Is it possible to consider me a strange person if I like to follow plot interweaving in fighting? For me, in the first place in this kind of games is not a gameplay (it is in second place), music or graphics, namely history, characters, their connection and attitude towards each other. And this can be explained by the fact that the player first does not go on the battlefield in the multiplayer, but to the plot campaign, which is a simple, but very accessible in terms of studying characters, training mode of the game. But not everyone pays attention to the plot and galloply go to the very heart of the battle ignoring the skeleton of which the game consists of: stories, biography, motivation, etc.p. And is it so strongly needed by the plot of muzzles? Maybe it’s really worth ignoring him, as if he was an unnecessary appendage of fighting widespieces taken from the bits of EM APs? I think that it is worth conducting a small study, consider all the pros and cons of the plot in the games of a similar genre and try to put a fat point in this matter.
Films with Bruce Lee (and any films dedicated to martial arts) is an excellent starting point for the entire fighting genre. The hero goes to the tournament, meets face to face with strong rivals, wins them and goes into sunset. There are not so many plots and not too deep the background, but when the fighters meet with views, you understand everything without any words. And from this kind of films, good games are obtained, like YIE AR Kung-Fu and Exploding Fist +. But we take for example two famous franchises, which have also become excellent inating in the future. I’m talking about Fist of the North Star and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. In Fist of the North Star, the protagonist named Ken is trying to survive in the post -apocalyptic world impregnated with madness and anarchy. He beats to death with everyone who will stand in his way with the help of his deadly technique. According to this Japanese version of the crazy Max, not only many different films and series were shot, but also a great many games of which are considered the game from the ARC System (known for the Guilty Gear and Blazblue series) Fist of the North Star. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure has several plot arches each of which occurs at different times and an era, but is always dedicated to the adventures of the Jostars family. There, the heroes gather in teams and go to fight with the great evil, which threatens himself, their loved ones and even the whole universe. Each new battle is more complicated than the previous one, the enemies are cunning, smart, strong, all so different and memorable personalities. It is easy to imagine how they decided to make the game genre game from this. Moreover, not one game, but two as many as: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure from the 1998 Capcom release and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: 2013 release All Star Battle. These games carry the plot and characters from original works and introduce them into the world of fighting winging, and as if they were there the place.
In the Kapkomovskoy fighting in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, the first PlayStation version has a special mode “Super Story Mode” in which the player passes the story campaign accurately copying manga plots and participates in all battles in which the main characters of the work took part (though some battles were heldEvents).
Now let’s look at games in which the least attention is paid to the characters and plot. Shaolin/Lord of the Fist – this is a fighting game in which we live the life of the main character we have created by us, we study one of several available styles of battle and fight with a great evil along the way to save the martial arts scattered around the world. In addition to the fact that the game has a terrible and boring plot in the game, so there are still no interesting characters that could dilute it. For which you actually need to play this game if everything that she can offer you is a short and uninitiated plot campaign? Another fighting game in which there is nothing superfluous – this is Fighting Maker on PS1, which is made on the basis of the Street Fighter EX engine. There, with the help of the editor, we create heroes, give them animation and techniques, and then we release in the arena and force us to fight against the exactly the same blanchs created by us. The game is an undoubtedly interesting editor for fans of something in the style of Muggen, but as a full-fledged video game project, Fighting Maker looks rather boring and faded, especially taking into account the fact that it has only an editor and the same battles alone on one.
In Fighting Maker you can create absolutely any animation.
