blessing." This move will start slowly healing the fighter she assists, as long as they are near her and she doesn't get attacked. Uniquely, Fina can only use this move once per summoning. In subsequent assists, she'll simply use Sacri, a much weaker healing move. Fina can only heal up to a certain amount once per match. After that threshold, she'll simply use Curia, which only heals status ailments.

 

[Flyboy]

Job #52: Dyne & The Albatross

Dyne is Vyse's father, mentor, and captain of the Albatross, a fearsome pirate ship. Upon summoning Dyne, he calls out for his crew to storm the battlefield, unleashing a barrage of fire onto unsuspecting opponents. If he assists Vyse, Vyse thanks Dad before the attack ends.

 

[YoshiandToad]

I wanted Aika originally, but
a.) I'd prefer her not lose any opportunity to get in via DLC or second rep chances, as unlikely as I think her chance at that is
b.) This will get Charles Martinet in the game
c.) I mean just look at this guy:

Job #52: Vigoro

Vigoro is one of the admirals of the Valuan empire that spend a good chunk of their time combating Vyse and the Blue Rogues.
He's also someone who considers a man's worth on his popularity with women, believes himself to be absolutely unstoppable, and unlike the rest of the Valuan army seems to adopt Vyse's never give up attitude to better himself, becoming a lauded air pirate on his own merits in Skies of Arcadia Legends.

So how does Vigoro work as an assist? Well, Vigoro is a ladies man(or so he views himself). This translates into his summoning, as his attack power raises considerably when summoned by one of the following fighters:

• Sakura Shinguji
• Ulala
• Sarah Bryant
• (You get the idea, female fighters boost his power when summoned by them)

Against a male opponent: Vigoro will beat them senseless with his club cannon before launching flaming fireballs at the opponent from the tip, dealing huge damage, and setting them ablaze.
If summoned by a female fighter, Vigoro's initial beatdown lasts twice as long, dealing more damage.

Against a female opponent: Vigoro will unleash 'Vigoro's charm', blowing kisses at the girl, and dealing damage via...emotional damage I guess. It deals less damage than against male opponents with less knock back but in turn, Vigoro has a strong chance on stunning the female opponent for a brief moment.
If summoned by a female opponent, the opponent will be stunned for twice as long than if summoned by a male fighter.

 

[Speed Weed]

ALRIGHT, the submission period should have ended sooner, but Smashboards decided to be a ***** so voting has begun later than intended!

Here's what we've got:

Fina ( osby )
Dyne and the Albatross ( Flyboy )
Vigoro ( YoshiandToad )

And here's the poll:

le vote

Vote Now! [Fina] [Dyne and the Albatross] [Vigoro]

www.strawpoll.me

 

[Speed Weed]

Alright, voting is over: Fina will be our Skies of Arcadia assist!

Aaaand now here's another...less conventional job:

Job #53: Who will be our "menu guide" be?

So one idea I had for potential jobs for us to occasionally do from time to time was discussing how we could incorporate a few more SEGA characters as important NPCs within the game - just something to give this game that extra lil' fanservice boost. And naturally, some ideas for potential roles came up, and one of these was, of course, the "menu guide" - the person that guides you through all the tutorials! The person that presents the game's tips and the in-game manual! Maybe even the person that narrates this game's possible Brawl DOJO equivalent...

So you get the gist of it - the person who explains ****. And this is a role that could be filled by a SEGA character, and that's what this job is for - it's for us to submit characters that could fill that role! So when submitting a character for this, make sure to explain a few things - who are they? Why would they fit the role of menu guide? Would they have any special quirks to their presentation? As a small additional reward, whatever character wins will also get their very own Capsule Toy.

 

[osby]

Job #53: Professor Asobin

For the people who are unfamiliar with him (which would be the most): Professor Asobin was the first unofficial mascot of Sega. Even though he never had his own game, he appeared in pretty much all SG-1000 game manuals, giving players advice about the games. Even though he wasn't a constant presence, he continued to have a role in game manuals through MyCard, SEGA Mark III, and Master System games. Eventually, he stopped making regular apparences as Sonic become the company mascot.

