Everyone loves a good anime or gaming convention. It’s a time to remind ourselves that there are plenty of others out there with similar likes and loves. The same happens with the fighting game community where there are multiple big events for each title throughout the year (The Capcom Pro Tour, Tekken World Tour, etc) but the big E3/Summer Games Fest for fighting games is EVO in Las Vegas. Last weekend was this years EVO and here’s some of the highlights you might have missed. I’ve included links to clips/trailers so you can enjoy as well!
The Cell Yell is back! – EVO hasn’t been on for a few years due to COVID and there’s something to be said about hearing a room of gamers all screaming at the top of their lungs matching a character into. Some video game reveals wish they had this level of enthusiasm.
SonicFox winning Skullgirls 2nd Encore – SonicFox is one of the best players in the Fighting Game Community and it was fantastic to see him come back to Skullgirls and take the win. Fighting game tournaments can have massive upsets in who goes on to win as the loser brackets allow for strong fighters to come back to the Grand Finals but SonicFox clinched the title and it was fantastic to see!
Crossplay for KOF15, Rollback netcode for Samurai Showdown and a new GAROU in production – I’m not the biggest fan of SNK but the announcement of KOF15 getting Crossplay which would essentially fix the online matchmaking issues the game has (check out that review here) and Samurai Showdown getting rollback fixing the online (check out that review here) is just super to all fans of those games. GAROU Mark of the Wolves has needed a sequel for years so this was incredible to hear.
The MELTY BLOOD Type Lumina Grand Finals – I’m a fair bit behind on Melty Blood as a series but you don’t need to have a deep understanding of this anime fighter to appreciate a good match. This was intense. The back and forth between Jing and Masoma was so incredible that you’ll be watching to the last second to see who wins. There was great fights at the Mortal Kombat 11 and Granblue Versus finals but Melty Blood for me was the most intense.
A Tekken Teaser – The Tekken fights are always worth watching, I personally enjoyed watching the Loser Finals more than any other. Tekken at a pro-level is like watching two boxers go at it and the teaser for a new Tekken was genius. We’ll likely see more at the Game Awards but there’s definitely a mood in the air that Tekken 8 is finally coming. If you want to see why Tekken 7 is still popular then keep an eye on the next World Tour.
Street Fighter 6 Kimberly & Juri revealed – The Street Fighter 5 finals were to be expected, they’re pretty great and worth a watch. If you’re into Street Fighter 5 you already know Ryan Hart had some great games that were worth a look to see. The big shocker was that we didn’t get the reveal of Cammy for Street Fighter 6 that everyone expected but a new character and the return of Juri! The hype for Street Fighter 6 continues and it just looks fantastic.
ROLL BACK FOR DRAGON BALL FIGHTERZ!!! – This was amazing to hear. After an intense grand final where every member of staff and player was pushed to their limits and time getting away from everyone there was one last announcement to make. The translator didn’t need to say it, we all heard the word ‘rollback’ and the streams and crowd exploded into cheers. Dragonball FighterZ is incredibly fun despite its janky netcode and the shift to rollback is going to make this the top tier fighter. It’ll only be for Series X/S and PS5/PC but this isn’t a massive shock.
Bridget is back! – I really want to enjoy Guilty Gear Strive (check out why I struggle with the PS4 version here) and the fact the game is still going from strength to strength is great to hear (hopefully a port to Xbox is in the works) The news Strive had sold 1 Million copies was very welcome as was the result of the grand finals. What’s been more delightful to see with Bridget coming back to Strive is the story mode finally confirmed that Bridget is trans. No more femboy or trap and all the story baggage. Guilty Gear Strive is a great game to play if you’ve a PlayStation 5 or PC so definitely check it out!
Sadly no MVC2HD announcement but what was your EVO 2022 moment?
ElderlyGoose 