Fist of the North Star Nov. 2, 2010! PS3/Xbox360

[Raydeus]

Re: Fist of the North Star Nov. 2, 2010! PS3/Xbox360

Then all I can say is nuuuuuuuu!

Ryu ga Gotoku > All

[jenova_9]

Re: Fist of the North Star Nov. 2, 2010! PS3/Xbox360

Pffft, J9 doesn't actually play games.

that is not true! I plan on buying upcoming Naruto game on PS3, and Fist of the North Star too! Fun fun stuff to do while waiting for FFXIV.

[jenova_9]

Re: Fist of the North Star Nov. 2, 2010! PS3/Xbox360

update!

Official English Website!

Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage | Official Site | TECMO KOEI GAMES

[jenova_9]

Re: Fist of the North Star Nov. 2, 2010! PS3/Xbox360

update! more character videos! :D

Rei
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UKKTE0l_hg]YouTube - FIST OF THE NORTH STAR: KEN'S RAGE - REI'S GAMEPLAY[/ame]

Raoh
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4OKhATntM4]YouTube - FIST OF THE NORTH STAR: KEN'S RAGE - RAOH'S GAMEPLAY[/ame]

Thouzer
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KQ3srilbPA]YouTube - FIST OF THE NORTH STAR: KEN'S RAGE - THOUZER'S GAMEPLAY[/ame]

Toki
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqT2QbdheiQ]YouTube - FIST OF THE NORTH STAR: KEN'S RAGE - TOKI'S GAMEPLAY[/ame]

Shin
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCwibZpfSQA]YouTube - FIST OF THE NORTH STAR: KEN'S RAGE - SHIN'S GAMEPLAY[/ame]

Mamiya
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGRMs-hBacM]YouTube - FIST OF THE NORTH STAR: KEN'S RAGE - MAMIYA'S GAMEPLAY[/ame]

Jagi
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDPjPhH7RYA]YouTube - FIST OF THE NORTH STAR: KEN'S RAGE - JAGI'S GAMEPLAY[/ame]

Kenshiro
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du3ujnPTG9Y]YouTube - FIST OF THE NORTH STAR: KEN'S RAGE - KENSHIRO'S GAMEPLAY[/ame]

[Icemage]

Re: Fist of the North Star Nov. 2, 2010! PS3/Xbox360

How many times in a row can Koei sell the same Dynasty Warriors gameplay with a new paint job?


Icemage

[jenova_9]

Re: Fist of the North Star Nov. 2, 2010! PS3/Xbox360

mew! It's not exactly like Dynasty Warriors! That's like saying Street Fighter and Blazblue are the same gameplay!
Besides, a lot of DW style games are very exciting and fun! Even now, DW Gundam is getting a 3rd sequel! Many enjoy theses styles!

[jenova_9]

Re: Fist of the North Star Nov. 2, 2010! PS3/Xbox360

update!

many good advanced player tips!

For those that think the gameplay is shallow. You are wrong. For those that think the combat is just mashing on square and that's all. You are wrong. For those saying this game lacks depth compared to Sengoku Basara 3. You are wrong. And I'm going to explain just how deep this game can be. In this game you get what you put into it IMO. If you make it shallow and just mash buttons then that's what it will be. If you try to get crazy then the gameplay becomes much faster paced and infinitely more enjoyable IMO.

First let's talk about the most basic advanced trick in the game that speeds the combat and flow of the game up considerably.

Cancelling. There are two types of advanced cancels in Hokuto Musou. One cancel is universal to everyone as far as I know and the other cancel varies from character to character and it's usefulness will vary as well.

The first cancel is the jump cancel. To do it simply press the jump button (X) during an attack. You will instantly cancel from your attack to a jump. Now you are thinking ok, big deal. Yeah, actually it's a huge deal. Think about it. If you are using say, Raoh who has two really good jump attacks and his mobility is rather low then this is great. If you are surrounded and want to clear enemies out quickly you can do a quick couple of hits then jump cancel into his diving knife attack. This jump of attack of his does great damage and has a large AoE radius around him when he lands. This gives Roah even better crowd control capabilities and allows him to conserve Touki for when he really needs it like vs bosses for example.

