Hyaku Seiken II

Story
In 2016 Reginald Neville, head of the American Wing of the paramilitary organization Toku Sentai, started the 1st Annual Toku Sentai Budokai, a fighting tournament featuring some of the best fighters on Earth. But the tournament was just a cover for Reginald to draw out the ten Seijyukenshi, wielders of the legendary Seijyuken. His reason: to recruit the Seijyukenshi in Toku Sentai’s fight against the scientific terrorist organization Humanity’s Upward March, or H.U.M. for short. While Reginald failed to recruit all ten, the tournament itself would indeed be the catalyst for H.U.M.’s final defeat at the hands of Antonio, Seijyukenshi of Qinglong. After that the world entered into a period of relief and recovery led by Toku Sentai. The heroes of the battle, the Seijyukenshi, settled back to their everyday lives all the while never forgetting the connections they made.

Now, in 2017, Reginald’s experiment has had an unintended effect. Thanks to videos of the tournament uploaded on YouTube by fans, martial artists and fighting fans the world over have been clamoring for a second Budokai. Elfriede von Schroeder, Head Captain of Toku Europe, headquartered in Berlin, Germany, plans to give them just that with the 2nd Annual Toku Sentai Budokai. Thanks to her earlier experience leading her father’s company, Von Schroeder Auto, she has turned the Toku Sentai Budokai into a brand all its own. As a philanthropist, she plans to use the proceeds to help the world rebuild from H.U.M.’s destruction. Like before, some of the strongest and best fighters in the world have been invited. Not surprisingly, the Seijyukenshi are the VIPs once again.

However, like Reginald before her, one can’t help but wonder how clear Elfriede’s intentions really are…

Gameplay
Like before, Hyaku Seiken II will have 3D graphics and play with 2D style Special Attacks and inputs like QCFs and DPs but, this time, will run on a full-3D gameplay engine like Tekken, Soul Calibur, Dead or Alive, and Virtua Fighter. As with all Fighting Games the goal is emerging victorious from best-of-three battles.

Returning Mechanics
Making their return are the Punch, Kick, and Zan buttons. For those new to the series Zan, (short for “Zangeki” which is Japanese for “Slash” in a Guilty Gear shoutout) is the button used exclusively for weapons, though some characters don’t use weapons. Like before all three of the aforementioned Buttons can be comboed together instead of having to constantly switch styles like in Mortal Kombat, making it easy enough to get into for beginners. When all three buttons are comboed together it’s called a Hyaku Sei Rondo, like Guilty Gear’s Gatling Combo and Fatal Fury 3-Real Bout Fatal Fury 2 's combo system. Sei Drives are the Special Attacks of Hyaku Seiken and, of course, are used with Punch, Kick, and Zan. Sei Drives can be comboed into the Hyaku Sei Rondo along with normal attacks.

Also making its return is the fourth Button: Ginga Drive, used exclusively for Ginga Drives (Super Moves), like the “D” button from BlazBlue. The name “Ginga” in “Ginga Drive” means “Galaxy” in Japanese which alludes to the game’s overall theme. Punch, Kick, Zan, and Ginga Drive can be comboed together, of course, as can Sei Drives be comboed into Ginga Drives. The Star Gauge is your Super Meter at the bottom which is used for Ginga Drives and Hyaku Sei Finishes.

EX Sei Drives and Parry also make their return. For those new to the series EX Sei Drives are more powerful versions of Sei Drives, make their return as well and are performed by double-tapping Punch, Kick, or Zan and the accompanying direction of the original move. They will cost 25% of the Star Gauge. Parry, which is just like it sounds, can be used by pressing Back + Punch and Kick together and is free. Of course, Parry doesn’t work on projectiles, only physical attacks like punches, kicks, and slashes.

Throws are performed by pressing Back and Punch/Kick.

For traditional defense you just press Back or Down and Back to guard like Street Fighter, King of Fighters, Tekken, Guilty Gear, and others. There will also be Air Guard. There will be a Guard Gauge underneath the lifebar which will deplete the more you guard, making Parry and Sidestep essential to avoid the dreaded Guard Break, which leaves you open.

