Topic: Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus - how's that for a mouthful?

[Quemaqua]

So in waiting for BlazBlue and getting all excited, I decided I needed to try to get better at Guilty Gear.  I've loved the games for so long, yet I still completely suck at them.  In the end, I doubt I'm really going to manage to improve all that much, but I decided that I'm going to try.  The plan of attack is to play nothing else but GG until BB gets here.

This, of course, entailed actually updating my GG library, which is sorely lacking.  The last game I actually had in the series was #Reload, and I'd played nothing beyond that.  So I trekked out to the mall and picked up Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus (don't forget that you actually have to take a second breath in the middle of saying that title or you'll pass out) for both my PS2 and my PSP.  Yeah, a little overkill, but I like having the PS2 copy around for general purposes, and I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with the #Reload portion of Guilty Gear Judgment.  It was a good port, and I'd heard this latest one was also good.

That's an understatement.  Wow!  It's hard to believe there's a fighting game this good and near-identical to the "real" version on a freaking handheld.  It looks great, plays fast, loads quick, and has all the same options as its big brother.  That's a full story mode for every character (all still fully voiced), the M.O.M. mode, survival (with a new experience-upgrade-thing or the old vanilla method) arcade, Vs., Team Vs., and even freaking ranked online play to boot.  It's rather shocking.

Anyway, I'm digging it quite a bit both in the handheld and home console versions.  Though it was a bit of a drag tonight when I got all the way to the end of Zappa's story mode and accidentally hit "character select" when I meant to see his move list on what was probably the last fight, which sent me all the way back out to the menu where I'd have had to restart.  After getting my first ever GG perfect on Justice, too.  Shame.

I was going to try and find some cool videos and stuff, but there seems to be a dearth of well-shot ones.  But here are a couple of fucking crazy tournament players doing crazy things.  I enjoy watching these because my mind can't even comprehend what they're doing.  It's like I've never even played the game that they're playing.

Kappow!
Blam!

I should also mention some of the new GG music I've been listening to (along with the BlazBlue OST, of course).  Turns out that no matter how lame Isuka was (I never even tried it... whoops), the soundtrack is pretty great.  It's actually making me think that I need to get myself a legit copy of the OST.  There's some really good shit on it.

Irony of Chaste - Engrish title, but it'll still kick your ass.
Kill DOG as a Sacrifice to DOG - Legendary.

The bigger surprise was the Korean version of #Reload, which apparently had its own brand-new tracklist.  I have no idea why considering the quality of the original music, but... hell, this other stuff is really good in its own right!  I can't say I like it better than the original music, mostly because there's a more processed, digital feel to it (and more use of effects/drum machine beats/etc.), but a lot of it is still really good.  Some of the rhythm section is a bit basic at times, but the lead work is easily as good as the original material.  If you've never heard it, check it out.  Well worth a download, and I'm going to try to hunt down the CD before long as well.

Infinitum Vortex - Great way to start the album.
The Vampire Saga - Slayer's theme.  Very gothic.
The Great Empress - Millia's theme.
Tears are Forever - Dizzy's theme with very different interpretation.
Midnight Carnival - Overly modern-sounding tone for the rhythm section, but nice use of melody on the whole.

Anyway, I guess that does it for my big GGXXACP post.  I wish I could find the magic thing that would make me suck at the games less.  I do feel like I've made some headway in the last few days.  Continuing to try and learn the ins and outs of Chipp, and I've started learning some techniques that are new to me, though I've by no means figured out how to perform them reliably.  At some point I'll have to learn how to properly combo as well, as at this point I couldn't even imagine a use for a Roman Cancel, let alone try to perform one.  I did learn dead angle attacks tonight, as well as finally figure out a very short and unimpressive combo (but vastly improved over my prior flailings) for after a dust attack launch.  I used to get like 3 hits before fucking up and losing them, but now I can semi-reliably get about 7 or 8, and if I do it right, break into another of my standard, boring combos upon hitting the ground.

It's a start.

[TheOtherBelmont]

Awesome, glad you finally picked it up.  Chipp is kind of a cool character to use, I don't like how weak he is though.  When I want to play a fast character I'll just play Jam.  Chipp can do some pretty cool Dust combos and Impossible Dusts because of his speed though.

