Bloody Roar General Discussion

Reviving this thread because the Bloody Roar 4 Retrospective is up!

Pull up a chair and grab some popcorn, because this beast is 2 hours long!

edited 23rd Jul '15 10:00:19 AM by Hoarseplay

I'm also revving this thread for some pondering about what might be the downfall of BR.

I think that BR4 was not the point where everything goes downhill, it just accelerated it. I think after BR2, the signs of decay started. 2 has an awesome story which continues from 1, which is about the struggles between the Zoanthropes and the Tylon Foundation. But after that...? It's like They Just Didn't Care anymore about the story. What kind of link does Xion have to Tylons anyway? Sure he has tremendous powers, but I just feel like he's not that heavily linked to any of the existing characters. This began a downward spiral to story and characterization, with how the next characters would start having nothing to do with Tylon and looking like appearing out of nowhere (Cronos, Ganesha, Nagi, Reiji, Ryoho & Mana... and they REALLY underplayed the Kohryu-Bakuryu angle) and the thinnest link they had are just with Xion, and that's just at 4. It's like they're just setting it up that the veterans are just in for the ride and just to make sure that the fans know that "This is a Bloody Roar game!". Basically the fault is that the storyline is structured in a way that you can just remove every of the BR1-BR2 veterans and it can still go on as it is, which is... not a good way.

Now come to think of it, I think that's a reason why of all the people, regardless of her being designated as a Mary Sue, I still tolerate Nagi a little bit more. She's the only one who has links with the veterans, even if it's just faint and not handled well. It's still there.

Oh and there's also the inexplicable change in Alice. I mean, people MIGHT have just dismissed it as She's All Grown Up, but she just looks like a whole different person altogether. IIRC, Alice has a lot more spunk rather than the mellowed down version seen in Extreme/Primal Fury to 4. Not to mention, earlier, Alice has blue/black hair and all of the sudden she's a brunette. How the hell do you explain that, She's All Grown Up doesn't work that way. (Also not sure about this, but... I thought in 3 Shenlong looks like he's an all new character bearing the same name and style with the ex-leader of Tylon in 2. How)

My say is that if we want to pinpoint where They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot, the starting point isn't 4, but 3, when changes are made, Tylon stuffs becoming irrelevant (anyone remember when Busuzima was BOTH goofy and menacing?) as exemplified with the diminishing stuff on Kohryu and the focus going on around Xion, someone who has no links on Tylon but still presenting a bigger threat on its own? (Bringing back Fox, who was at least a Tylon assassin, could have been a better option!) Of course, 4 is still guilty for not fixing those problems and turning back, but instead escalating it further, but I'd say everything began in 3 and it just gets worse and worse. The only saving grace 3 and PF might have are the gameplay, but at that point, I think it already painted a bleak future.

What do you guys think?

edited 20th Dec '15 9:55:16 PM by ChrisX

Even when I was a kid I realized that the writing was totally inconsistent between the games. The first two claimed that the Tylon Corporation made the Zoanthropes and used them as super-soldiers and science experiments, whereas Bloody Roar 3 changes it into being something supernatural and mystical in nature, hence why the Tabula was killing them off via some type of curse. And afterwards, the supernatural explanation stuck. The same thing happened with the characters; Uriko and Uranus went through quite a few retcons, several characters from the first game were never used again, (would've been cool to bring back Greg the Gorilla), and Xion, Chronos and Ganesha got introduced, who were supernaturally created Zoanthropes, not bioweapons.

And then there's the lack of balance, which is what can truly kill a fighting game franchise. I recall that in Bloody Roar 1 Alice was totally OP and capable of stun-locking and juggling an opponent to death easily, while other characters had poor moves and slow attacks, making for a imbalanced roster. And that was never truly fixed, because in Bloody Roar 3 Uriko took her place, being a ridiculously easy character to spam basic combos with. I never got the chance to play the games beyond those, but from what little I've heard the plot was arguably the lowest priority after the third.

So.. between having a nonsensical story, unbalanced characters, and nowhere near as much polish in comparison to other fighting games, it's not hard to see why the franchise died.

Thought the balance stuff was kind of fixed in 2. Kind of. A reason why that entry is a fan favorite.

Now that you explained it, the Tabula thing could have worked, but it's built in such way that... you really aren't just giving quite a damn. Xion could have worked well as a character, but by the time in his debut... really, just who is linked with him in a more personal manner? At least back in 1, Uriko has links with at least Alice and Mitsuko, whereas while Gado was the Final Boss in 2, the baddies have links to each other, in between Yugo & Bakuryu towards Busuzima (tailed behind by Stun), or Long and Shenlong. When Xion came, he absolutely has nobody, he's just like this... 'generalized villain'. Uranus seemed like she's just an afterthought and her being Uriko's old form is not touched again, and as I've mentioned, Kohryu and Bakuryu went unexplored. And after this, the new cast just get dropped in for no reason in breackneck speed like they are Giant Space Flea from Nowhere without actually giving the old cast a reason to get involved and instead relegated to being there just so the fans know we're in the Bloody Roar verse.