For the demo chars Rei and Kenshiro it's still good. Kenshiro can cancel combos into his jumping dive kick or ground pound and Rei can cancel into one of his aerial energy slash attacks. Rei in Nanto mode can easily chain into his aerial rave combos or his aerial strong attack with jump cancelling as well making it extremely powerful with Rei.

For those that have the full game in japanese experiment with jump cancelling with other chars. It's an amazing tool.

Pro Tip: Toki is very ill and coughs up blood after doing longer more powerful combos. Try jump cancelling after those combos or powerful attacks. You will be pleasantly surprised by the results.

Ok, so it was just mentioned, but yes some chars can cancel with R1 and grab cancel. Grab cancel is pretty straightforward and it's usefulness will vary depending on who you are using. Judging from Souther's gameplay vids it's going to be amazing with him. Beating on a goon then grab cancel with R2 to grab him then stomp on him and with the last stomp do solid damage to all surrounding enemies. And when you grab someone you are invincible. This gives Souther an extremely safe and reliable way to control crowds without using Touki (meter). It's also good for dealing with officers or bosses that block alot. Ken and Raoh will see use with it because they can run with their grabbed enemy and ram them into others before throwing them. Also great crowd control.

R1 cancel is where things get really awesome. I will only go in-depth with Rei and Kenshiro for this since I only have the demo, but using R1 cancelling as well as jump cancelling is the key to making this game fast paced and fun. Now different characters have different special abilities they can use with R1. Raoh for example can focus his body's Touki (he doesn't actually use his gauge for it though) to strengthen his body giving him Hyper Armor. This will make him immune to many attacks and allows him to blow through mobs with ease. He still takes the damage, but he doesn't go into hit stun. I don't think Raoh cancel his R1 move from anything. But it's still a great move and does alot for his gameplay turning him into a total tank.

Ken and Rei, however CAN cancel into their R1 moves. Ken has two R1 moves. From standing still he will do a backstep. And from moving or pointing the analog in a direction he will roll. Rei has a very interesting technique called Wind Runner. It can serves as an evasive move like a roll, but it can also be used to move Rei in a more strategic position. Maybe into a crowd so he can use a Musou for devastating effects. Or he can use it to move around the screen. When done repeatedly he can move faster then he does running normaly at full speed and Rei is the fastest runner in the game. But with Wind Running he reaches new levels of mobility and speed.

Now why is this useful and how does it speed up the game? Well you know that annoying recovery time on attacks after you perform them? Press R1 and see what happens. Now I ask you, what lag time? Exactly. Using this technique the gameplay and combat speeds up considerably. Any time Ken does his full combo vs Jagi and knocks him up against a wall RC ( short for R1 cancel) after that and then you can immediately wall combo him. You can use it evasively as well. If you are attacking a blocking opponent trying to GB (Guard Break) and you see them try to attack you or grab you then you can RC and Ken will backstep out of harm's way. Even better is if you press square after the backstep, Ken will lunge forward with a downward hook punch and he can combo from there.

If you see a grab coming you can hit R2 to tech it so nothing is inescapable although that set-up means you need to have your eyes open and be paying attention.

Gonna talk more about Rei and by talk I mean go super in-depth. Well at least as in-depth as I can go off of him based on the demo.

So of course any fan of Hokuto no Ken knows that Rei of the Justice Star is a master of Nanto Suichoken. So what does that mean in this game? Well as a Nanto style warrior he has some very unique traits. Rei himself is extremely fast. Judging from the gameplay vids he is the fastest attacker and fastest runner in the game. With his R1 ability Wind Runner he can move over a short distances with bursts of speed. He can do this repeatedly to go even faster then his max running speed with no down time between the dashes. He is also invincible during the dash. He can also Wind Run in the air to do an air dash. Rei has incredible mobility thanks to Wind Runner.