Roman Cancels are easy to do but hard to master using them at the right time, I tend to use them for slower and medium speed characters like Ky, May, and Venom (sometimes Sol) because they are perfect for linking nice combos, especially some of Ky's slower combos, though I do use them with Jam sometimes depending on who I am playing.  Baiken is another character that I've seen people use Roman Cancels with effectively.  I can't imagine using it with Chipp since his speed makes combos a little more easy, but I don't really use Chipp all that much, so I might be completely wrong with that theory.  That video you posted of someone playing May in a tournament is a lot like how I play May but I use the spinning air attack more often since I'm a little more offensive, but that's my downfall sometimes since it can leave me open.

This is one of the best guides for Guilty Gear and explains Roman Cancels a lot better than I can.  The forums for the site have really good detailed pointers for each character as well.

I mainly got this game for the new story mode, but all the little extras are nice too and the $30 price tag for a brand new game is just awesome.  I really enjoyed the story for Holy Order Sol because it finally explained some of Sol's backstory that I've always been curious about.

[Quemaqua]

Yeah, that Dustloop basics section has been my bible.  Some of it is like they're talking Greek, but it's helped me out a bit in some ways.

Chipp has always been my favorite.  I love speed in fighting games, and there's nothing cooler than doing some crazy combo, knocking a guy back, then going 22H and opening up on his face again after only a half-second of downtime.  Jam is probably the superior character, though.  I used her just the other night for the first time in a long time, and despite not having a clue what I was doing, I kicked the shit out of some people.  She's very fast but packs a lot more damage in per hit, and her aerial game seems like it might be better because of that if you know what you're doing.  I enjoyed that, so I may try to learn her at some point too.  But Chipp is the one I know best, so I'm trying to learn the rest of the basic mechanics with him since he's the most familiar to me.  I wanted to learn Zappa as well just because I think he's hilarious, though I get the impression people don't like to use him much (there are no cool combo videos of him on YouTube, and you never see him used in matches) so his unorthodox-ness and somewhat random behavior must make him a bit of a redheaded stepchild.  But I don't care, I'm just trying to generally improve, not enter tournaments.  I'll never manage to understand any game well enough for that... I just want to be less embarrassed at parties.

EDIT - This game melts my face.  I can semi-fathom this, but man... how much practice does that take?

EDIT x2 - Also, I'd just like to say that while I normally don't dig on cosplay too much, this could change my mind in a hurry.



That's dedication, is what that is.

[Quemaqua]

So I feel like I'm actually improving.  That isn't to say that I'm great at the game now or anything, but I feel like I understand the fundamental uses of different functions now even if I don't totally have their execution.

I can now semi-consistently perform one combo with Chipp that uses a Roman Cancel to go from his flaming kick thingy into a forward heavy slash without the enemy being able to recover in time to block.  Of course, I can't always perform it fast enough for the RC to actually be useful, as sometimes I'm still too slow on the combo in general to get the HS to connect.  And I usually try to do a Gamma Blade after that when I do get it, yet for some reason usually end up borking it and the combo ends there.  Still, this is a hell of a lot more than I could even think to do a week ago.  I'm getting better at understanding movement and enemy positions, and while a better player will still shit-kick me every time I fail to react fast enough, I'm now at least sometimes able to realize the opportunity and get in a quick upward thrust when somebody recovers above me and such.  I still have trouble getting into the air and comboing, but I'm getting to the point where I can with at least some consistency get a small string of decent hits in, and if I'm on my game, manage to continue a not entirely pathetic offense once we're on the ground.  I've also realized the obscene value of bursts, which I had in the past almost always forgotten even existed once I got 10 seconds into a match.

I feel good about it.  It was difficult the first night I got to sit down and have the marathon session I wanted, when I played a whole bunch and felt like I just got worse and worse as I went, but slowly every day I'm noticing I screw up certain things a little less.  I'm still not quite off the habit of button mashing to a degree because I'm not always so good on timing subsequent hits when comboing, but I have a general progression that seems to work and am at least understanding how important the distance you are from your opponent is when you're trying to see what your next button press should be, and how recovery times tie into that.

It actually feels kind of exciting.  I doubt I have the perseverance to really get to an impressive end goal, but I also never thought I had it in me to play nothing but a single fighting game for a week (I picked my two copies of ACP up on the 17th, and I haven't played any other game since).  I'm managing a pretty good carrot-on-a-stick method with BlazBlue's upcoming release as the carrot.