To get around you can Walk (Forward or Back) Dash (double tap Forward), Back Dash (double tap Back), Jump (Up), and Sidestep (quickly double-tapping Up) like in Tekken and Soul Calibur.

New Mechanics
New to Hyaku Seiken II are the Kakusei, EX Ginga Drive and Bakuhatsu Breaker mechanics.

EX Ginga Drives are basically EX versions of Ginga Drives in the vein of King of Fighters XIII. This takes the place of the Hyaku Sei Finishes from the first game but these are NOT one-hit finishers. They cost 100% of the Star Gauge.

Kakusei, (“awakening” in Japanese) however, is brand new. To enter Kakusei, press all four Buttons (Punch, Kick, Zan and Ginga Drive just like Tekken’s Supercharge) and your character will be glow with a golden DBZ-style aura for the length of the Kakusei Meter, which is roughly a minute. The Kakusei Meter is situated above the Star Gauge and fills up as you take damage and use Sei Drives. When in Kakusei all EX Sei Drives are free so it is quite advantageous.

Bakuhatsu (explosion) Breaker is another new mechanic that allows you to break out of a dangerous combo with a burst of energy that knocks away your opponent by pressing together either Punch or Kick and Ginga Drive. It works similar to the Burst mechanic common in Arc Fighters like Guilty Gear, Blazblue and Arcana Heart. However, like those fighters, there is a cost. In exchange for using Bakuhatsu Breaker you must pay 10% of the Kakusei Meter. However, it is well worth it.

A more mundane new mechanics is Wall Hit. Because this will be a full 3D game Wall Hits work the same way as the normal 3D fighter but only work in walled environments, no invisible walls in Hyaku Seiken.

The Seijyukenshi
Eight of the ten Seijyukenshi will be available at the start. Some will have new Battle Cloth designs which I have already updated in my Gallery if you want to see. All of the returning Kenshi will have at least one new move but a few will get significant moveset overhauls for hand-to-hand or weapon moves, indicated by the *.
 * Antonio Holman (Jeet Kune Do* and Seiryuken*): Enters the 2nd Annual Toku TSB to test out new moves that the learned while training with his protégé Yue.
 * Mizuki Kusanagi (Kusanagi-Ryu* and Genbutou*): Enters the 2nd Annual TSB to unwind after being stressed by family life.
 * Clayton Siler (Pro Wrestling and Suzaku Talons): Enters the 2nd Annual TSB after spending a month training in Mexico with Shinobi no Michi’s Teresa Diaz and to test himself against Elfriede, who was once a famous Pro Wrestler.
 * Cao Meihua (Bajiquan* and Qilin Bang (Staff)): Enters the 2nd Annual TSB to test out the new Floralkinetic moves taught by Lianhua.
 * Guinevere Long (Savate* and Wyvern Tear): Enters the 2nd Annual TSB after her father, David, told her that, while he was impressed with her accomplishments in the first tournament, he thought she could do better.
 * Dred Neville (Boxing and Nemea Gauntlets): Enters the 2nd Annual TSB as Guinevere’s bodyguard and to test himself.
 * Moriya Kusanagi (Akiyama-Ryu Ninjutsu* and YataZashi*): Enters the 2nd Annual TSB officially to test himself against his uncle and teacher, Takamaru.
 * Jamal Al-Rashid (Own Style* and Roc Talon): Enters the 2nd Annual TSB to find Asli Erdogan, a young Turkish girl who challenged him to fight in the tournament a week after the invitation was sent.