Those are his own unique traits though. He still has many differences from his friend Kenshiro who is a Hokuto style user. Nanto style warriors are like two different chars in one. This is because they have a normal mode and the ability to enter a special mode that we will simply refer to as Nanto mode. In Nanto mode Nanto warriors hit harder and have aerial combos as well as different strong attacks. They have very long and damaging combos in this mode and are very powerful. This of course applies to Rei.

So unlike Kenshiro who has various combos depending on when he hits strong attack in his string and how many times he hit strong, Rei has one combo string and one strong finish that he can end combos with. His combo string is quite long. The longest out of all the characters I think and his strong finisher is a downward spinning slicing attack. Rei also has some decent crowd control. His strong attack has him jump in the air flipping as he does so cutting up foes that get caught in his wake. From there he can do an aerial strong attack which throws out a blade of energy downward. After this Rei can fall back to the ground and RC ( R1 Cancel) to the ground or he can cancel into another strong attack which has him do another flip. Now Rei is able to do a special kind of cancel in this scenario. He can do a Just Frame. A Just Frame is a cancel where on the exact frame of a certain action you are able to cancel into something else. In this case after doing an aerial strong attack where Rei shoots out the energy blade, you can hold triangle and release it when he touches the ground. Timing must be perfect, but when it happens Rei will cancel into his spinning attack, but you will be able to do a downward energy blade after it. You will know you did it correctly when Rei touches the ground and just before cancelling into the spin attack you see the large transparent ripple effect around your character that lets you know you did a cancel. Honestly this cancel is somewhat tough and there are easier more effective combos you can do from this cancel, but its cool way to impress your friends if they are into competitive fighters or like to break combat engines. BTW you can keep this loop up for as long as you don't mess up. So feel free to try to do this for as long as you can to test your timing and see how pro you are. lol.

Rei has many cancel points in his combos. He can RC out of his normal combo at anytime or jump cancel as well. This is good for long ground strings. After doing his normal combo Rei knocks his opponent back as he hops into the air, but RCing after that lets him chase his opponent and continue comboing. Jump cancelling his normal combo isn't too useful, but it's a different story in Nanto mode.

About that Just Frame, that sounds like a type of cancel all the characters have. It's an ability that lets you start charging a strong attack during another action. While you're attacking and holding triangle you'll hear the sound of it charging.

With Mamiya I like to GB with strong attack (arrow) JC in, Use Squarex3, Triangle. This starts the 7 hit ender, and I start charging the arrow again during the 6th hit, then can the 7th with the arrow. The reason for this is most of the time this attack will put the enemy into that weakened state totally freezing them and allowing another full combo of your choice with double damage. Just and example of the strong attack cancel.

If the strong attack doesn't freeze them, you can use her R1 cancel, which is the huge energy shot. But you won't have time to charge it past level 1 really. But one thing you can do here to bosses near a wall is GB strong attack, R1 cancel to energy shot, wall hit. Let them get up and repeat. Try it in boss rush.

Of course, though every character has this cancel type, as you've shown us with Rei, they can all pull of something completely different and awesome.

I'm really glad this thread has taken off, though it seems everyone's playing the English demo. So depending on how many more changes there are, my input based on the Japanese version might not be valid in most cases.

By the way that infinite Kenshiro combo is just like I thought. Use his combo up to the multiple fast punches, and backstep cancel just before the finisher, then use backstep attack to loop it again.

So...much..awesome..stuff...AAAAHHH!!!

Now thanks to the nature of Rei's moves he has several infinites while in Nanto mode. He can do tremendous damage to bosses even without using Musou's. The basic set-up would be ground combo JC aerial combo strong attack JC aerial combo then repeat strong attack JC aerial combo. Another one is just aerial strong attack JC as a starter. A really basic but stupidly powerful loop is aerial strong attack JC rinse repeat. So simple and basic but has huge range, lots of damage and amazing crowd control. Each time you pop your opponent up they will go higher and higher so let them fall a bit with each rep so they don't go too high. But this will let you see how insane the hit box is on the aerial strong attack.

Also Reis musou technique, I forget the name at the moment, but it's the one that he can aim in the air and he looks like hes doing a spinning dance in midair, well this musou can be used in the air. This makes it a great air combo finisher.

