And Persona 4 was worth a lot. We got a glut of Persona 4 media and spin offs, from an enhanced re-release to a crossover dungeon crawler, from a dancing game for some reason to not one, but two fighting games featuring the casts of Persona 3 and 4 duking it out against each other, and some new characters in a story that was emphatically declared “canon” and the “true conclusion of the Persona 4 saga.”

That was all nonsense. The story in Persona 4 Arena and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is terrible, the writing flanderizes all the characters in Persona 3 and 4’s casts, reducing beloved fan favourites such as Chie, Kanji, or Mitsuru into one note gags (if that), and introducing frankly ridiculous stakes that are hard to take seriously on their own, much less as a continuation of the thematic nuance and richness of Persona 3 and 4. If storytelling was the true appeal of Persona 4 Arena, then it failed spectacularly.

But that’s really not why Persona 4 Arena and its sequel became so popular. They became popular because they were damn good fighting games, featuring great fan service, pulling together beloved characters, music, visuals, and locations from two fan favorite games, and because they were teeming with content. All of that holds true as much today as it did when they first came out. Which is why this re-release of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax for the PS4, Switch, and PC, including not just all the content that Ultimax had, but also all its DLC, and the story campaign from the original Persona 4 Arena, pretty much sells itself. It is essentially the exact same pitch as Persona 4 Arena and Ultimax originally were. If the idea of a Persona Smash Bros. appeals to you, then Ultimax is right up your alley. If you wanted a legitimate narrative continuation of Persona 4, and are hoping this game gives you that, run away and never look back. If you want something that plays like Persona, go away and look elsewhere. If you just want a good fighting game, Ultimax is your jam.

So, all the same issues and strengths are present here. The writing is still awful. The story is utterly trite. The characters have been flanderized almost beyond recognition. The story mode is practically a visual novel, with how much text and cutscenes it throws at you in between a few precious minutes of letting you actually fight – and as mentioned, the actual story and writing is terrible, so you’re subjected to multiple minutes of terrible storytelling at a time, over and over.

But on the other hand, it controls and plays marvellously. It translates the Persona universe and characters into an excellent fighting game, one that stands as much as a great bit of fan service for series fans as it does on its own merits. It is a love letter to Persona 3 and 4, including riffs on their themes, music, visuals, aesthetic, and motifs all over the place. It is packed with content, and you can lose hundreds of hours of your life to it if you decide to dedicate yourself to it (more so than even the original Ultimax, since, as mentioned, the base package comes with Persona 4 Arena‘s campaign included off the bat this time around). Even the online mode is going to be a big improvement over the original game’s online functionality, with the PS4 and Steam versions getting rollback net code in a few months. 

Strong presentation (a hallmark of the Persona franchise) and extremely tight gameplay, along with a dedication to providing an absurd amount of content, all make Ultimax stand out even today – few fighting games pay as much attention to their visual flourishes, fewer still deliver this much content. While there are a lot of great playing fighting games, Ultimax is still distinct because of the way it incorporates the characters’ Personas themselves into combat, allowing for a nice variation of elemental and special attacks compared to how other fighting games handle it. The ability to play this game on modern consoles is enough of an incentive to justify this re-release by itself. Atlus making the content from the original Arena available in this package, and also striving to deliver better netcode, further makes this the definitive edition of the definitive Persona fighting game.

Like many, I hope that one day, we get a Persona 5 Arena game, one that allows the all star casts of Persona 3 and 4 to duke it out with the Phantom Thieves. And judging by the way that Atlus has handled narrative in Persona 5 spin offs so far, either 5 Arena won’t be saddled with an elaborate story mode, or if it is, it will be actually well written for a change. If and when it happens, we will have a hopefully superior product to rally around – but until it does, if it ever does, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax on PS4, Steam, and Switch represents the definitive Persona fighting game experience. Anyone looking for a chance to duke it out with their favorite characters, some great fan service for Persona 3 and 4 lovers, or just a great fighting game, is going to enjoy what’s on offer here. 

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.

River City Girls Zero is a localized version of Shin Nekketsu Koha: Kunio-tachi no Banka, which was originally released in 1994. It will launch for Switch in late 2021 and “other platforms” later. Limited Run Games will produce a physical edition. According to the publisher, “River City Girls Zero lets players experience the first time that Misako and Kyoko teamed up with Kunio and Riki to take to the streets in hard-hitting, curb-stomping action. While the graphics, music, and gameplay all remain true to the classic 16-bit Super Famicom release, this version marks the first time the 1994 game will be localized for the West. A new opening cinematic, new manga cutscenes, and new theme song by River City Girls composer Megan McDuffee have been added as well.”