Prof. Asobin got some considerable love from SEGA throughout the years for a relatively obscure character. He had speaking roles in Segagaga and SeHa Girls anime and even showed up in SEGA 3D Classics Collections back cover, Yakuza 6 manual and the digital manual for the Japanese release of Sonic Mania:

In Battle of AGES, the good professor would do what he does best: Guiding the players through a new game. He'll appear in 2D, showing up in the UI screens and speaking through written text. He'll politely point out tips during loading screens, explain the controls and hold your hand through the tutorial fight.

He might even make a joke or two about the characters whose games had him in their manual, such as Opa-Opa.

 

[AirMac1]

Job #53: Professor Asobin

View attachment 325519

For the people who are unfamiliar with him (which would be the most): Professor Asobin was the first unofficial mascot of Sega. Even though he never had his own game, he appeared in pretty much all SG-1000 game manuals, giving players advice about the games. Even though he wasn't a constant presence, he continued to have a role in game manuals through MyCard, SEGA Mark III, and Master System games. Eventually, he stopped making regular apparences as Sonic become the company mascot.

Prof. Asobin got some considerable love from SEGA throughout the years for a relatively obscure character. He had speaking roles in Segagaga and SeHa Girls anime and even showed up in SEGA 3D Classics Collections back cover, Yakuza 6 manual and the digital manual for the Japanese release of Sonic Mania:

View attachment 325521

In Battle of AGES, the good professor would do what he does best: Guiding the players through a new game. He'll appear in 2D, showing up in the UI screens and speaking through written text. He'll politely point out tips during loading screens, explain the controls and hold your hand through the tutorial fight.

He might even make a joke or two about the characters whose games had him in their manual, such as Opa-Opa.

I can’t top this.

 

[YoshiandToad]

Submitting a slightly different Professor, here. Largely because I've been playing this one to death...and we mentioned pirate radio stations in the Discord so...err...

Job #53: DJ Professor K (Jet Set Radio)

It's Jet Set Radio's charismatic pirate DJ station host, DJ Professor K.

Easily one of the most enjoyable narrators in Sega history, DJ Professor K would:

• Explain the rules of the game in his usual bombastic style
• Add a little flavour text and introduction to each fighter, giving his own opinion on the character(whether a positive or negative one, he's not the type to be coy about how he feels about a character)
• Add a little flavour text for each stage giving his own unique opion on each of the locations and the best(or worst) part about the stage
• Give the narration for challenges/missions should that be a mode
• Be shown actually playing the records in the Battle of Ages music section

For those unfamiliar with Jet Set Radio, this is DJ Professor K's usual announcement/presentation style (00:00 to 01:36):

Personally, I can't see DJ Professor K being a playable fighter under any circumstance when Beat and Gum exist, and whilst he could be an assist character, I feel like his role as narrator of that game makes him a good choice for a guide character in Battle of AGES too.

 

[OrpheusTelos]

Job #53: Futaba Sakura/Oracle (Persona 5)

Futaba, going by the codename Oracle in the Metaverse, is the Phantom Thieves’ navigator and general tech person. Aside from being an exceptional hacker, she’s knowledgable of her enemies’ weaknesses and guides the Phantom Thieves to victory with her strategic thinking.

As the menu guide, Futaba does pretty much everything you’d expect her to. She’ll show newcomers how to navigate the menus, guide you through the tutorial and explain how the basic mechanics work, and give advice via text during loading screens. She could even drop bits of trivia about each character during these loading screens as well. Depending on how we handle training mode, she could even be in charge of more specific tutorials teaching players more advanced techniques or how to counter specific characters (think something like Guilty Gear Strive’s tutorials, which I may or may not have stole this idea from). Basically her main goal here is not just to help you understand how the game works, but to encourage you to get better.