[Ufgt]

Re: Fist of the North Star Nov. 2, 2010! PS3/Xbox360

Lol you are kidding me, right? Jump cancelling, R1 cancelling, and just frames? That's not depth at all, and it's not innovative in the least.

Granted, I have a fighting game background and all that stuff is standard. I suppose its innovative for some people?

[jenova_9]

Re: Fist of the North Star Nov. 2, 2010! PS3/Xbox360

Lol you are kidding me, right? Jump cancelling, R1 cancelling, and just frames? That's not depth at all, and it's not innovative in the least.

Granted, I have a fighting game background and all that stuff is standard. I suppose its innovative for some people?

it's innovative for a dynasty warriors flavor game.

The super moves themselves are very innovative and flashy too! no other game has techniques like that, especially being able to switch between them like this and use them against tons of enemies at once!

But anyways expecting too much innovation is overrated. If it isn't broken it doesn't need to be fixed or reinvented.

Mirror's Edge is one of the most innovative games this generation, but that doesn't mean it's nearly as fun as games that reused tried and true formulas that many enjoy.

People who always demand "innovation" will always miss out on a lot of fun and entertainment. What next, you want a game to find new ways to use a controller?


Fist of the North Star is like Dynasty Warriors, but more than that, it's a beat'em up with more tricks, freedom and choices than your typical Double Dragon.

[Icemage]

Re: Fist of the North Star Nov. 2, 2010! PS3/Xbox360

The super moves themselves are very innovative and flashy too! no other game has techniques like that, especially being able to switch between them like this and use them against tons of enemies at once!

Old technique is old. X-men arcade game had this mechanic over a decade ago.

But anyways expecting too much innovation is overrated. If it isn't broken it doesn't need to be fixed or reinvented.

Innovation isn't always great, but the problem is the base gameplay in Dynasty Warriors / Samurai Warriors / Sengoku Basara / Gundam Musou / Fist of the North Star consists primarily of "run around -> running attack -> mash square until you get to use triangle to pull off a finisher that's useful on your character -> if you have enough chi/musou/whatever, activate that as a followup, rinse-repeat". Once in a while you might block.

Don't make me laugh at jumping attacks. None of these games have ever had a reasonably useful jumping attack. Not enough damage per second, and you're a sitting duck in mid-air.

Mirror's Edge is one of the most innovative games this generation, but that doesn't mean it's nearly as fun as games that reused tried and true formulas that many enjoy.

Mirror's Edge is a great idea with somewhat flawed execution. Bad example.

People who always demand "innovation" will always miss out on a lot of fun and entertainment. What next, you want a game to find new ways to use a controller?

Rock Band 3 just gave us a bunch of new controllers, and being an owner, I can attest that it's well worth the investment.

I'm not expecting Dynasty Warriors and its various clones to turn into Ninja Gaiden overnight, but come on... it wouldn't kill them to give us the ability to chain on attacks after pressing triangle beyond stupid air juggles.

Fist of the North Star is like Dynasty Warriors, but more than that, it's a beat'em up with more tricks, freedom and choices than your typical Double Dragon.

So it's a new game that has more tricks than a series that hasn't seen a new entry 15 years? Yeah, that's a GREAT recommendation. >_> Slicing your way through hordes of stupid enemies was fun the first couple of times, but rock-stupid enemy AI and even more rock-stupid player combat combinations that basically boil down to "find the best combo for this character and spam it over and over because the other ones suck" gets old pretty fast.


Icemage

[jenova_9]

Re: Fist of the North Star Nov. 2, 2010! PS3/Xbox360

Old technique is old. X-men arcade game had this mechanic over a decade ago.

X-Men Arcade had the mechanic, but the execution is entirely ENTIRELY different. Each character in X-men arcade only had
one special attack, which acted more like a bomb instead of a cinematic combo.

Also Ken's Rage has a learning/growth system where techniques are learned as you progress each character.
And each character has about 8 unique super moves each! Many with different uses, some AOE, some single target,
and other patterns.

Then there is the Aura system that unlocks more advanced super moves!