New Characters
These are the new faces for Season 1 of Hyaku Seiken II. More new characters will join later on.
 * So-Yeon Park (Tae Kwon Do): A South Korean Toku Asia Officer who enters the 2nd Annual TSB to test her skills. Loves Justice and Kamen Rider. She is unique in that she uses pure martial arts similar to Guilty Gear’s Jam Kuradoberi.
 * Cao Zilong (Drunken Fist and Sanjiegun (Three-Sectioned Staff)): Meihua’s older brother and the eldest child of the Cao Family. He was a Shaolin Monk before becoming a Toku Asia Officer. Enters the 2nd Annual TSB on behalf of his father but has his own secret mission.
 * Helena Kolokotronis (Athenian Spear and Sword): A reticent but kind young Greek and a member of Manus Europa like Marie Froehlich from Hyaku Seiken the first. She enters the 2nd Annual TSB to test her skills as Athena’s conduit. Unique in that she almost exclusively uses her two weapons, opposite So-Yeon.
 * Takamaru (Akiyama-Ryu Ninjutsu and Takajatou (Ninjato)): Mizuki, Moriya and Shinobi no Michi’s Miyako Akiyama’s uncle and the latter two’s teacher. While he was indeed invited to the tournament, he seems to have ulterior motives for competing.
 * Taylor Harris (Street Fighting and Soul Guitar): A female punk rocker from Perth, Australia and leader of the published but not quite big-name Rock Band, Dingodile. Officially she’s fighting to give Dingodile more exposure. She fights with soundwaves via a guitar like Samurai Warriors’ Motochika Chosokabe and Guilty Gear’s I-No.

The Von Schroeder Family (Unlockable Bosses)
Like the first game, Hyaku Seiken II will have multiple bosses. In Season 1 there will be a Sub-Boss, a Mid-Boss, and a Final Boss. While they are all associated with Toku Sentai like before (hence the name of the in-game tournament) the Bosses are now siblings who follow a common Germanic/Norse theme, specifically the Sheildmaiden Bruunhilde, the warrior Siegfried, and the dragon, Fafnir.
 * Wibke von Schroeder (Sub Boss) (Fafnir Fang Sword and Shield): A chubby young girl and the youngest von Schroeder sibling. Likes to eat and is unique in that she actually uses food and eating in her fighting style via the Fest (Feast) Gauge. She is fought after four wins in Arcade mode.
 * Heinrich von Schroeder (Mid Boss) (Glam (name of sword)): An Afro-German and the middle von Schroeder sibling. Has a strong sense of justice. He fights with a large sword. He is fought just before his older sister.
 * Elfreide von Schroeder (Final Boss (first)) (Von Schroeder Grappling Arts and BrunnHander): Eldest Von Schroder sibling and Head Captain of Toku Europe. She fights with a mix of Zweihander and Pro Wrestling skills. Serves as Hyaku Seiken II’s Wolfgang Krauser but, unlike him, isn’t the true enemy of the game.

Hidden Characters

 * Natalya Komarova (Own Style and Etian Spear): Returning veteran from the first Hyaku Seiken. She's searching for her father, Ivan, who was captured by Deoxia last year and sold to the Siler Crime Family.
 * Ingrid Karlsson-Siler (Own Style and Fenrir Fang): Another vet. She came to the Budokai with Clayton to investigate her father's recent European operations.
 * Ivan Komarov (Pro Wrestling): More commonly known in the WWF as the "White Wolf". He was captured by Deoxia and sold to the Siler Crime Family. But all is not as it seems...
 * Lucia (Psychic Power and Psychic Blade): A Romani from Venice working for the Siler Crime Family. She's a former fortune teller and, as such, is quite mysterious.
 * Timothy Siler (Street Fighting and Knife): Enforcer for the Family and Jonathan's middle son. A violent, dumb, and slightly bigoted thug.
 * Jonathan Siler (Own Style and Black Dragon Sword): Godfather of the Siler Crime Family. Came to Europe after being on the run from Toku America. His purpose is so far unknown.
 * Miyako Akiyama (Akiyama-Ryu Ninjutsu and Jitte): Guest from Shinobi no Michi. Invited to the Budokai but lost early on. She now has her own mission.

Quest DLC

 * Blanc (Feather Hammer): All the way from the hit Anime JRPG Hyperdimension Neptunia comes Blanc, the CPU (leader) of the nation of Lowee, a country to the north of the continent of Gameindustri that is dedicated to all things Nintendo. While out in the fields of Maryo Land looking for inspiration for her second novel, Blanc happened upon one of Deoxia’s abandoned wormholes. Curiosity got the better of her and she was sucked in and landed on our Earth right in the middle of the 2nd Annual Toku Sentai Budokai. She’s quiet and unassuming most of the time but she has a monster temper, wields a hammer twice as heavy as her own body and has the ability to transform into her CPU form, White Heart, in which she becomes louder and more aggressive. How will the CPU fare against Earth’s mightiest warriors?