And in contrast to these two fatings there will be a Tobal series on PS1 known for the largest number of playable characters in Roster (there are about 200 of them). The plot, like the motivation of many heroes, is not revealed in the game itself. For all this, you need to climb into the instructions attached separately to it. In a special mode called “Quest” you can freely walk around villages and dungeons, fight in three dimensions with all kinds of enemies, pump and open new fighters. But separately from this game mode there is also a standard tournament in the style of Virtua Fighter and Tekken. Of course, the game takes in quantity, not in quality, but at least makes the player showing interest in it. Due to what? Due to the abundance of available heroes. In such quantities, they undoubtedly take and reveal the plot each in their own way small, but unique for each of them with details, movements or techniques. I always thought that the Roster of the game, like the plot, are greatly interconnected. They are equally important for the player and, if you follow the logic of the examples I have presented, then without all this the game seems too empty. Yes, without this you can “play”, but a significant share of what allows you to distinguish one game from another, intrigue a novice player or even tell something interesting in the manner of classic militants. It may seem like the plot with the heroes is the face of the inching, and the gameplay is a heart and soul, but it seems to me that all this is intertwined together and cannot live separately from each other. In any case, all this should be present in a good face. But whether you should pay your attention to this? Let’s try to figure out by the simple gathering of all the advantages and deficiencies of representatives of the genre.
Advantages: At a time when the text of the text was enough for only two or three sentences, people helped the development of the genre in the most non-trivial way: generating rumors and interesting stories. Hearing bearers incurred the interest of beginners and forced those to study the games as if they were some kind of secret scientific project. Remember the rumors related to the first part of Mortal Kombat about the presence of a second secret character in this (in addition to reptay) with red clothing and the name Ermac. There was actually no such character in the game, but the fans did not get enough and tried to get to the bottom of the truth (as if he were some kind of reptiloid from the Ren-TV or TV3 channel). And in the end, for their genuine interest in the project, the players got quite a real Ermaca woven from rumors and myths and introduced in the Russian -third part of MK. It is ridiculous to read the background of the character and see in this allusion to real events related to his creation:
And it was the GiantWins players who created him and gave him a story. In the Universe of the game, he is the body of a warrior consisting of many souls, but in reality, who was accepted for the secret enemy, Scorpio with a bug in the name and color palette, which turned into a completely new character only due to the persistence and faith of players from around the world (they put the soul into this matter). I have already said that the characters are those who help the plot to bloom, so I don’t think that if I count attention from players (And Rumors) the advantage of the genre.
We will return to MK again and talk about its main dignity (in addition to the simplicity of development). I say about surroundings. Before us is dark fantasy in Chinese style with steep ninja, Shaolin monks, multi -armed monsters and cyborgs. All this is so extravagant and unusual that it clings to the player’s attention without problems. But the entourage is only the face of the plot. In MK, such a wild trash is created from which you cannot be on the sidelines for a long time. The player will want to know the history of this dark world and pull out all the skeletons from the characters’ cabinets. And believe me, there are a decent amount there, given how often they die in this world and are reborn again (they leave the cabinet).
Huge and rich in interesting characters in the world also matters in the plot of a variety of fighting. In Soul Calibur, a decent amount of related information is hidden in the description of any arena, which would be enough for a whole article on Wikipedia. And in the game, after all, there are still many other noticeable details like countries, objects, weapons, religions and secondary characters. All this if it does not play any role for you on the battlefield, then the world undoubtedly revives in which heroes live and fight. In any case, you will know that there is something else outside the arena.
In some fatings, in addition to the canonical plot (which becomes this usually only after the next part of the series) there are many others branches in history, which can be obtained by passing the arcade regime for a particular character in Roster. For example, in Tekken, each character has its own storyline, an opponent with which the hero will fight in front of the last boss and the ending that reveals certain motives that drive them. In Texne 5, win the tournament Kuma (aka Bear), then he will become the head of the Mishima Zayabatsu company and will throw the former head of the company from the building with the help of a secret hatch in the floor (in the style of Mr. Berns from Simpsons). Okay, she chased. He tried to do this, but in the end the hatch opened and under him too. The absurd ending, which, along with others, like the aliens embittered on the floor (I think so), will be remembered by the player for a long time. You can also recall how Zangiev from Street Fighter II danced a Cossack with Gorbachev. There is a lot of such a cheerful delirium in fighting. I am sure that at least for this it is worth paying attention to the presence of the plot in such games.
