Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel

[caiooa]

not sure if those were already in other places, but arcadia is uploading  some videos to their channel

https://www.youtube.com/user/ARCADIAch/videos

[SoWL]

Yeah, those seem to be new, since they're using some of the new Assists, like Yoishi. Great find!

EDIT: Man, that Yoishi setup into command grab makes me wish we had our grappler already. It's also nice to see Ruili do some major damage.

Also, I decided that I'll be adding all the videos I see to my original playlist:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVyPvLn8SrUpsoL1RfGwVOVBD9a-P4tGB

[Chipp12]

New outro, huh? Sadly Ruili didn't win so I couldn't see if she got one too.

[SoWL]

Yeah, I was looking forward to seeing Ruili win, too. Also, I assume this outro has been in the game for a while, since we already had a Vjedogonia intro, and you don't have to put that much effort into making an outro out of it.

[SoWL]

The game is going to be featured on tomorrow's Examu stream, which might even contain first footage of some characters:

http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv210996375

[SoWL]

The stream is over now, and there was less new stuff than you'd expect.

- Ignis and Anna are in the new build, though only Anna was shown in-game, so they might be unfinished. The only moves of hers that they've shown are 5A, Fodere (the sword projectiles) and her dash, which is similar to I-No and the like. She also got her BGM (a remix of Lamentation Doll).

- Muramasa got a new special move: a long-ranged web grab that pulls the enemy in.

- Ein is the first character to get her Lethal Blaze (level 3 super). She jumps off the screen to shoot the enemy with a sniper rifle: you have to aim the crosshair with the stick while the opponent is slowed down. It even has a short anime cutscene on hit!

- They're planning to release the game in Spring, so it can be played at the next Examu Cup in Summer. No word on the next loketest for now.

I'll record the stream when the timestamp is up (couldn't record it while it was running for some reason) and re-upload the relevant parts.

EDIT: Okay, I'm done, check the last seven videos here:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVyPvLn8SrUpsoL1RfGwVOVBD9a-P4tGB

[Keo-bas]

it would make sense for them to put characters from famous franchise that received anime adaptations like chaos;head, stein;gates, robotic;notes...but in those titles nitro+ share copyrights with 5pb. It's not exclusively theirs...it might happen, but the legal part won't be so straightforward

I think its possible since Kurisu and Rimi appear in Phantom breaker series. While Nitro is collaborating with competitor I think it'll be wise for 5pb to let them have one one of their f the two and addition have one of their own ip be guest character. *preferably some one from phantom breaker series*

[sibladeko]

Muramasa looks hype, I'm very glad for that. (she's not a dark elf godamnit)

Select screen looks straight out of Jackie Chan Fists of Fire for the demo.

For that snipe super, I'm thinking you do it during assist to combo, wonder if it's unblockable cause then you'd get really easy setups as well with assist blockstun.

[Sojoro]

Muramasa's new special web grab move is indeed hype-worthy. I do agree with sibladeko on Ein's Level 3 sniper shot. Do hope it is UNB. Call someone with long block stun (e.g. Natsumi, Henri) and then blam. Also love that anime cutscene.

[Chipp12]

https://twitter.com/examu_PR/status/573363776273059841

Looks like there will be some info in the upcoming Arcadia issue.

[SoWL]

https://twitter.com/examu_PR/status/573363776273059841

Looks like there will be some info in the upcoming Arcadia issue.

Huh, weird that no one has posted about it until now, since the magazine has been out since Saturday.

Anyways, I got a virtual copy, and there's not that much info in it, either. It mostly explains the system mechanics, the newcomers from the last loketest, and the comments of the players from those videos on their channel. However, there is also a small interview with Hayashi D, as well as some additional info on Muramasa.

- There are two sample Muramasa combos:

1. 2A 2A 5B 5C 623C (Assist) 66 5B 5C ~

2. 2B 5B 214A jc j.B djc j.B j.E 5B jc j.B j.C 623AB

- There is a screenshot and a short description of Muramasa's second super, Enchant Minus: Magnetic Barrier. It's a super-parry that catches mids, lows and overheads, but doesn't work against projectiles or Assist attacks.

- There is a screenshot of Ignis's idle stance as she's being targeted by Ein's Lethal Blaze.

- They are still making changes to the characters and the system, but you shouldn't expect any new mechanics outside of Lethal Blaze.