They really can't be compared. Xmen Arcade only one attack button, only one special move buton (with extremely limited uses per life.),
and a Jump button. That's it.

Fist of the North Star has a Block/camera button, Aura button, Evade/Roll/cancel button, Grab button, attack 1, attack 2, jump, super.
and the d-pad is used to switch between the different equipped Super Moves.

Innovation isn't always great, but the problem is the base gameplay in Dynasty Warriors / Samurai Warriors / Sengoku Basara / Gundam Musou / Fist of the North Star consists primarily of "run around -> running attack -> mash square until you get to use triangle to pull off a finisher that's useful on your character -> if you have enough chi/musou/whatever, activate that as a followup, rinse-repeat". Once in a while you might block.

This is not a problem at all to millions of fans worldwide that enjoy these type of games! And eventually you can stock up up to 8 super blocks in Fist of the North Star, each technique has different stock costs, but overall, there is plenty more variety than the DW type games of the past.

Don't make me laugh at jumping attacks. None of these games have ever had a reasonably useful jumping attack. Not enough damage per second, and you're a sitting duck in mid-air.

(you are a sitting duck in mid-air in Street Fighter too. All it takes is a dragon punch or another counter.) :p

Jumping attacks in past games weren't as effective as they are in Fist of the North Star. play the demo.
The direct flying attack and the dive bomb attack are great alternatives to attack enemies and finish combos!

Mirror's Edge is a great idea with somewhat flawed execution. Bad example.

No it's a good example. Flawed execution is just an excuse. Innovation can come at a price, and many innovations are never fully realized. I wouldn't even say Mirror's Edge was a great idea, when even the developers weren't exactly sure what to make of it. They thought of technological innovation before fun factor.

It's a big example that innovation isn't worth it if it isn't executed flawlessly.

I'm not expecting Dynasty Warriors and its various clones to turn into Ninja Gaiden overnight, but come on... it wouldn't kill them to give us the ability to chain on attacks after pressing triangle beyond stupid air juggles.

You seem to dependant on grounded combos. This game's combo style is more similiar to games like Marvel vs. Capcom 2, some more advanced combos end up being taken into the sky, then back down, then up again.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT-sVhZcLI4]YouTube - 北斗無雙　希恩Combo[/ame]

So it's a new game that has more tricks than a series that hasn't seen a new entry 15 years? Yeah, that's a GREAT recommendation. >_> Slicing your way through hordes of stupid enemies was fun the first couple of times, but rock-stupid enemy AI and even more rock-stupid player combat combinations that basically boil down to "find the best combo for this character and spam it over and over because the other ones suck" gets old pretty fast.

With an attitude like that, one really can't enjoy much of anything.

um Fist of the North Star has more than one useful combo, attacks and super moves. Plenty of options for different players to play their own way.

Also this game is said to be the one of the hardest DW type games ever, especially when you factor in using undeveloped characters (before unlocking all of their abilities and enhancements), and Hard mode, the big enemies and bosses will definitely give you a challenge. The grunts are meant to be easy for the most part.

But this isn't Ninja Gaiden, it isn't supposed to be. It's more about fun beating hundreds using different interesting characters instead of getting your behind kicked by every single enemy.

DW-type games continue to get sequels and flourish because they are fun, they are great games to many that like its flavors.
And Fist of the North Star really can't be called a reskinned version of DW, because the gameplay and mechanics are actually better than the past DW offerings.

[cidbahamut]

Re: Fist of the North Star Nov. 2, 2010! PS3/Xbox360

(you are a sitting duck in mid-air in Street Fighter too. All it takes is a dragon punch or another counter.) :p

Not really. They've had mid-air blocking since Street Fighter Alpha.

[jenova_9]

Re: Fist of the North Star Nov. 2, 2010! PS3/Xbox360

well people will find fun what they find fun, no matter if others don't find it fun, so it's fun to people who find it fun, okay mew?

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Fist of the North Star Nov. 2, 2010! PS3/Xbox360

Meh, I think my money is better spent on Goldeneye and the PSP remake of Ys III this week, as well as Rune Factory III.