Man, so much passion. He thought of all these different designs, modeled them, C++ programmed it without a modern game engine, added HUD, whacky effects for air combos, balanced it, you can tell he was 20something and dreaming. It makes us older dudes feel young again. The amount of care for the CD case? I'm sad no official publisher struck a deal with this man.
I really like your definition of doujinshis as “by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts” as I think the communal aspect of doujins are their defining characteristic. In terms of scope and end product, they are very much equivalent to indies. But historically they have more in common with the old freeware PC game scene imo (despite most doujin works being sold for a fee), and with an even bigger focus on in person communities (which I assume has its origin in the old manga doujin circle communities, but I’ve never actually researched that myself).
the uninformed people would define doujinshi as "porn" and that's it or well doujin in general as "porn" but yeah you are absolutely right heck the legendary doujinshi developer of Touhou fame still doesn't strike people for using their Ip (except when they use his assets) for commercial products and that's insane
It was a distinction that I honestly struggled defining myself! I was iffy on that whole section and almost just called it a Japanese indie game to keep it moving but it wouldn't have felt right glossing over the culture that cultivated Hinokakera in the first place!!!
@@GuileWinQuote "Japanese Indie" works just fine as a layman's description if you don't downplay the "indie" part. passion and enthusiasm is a huge part of what makes indie what it is, no matter where it is.
im really confused on what doujin means in this context because ive commonly seen it be using as another word for "porn" so does doujin have multiple meanings?pls help
It does not mean porn, and never did. It’s just the word for self published art, be it comics, games, etc. A lot of it is fan works using established IP, but it doesn’t have to be. Likewise, it CAN be porn, but it doesn’t have to be. The comnon misconception that it’s porn probably stems from a lot of the doujinshi that got popular or gained fame/infamy outside of Japan has been porn doujinshi. It’s similar tio how hentai doesn’t actually mean “anime porn”, it means “perv”, and porn anime/manga isn’t called hentai in Japan. Or how people use yaoi to mean “gay manga/anime”, when the proper term is BL (boys love), and yaoi is only really meant to be used for explicit gay manga/anime. Hope that helped
Thanks for talking about Hinokakera. This game was absolutely revolutionary on the Doujin scene when it was released at that time not only because it was 3D but also because of the netcode: yep, it's delay based, but considering that era is one of the best delay based netcode ever made, and works just amazing and with almost no lag even if you're like 150/200 ping with some people. You need to consider that this netplay mode was released in a time neither Melty Blood or EFZ have "Caster" and some other doujin games sadly never had proper online modes or there were just plain bad... try to play an online match of Fuuka Taisen right now... it is almost impossible to have a playable match. Because of that I played a crapton of Hinokakera between 2003 and 2010, and I even meet some friends that I still hang around thanks to this game. It is probably the best 3D Doujin fighter, in fact the only one that you could consider a proper rival is Crucis Fatal+Fake that is also really cool. As you commented at the end of the video, sadly the only weird note about Hinokakera is that the dev is totally MIA since 10 years ago, and the last post on his blog was just like "yeah, I'm still updating the game, see ya at next comiket" and things like that. If you go to that post you will see that the comments section is basically a lot of japanese, english and chinese post asking what happened to him. I hope Ryuka Akaishi is okay.
Missing, eh? Nah Man, couldn't have been the big corps silencing competition... or maybe they got recruited or bribed to stop? Man, it makes me super curious. I wish someone could put in the footwork to figure out what happened to them. I don't live in Japan or speak the language, so I would otherwise.
Japanese indie fighting games were something back in the day. We got a lot of good stuffs like Touhou Hisoutensoku, Vanguard Princess, Acceleration of SUGURI, etc. I remember our tournament setup was just a laptop at any local cafe.
Shame that instead continue refine existing mechanics, TasoFro decided to dump Hisoutensoku and 2 previous fighting games into garbage and make jelly-movement fighting games like 13.5 and 15.5
In early 2000's this game was even sold in Brasil in magazines that came with CD's with tons of flash and other small games ! Ooooh boy this one easily one of the best u could find in those! nice vid in this geeem!!
@@nate567987 Well, here we played a lot of ps2 games ilegally. And found a lot of cool gems alongside it! ^^ And I don't think that hinokakera was easily acessible outside Japan.