- Akane is going to attack with her Dominator, Angela is going to attack with her Arhan, and Mugen is going to have a large-scale attack. Unlike them, Sonico is going to perform with her band instead of attacking.

- Anna and Ignis will be based on their Nitro Royale versions to some extent. Saber is going to be reworked in a way that will make players say "Yes, this is Saber". Ethica is difficult to design, since her game isn't out yet, but you can check out the main visual on its website for a hint (so yeah, DOUBLE CHAINSAWS!).

- They acknowledge the fact that they've announced more characters than there are slots on the character select screen, so you can look forward to some developments on that front.

 

(she's not a dark elf godamnit)

Eh, I'm already used to people looking funny at me when I call her a dwarf.

By the way, it seems like her web grab is blockable even in mid-air. At least she can combo into it.

[Chipp12]

Oh, so it was already out at that time. I just didn't look at that tweet closely (saw April and Arcadia and that was enough for me).

After looking through the match videos I can say that Muramasa is quite strong and moves around quite freely thanks to her threads.

Also I've found funny how they couldn't hit the character with Ein's Lethal Blaze after doing it right while it wasn't moving and found hilarious the Engrish sounding of the "Get Ready" phrase that actually sounds more like "Get Lady".

[IndigoNovember]

found hilarious the Engrish sounding of the "Get Ready" phrase that actually sounds more like "Get Lady".

"Are you ready! I'm a lady!"

[Setsuna]

I'm happy to hear that it's coming in the spring, I hope we don't have to wait TOO long to see it on consoles. I might have my hopes up a bit but I'm hoping for at least a Fall 2015 console release. (In time for CEOtaku or NEC at least)

[SoWL]

Another stream is going to take place this Friday, now featuring such amazing people as Namaniku ATK! Not sure if we're going to get anything new so soon, but it's still new footage.

http://live.nicovideo.jp/gate/lv213311832

[SoWL]

The stream is over, so it's time for another recap.

- The stream got delayed a bit, but we got a good listen to Muramasa's BGM for the wait. Unsurprisingly, it's a MURAMASA remix.

- The game got its poster illustration updated: it now has every single playable character around the old Al and Ein. Interestingly, it also has Sonico and Ouka-chan (!).

- The handouts are now updated with chibi sprite illustrations of game mechanics, including Lethal Blaze (its input is apparently 236236BC for everyone). The illustration for Lethal Blaze is Saya's Song of Saya (what else could she have as her LB, really?).

- There are now 11 slots at the character select screen, even though there are still 16 slots at the Assist select screen.

- Some Assists now have "Recommend" near their names in case you're not sure what fits your character best. There are more than two to choose from, so it's not like the game picks them for you.

- They've shown quite a lot of alternate palettes in their fights, including a black and gold Al, gray Ein, and teal Muramasa.

- Al got a new (old?) special move, The Mirror of Nitocris. She splits into three clones and shatters two of them, similar to Makoto's Asteroid Vision.

- Mora is the second character to get her Lethal Blaze: her good old "Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust" from Nitro Royale. Except that, of course, it's now much more flashy and deals about 3/4 of opponent's health.

- They've shown even more Anna moves (a lot of different projectiles, her 5C sword swing, and the fact that she can cancel her dashes into jumps and air-dashes) and even picked Ignis for the very first time. She's got quite a few of her normals, and she might be a melee charge character?

As always, expect me to reupload all the footage to Youtube today.

EDIT: Here's the new handout, since it won't be in the videos:

DOUBLE EDIT: Sorry guys, seems like there won't be any videos from me today. Kakoroku (the program that downloads Nicovideo streams) did something bad to the sound's coding (I assume it's because the stream stopped for a moment in the middle of airing), and now the video gets off-synced when I try to convert it (and I have to do that because my software doesn't see .flv files). So now I either have to look for new software, do some converting magic with the software I got, or mute the sound altogether. The worst thing is, I'm going to be out of town tomorrow, so I have no time left to do anything like that. What I am going to do is this:

https://www.mediafire.com/?j9lljpd247l1di7

Enjoy the footage, and if you want to upload it to Youtube, be my guest. If no one does, I'll try to do it around Sunday.

Oh, and you can have this as a token of apology:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eqq_62L3Un8

[Sojoro]

Thanks Singer (also for the Muramasa song; going to add it to my collection of Nitroplus music). Daki from KakugeKings has uploaded the full stream. You can still break them down individually still if people want easier viewing that is. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCXjc3BbdTA

 

EDIT: So I watched the whole thing (actually skipped through most matches), and some parts feel very familiar.

