ASB League Groups E and F Full Fights

I didn’t pick up on it before, like most of the time with these, but now I know why Hermes seems less geared towards overuse of her stand. It’s not because she’s not going hog wild with it. It’s because unlike a lot of the other stands that have ORAORA that the user fires off, KISS attacks to enhance what Hermes is doing. If she slide kicks, which you’ll see a lot, KISS will too. If she punches, it will and maybe follow up with a short combo. I actually think that works and looks better in general.

I’m a little busy today, so I can’t come in with my full “pretend I know what fighting games are” analysis at the moment, but I wanted to post the video since that’s the important part.

ASB League Groups E and F Highlights Reel

And with this, the tournament is closed. All the results are in and the real tournament can begin unless there’s going to be some last minute entries. I remember hearing something about that.

Group E

Poor Joseph. If this was Part 3 you, you might stand a chance since you’d have Hermit Purple. Unfortunately, stand users are supreme unless you have enough projectiles and your machine gun is a super. And you have to fight freaking Narancia this time. Narancia was one of the characters I was concerned about because of the Part 5 game. In that, Aerosmith was ridiculous because it could stop everyone, except Ghiaccio, in their tracks by flying in a circle and firing bullets. I was worried that Narancia was going to be exactly like that, an impenetrable wall of bombs and bullets.

But it’s not all lost. This group does buck one of the trends.

No one sweeps this time! Everyone suffers at least one loss, and there’s a distinct upset. I mean, other than how upset I am that, even with no sweep, Joseph got completely shut out, or that I’m upset that I was right about Narancia being the harbinger of RC Airplane Death. It’s that Hermes manages to sneak a win against Narancia of all people, being the one blemish on his record.

To that end, Hermes is now one of my favorite picks. Not because she beat Narancia specifically, but because her fighting is geared towards more aggressive and upfront fighting. More specifically, she’s a stand user that doesn’t seem to fight mostly by doing stand shoot and inching closer to do more stand shoots. She even has a nice counter move. It’s refreshing.

JoJolion Josuke is the other exception. He has some nice combos, though he is a little overly reliant on his break dance spin. There are some times where he goes for the ORAORA, notably in his fight with Akira, but he does use some nice combinations of moves that make him look pretty good. We get to see plenty of his ultra where he steals your site, which doesn’t makes as fun use of the game mechanics as I thought, but blanking the screen after that move is used would be more annoying than anything.

Narancia and JoJolion Josuke move on to the final 16.

Group F

I didn’t get the big group shot for this one, so I went with the picture of what ends up being probably the worst fight since Johnny and Hol Horse. This is not a game for projectile users that aren’t Caeser, so most of their fight is them standing on opposite sides of the map taking potshots at each other. I do think that has to do with the AI, for what it’s worth.

The group is Cars, Kakyoin, Mista, Okuyasu, and Diavolo. It’s another grouping of stand users with one non-stand user. I expected the Group E result again since Cars isn’t Caeser, but this is the group for bucking trends even more.

Not only are there no sweeps, there are no shut outs either. Everyone manages to win at least one fight. This is because projectiles are the losers paths and everyone is able to stomp all over Mista except for Kakyoin. Like I said, they spend most of the match taking easy potshots at each other. Kakyoin was able to do ok in his other matches because he can fight at long to mid range, but he let Mista fight at long range the whole time. That’s why he was able to pull out a win and not be this group’s shut out.

Also, Cars kicks some ass without ever going Ultimate Lifeform and defying my expectations by being a finalist with no projectiles or stand. He and Diavolo are on top because they managed to fight the same way of getting in close. Only Kakyoin was able to keep Cars reasonably at bay. Okuyasu sort of fought the same way, but he wasn’t really able to pull anything off because he seemed to keep trying a charge move, like Jotaro and Star Finger, but kept getting interrupted, like Jotaro and Star Finger. He also seems a bit slower than Cars and Diavolo, and that doesn’t help.

Diavolo and Cars move on to the final 16. I’m not sure when it is they’ll be broadcasting the fights from them, but it’s 15 fights in total. We’ll also get to see the return of our top popular competitors Johnathan, DIO, and Josuke. Keep an eye on the UStream.

(Thanks to JoJo F2C for posting. You can also watch the vidoes there if you prefer it to Polsy or if the Polsy links go down.)

The Bruno, Narancia, and Diavolo Famitsu Special with New Stages and Mode Reveals

That was nice and speedy. The Famitsu special for Part 5 characters is out with all the moves ready. And of course, there’s a generous translation from over on Dustloop. As last time, I’ll post the character pictures, their taunts, their Great Heat moves, and any extras, so feel free to open the link in a new window and read along.