River City Girls 2 will release for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC via Steam. Limited Run Games will be producing a physical edition for this game as well. According to the publisher, “Picking up shortly after the original, River City Girls 2 once again put players in control of Misako and Kyoko—as well as Kunio, Riki, and other characters—as they set out on an all-new beat-’em-up adventure across the mean streets of River City. New moves, new enemies, new recruits, new environments, and the return of an old foe await, along with the same over-the-top sense of humor and adrenaline-pumping combat of its predecessor. The game will also feature two-player co-op action both locally and online.”

River City Girls is a new takes on a classic IP. According to the publisher, “In this all-new entry in the legendary beat-’em-up series, hot-blooded heroes Kunio and Riki have been captured, leaving it to their hard-hitting girlfriends, Kyoko and Misako, to serve up some payback. As you punch and kick your way across town—either solo or with a friend in local co-op – you’ll gain new skills, chow down on power-ups, wield an assortment of weapons, and unleash an arsenal of combos, throws, and special attacks that will leave the bad guys crying for mama – all in outrageous 16-bit style! The awesome action is punctuated by manga story panels, anime cutscenes, and an epic synth-pop soundtrack.”

Co-op beat-’em-ups have been all the rage recently, especially after the excellent Streets of Rage 4, though River City Girls actually pre-dates that game by a year. It was a good day for River City Girls, as River City Girls Zero and River City Girls 2 were both announced.

1. Rollback Netcode

Much has been made of Arc System Works’ decision to use rollback netcode for Strive. Most fighting games used delay-based netcode, which works fine over short distances and fairly well in private lobbies, but tends to fall apart if you’re trying to play someone a long way away, especially internationally.

Rollback doesn’t have these issues, and generally works better, but most Japanese fighting game developers have opted to stick with delay-based netcode. Arc Systems Works’ decision has paid off big time, however. In my time with the beta, matches were incredibly smooth, no matter where my opponent was. Playing someone in California while you’re in New York with only a frame or two of delay is incredible, and it’s going to make going back to delay-based fighters a lot harder.

2. Strive Punishes You for Mashing

While earlier Guilty Gear games allowed you to mash out most combos, which made confirming more complicated combos easier, Strive doesn’t. Mashing in Strive will knock your opponent backwards and out of your combo, making follow-up moves impossible and negating any potential for greater damage.

Fear not, though, there is a trick to getting around it. Delaying your button presses slightly will allow you to keep your combo together. There’s a fine balance here, and it’s different depending on which character you’re using and which move it is. Delay too much, and you’ll give your opponent a chance to block, but move too quickly, and you’ll be back to neutral.

3. Small Combos, Big Damage

Guilty Gear’s old gatling system allowed you to chain punch into kick into slash into heavy slash and finally into dust, making basic combos pretty easy. The gatling system also made longer combos possible. Guilty Gear’s reputation for technical depth was in-part based on the insane combo options the series offered, but Strive does away with that in favor of shorter, more damaging combos, which should be easier for new players to learn.

The gatling system has also changed. Now, most combos start from slash, meaning combo options are more limited. That’s not to say there’s no room for stylish combos here; you can still do them, provided you know how, but you won’t see anything like what you saw in earlier games.

4. The New Throw System Works Well

In previous Guilty Gear games, you threw other characters by pressing forward or backward and heavy slash while you were close to them. The downside of this system is that throws could be tricky compared to other fighting games; Guilty Gear didn’t have a dedicated throw button, and if you missed a throw, you’d usually end up doing a move you didn’t mean to – though in certain cases, it was actually a good thing.

Strive solves that problem by mapping throw to forward or backward and dust. In addition, missing a throw now performs a missed throw animation, making Strive’s systems a bit more like other fighters – and punishing you when you whiff a throw.

5. Dust Ability

In addition, the dust ability has also seen a bit of an overhaul. In Guilty Gear Xrd, dust would knock an enemy either up in the air or sideways, allowing you to follow up for a big combo. Now, dust only does that if you hold the button down – just pressing it will get you a single attack. Combo possibilities have been shortened here, too, and there’s a bit of an auto-combo function. Pressing any button twice after executing a dust will perform a quick combo that knocks the opponent back down to earth. Like other games with an auto-combo system, you can press different buttons to customize your moves here, but you’re still more limited than you were in previous Guilty Gear games.

