The EVO 2018 Fighting Game Funtime Fiesta -- ARCADE EDITION

Well, I didn’t think I’d be doing this again so soon.  But since every fighting game company under the sun decided to drop megaton after megaton within the past few days -- with the characters to show for it -- in a desperate bid for exposure, attention, love, and those sweet, sweet FGC dollars, here we are again.

Let’s do this lickety-split.  Because apparently, gamers have nothing better to do than devote their lives to whatever game has the shiniest addition to it.

Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Switch-mas!

I mean, granted it’s not Christmas yet -- assuming you’re reading this on upload day instead of that hallowed holiday -- but it’s close enough.  It’s the highest without going over.  Also, we’ve apparently been in Christmas Mode since…I don’t know, before Halloween.  So it’s fine.

Anyway, 2017.  What a year.  Not what I’d call the best year in terms of politics and global events (and let’s leave it at that), but man.  Games on games on games.  Remember that borderline-lethal deluge of games in the first third of the year?  And I say borderline, but it wouldn’t surprise me if people actually bit the dust because of what dropped.  Persona 5, Nier Automata, Yakuza 0, Nioh, Resident Evil 7, and more -- with personal props going to Tales of Berseria, the secret top-tier RPG I’m only mildly butthurt about vis a vis its inevitable overshadowing by higher-profile titles.  But part of the reason we had this deluge is because Nintendo chose to release the Switch in March.  And boy, is it a doozy.

I’m not going to spend any time raving about Breath of the Wild because of course it’s the GOTY.  Instead, I’m going to focus on four other Switch games I’ve put some time into -- and I hope you do, too.  Make yourself or some friend or relative happy…which to be clear can be done just by giving them a copy of ARMS.

Don’t worry.  I won’t talk about ARMS any more in this post.

Tekken 7 X Injustice 2 -- Wait, What?

Breaking news: 2017 still refuses to calm the hell down with this onslaught of game releases.  Setting aside the fact that there’s a new Zelda out an about -- as a herald to a new freaking console -- there have been multiple JRPGs, multiple action-adventure games, and multiple open-world sandboxes.  That’s putting it mildly.  That’s not even close to a complete list.  So, like, if ever there was going to be a way to wipe humanity off the map, it wouldn’t be with something like The Black Plague 2: Black Plague Harder.  It’d be with a bunch of video games.

And now, as of the start of June, the game industry is doubling down with some brand new fighters.  Well, you could argue that it’s quadrupling down with a new version of Guilty Gear and updates to Street Fighter V, but for argument’s sake let’s keep it simple.  NetherRealm Studios dropped Injustice 2 a couple of weeks back, and now -- after a long wait -- Bandai Namco has brought Tekken 7 to the west.

So I guess I’ve got to talk about both of them.  Or die trying.

…I might just die in general, though, because THERE’S SO MANY GAMES OUT THERE RIGHT NOW, HOLY SHIT.

A Big Dumb List of Games I Want to Play

All right, show of hands: how many of you reading this has a backlog of games whose size routinely leaves you in the depths of despair?  Don’t be shy.  It’s fine to admit it.  I’m in just as deep as anyone else.

I’m a lover of video games -- and a connoisseur of them, if you want to give me even a shred of credit.  I write about games to try and show what the medium can offer; that usually means that I have to derail and talk about the garbage that plagues the medium, but every so often I get the chance to sing praises about this mechanic or that story.  The problem is twofold, as you’re likely all too aware.  First: there are a lot of games out there nowadays, and anyone who wants to play them all has a massive task ahead of them.  As if that wasn’t bad enough, there’s the second issue: it seems like a pretty big percentage of games these days require a pledge that runs deeper than wedding vows.

Want to see everything Metal Gear Solid V has to offer?  Cool!  Say goodbye to 50 hours of your life!  Want to get comfortable with Kum Haehyun in Guilty Gear Xrd?  Better get ready to hit the Training Mode dozens of times so you can maybe win hundreds of matches online!  In my case, I’m putting time into Tales of Berseria and Final Fantasy 15 -- two JRPGs, which means that (as per the genre) I’m going to be out 100 hours even if I power through them both.  Not the most enticing prospect.

So you know what?  Let’s do something different.  Here’s a big dumb list of games I want to play.