In BR2, while the plot was not top priority, it's still a carefully woven one, another reason why it's a fan-favorite. It has a simpler form of story mode seen in Guilty Gear and BlazBlue, even if it's not complex, it's something. It makes me feel that when they make a jump to PS2, there's a different team working on it under Hudson/Eighting...

Well in 2 Alice had her qcf+K loop during Beast Mode...

I played a bit of 2 to know that Mitsuko is some background character now. Because clearly no one likes buff or stocky females and I'm in the minority.

Also, did they kill Fox off between 1 and 2, though? I don't see him anywhere...

The only confirmed casualty is the original Bakuryu, who's turned to goo. Fox ended up killing his/her mother, regretting it big time and then just vanishes, but not dead.

FYI Fox is a dude, he just dresses up as one really screwed up shemale. And while no official answer was ever given, I think it was implied he snapped and committed suicide after killing his mom.

edited 20th Dec '15 10:53:10 PM by SgtRicko

The answer is... The writers were clearly inspired by GUYVER and XMEN

Hell Xion is pretty much a walking Guyver/Zoanlord reference -Nagi is a Kasumi/Witchblade reference-

However either the writer's changed or they had a life perspective flip... or they decided they wanted to go in a different direction.

So you had the whole spirit of the earth context thrown in.

If you were to continue from what 2 built.

Xion is a high ranking member of the Tylon corp, who would claim he is the 'Adam' of the Zoanthropes. with Uriko/Uranus' progenitor being the 'Eve'

Uranus is keeps her Wandering Mewtwo stick.

edited 20th Dec '15 11:10:34 PM by FrozenWolf2

Their mistake, then. Because going to a different direction THAT sudden is... well, it just won't end well...

Even so, there's also the pitfall of making Xion look more like a 'general threat to everyone'. Now if he could have done something more 'personal' to one of the older cast, it could make the fans more invested. I've given you some examples on 2.

edited 20th Dec '15 11:15:31 PM by ChrisX

Reviving a thread no one cares about! lol.

Was Jehnny really hated? She was my favorite character to play.

As a replacement scrappy for Fox I guess.

So much for him and Greg though.

Eh, is true Fox was more interesting with his story and all, but Jehnny was a more fun character to play as. I think she is more of a Base Breaker than anything, since I know a lot of people who have fond memories of her.

Well I'm guessing the main reason some people consider Jenny to be the "replacement" of Fox is that she has taken some of Fox's moves.

Hudson were probably dead set on removing Fox from the storyline regardless because of his gender issues.

IT might be out of place but G from Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition looks very similar to Greg the Gorilla https://www.eventhubs.com/news/2017/dec/11/wait-street-fighter-5-season-3s-new-character-g-actually-greg-bloody-roar/

Everyone says that a new hypothetical Bloody Roar game should be a Reboot. i think it should be a sequel with a 5-15 years time skip from Bloody Roar 4.

Could always try making a proper sequel to the 2nd game given how good it was

Anyone else got their own hypothetical voice cast for if we get either a new game or a remake/reboot/whatever? Because I've got everyone except Fox down for a hypothetical remake of the first game so far... and since She's a Man in Japan I have no idea who I want.

I'd just have as many of the Primal Fury cast reprise their roles, tbh.

I dunno, I feel we could go bigger and better. But since this is coming from a girl who's only ever seen gameplay on YouTube and never even owned, let alone played, a single game in the series, and since it seems no one wants to hear my ideas, I guess I'll just leave it alone.

Primal Fury's voice cast was more or less the closest thing Bloody Roar had to an All-Star Cast with many being professional VA's and everything which was almost unheard of for fighting games at the time. Talents included Quinton Flynn, Lex Lang, Michael Bell, Cam Clarke, Jennifer Hale, Vanessa Marshal, Paul Eiding, etc. Really if whoever owns the BR license was somehow able to secure a union dub, this would be an amazing cast to have.

indeed. IF there will be a new bloody roar, then i would like the dub to include both Bang Zoom voice actors and Funimation voice actors.

edited 1st Jun '18 6:04:20 AM by Wazzupguys

Ganeplay wise: it went downhill in 4. Plot wise: it went downhill in 2.

Primal Fury was the only Bloody Roar game that I owned, since I didn't own a PS1 or PS2. God I loved Stun.

edited 30th May '18 9:39:15 AM by danime91

I remember cheesing my through Bakuryu's story mode using her flip over move

"You know what could have sunk the franchise further? Robots." As in like Dural from Virtua Fighter or as in actual Robots?