Honestly I think any of the other two Persona navigators, Fuuka and Rise, could do a decent job in this role. However I think Futaba being a massive tech geek and Gamer™️ makes her make the most sense for this role. She more than likely knows quite a bit about Sega games and would be eager to share her knowledge.

 

[cashregister9]

There are so many good options here!

May I suggest we do something like a lot of Multiplayer games do where you can obtain different announcers that you can switch between?

 

[tonygameman]

Before going into my submission, here's a Capsule Toy I feel would be included because of SEGA Channel's impact on innovating DLCs and console game subscription services long before Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Now did.

• SEGA Pat
  • Series: SEGA Channel
  • First Appearance: SEGA Channel (December 14, 1994)
  • System Debut: SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive

Let's get started with a main subject. This was inspired by YoshiandToad 's old idea in a Discord server he made long before this prompt, and was considered by him at first before DJ Professor K, which speaking of, I absolutely agree with cashregister9 's idea on multiple announcers.

Job #53: Menu Guide - Tarō Sega (Segagaga)

Segagaga is a RPG/video game company simulator game (one of Dreamcast's last games before it was officially discontinued in 2001, the exact same year it was released), which's plot was about two teenagers, Tarō Sega and his best friend Yayoi Haneda, who were hired by SEGA to help them in a titular project to save their company from suffering in console market shares against their rival/competitor, DOGMA (a parody of Sony based on Dreamcast and PlayStation 2's roles in the console war). And let's assume this is that hypothetical project they were making in the year 2025.

While the game may seem obscure and never got released outside Japan, it was known as Dreamcast's swan song for being a love letter/tribute which pays homage to SEGA's history, has awesome cutscenes animated by Toei Animation (who also worked on Sonic CD's cutscenes), a Thunder Force-like final stage with shoot 'em up gameplay and many characters such as Sonic himself, Sir Pepper, Astal, Alis Landale, Ristar, Professor Asobin, Amigo, Baku Baku Animal, Doki Doki Penguin, NiGHTS, etc. appearing in it. Tarō Sega also made his appearance in Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed on a "Takes AGES" sticker/achievement, which you can get by unlocking every character in the game.

As a menu guide, based on his job in making new games for SEGA in his origin game, Tarō would introduce the player by explaining the game's controls, new mechanics, and even give them tips for battles in a loading screen and descriptions to various events in a challenge mode. He also shares out obscure trivia/facts about SEGA's history, characters (like Alex Kidd, considering his role in Segagaga), Capsule Toys, etc.

He may also give the player advice to encourage them during specific tutorials similarly to Guilty Gear: Strive (like Dan Hibiki in Street Fighter x Tekken & Antonov in The King of Fighters XIV) and how fights in Segagaga work against developers who turned into mutants due to incredible stress of development deadlines.

 

[Speed Weed]

There are so many good options here!

May I suggest we do something like a lot of Multiplayer games do where you can obtain different announcers that you can switch between?

That's a fun idea but I dunno, I like the idea of having just one character be The Guide (TM). Makes that specific character's presence feel that much more special.

Though I wouldn't mind if, when we got to DLC, we did something like a post-launch update with a few more guides to choose from.

With that said, I'm letting the submission period go on for a few more hours

 

[Speed Weed]

Alright, submissions are closed!

Here's what we got:

Professor Asobin ( osby )
DJ Professor K ( YoshiandToad )
Futaba Sakura ( OrpheusTelos )
Taro Sega ( tonygameman )

Vote for your top 2 picks - your own submission can only be put in second place.

1. Asobin
2. Taro

 

[Megadoomer]

1. Professor Asobin
2. Futaba Sakura

 

[Mr. Robotto]

too many great choices..
I'd love for all of them to get in, so this hurts me

1. Taro Sega
2. Professor Asobin

Hopefully the characters that don't get the role get represented in some way, shape or form!

 

[cashregister9]

1. Professor Asobin
2. Taro Sega

This was a fantastic lineup.