 

Anyway, my impressions so far:

 

- I liked seeing Elen's Lethal Blaze again as well as Mora's (very painful to watch).

- I was also very excited to see more footage of Anna (looks like a potential sub for me).

- Finally get to see Ignis, the motherf*ckin protector of humanity. She looks very different from her Royale counterpart, but I'm liking what I see: She's got that ojou-sama walk animation and upon closer inspection, she runs pretty quickly. I'm gonna agree with Singer she might be a charge char. 

- I noticed Al has some sort of new move where she shoots the ground and if it hits, the enemy is trapped in a web of sorts.

 

And that's that for me.  

[SoWL]

- I noticed Al has some sort of new move where she shoots the ground and if it hits, the enemy is trapped in a web of sorts.

She actually had it for a while already, but this is the first time she actually landed it. Speaking of which, it's in a bit of a weird spot right now: in this part of the stream, Al misses it despite Ruili clearly being on the ground. I assume it's because Ruili was still in hit stun, but does that mean that Atlach-Nacha is a command grab despite having varied range? I'm not sure a command grab with such slow start-up and detached hitbox is going to be that good, but then again, she can probably try combining it with Yoishi, like Ein.

[Sojoro]

She actually had it for a while already, but this is the first time she actually landed it. Speaking of which, it's in a bit of a weird spot right now: in this part of the stream, Al misses it despite Ruili clearly being on the ground. I assume it's because Ruili was still in hit stun, but does that mean that Atlach-Nacha is a command grab despite having varied range? I'm not sure a command grab with such slow start-up and detached hitbox is going to be that good, but then again, she can probably try combining it with Yoishi, like Ein.

 

That looks like a very strange command grab if it is. I think we all need to see more footage of it. As for Elen's command grab with Yoishi, my impression of that combination is pretty decent, but the start-up of the dash isn't going to be very helpful in the long run when players develop counter-measures against it. 

[Keo-bas]

I'm happy to hear that it's coming in the spring, I hope we don't have to wait TOO long to see it on consoles. I might have my hopes up a bit but I'm hoping for at least a Fall 2015 console release. (In time for CEOtaku or NEC at least)

With examu's track record I wouldn't hold my breath for timely console release or a release at all.

[SoWL]

As much as I'd like to disagree, that's a fine point. It toom Examu six months to port their games to PS2, but the quality wasn't too high, while the PS3 era games took around a year even with ASW's support. And, of course, Daemon Bride got no port at all, but I believe NitoBura's fan appeal is good enough to give it better chances. There's also the fact that the game is likely to launch with 8 characters with the rest added later down the road, so they might not be able to work on the port until the roster is complete (even if the characters and the port are developed by completely different people). Overall, I believe we're going to be very lucky to get the game on our hands this year, which is yet another reason for me to take another trip to Japan in Summer.

 

Speaking of releasing the game with 8 characters, that means they don't have much left to do before getting a fine release candidate: just finish Anna and Ignis and give everyone their Lethal Blaze (might be the most time-consuming aspect, even though the cutscenes aren't that long). Though to be honest, I'd like them to at least give us more stages on top of that: just four is not enough no matter how you look at it, especially since they're so bland.

[fruits_punch95]

I hope it gets a console release, I mean the characters are popular in Japan and if they add more chars the chances to get the console release may increase.

[BlueXIII]

I genuinely hope we get this game in the States, but I can't say I'm holding my breath, either. I always forget how frustrating the whole politics of Japanese fighting game localization is.

 

And there is no way this game is only going to have four stages by completion. Not even with the lowest budget would any fighting game have the gall to do something that jarring.

[TAI-X]

JAST holds exclusive rights to all Nitro+ IPs in the US, except for the Science Adventure games that are jointly owned by 5pb. Considering that JAST is a skeleton crew with around 3 full-time employees, it would probably be a trivial matter for another publisher to work out a deal with them to localize Blasterz. The question is whether Aksys (and it would almost certainly be them) will consider it worth the investment - I don't think Aquapazza's US release was remotely a success.

 

Examu was teasing the possibility of porting Daemon Bride to PC a while ago, but I doubt anything will ever come of it.

[9:02 PM]

As far as competitive play goes, all we really need is console release anyway. A localisation would be cool, but not necessary for us to decide the destiny.