6. Meter Comes at a Premium

Even simple combos hit really, really hard in Strive, so matches are fairly short, meaning you won’t have many opportunities to build a lot of tension meter in a round. Use your meter wisely, but don’t be afraid to spend it; it resets between rounds, so you can’t take it with you.

7. The New Characters Fit in Well

So far, only two of Strive’s characters are new, with twelve returning from previous games – welcome back, Anji! – and one still left to be revealed. Giovanna is a rushdown character whose moves remind me a bit of Juri from Street Fighter. She excels at getting in the opponent’s face and delivering quick, powerful strikes. In battle, she uses a spirit wolf named Rei to help her out, and she has a unique mechanic where she does more damage as she builds tension (super meter).

Ngaoriyuki Is a vampire samurai with a big sword. His unique mechanic is the blood gauge. When it’s full, he enters blood rage, which gives certain attacks more range and grants access to the powerful Zanzetsu special move. The downside is he takes damage as long as he’s in blood rage, and loses access to his other special moves. He’s got good range and fairly high damage, and his unique mechanics mean he’ll be an interesting addition to the cast.

8. The New Roman Cancel System is Pretty Deep

Guilty Gear’s signature Roman Cancel system has also seen an overhaul. The basics are still the same; by spending half of your tension meter, you can cancel any move, allowing you to continue a combo or get yourself out of trouble at the last second. In Strive, Roman Cancels done during combos (or Red Roman Cancels) now actually hit the target, extending your combo automatically. If you want to avoid that, you can skip it by immediately pressing a button after you Roman Cancel, and that attack will come out instead. In addition, Roman Cancels can be done during jumps and dashes, allowing your character to “shift” in any of the four cardinal directions, opening up more movement and combo possibilities.

9. You Might Only Unlock Collection Items by Fishing

In Guilty Gear Xrd, you could unlock art, music, voice lines, new colors, and several other pieces of content by buying them directly in the game’s collection. You could also spend a set amount to fish for an item, though what you’d get would be random. Strive’s menu descriptions imply fishing will be the only way to unlock everything. We could be wrong, but if we’re not, be ready to spend a lot of time by the pond.

10. There are Still no Instant Kills

While each of Strive’s character has gotten new moves and seen modifications to their old ones since the last beta, instant kills are still missing in action. In previous games, each character could enter an instant kill mode by pressing punch, kick, slash, and heavy slash at the same time. Once in the mode, they could preform an instant kill attack. If it hit, it would immediately end the round, no matter how much health your opponent had left. Missing the attack, however, would cost you your tension gauge until the next round. Tension would drain from your gauge as long as you stayed in the mode, and running out of tension would start to drain your health.

In Strive, there’s no sign of any Instant Kill moves. We hope they’ll make it into the final game, but as of now, they’re simply not there.

It’s worth noting that this is a beta, and all of this might change between now and release. Right now, however, Strive is shaping up to be a very unique entry in the franchise: one that’s more accessible for newcomers, while retaining what seems like a good chunk of the depth of the older games. After several hours, and a couple hundred beta matches, however, I think there’s a lot for Guilty Gear fans to be excited about. We’ll find out when Guilty Gear Strive releases for PC, PS4, and PS5 on April 9^th, 2021.

Following a leak by Nintendo UK, Bandai Namco officially announced that Janemba would be joining Dragon Ball FighterZ as its next DLC character. Check out his gameplay from EVO 2019 and stick around till the end. A certain over-powered Saiyan combination will also make an appearance.

Part of the FighterZ Pass, Janemba goes live on August 8th. He’s most assuredly not the final DLC fighter – Super Saiyan Blue Gogeta will be coming later. The trailer showcases just how powerful he can be, dominating Janemba likes it’s nothing. Which is par for the course given how their movie battle went.

There’s no word yet on when Super Saiyan Blue Gogeta will be available to Season Pass owners. Stay tuned for more details and take the time to learn Janemba. His reality-altering attacks and combos look pretty devastating. Dragon Ball FighterZ is currently available for Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch – read our official review of the game here.

Those curious about the mysterious last DLC fighter for Bandai Namco’s Dragon Ball FighterZ need wonder no more. According to Nintendo UK (which has since pulled the link), it’s Janemba who also comes with a Lobby Avatar, Z Stamp, and five alternative outfit colours. No release date was mentioned though.