 

[OrpheusTelos]

1. Professor Asobin (this is way too clever of a reference to not vote for)
2. DJ Professor K (Freaking love Professor K. At the very least him being in charge of the sound select is a must)

 

[Flyboy]

Another amazing lineup! I agree with the above - the ones not in have to be repped through other forms somehow!

1. Asobin
2. DJ Professor K

 

[AirMac1]

1. Tarō Sega
2. Professor Asobin

 

[osby]

1. DJ Professor K
2. Futaba Sakura

 

[tonygameman]

1. Futaba Sakura
2. Taro Sega

 

[YoshiandToad]

1. Taro Sega
2. Futaba Sakura

 

[Speed Weed]

Alright, SO - the votes are in:

Asobin: 12 points
Prof. K: 4 points
Futaba: 5 points
Taro: 9 points

The character to guide us all through Battle of AGES will be none other than Professor Asobin! Give it up for my man.

And with that, we'll finally get to our next character job:

Job #54: Submit a SEGA character that debuted from the 2010s onward

And so we finally reach the end of the long journey that has been the decade votes - and of course, we only have one decade left to cover: the 2010s.

It may seem like there's barely any material when it comes to this prompt, but that's not really true: SEGA did continue to work on a pretty wide variety of IP well into this decade. Two things worth pointing out:

-Once again, only characters from series that haven't yet been included on this roster are up for submission.

-This is more of a fun sidenote than anything, but we actually don't have a single character from the 2010s onward in this roster yet, so whoever wins this job will beat Kiryu as the newest character in our roster by default.

So I think that should be everything! Once again, I look forward to seeing what you people put out for this one.

 

[OrpheusTelos]

Alright, I think it’s time to get this one out of the way now that we’re in the 2010’s. I think we all know who we’re talking about here, since he’s bound to get submitted eventually.

He’s Sega’s very own stylish phantom thief.

He has an adorable animal sidekick that’s always by his side.

He appeared in a 3DS exclusive game.

And his name ends with an “R.”

That’s right, we’re talking about the one,

The only...

Job #54: Phantom R (Rhythm Thief and the Emperor’s Treasure)

(I know someone already did the bait-and-switch joke for Vyse last time but considering the character we’re talking about, the opportunity’s way too good to pass up! Plus what’s more fitting than stealing someone else’s joke for a thief character?)

Phantom R is the titular Rhythm Thief from the cult classic 3DS game. By day he’s Raphael, an unassuming 18-year-old boy living in an apartment by himself in Paris. But by night, he dawns the persona of Phantom R, a suave gentleman thief infamous for stealing famous works of art only to return them days later. He does this in hopes of finding the whereabouts of his father, who disappeared three years prior to the events of the game. He also has a dog named Fondue who accompanies him on his thieving exploits. If you own a 3DS and you haven’t given Rhythm Thief a shot yet, I’d strongly urge you to change that as soon as you can. Especially if you’re a fan of rhythm games or point-and-click adventures. It’s a really fun time and one of the big stand-outs of the early 3DS library.

While there’s a certain, more popular, Sega phantom thief who debuted in the 2010s that I’m sure is gonna get voted in first (and by all means he deserves it), I wouldn’t completely sleep on Phantom R. He might not have access to guns, knives, and a stand, but when you’re the coolest dude around, you don’t need all that extra stuff. He’s well-versed in hand-to-hand combat, he could have attacks based on dance moves and the various rhythm minigames, and you could even have Fondue help out for certain attacks. Although Phantom R only has one game to his name (not counting the mobile port), Rhythm Thief is way too good of a title to be left forgotten and deserves some time in the spotlight. Plus when has only having one game ever stopped Vyse or Billy Hatcher from showing up in crossovers? Part of the fun of Sega crossover games is getting to see characters who haven’t appeared in a while get a chance to shine, and I think including Phantom R would be a great inclusion in that spirit.

 

[cashregister9]

EDIT: I realize now this might be disqualified, I will come up with a second submission.



