Hardcore for Hardcore sake.
Well, i have played this game on day one of launch. I being essentially a newbie to the franchise (except for a rental of the game 10 years ago) i jumped in on Marvel vs Capcom 3. Immediately opting in for the online. I won my first game due to pure button matching and remembering to quarter circle at all times. But every game after that was a loss, or failed to connect. The game looks great and had taken me by surprise with a few simple things.
Presentation.
The game looks amazing. The cel shaded look works and allows all characters to look decent. There colours come through nicely and no one is oddly shaped. The environments, particulary the parade level, really are enjoying to see and come a long way from the clown head circus level found in MvsC2. Every level is appealing eye candy, it just saddens me that there are not that many to begin with. With such a large set of characters with there own worlds it would have been easy to build many levels offering great variety. Fortunately, the gameplay in the foreground is so colourful and well animated that you will never notice the scenery. Not when the screen is covered in colourful energy beams, swords slashes and fast, swift and smooth movements by the characters. The game looks amazing, cel shading will make sure this game does not get out of date anytime soon.
The music in game can be one of two things, a sweet remix or just the thing playing the backround. The infamous "take you for a ride" theme is back but as remixes. These remixes will switch up at the character select screen and pop up elsewahere. I found myself bobbing my head to the more rock and roll version then the electronica(which is my real world preference). One interesting setting is the ablility to switch the main menu music from the default electronica to an epic orchestrated version. This version is a good deal more awesome but its already started to grate on me. One touch that really did it for me was that each team member will call there team mate when they switch out. Seeing this happen brought a smile to my face and is really cool to see happen and further investigation found that you can change the individually languages to capcom characters in the options. For example, Zero's voice was stupid in english, he is now japanese. Everyone else was fine in english. This sort of thoughtfulness for the fans does not fall on deaf ears(get it? we are talking about sound, lol). In conclusion the music is fine, and the little tidbits of voice work in the game will please fans and not grate on anyone elses nerves.
Gameplay
Gameplay is smooth. I have garbage internet, and capcoms technology made sure that i have no hitches online and made it so i can do what i want off or online. The new buttons, which are reminicant of tatsunuko vs capcom, is perfectly workable. The analog stick on the other hand offers some issues. I find that i cant get a lot of specials off because the inputs i am required to make are to precise to complete. I am able to do the quarter circle fine, but when im asked to do RIGHT, DOWN, RIGHT-DOWN DIAGONAL, i struggle. This is not the games fault per say, one could easily argue its just my inaccuracy, but if a hardcore gamer who has dealt with similar directional inputs in other games is having a lot of trouble, then something may be wrong. But for the most part, the basic and flashy combos are easy and can be done, its just the more difficult combos that may cause the struggle. One genius gameplay addition has to be simple and normal modes at the character select screen. I played with my young sister, who is not at all adept at fighting games, in normal mode (both of us chose that setting). When we played, i easily trumped her. I already saw the face ppl make when they get totally destroyed and are about to give up. But i asked her to try simple mode( i stayed on normal). After which she beat me. I did not feel cheated, and she then lost in the next round, which shows she wasn't too overpowered. This addition should make non gamers much more relaxed and have them have more fun.
The thing is, for those who want to be hardcore, the game offers no help to those who may need it to improve. If you want to learn about the basics (which I didn't know), you would have to rely on sites like http://wiki.shoryuken.com/Marvel_vs_Capcom_3, who do an amazing job. I would hope Capcom comes out and endorses them other wise reward them for their work. Once i knew how to do a proper aircombo, block push, use x-factor, or how to force someone out of the screen, i saw my online game improved and i was not losing everyround. Granted, i was not doing so bad just button mashing. In conclusion, this game makes it obvious when someone knows what they are doing but offers no help for a person to achieve the same skill. And i totally ignored the whole meta game of choosing who is best in a fight and what combination of attacks and characters could make the most deadliest team. That meta games makes the game way more complex and can be left to the professionals. But here on Earth where we normal folk are. There is enough complexity to keep a person occupied for a while and when you are in a match with some one of similar skill, this can be one of the most thrilling and exciting battles you fight, no quick time events or predetermined pathes. You and your explosive combos against another dude who has the same.