Bruno Buccellati (Noriaki Sugiyama) and Sticky Fingers

A character featured in part 5. Though initially an enemy of Giorno’s, he has taken a liking of Giorno’s “Dream” and invited him in his team. Buccellati himself is a calm, level-headed leader of the team who earned everyone’s trust. His Stand, Sticky Fingers, has the ability to create a zipper on any object it hits to take it apart.

Command move: Closing zipper!
Buccellati can move quickly while his Stand is off thanks to this move. By holding onto the zipper on the ground, he is able to quickly zip back and forth around the battlefield. Moreover, thanks to being low to the ground, he can dodge projectiles and other attacks. While moving this way, you can perform “Looks like I’ll have to dispose of him!”.

Command move: Looks like I’ll have to dispose of him!

Command move: Over there!
A punch with great range from the zipper!

Command move: Ariariariari
Buccellati’s Stand unleashes a flurry of punches!

Command move: Opening zipper!
Buccellati attacks the enemy with a zipper in the ground.

Command move: Bloody bastard
By unzipping his own arm and that of his Stand’s, Buccellati can attack the enemy from far away.

Command move: I already realized that, too!
Buccellati and his Stand punch the ground simultaneously. The hand emerges from the zipper far away, hitting the enemy from an unexpected angle!

Command move: This isn’t my “Arm”

Normal throw: This has already become a “Torture session”.

Taunt

Heart Heat Attack: Are you ready? I will do it.
Buccellati grabs the enemy and falls into the space below the zipper along with them. Both players then erupt out of another hole and hit the ground. This move deals a lot of damage, though it deals some damage to Buccellati, too.

Great Heat Attack: Arrivederci
After being launched into the air with the Stand, the enemy falls underground through the zipper. The Stand quickly erupts from underground and unleashes a brutal “Ariari” combo! Finally, they are blown away with the last hit, as Buccellati says “Arrivederci” (goodbye).

Unique: The Chance of Fate is giving him another chance from “Heaven”
Bruno will have the unique ability that, at zero health one match away from losing, he can stagger up and fight again with a little health. It’s reminiscent of Bruno in the original being able to continue on past his final limit, and he will strike the appropriate pose.

Narancia Ghirga (Yuuko Sanpei) and Aerosmith

A character featured in part 5. One of Buccellati’s subordinates. Though he may seem innocent and unreliable, he has great spiritual power when it comes to protecting his friends, allowing him to face any danger head-on. His Stand, Aerosmith, takes shape of a plane that can attack with bombs and machineguns. It also has the power of detecting carbon dioxide, allowing Narancia to attack targets he can’t even see.

Command move: Can’t run away!
The Stand is summoned after a punch, firing machineguns.

Command move: I’ll make you talk!
Narancia raises his left hand upwards, letting his Stand fly and fire machineguns diagonally upwards.

Command move: If I can’t shoot, then I won’t
The Stand charges the opponent, cutting them with the propeller.

Command move: Take flight!
While in Stand mode, Aerosmith flies around the screen. You can follow it up with “Go, over there!” and “It’s worth shooting the hell out of you!”.

Command move: A beehive!
Aerosmith continuously shoots bullets with his machineguns.

Command move: Disappear!
Aerosmith drops a bomb, damaging the enemy with the explosion.

Command move: Go, over there!
You can change Aerosmith’s flight route with the direction buttons.

Command move: It’s worth shooting the hell out of you!
After traveling the determined route, Aerosmith unloads his machineguns on the enemy!

Throw: How about this! And this!

Taunt

Heart Heat Attack: Get them with the bigger one!
Aerosmith continuously bombs the opponent.

Great Heat Attack: Volare Via!
The Stand unleashes its guns, while Narancia is saying “Volavola…” – of course, ending it with “Volare Via” (have a nice flight).

Diavolo (Morikawa Toshiyuki) and King Crimson

A character featured in part 5. Boss of the gangster organization “Passione”. So no one knows his identity, he usually acts under the guise of a young boy named Vinegar Doppio. His Stand, King Crimson, can see into the future as well as erase time.

Vinegar Doppio (CV: Akira Ishida)
Diavolo’s second identity. A young boy who is deeply loyal to “Boss”. Boss himself takes over the body whenever he wants, but Doppio is not aware that Boss is inside of him.

Command move: It’s over!
A powerful overhead punch with the Stand! When the enemy is hit, they are forced into the knockdown state.

Command move: Time goes on again!
A powerful body blow from King Crimson! By holding down the button, this attack can be made unblockable.

Special move: Your life is in my hands!!

Command move: “King Crimson”!

Step movement: I’ll only skip half a second!
Before Diavolo’s forward step and backstep, he leaves crimson traces of teleportation. The enemy’s attack will never hit him while in this state.