Nahobino

The Protagonist of Shin Megami Tensei 5

The Protagonist is a normal high school student when he passes out one day and he awakes in the desert world of Da'at and becomes a Nahobino which allows him to converse with demons and gives him the power to fight.

while SMT 5 isn't quite out yet we have a good idea of Naho's abilities, like being able to control demons and has a laser hand sword.

 

[osby]

This one was one of the hardest jobs for me so far. The 2010s had a lot of gems that usually don't get much attention from SEGA fans. It was hard deciding on one but in the end, I went with the one that I think would bring the best content in terms of character, stage, and music.

Job #54: Leanne (Resonance of Fate)

Leanne… Resonances Her Fate! Joins to Battle of AGES with Guns Blazing

Leanne is one of your playable characters in Resonance of Fate, (or End of Eternity in Japan) a highly unconventional RPG developed by tri-Ace and published by Sega in early 2010.

Developed by a team who felt like regular sci-fi settings didn’t really give the players a sense of reality, Resonance of Fate takes place in a gritty world of steampunk and clockpunk. The game was focused on differentiating itself from other JRPGs around and man, it succeeded. Characters all use guns as their primary weapons, you have all your party members from the start (I’ll come back to that), and uses a battle system that mixes real-time and turn-based battle systems that have few options and simple commands, but is still tactically complex. The battle animations are also noteworthy, as characters do physics-defying jumps and flips while shooting as the camera follows them dramatically, inspired by action movies like Matrix.

Seriously, watch this gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-G3t0zS32w&t=429s

The game tells the story of Basel, a giant clockwork machine that has become humanity’s last bastion after the world has become an unlivable wasteland. After hundreds of years, the machine starts to break down and the ruling class, Cardinals, starts to plot the ways to save their people. At the center of this convoluted setting, three people, Leanne, Vashyron, and Zephyr, try to live a regular life as a Private Military Firm, gun-wielding mercenaries. However, their pasts catch up to them as they learn more about each other and discover that they’re all deeply entangled with the future of humanity.

While the sales for the game weren’t anything amazing, the game still received critical acclaim for its innovative mechanics, engaging story, and customizability. The game remains a cult classic and it was popular enough to receive an updated port, a manga adaptation, and have its main characters appear in both Project X Zone games. So she already fought along with the likes of Kiryu, Sakura, Axel, and Ulala.

Resonance of Fate has a lot of potential as a major universe. It’s a noteworthy modern SEGA IP that has a small but loyal fan base. Its rustic “metal and gears” levels would lend themselves really well to a unique stage. The music is done by Motoi Sakuraba and Kōhei Tanaka, who previously worked on Tales and Sakura Wars respectively. It features a giant OST with a wide range of music spanning from old-school rock to regal orchestral tracks. The fighter would bring a variety of gun moves with crazy stunts who would fit right into a frantic platform fighter.

You might have I didn’t talk about Leanne as a character much. That’s because… well, she doesn’t have a major reason to be picked over her two party members. Zephyr is more prominent at the beginning of the game (and was your main unit in PXZ), while Vashyron is the character you first take control of. They are all equally important to the story and have no real gameplay differences.

Ultimately, I went with Leanne as she was the first character to be envisioned for the game and as her design and personality are meant to contrast the game’s setting. She also has a lone cameo in Phantasy Star Nova and her outfit is available in Project DIVA games, so there is precedent in prioritizing her over the others. Either way, Zephyr and Vashyron would be a big part of her moveset as they are an inseparable team. She’s a young woman who is saved by Zephyr at the beginning of the game and follows him to join Vashyron’s group, kick-starting the plot. Her character arc parallels the main themes of the plot, which are defying fate, accepting loss, and holding onto your humanity in a world that doesn’t care about individuals.

So yeah, she’d be neat.

 

[tonygameman]

Job #54: 2010's Character - Joker (Persona)

Yep, you guys saw this coming, due to his appearance as a DLC fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Joker (also known as Akira Kurusu or Ren Amamiya) is the main protagonist of Persona 5, who was a high school student transferred to Shibuya for a year to live in Cafe LeBlanc with it's owner Sojiro Sakura, after being falsely accused by a man. He then ended up in Metaverse and became the leader of the rebellious Phantom Thieves of Hearts, a group who aims to change society by targeting people and touching their hearts while performing illegal heists.

