This past week, Psy-Phi went on location test at Tokyo's Club Sega Shinjuku Station West Exit arcade. While the game hadn't changed much from its previous appearance at the AOU show, players were able to get a much better idea of how the game's mechanics work.
At the test, players could choose from a total of seven playable characters, with the option of purchasing IC cards, which have all but become standard fare in today's arcade scene in Japan. Like Sega's Virtua Fighter 4 series, the IC cards store win/loss statistics and the character's custom name, and let you move up and down ranks once you accumulate enough experience in VS battles.
Sega has classified Psy-Phi as a VS fighting game, and while that's mostly true, there are others who label it as a shooter, and justifiably so. After all, your main weapons are projectiles, not your fists. As we touched on before, special moves in this game are executed by drawing shapes (kind of like connecting the dots) on the touch screen display. Each character has eight special moves; two to three for attacking, three for defense (the same for all characters), and one to two that deflect your opponent's projectiles. Each character is also equipped with one desperation move that can be executed when you have 10% of your life left and the opponent's life bar is at least 30% full.
Special moves have the same name for all the characters, but the input commands and graphics vary. Check out the move list below:
Offensive Moves
· PSY-STRIKE -- An attack with eight homing lasers sent towards the opponent
· PSY-BULLET -- Unleashes lasers in all directions
· PSY-BURST -- Get close to your opponent, and then pound them with a close-range attack
· PSY-BIT -- Ever watch any of the Gundam movies or TV series? This releases mini-bots that follow your opponent and shoot laser beams
· PSY-GRENADE -- Unload three grenades on your opponent
· PSY-MINE -- Watch as several projectiles lock-on (and chase) your opponent
Defensive Moves
· JAMMING -- Conjures distracting flames on your opponent's screen
· ANT-SNIPE -- As the name suggests, it prevents your opponent from using a snipe attack (executed by touching the red circle on your screen) against you
· VANISH -- Turns all of your opponent's projectiles into thin air
Deflection Moves
· REFLECT -- When executed, deflects your opponent's projectiles
· SHIELD -- Deflects your opponent's projectiles for a set period of time (does not work against special moves)
The quintessential mind reading aspect of fighting games is alive in Psy-Phi, and comes in the three basic actions (and reactions):
· Snipe attacks that hit moving opponents
· Homing attacks for opponents who stay still
· Deflection moves shoot projectiles back at the opponent (the more moves you deflect, the faster they'll go back at the opponent).
You can charge up a snipe attack by holding the button (and thereby hit moving opponents with a faster ball), so the thought process during a VS battle can get as complicated as any other fighting game in arcades today.
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Unfortunately, the logical conclusion from this information is that the most effective way to play is to turtle, which, in fighting game vernacular, means to wait until an opponent does a move, and then attack. With plenty of time left between now and the expected release date, though, one can reasonably expect that the developers have a fair amount of fine tuning to do on this project.
Player reaction so far seems to be mixed. The consensus among some message boards is that, while people generally have a positive impression, Psy-Phi is still in its infancy. While there is some solid potential to break new ground, the current version still has a ways to go, both in terms of gameplay and audience acceptance.
Yu Suzuki has once again taken off on a tangent different from other game developers, and everyone will be watching to see how players react to this change. In the meantime, don't forget to wash your hands with soap and warm water before touching the screen -- the last thing anyone wants to do is to touch a screen streaked with oily fingerprints. Then again, we'll only need to worry about that if a U.S. release is ever announced.