Counter-move: What a meaningless act
A special counter-move that activates right before getting hit by the opponent. Though it costs Heart Heat Gauge, you enter the “Time erasure” mode, able to rewind the enemy’s attack as if it never hit you.

Command move: The time has been erased…!!
While in the “Time erasure” mode, the enemy repeats his attack over and over again, while Diavolo is completely invincible and can do whatever he pleases, moving out of the attack’s trajectory. After a certain amount of time or when you press an attack button, the “Time erasure” mode ends.

Throw: I won’t let you go!

Taunt

Heart Heat Attack: Epitaph
The ability that lets Diavolo see into the future with 100% precision. While in this mode, Diavolo dodges most of the enemy’s attacks automatically with Stylish Action. However, it does not drain his Guard Gauge.

Great Heat Attack: Pinnacle of Eternity
After activating the Great Heat Attack, the enemy’s attack is parried, as Diavolo activates the “Time erasure” mode, approaches the defenseless enemy from behind, and delivers a brutal blow from King Crimson.

Whew, again. Lots and lots of information, and that, again, isn’t even the end of it. They’ve also released a picture of the main menu screen with a list of each menu type. Story, where you play along with the manga story of the character, Campaign, a classic arcade mode, and Versus, Practice, Customize, Gallery, and Option, which are all self evident.

A big, new gameplay element has been put out. Once again, from Dustloop:

ゴゴゴ (rumbling manga SFX) “Rumbling” Mode: When HP is low, this is activated automatically, attack power increases and gauges fill up faster.

Preparedness Mode: Attacks no longer make you wince/flinch. Only 4 characters so far can activate “Preparedness Mode”: Giorno, Bruno, Mista, and Hermes.

I await the balancing arguments that come from only those characters having the incredible no flinching. I’m not sure how it’s activated, but it should also have something to do with health. The Awakening, as it basically is, makes sense.

There’s also a few more stages: The Naples Train Station where Pecci can hit you with his fishhook; Rome where Secco can create mud pits and knock you over.

Finally, they’ve revealed some situation finishes. For Downtown Cairo, you can slam Kakyoin into the water tower. For Dio’s Cairo tower, if you finish him over by the opening in the wall, he’ll be thrown out and evaporate in the sun. For the Wall Eyes, I’m not sure what’s happening, but it involves Joshuu and Yasuho.

All right! We’re at the end of the Par 5 debuts, so we’re ready to move on to the next characters. Come on, F.F. and Valentine. You’ve been keeping me going so far, CC2, but you’re not done with character reveals until the next Part 6 and Part 7 sets. Let’s hope for the best!

(All images from Famitsu. © Famitsu, NamcoBandai, CyberConnect2, Hirohiko Araki, LUCKYLAND Communications, and Shueisha)

Arrivederci and Have a Good Flight. Bruno, Narancia, and Diavolo Confirmed for ASB!

Finally! I’ve been waiting on Bruno since this game was announced. The information is a little lacking this time. I can’t really tell what’s going on in those pictures other than the one of Bruno in the dramatic ducking pose, and I’m not solid enough to completely tell what the quotes next to them are, Diavolo is saying something along the lines of “Truth/Certainty will vanish,” Bruno is calling out defiantly and saying something like, “You’ll never understand my heart,” and Narancia is asking for orders.

But whatever. Bruno! Diavolo and Narancia are cool too. I figured Diavolo because of the Protagonist/Villain set up, which means I’m still expecting Enrico and Funny Valentine before the end of summer, but I was shaky on Narancia. He was ultra powerful during the original Part 5 game, so I was worried they might balk on using him, but if Giorno gets an instant kill, why the hell not?

Well, I found my character. I don’t even care if Bruno ends up being the worst character from a fighting game perspective. I’ll still be playing the hell out of him.

As a bonus, HC has released high quality scans of the Kira, Rohan, and Cars pages with a full blown translation. It’s a lot of material, so I’ll just link you over, but it contains info on the characters, a bit about their moves, and also about the new stage, the Yoshikage Home.

I’m on pins and needles for the next special. Look forward to it.

OPJ Podcasts! “OPJ’s Bizarre Podcast – Part 5: Did We Just Accidentally Write JoJo’s Part 9?”

On the rise to become the ultimate Gang Star, the outfits will be more fabulous than you could have ever imagined!

JoJo’s Year continues with Hirohiko Araki saying “Fuck it,” and finally writing a story about Italy. Vento Aureo! Or Ogan no Kaze! Or Golden Wind.They all mean the same thing. See, JoJo’s is educational about languages and fashion sense.

Download it here!
Send questions, complaints, an requests for autographed body parts here!

ROUND FIVE

DIAVOLO

VS.

BRUNO BUCCELLATI

alsogiorno