While I wanted Yu Narukami to represent the Persona series instead (even though he came from the 2000's and the series in 1990's), I think newer games deserve some respect with Joker already having a moveset with acrobatics, his knife, a handgun and his ability to summon his Persona, Arsene and use various magical skills, even performing an All-Out Attack alongside fellow Phantom Thieves (who also deserve to be playable fighters and even Violet).

Spoiler: Or...

Maybe an alternate All-Star Move which involves Arsene turning into Satanael and has Joker shooting opponents with Sinful Shell, his most powerful move used in the final battle against Yaldabaoth. Would work if Joker uses a Persona while activating, making up two different All-Star Moves similarly to Ryu and Ken in Smash.

For further moveset potential to differ from his Smash counterpart, Joker would have an ammo gimmick for his gun and a simplififed SP meter similar to Robin's, allowing him to power up his attacks with Personas. Speaking of, as a Wild Card, Joker would have the ability to switch Personas besides Arsene and use more skills such as non-Eiha ones like Brave Blade, Lucky Punch & God Hand for smash attacks, Garu to propel himself upwards with a wind blast, Mudo/Hama for traps similar to Snake's C4s and Takunda/Rakunda to temporarily debuff opponents. He can also use stronger variants of his moves by holding the button down while using a Persona.

There's also many music (it's a shame we can only have 16 songs per stage, almost everything are bangers), assist and stage choices besides Mementos which was included alongside him in the first Fighter Pass, we also have Shibuya, Cafe LeBlanc, the Casino Palace, Laboratory of Sorrow (spoiler alert hence a concept being linked there) and finally, a location which made an appearance in multiple Persona games, the Velvet Room.

 

[YoshiandToad]

Aww hell...I know very few 2010 onwards Sega characters...

...wait, hell? That... works.

Job #54: Prince Ash (Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit)

Wow this is a deep cut to say the least, but from what I've played this is a very underrated title.

So in 2012, Sega produced a title from now defunct french studio, Arkedo Studio called Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit.

The titular Dead Rabbit is actually Prince Ash, a skeletal rabbit and the ruler of hell having obtained the title via nepotism(King Hare passing away in the opening).

One day whilst taking a bath, his secret love of rubber duckies is leaked via a paparazzi, and 100 monsters of hell see the picture, weakening Ash's image as what essentially is Satan in the game. Ash, wanting to stop this from spreading further decides the easiest course of action is to simply KILL THE 100 MONSTERS and sets out to do just that in a variety of wild and wacky ways.

In fact each monster target has a very specific minigame death dedicated to them, whether it's Ash hulking up and kicking them like a soccer player through a net and turning them into chunks of red bloody meat, firing dozens of arrows whilst dressed as cupid, firing lasers that would make Samus blush, squeezing them like a zit between his bony fingers or using his father's jetpack which just so happens to be shaped...and act....like a rotating buzz saw to make them into bacon.

Ash as a character is incredibly over the top. He's violent, wild and crude(as is the game's sense of humour), and his buzz saw jet pack slices through rocks, gems, monsters and shields like a hot knife through butter.

Oh, and a small fun fact I recently discovered: some of our roster actually made it into Hell Yeah! with the 'Pimp My Rabbit' DLC pack that gives Ash a bunch of custom faces, allowing him to dress as Alex Kidd, Opa-Opa, Axel Stone and Vyse. Other characters not currently included on the roster yet include B.D. Joe, Beat, Joe Musashi, Hotsuma, Robo (from Bonanaza Bros) and Ryo Hazuki. Super Monkey Ball and Golden Axe get buzz saw designs too.