Stages
Like before, stages will be real-world locales to give the game a little credibility. The stages are assembled in order of the characters listed above. The titles come from Street Fighter IV’s stage titles.
 * 1) The Road: Amtrak Station, Burlington, NC to Amtrak Station, Durham, NC, USA (Antonio)
 * 2) Yamato Nadeshiko: Uji, Kansai, Japan (Mizuki)
 * 3) Waters of Change: Bynum, NC, USA (Clayton)
 * 4) Arch of Fate: Anji Bridge, Hebei, China (Meihua)
 * 5) English Ancestry: Winchester, UK (Guinevere)
 * 6) The Town: Center City Park, Greensboro, NC, USA (Dred)
 * 7) Play Ninja: Toei Kyoto Studio, Kyoto, Japan (Moriya)
 * 8) Desert Requiem: Al-Hijr, Saudi Arabia (Jamal)
 * 9) Let’s Go to Gyeongju: Gyeongjyu, South Korea (So-Yeon)
 * 10) Shaolin-Ji: Henan, China (Zilong)
 * 11) Blue Water Sky: Mykonos, Greece (Helena)
 * 12) Yama: Mt. Yoshino, Kansai, Japan (Takamaru)
 * 13) Outside Looking In: Perth, Australia (Taylor)
 * 14) Fraulein: Hamburg, Germany (Wibke)
 * 15) Royal Guard: Neuschwanstein Castle (Outer), Germany (Heinrich)
 * 16) Queens Blade: Neuschwanstein Castle (Inner), Germany (Elfriede)
 * 17) Ring of Destiny: Budokai Arena, Berlin, Germany (NOTE: This is where the player faces Heinrich and Elfriede in Arcade Mode. Can be selected in Versus Mode)
 * 18) Gamer Girl: Nintendo NY, New York City, USA (Blanc)
 * 19) Night Destiny: Berlin, Germnay (NOTE: This is where Natalya, Ingrid, and Miyako's Rival Battle stories are set. Can be selected in Versus Mode)
 * 20) White Snow Swan: St.Petersburg, Russia (Natalya)
 * 21) Viking Heritage: Goteborg, Sweden (Ingrid)
 * 22) The Wild: Ural Mountains, Russia (Ivan)
 * 23) Fortune Rialto: Venice, Italy (Lucia)
 * 24) Downtown Rustic: Siler City Railroad, NC, USA (Timothy)
 * 25) Small-Town Greatness: Siler City Town Hall, NC, USA (Jonathan)
 * 26) Osaka Lights: Osaka, Japan (Miyako)

Game Modes

 * Arcade Mode: Tells the story of the game through your chosen character’s eyes in a ten-match Arcade Mode-style layout with Wibke as the Sub-Boss after four Wins. Rival Battles take place after six Wins. You then move on to Heinrich and finally Elfriede.
 * Versus Mode: Self-explanatory. You can play against CPU or Human here and Winquotes will be the same as Arcade Mode plus Mirror Match Winquotes for those who happen to like the same character.
 * Time Attack: Try to climb the ladder with the fastest time following a randomly generated ladder ending at the Sub Boss. Special conditions must be met for the Final Boss.
 * Survival: Try to survive an endless gauntlet of opponents for the highest score. Unlike Story and Time Attack there will be no set formula, you fight everybody all the time until you die. It will follow the Garou: MOTW survival where there will be health and time items. Like old-school survival, there is one difficulty that starts off easy and gets more complicated as you go.
 * Training: Where you select your fighter and hone your skills against your selected opponent in whatever stage you like. Training will be as detailed as most modern Training Modes.
 * Tutorial: A special tutorial that you can play and review as many times as you like.
 * Trails: These are character-specific trails concerning Specials, Spirit Drives, combos, and cancels.
 * Gallery: View character profiles, listen to music, and view Story Mode cutscenes.
 * Online: As I said before, I’m a Story/Casual Warrior but I know a LOT of people love Online so here it is. You find a match, join a lobby, or enter a tournament. Cross-play between all systems will be added. Broadband is required. Rage-Quitters will be served with an automatic loss, no exceptions. If your internet is bad you might be best not playing fighting games with it.
 * Options: Adjust settings like sound options, game options, and controls.