[PC/STEAM/PS4] Fighting Road Beyond by SUDA51 - 2/26/20!
Mar 22, 2019 20:33:58 GMT
OrochiGeese, bxnes, and 7 more like this
Post by sofia on Mar 22, 2019 20:33:58 GMT
The Fire Prowrestling World: "Fighting Road Beyond" Thread!
Hello, and welcome to yet another sticky thread for hype, conjecture, and anticipation for Fire Prowrestling World's third and final DLC, an original story mode written by the inimitable Goichi Suda (Suda51), of Killer 7 and No More Heroes fame!
GIVE ME THE RUNDOWN.
So, where should I start? I guess I'll start with the premise of the DLC, but in order to do that, we need to talk about a certain Japan-only game from the Fire Pro series.
So, back in 1994, Human Entertainment (the previous company in charge of the Fire Pro series) was looking to make the first of many sequels to a Fire Pro that was supposed to be the final game in the series; a sort of grand dream match game where almost everyone who had been in the Super Famicom games would come back. The name chosen for it was Super Fire Prowrestling Special.
Instead of series creator and director Masato Masuda, the game would be handled by a young creator named Goichi Suda. Seeing the frustration players had with Super Fire Prowrestling 3: Final Bout's single player mode, Suda opted to reframe the single player experience of Fire Pro as being less a gauntlet of increasingly difficult wrestlers, and more a platform for narrative over difficulty. In his eyes, Fire Pro was always more of a party game, so the single player aspect needed some compelling hook to keep people playing.
To that end, he created Champion Road, the series' first story mode. Playing as Morio Sumisu (named after the dark, brooding lead singer of 80s band The Smiths, Morrissey), a young man looking for a purpose in life, you enter the dojo of Ittetsu Wakamoto, the "Demon Seargeant;" form a partnership with a foreign wrestler both as a sparring partner and later a tag team; and begin wandering Japan as a free agent, taking on all challengers in View Japan and Olive Japan. Along the way, you are mentored by the King of Martial Arts, Akira Saeba; fall in love with his little sister; develop an ultimate technique with the man who taught Victory Musashi all he knows, Karlos Krauser; and eventually bring defeat to the notorious Stacie clan of vale tudo fighters, a family whose patriarch, Nixon, was undefeated in 500 fights.
Things take a turn for the dark when Ittetsu Wakamoto disappears. The search takes Morio to England, where he talks with the legendary Dynamic Kid. After competing in the WWC's Tag Team championship tournament with your training partner, you enter the world of underground wrestling, bringing you face to face with the undisputed ruler of the underground wrestling society, Dick Slender - the man who just killed your partner, tells you to your face he murdered your teacher, and intends to kill you if you decide to challenge him, just as he's done to anyone foolish enough to stand up to him.
The ending of the game is infamous for its sheer shock value - after defeating Slender, and becoming the true greatest wrestler of all time, no other reason to continue going on remains for Morio Sumisu. Leaving his friend Akira and lover Saeko behind, he commits suicide in a hotel room, a move inspired by the life and death of Kurt Cobain and other troubled geniuses. Saeba's sister is left pregnant with Morio's son, Sumio.
The game's dark themes and Suda51's obsession with pro wrestling went on to add a certain flair to his future titles. The Morrissey reference comes back in Killer 7, where the main characters are all named Smith; and he peppers his titles with nods to wrestling in general, from bridging German suplexes thrown out by characters, to the entire cast of Michigan: Report From Hell using the surnames of famous wrestlers, to a special cameo from gravure model and HUSTLE Monster Army member Yinling in the Japanese version of the same game.
COOL STORY BRO, BUT WHAT ABOUT THIS MODE?
Well, it picks up 25 years after the end of Champion Road, and thus 25 years after the release of Super Fire Prowrestling Special, with the son of Morio Sumisu as its main character. Just as Suda meant to show Special as a grittier look at pro wrestling in contrast to the lighter, happier image of the sport in the 90s, Fighting Road Beyond is meant to be more introspective, showing the struggles one has to endure to become a wrestler.
Just like your father before you, your character wanders the world as a wrestler looking for greater challenges, learning new techniques along the way. Introducing a new cast of fictional fighters to fill out the modern Fire Pro universe, the headlining characters of the story mode are members of a team called The Vanishing, consisting of Sammy - also known as Notorious, and Sumio Smith, who takes on a variety of pseudonyms. In America, he goes by the name The Blade Saeba, and works a stereotypical Asian gimmick like Great Kabuki or Great Muta.
The story mode will be built off the current story mode code as a base, though unlike the official New Japan content, story sequences are planned to be portrayed in illustrations to be more consistent with the rest of the Fire Pro series.
The mode will introduce new parts used by Sumo/Great Saeba and Sammy/Notorious, the use of both main characters in-game, and entrance music that you can use on your edit wrestlers outside of the mode. Along with these new parts for customization, completing the story mode also unlocks a special interview video with Goichi Suda about the Firepro series.
THE CAST OF CHARACTERS
Sumio Sumisu / Blade Saeba - Age 25. The son of legendary champion of both the world and the dark underworld of life-or-death pro wrestling, Morio Smith. Raised by his mother in the United States, he returns to Japan; compelled by something deep within him, and haunted by nightmares he can't explain, he follows his father's footsteps in becoming a professional wrestler... But will he be able to keep his humanity intact, or will he end up facing the same trauma as his father?
Sammy / Notorious - Age unknown. Sumio's rival from the United States, and the current champion of WWWWW. He and Sumio end up becoming the tag team known as The Vanishing - he's the one with what looks like Michael B. Jordan's hairdo as Killmonger from the Black Panther movies.
Sumio Sumisu / Blade Saeba - Age 25. The son of legendary champion of both the world and the dark underworld of life-or-death pro wrestling, Morio Smith. Raised by his mother in the United States, he returns to Japan; compelled by something deep within him, and haunted by nightmares he can't explain, he follows his father's footsteps in becoming a professional wrestler... But will he be able to keep his humanity intact, or will he end up facing the same trauma as his father?
Sammy / Notorious - Age unknown. Sumio's rival from the United States, and the current champion of WWWWW. He and Sumio end up becoming the tag team known as The Vanishing - he's the one with what looks like Michael B. Jordan's hairdo as Killmonger from the Black Panther movies.
Grateful Saeba - Former UWH fighter Akira Saeba, and Sumio's uncle. Covered in scars from his many fierce shootfights, he is as rough around the edges as ever. A wrestling purist, who rails against the gimmicks and flash of modern American wrestling. He helps train Sumio in the basics of professional wrestling, and hypes him up as his protegé.[/div]
SO WHEN IS IT COMING OUT?
After missing an initial release date of late 2019, Suda51's story mode will instead be out on February 26, 2020 in the west; February 27, 2020 in Japan. Thanks to international datelines this means it's coming out more or less at the same time. Individual price looks to be $9.99 USD on Playstation Network, and so it's likely the same on Steam. It is included by default as the last piece of Firepro's season pass on PS4; along with this mode, the Parts Create Mode DLC will be coming out at a later date (Spring 2020 or so).