Janemba first appeared in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn, which originally released in 1995. Described as a “demon of pure evil”, Janemba is capable of altering reality. In his Super form, he’s capable of handling SSJ3 Goku with ease. It wasn’t until Goku fused with Vegeta and formed Gogeta that Janemba was defeated.

This raises questions as to his abilities and how far his reality-warping will go. If nothing else, Janemba doesn’t seem a match for Jiren from Dragon Ball Super (who is currently available as part of FighterZ Pass 2 with Videl and Goku GT). Stay tuned for more details on his official announcement and reveal.

Given the sheer breadth of the Dragon Ball universe, there were several questions as to next character for Dragon Ball FighterZ’ FighterZ Pass 2. We now have an answer – Goku from Dragon Ball GT, complete with a Super Saiyan 3 Kamehameha and the ability to go Super Saiyan 4. Check him out below.

Goku [GT] will be available on May 9^th for FighterZ Pass 2 holders but you can also pick him up separately. This is an interesting choice, especially given the poor reception to Dragon Ball GT back in the day. Goku [GT] joins the likes of Jiren from Dragon Ball Super and Videl from Dragon Ball Z.

Broly and Super Saiyan Blue Gogeta from Dragon Ball Super are also slated to join the roster but haven’t been dated yet. Who will the final character be? Stay tuned in the coming months. Dragon Ball FighterZ is currently available for Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch and PC with four million units as of March 29th.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4BvekYjs-c

Bandai Namco’s Dragon Ball games have been doing exceptionally well, which happens when you have some great games based on a popular license (just ask Spider-Man about that). In a new press release, the publisher announced that Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, which launched in 2016 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC (and then on Switch in 2017) has now sold 5 million copies worldwide across all platforms. I suppose that justifies the continued post-launch support the game gets.

Dragon Ball FighterZ, the fighting game based on the franchise that Bandai Namco and Arc Systems Works put out last year for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC, has sold 4 million copies across all platforms already, which indicates it actually is selling at a faster pace than Xenoverse 2 is.

Surely, the success of these two games demonstrates the demand for well done Dragon Ball games, and bodes well for the Dragon Ball RPG that Bandai Namco have in the works for later this year.

EVO, the premier fighting game tournament, revealed its lineup for 2019 in a live stream yesterday. This lineup will have nine games, as has been the case of late, and will see the return of Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition, which should have been expected as this has been the case for the last three years straight.

More interesting is the rest of the lineup—Mortal Kombat 11 will be a part of the lineup, as will Dragon Ball FighterZ and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. SoulCalibur 6 gets a peek in as well, as does Tekken 7. On the more niche side, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, Samurai Showdown, and Under Night In Birth have all been confirmed for the stage as well.

Are you noticing what’s missing? For the first time in years, Super Smash Bros. Melee will not be a part of the main lineup. For years, it has continued to be showcased at the event, even alongside Super Smash Bros. 4. However, this year, it has finally been retired in favor of Ultimate, which suggests that there is a push to make Ultimate the successor to it all around.

For those of you who are curious, Street Fighter 5, Dragon Ball FighterZ, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be the Sunday games this year.

Dragon Ball fans who also like video games (so all of them), you folks have some pretty exciting stuff to look forward to. Bandai Namco is teasing some upcoming information for Dragon Ball games on its Twitter account, promising “BIG news” and “BIG reveals”.

I don’t necessarily know if any new games will be revealed here, because Bandai Namco explicitly specifies Dragon Ball FighterZ and Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 in the tweet. I have to assume that a new season of DLC may be announced. The downloadable content for Xenoverse 2 has especially been exceptionally fantastic—Bandai Namco should be lauded for how well they have supported that game—so assuming something along those lines for this event too seems to be a safe bet.

The actual live stream will be held from 4-5PM PST on January 14, and will be broadcast live on Twitch (plus, of course, you can also tune in to GamingBolt for all the latest information and reveals). Dragon Ball FighterZ is out now on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC, as is Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2.

You have 4 DAYS to prepare! If you're a fan of #DRAGONBALL games tune into our #twitch livestream on Jan. 14 from 4-5PM PST! There will be BIG reveals, BIG news and BIG interviews with the producers of Dragon Ball FighterZ and Xenoverse 2. Watch it here: https://t.co/igEOC94nW8 pic.twitter.com/ODmbAtVq30

— Bandai Namco US (@BandaiNamcoUS) January 10, 2019