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As of my freshman year, I will be posting content centered around a certain topic. You can expect my blog posts to feature well-written sentences.
Brady Bryan
It has been three years since the best selling Dragon Ball game of all time was released, and since its debut, Dragon Ball FighterZ has made waves in the fighting ge community. Before released, it was preemptively announced to be a staple game at EVO in 2018, and has become extremely popular since then. With such familiar faces recognizable to millions and arguably billions the world over, the game was bound for popularity. However, it is important to analyze what makes this game so beloved three years after its worldwide release, as well as where its shortcomings lie. While most two-dimensional traditional fighting games can range in terms of music and visuals, FighterZ excels in both. In fact, FighterZ flashy and bright display went on to set the bar for future traditional fighting games in terms on how to balance gameplay with stunning, beautifully modeled visuals as well as clever uses of camera angles to make the characters' inputs feel as thought they carry more weight and hit harder. The use of metal music placed intermittently in each track in tandem with the distant, spacey instrumentals and rock music come together to form an impeccable soundtrack. Aside from the "in-your-face" visuals, another very apparent theme that may have laid the foundation for the overall concept for FighterZ is its accessibility. To this day, the idea of simplifying FighterZ's gameplay in comparison to other popular fighting games such as Street Fighter and Guilty Gear is a topic of debate when it comes to a competitive and professional level of performance. Making impactful inputs simple to perform as well as the inclusion of auto-combos allow new characters to pick up the game and learn the basics of two-dimensional fighting games easier than the aforementioned games. However, certain characters such as Ultra Instinct Goku toe the line between accessibility to newcomers and unbalanced gameplay. He is only one example of a character that has too much in his kit which leads to a cheap style of gameplay, and has many players debating (or more accurately, complaining) about how much accessibility is too much. Comeback mechanics are also featured in this game via certain characters as well as a universal mechanic by the name of "Sparking" in which a character recovers health, has access to different combo routes, and deals more damage. The sparking effect increases in potency as the player loses more characters, meaning that it is most effective when a player is down to their last character, allowing them to potential kill one character in a single combo. This too is a topic of hot debate. As for the story, it's extremely bland and unintuitive, though what else is to be expected of a fighting game? Overall, FighterZ is a very good game for those who are looking to dip their toes into the fighting game scene due to its ease of accessibility and low learning curve. New players will be drawn to the popular characters from one of the most famous series of all time, and will stay for the stunning visuals and hardcore music. However, those looking for a game that will challenge them and force them to strategize may feel underwhelmed by the balance choices and simple inputs. Review Score: 3/5
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Brady Bryan
Unless you have been living under a rock, chances are you've had the chance to hear about something called a "V-Tuber." As the name may imply, a V-Tuber is a virtual avatar that makes videos or streams online. Instead of viewing an actual human, the audience sees a 3d or 2d model moving on screen. Most V-Tubers tend to stream themselves playing games, talking freely, or creating some form of media on live streaming services such as YouTube and Twitch. Since mid-2020, V-Tubers are becoming the new craze. It is difficult to track the history of V-Tubers back to their origin. Despite the definition previously given, considering what can be classified as a V-Tuber becomes a technical task. Since V-Tubers were created and popularized by Japan, the first technical V-Tuber was Hatsune Miku, an A.I. idol created to sing and dance, although she is more of an artist than a primary virtual entertainer. Another early V-Tuber goes by the name of Kizuna Ai, who fits the description more accurately. The recent popularity spike can be attributed to her. She could sing, dance, and play video games, though she stood out mostly due to her excitable and verbally explicit nature which contrasted her cutesy image. She became an icon not only in Japan, but overseas as well, leading to merchandise of her being made and distributed. Since then, more V-Tubers have slowly been cropping up over the years, though the concept of V-Tubers remained relatively niche in the grander scheme of online entertainment. That is, until Hololive, a V-Tuber idol agency, came along and popularized the idea even more. Hololive put their own spin on being a virtual liver by incorporating an idol theme, which is extremely popularly in Japan. While Hololive began with only a handful of idols, it soon become the home to nearly 100 members that stream almost every single day. The company and its members gained a large boost in exposure over this past summer, and inspired many others to become V-Tubers. This led to a new sub-category on Twitch and YouTube for virtual livers being created. Now, V-Tubers are more popular than ever despite having a niche fanbase for years. Many of Hololive's members recently hit 1,000,000 subscribers on YouTube, and other independent virtual livers are growing more popular each passing day. Most fans describe getting into V-Tubers as an inescapable rabbit hole that pulls you in further and further until you have no choice but to become a fan. So far, no one has been able to prove them wrong. Recap:
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AuthorBrady Bryan is quite familiar with blogs since he had to frequently post on his blog in 6th grade. Although its been a long time since then, he still knows what a proper blog should look like. Archives
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