High level of drama attracted my attention to the plot in the Samurai Shodown Faiting series. The story there is very gloomy and unattractive, but that clings. The game has one talented swordsman, which at the end of each battle is spit on blood and falls to the ground without strength. He is sick with tuberculosis and he did not have to live long. One of the main Muscots of SNK, along with Terry Bogard from Fatal Fury, appeared for the first time in Samurai Shodown and calls her to the storage. She is a defender of the forest, a friend of all animals and a guide for people lost in the forest. Topor at the end of one of the parts of the series deprives itself of life and body becoming the spirit of the forest. But the most tragic story of an archer named Mina whose unknown demon burned the village with all people who lived there. Only a small animal with whom Mina went on as far as distant travels in search of the very evil monster who destroyed her homeland survived in the ashes. As a result, this monster turned out to be this small creature. Mina was so much used to him that after his murder she killed after herself and herself. There are such passions in this fighting!. A lot of parallels with ninja manuscript. This is the plot and catches. If Mortal Combat tells about tin as if he was a film of horror category B, then SS makes an acquaintance with the plot more lively and, in a sense, painful occupation.
Setting the plot also plays an important role. The presence of a KAT scenes with a voice acting in the new parts of the Mortal Kombat series turn a movie game that can even watch an ordinary woman with a series … a khm, a player. Between the screensaver we enter the battle, and then we win and continue to look at the opening of the plot through the prism of video game cinema. The same is the same in Injustice. The Guilty Gear XRD has very interesting animated inserts on the game engine that reveals the plot in detail without the need of the player to participate in battles (although not everyone will like this, taking into account the fact that this is somewhat tedious lesson without battles). Blazblue also has a plot component with KAT scenes, but already made in the style of visual novels with different plot paths and endings of the same character. There is even an earlier example of how to tell the plot in the fighting wing. In the first part of Fatal Fury, the main character participates in the tournament to take revenge on one person for the death of his father. Every fight he won leads the main villain to rabies and warms the player’s interest in each subsequent such scene (something very similar was in Jagged Alliance 2). In these examples, the plot is very well integrated into the main game process (the exception will be GG XRD). Stage setting is actually very important for the fighting wing, for the battle in such games should look like a cinematographic. Do not forget that the fighting playing is the game equivalent of films to devoted martial arts.
And the most important dignity of the plot in the genre of fatings – The interaction of the characters. The best example will be the King of Fighters series. There, heroes in order to participate in the tournament should gather in a team of three people. To win in the tournament, they are required to work together. If one fell, then the other will replace it in place. In one of the parts (I can’t say for sure it was in Kof ’97 or Kof ’98), collecting a team from different characters, you could get an increase in lives from one of your comrades because he treats this character as a friend or vice versa you would have nothing if he has a disdain attitude towards you. Many of the characters are in the series for so long and feel like a house, that sometimes even before the battle they throw phrases or do cool things that are characteristic only by them. For example, if Andy Bogard meets with Mai Shiranua, then she will pull out a child in front of him, why poor Andy will not knock out in advance (fortunately, all this is ninja tricks). The player is not even obliged to read the mountains of the text in the wiki, just look at how the heroes before the fight communicate with each other to understand the whole essence. In Kof XIII in history and in arcade mode, menus with a small amount of text appear before battles. It was in the same way in SNK vs capcom: Chaos, but there are already characters from different universes belonging to different video game companies.
Flaws: I’ll start again with MK. There is so much strangeness and plot holes, What to understand everything becomes almost impossible without the use of gross power in relation to one of the scriptwriters of the game. What about the fact that the series suddenly took and updated? She erased the story that had once been a canon and began to record her own on top of her. On the one hand, they got rid of all the old plot holes, on the other hand, the whole work of the scriptwriters, who actually tried to go to hell with the Easter cakes, and maybe further. And in the new plot no less problems than in the old. Apparently do not learn from old mistakes.