EDIT - Oh, and I'm proud as hell: I'm getting a freaking thumb callus from using my PS2 controller to do quarter-circle forward rolls and stuff so much.  I feel like I've earned a right of passage or something.

[TheOtherBelmont]

That's good to hear man, I'll look forward to playing BlazBlue with you online and you'll get better playing with an actual person.  If the computer is proving to be too easy for you, trying upping the difficulty and playing Arcade mode and you'll get a little better on your defense game as well, its not as good as playing a real person but a decent substitute.  The callus is a good sign that you are getting the hang of rolling consistently.

[Quemaqua]

Haha, it'll be a long while before the computer gets too easy for me.  I can win pretty consistently on whatever the default setting is just going regular Vs. CPU mode, but some of the missions and story mode sequences are kicking my ass.  I imagine they're supposed to be a bit harder because of the various non-standard things like extra enemy defense or health regen, but... shit.  I just beat Dizzy tonight for A.B.A's last story section and I didn't think I was ever gonna' get it.  I almost had her health depleted twice out of maybe 25 fights, but each time she rallied and did some crazy combo to kill me.  I got fed up and just started trying to instant-kill her, and was failing at that too because by the time I'd get enough tension to go for it, she'd kill me, or if I had the tension and was ready to try the move, I'd miss it or she'd kill me while I was trying to do it, haha.  Man.  I was about ready to put my controller through the screen when I finally got it.  I had to get through the last fight with I-no and Order Sol that way when I did Sol's story mode too, but it wasn't really all that hard to IK those guys.

I beat the first three missions with Chipp, then tried the fourth tonight and gave up after about a half hour to 45 minutes.  It's one of those where you need at least 2 beats to do any damage, plus you start with maybe 1/5 of your health.  I almost beat it probably 15 times, at least twice when you couldn't even see health remaining on her bar, and I lost to the timer so much I was about ready to pull my hair out.

The happy part of this story is that I found out that A.B.A is freaking hilariously awesome.  I think I'm going to have to put some time in with her.  She's so weird and creepy, I love her.

[TheOtherBelmont]

The happy part of this story is that I found out that A.B.A is freaking hilariously awesome.  I think I'm going to have to put some time in with her.  She's so weird and creepy, I love her.

Yeah, I never liked A.B.A. that much until this game but playing her story mode was pretty funny.  I can sort of use her but she's too slow for my tastes.  That fight against Dizzy in her story mode took me a couple of tries too since her IK move is really hard to hit people with.  If you are having a really hard time with those fights where the health regens just resort to IK moves instead of trying to beat them via Slash.  I've cleared story mode with all of the characters and thats kind of what they expect you to do.

[Quemaqua]

Yeah, I figured as much.  Order Sol is a fucking nutcase, haha.  He powers up and then the whole screen is just... on fire.

I don't know what it is, but I love A.B.A.  Once you get some blood into her axe some of her combos are just wicked cool, and there's a nice meaty feeling when you hit people with the thing.  Chipp doesn't have hardly a single move that gives you that feeling.

This is sick.  I love watching her move when she gets into that zone.  This one's cool too.
The last round of this one is just disgusting.

[Pugnate]

What is "accent core plus" supposed to imply?

[Quemaqua]

You already asked that.

Though in this case, "Plus" just means it's an extra-beefy version of the original Accent Core with some added modes and stuff.

[Pugnate]

Yea I am sorry man. I've been meaning to make a post about brain fatigue. I think my mind is overworked. I haven't played a game seriously -- aside from Civ IV a few months ago and some 360 titles with friends -- for nearly a year.

Anyway, I plan to but this. I love the GG games.

edit:

Not but this... buy... buy..

[Quemaqua]

Haha.  I know the feeling, my friend, I really do.  Well, not so much about not playing games, but about fatigue.  I can't even begin to post about it because it would take three posts and nobody would read it, but believe me, I know.

But yes, AC+ is really quite good.  Depending on your personality it might not be worth it if you've been grabbing every entry along the way, but at this point it's definitely the definitive incarnation of the series.  There's so much shit in there you can just play and play and play.  20-something characters, tons of story mode stuff which is all really amusing and unlocks stages from older games, challenges to unlock artwork and the like, a bunch of different modes you can easily sit down and play for short bursts and which all feel different... every time I pick it up now I end up playing it for two or three hours, and I almost never do that with fighting games.