Actually I did tell a lie, there are a few 2010+ titles I enjoy aside from Hell Yeah; Two Point Hospital is one of my most played titles on Steam at this point, I did really enjoy Spiral Knights(although Sega sold the rights back to Grey Havens so it no longer counts as a SEGA series) and I considered a character from Catherine briefly too.

Ultimately Ash has that distinctly European cartoony art style to him and his game that appeals to me a huge deal...plus watching the cast fight each other in a cartoony version of hell? Pretty cool.

 

[Speed Weed]

Aww hell...I know very few 2010 onwards Sega characters...

...wait, hell? That... works.

Job #54: Prince Ash (Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit)

Wow this is a deep cut to say the least, but from what I've played this is a very underrated title.

View attachment 325898

So in 2012, Sega produced a title from now defunct french studio, Arkedo Studio called Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit.

The titular Dead Rabbit is actually Prince Ash, a skeletal rabbit and the ruler of hell having obtained the title via nepotism(King Hare passing away in the opening).

One day whilst taking a bath, his secret love of rubber duckies is leaked via a paparazzi, and 100 monsters of hell see the picture, weakening Ash's image as what essentially is Satan in the game. Ash, wanting to stop this from spreading further decides the easiest course of action is to simply KILL THE 100 MONSTERS and sets out to do just that in a variety of wild and wacky ways.

In fact each monster target has a very specific minigame death dedicated to them, whether it's Ash hulking up and kicking them like a soccer player through a net and turning them into chunks of red bloody meat, firing dozens of arrows whilst dressed as cupid, firing lasers that would make Samus blush, squeezing them like a zit between his bony fingers or using his father's jetpack which just so happens to be shaped...and act....like a rotating buzz saw to make them into bacon.

Ash as a character is incredibly over the top. He's violent, wild and crude(as is the game's sense of humour), and his buzz saw jet pack slices through rocks, gems, monsters and shields like a hot knife through butter.

Oh, and a small fun fact I recently discovered: some of our roster actually made it into Hell Yeah! with the 'Pimp My Rabbit' DLC pack that gives Ash a bunch of custom faces, allowing him to dress as Alex Kidd, Opa-Opa, Axel Stone and Vyse. Other characters not currently included on the roster yet include B.D. Joe, Beat, Joe Musashi, Hotsuma, Robo (from Bonanaza Bros) and Ryo Hazuki. Super Monkey Ball and Golden Axe get buzz saw designs too.

Actually I did tell a lie, there are a few 2010+ titles I enjoy aside from Hell Yeah; Two Point Hospital is one of my most played titles on Steam at this point, I did really enjoy Spiral Knights(although Sega sold the rights back to Grey Havens so it no longer counts as a SEGA series) and I considered a character from Catherine briefly too.

Ultimately Ash has that distinctly European cartoony art style to him and his game that appeals to me a huge deal...plus watching the cast fight each other in a cartoony version of hell? Pretty cool.

****in' knew I was forgetting someone when talking about my most wanted characters

 

[Champion of Hyrule]

I will resubmit Claude from Valkyria Chronicles 4 for this job

I barely know anything about Valkyria Chronicles, but I think it looks like a really good series and would like to try it. Anyways, Claude is the main character in the most recent game, and so I think he would act as a good rep for the series. In his home series, he uses realistic guns and his series is very warfare-centric which would set him apart from the other Sega characters

 

[Speed Weed]

Alright, it's finally time: voting for the 2010s onwards character has begun!

Here are our candidates:

Phantom R ( OrpheusTelos )
Nahobino ( cashregister9 )
Leanne ( osby )
Joker ( tonygameman )
Prince Ash ( YoshiandToad )
Claude ( Champion of Hyrule )

Vote for your top 3 picks - your own submission can only be put in third place.

 

[tonygameman]

1. Claude (would've had either Alicia or Selvaria as a VC rep)
2. Phantom R
3. Joker

 

[Flyboy]

1. Joker
2. Leanne
3. Prince Ash

I gotta say, the Leanne writeup made me want to check her game out! I think she would be a really cool surprising pick if not now, in the future.