Recall the series Dead Or Alive and Virtua Fighter. What is their problem? What can you say about their plot and characters? The problem of the first game is that it throws on a player tones of left and unnecessary information, not entirely clear plot binding and very strange scenes, in which it is not clear who and how to whom. The plot there is not that it is unnecessary, it just prevents you from enjoying the gameplay (funny how exactly it conveyed the film based on the motives). In Virtua Fighter, he does not show signs of life at all. I have never seen him almost. I understand that this is actually a game that all went into the development of the combat system and the player should spend all his time studying combat mechanics, but there is almost nothing to reveal the plot. The game lives well without him. And this is bad, since many people, due to the almost complete absence of the plot, play the game incomplete.
It always seemed to me that the characters from Virtua Fighter like it more in all sorts of crossovers than in the original series.
All kinds of tournaments and championships. Infuting were always dedicated to tournaments. I perfectly remember the first part of Art of Fighting in which instead of a battle for fame and money, the heroes fought with bandits with the streets for information about the exact whereabouts of a stolen girl. This plot stands out greatly against the backdrop of numerous championships of the Hakeenov and Shuvuyukenov. But will we see this in 90% of fighting? No, but see how many tournaments in which the duet Ryu and Ken have not yet participated!
In fighting winging, to understand the plot in one part, you need to understand the entire series. Who has a sister? Where and who killed whom? Who will answer these questions? Wikipedia. And then the game is silent? Why is it impossible to add a Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi style or a short retelling of the events of the last part as Blazblue? This is done very rarely and only those who do this before.
I’m afraid to assume what they are hinting at each other
Finging Dynasty Warriors 1 (the very first part is fighting wiping, if that), Sango Fighter and Sengoku Basara X in order to better understand all the plot interweaving and recognize the characters on the screen demand to study Chinese and Japanese history. Yes, and many good fighting winging, like I mentioned above Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi, demand that the player know the water. I watched at least 100 episodes in the first season. And everything would be nothing (spit on the study and go play, do not torment yourself), but with knowledge of the basis it will play twice as simple as. I really like the Dragon Ball Z Budokai fighting series on PS2, but I did not watch the original anime. I don’t understand how one hero differs from another in one form. I feel that the game was simply created for me, but a huge wall in front of the joystick with the inscription “First read/look the original” spoils the overall impression.
In King of Fighters, the plot is good, but he is an alternative to the plot with the same characters from other games of other episodes. For example, if Kof Gis is alive, then in Fatal Fury he is dead. If in one story the hero meets a girl, then in another he did not achieve anything with her. If at Garou: Mark of the Wolves Rock Hovard (son of Gis) is already adult, then in Kof he is an eternal 8-year-old child. Why in this way to confuse your own fans and tell in parallel two almost the same stories changing at the same time either insignificant or very significant details? And what do Capcom do with the SF series? Break the brain of an unprepared fan with a different temporary segment. In which, after the second, the fourth goes, and after it the fifth and at the end of the third. Moreover, between them there is also Spinoffs (SF: EX and Rival School) and Pukes (SF: Alpha). Intentionally confused, this is definitely some kind of conspiracy.
TO.O.: What really I wanted to convey to you with this text? My sincere love of the plot in fighting. He evolved after the plots in other games of a perfect other genre. Many companies developing fighting fights are trying not only to show unusual game features, but also to tell an interesting story with KAT scenes and dialogues. They learned to do this well, but they need time in order to get comfortable with new opportunities (they are still orthodox) in order to become even better, because in this case one is not well enough. I repeat that no one forces you to delve into the plot in fighting winging or teach the background of the characters in the same way as you teach their techniques. But do not forget about the presence of the plot in the game. He may turn out to you something like a guiding star. This is an element without which it will seem like a game – an incomplete work. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that the plot, with a very rare exception, does not spoil the game at once. You think that with a bad plot and the film will be bad? Maybe he will just benefit from this (he will be so bad that even good). So, the plot should be in fighting. But is it worth paying attention to him? I would pay attention, but only you decide. I am waiting for your opinions on this subject.
My past battle: Fatal Fury 2 & Fatal Fury Special
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The last best of the best: fighting girls
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