This video was beautiful and I absolutely ADORE hearing about these Japanese doujin games but it's so hard to find videos on them because are their seemingly intended obscurity. If anyone has a recommendation of other videos to watch that discuss little known doujin games please recommend!
Yea these kinda games are hardly covered in any proper discussion. Vysethedetermined does give some details about doujin fighters within their description
I was there in 2002-2003... The best doujinshi to date... One guy made this ! And remember all the Easter eggs present in the game (like Kyo and Rock outfits for Raven, Silvis with Ky Kiske, etc...) A truly commitment from Reddish Region and a pure gem for fighting games lovers !
"i love anime fighters" I WAS DUPED, I THOUGHT YOU WERE A GOOD CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTAL STREET FIGHTER PLAYER. ALL THIS TIME I WAS SUBSCRIBED TO A GUILTY GEAR PLAYING HARLOT !!! jokes aside great video as always. it's inspiring seeing someone make an FG by himself seemingly from scratch. the games aesthetic looks real nice. it's got that infinite dreamscape that alot of psx looking fighters have that i love still holding out for an EX2+ special someday I can show my friends to shill psx rollback.
Oh god, we should’ve known, we were ignoring the warning signs this whole time. A major red flag was when he used fanfiction goth Tifa as the thumbnail for this video.
These system mechanics are the type of stuff that Daisuke Ishiwatari was thinking up when it came to guilty gear and I'm kind of sad that the system mechanics got incredibly dumbed down from the previous games when it came to strive. This reminds me of the golden age days of guilty year like guilty gear midnight carnival in accent core
Funny story about this era I would spend HUNDREDS OF HOURS just playing this stuff, it was like this massive verse that no one spoke about. I hope to one day contribute to that vest net of creativity!! So many beautiful memories
00:48 bro, I see that background and get SMT3 Nocturne PTSD, already listening the background music of Amala Labyrinth, Lord spare me! Anyways, I love your vids bro, I've seen quiet a bit of them and I'm subbed for life.
Just got to finally get my first matches in the Hinokakera Chaotic Eclipse FGC Discord Server last night. Super helpful tutorials and people more than willing to help set up connections. Definitely was just a sandbag for at least 15 matches with this one gentlemen who seems to know all the tech as I watch his anime cut scene, but we all gotta start somewhere lol. Excited to play this gem more and get better, ty so much for popping up on my page. Much love and stay safe 😊🤙❤️
Man, I remember playing a demo of this game countless times back in the day, but I never had the thought off writing down the title and, eventually, I forgot the name of the game. Whenever I tried to locate this game all i had was a vague description to give: there was 4 cahracter, one was a bishop who summoned giant blades from the sky and the other was "human shadow the hedgehog" with dark flames and a giant sword. For around 20ish years this game was lost media to me, and suddely it came back with all its memories. Thanks for making the video.
Another certified GWQ banger 👌 Glad more people will check on the game now, like you said it's WAY ahead of it's time and will please both casual anime FG fans as well as hardcore labrats. (Ashley weapon switch combos are SO rewarding) One thing that should be mentioned again is that the Delay based netcode the game has is probably the BEST delay netcode I've ever played (and I played my fair share of delay based FGs), so don't be afraid to hop on the Discord to ask for some matches.
I played this a ton when I was younger, you're bringing me back so much nostalgia. Back then I mostly played obscure Doujin games like Crescent Pale Mist (sadly literally impossible to get now even pirated), Blitz, Melty Blood, etc. Hinokakera was probably the shadiest shit I ever bought and I had to explain it to my dad who's first impression was that I was using his card to get scammed on some "Chinese Site" lul. Damn... What a wonderful time of discovery. Today's internet just doesn't let you do that. You should make a video about Big Bang Beat too!
Bloddy Rage is not something I've thought about in yeas, lmao Always found the doujin fighter scene to be rad as hell, glad to see more parts of it that I wasn't aware existed!
In Brazil we had these cds with a lot of flash games bundled. And one of them had the hinokakera installer! I fell in love with the series on that moment!
It's really bittersweet how many fantastic fighting games were made that never got their deserved recognition, in one hand it's really cool to go to fightcade and browse games with 0 players and having your night set, but on the other hand it's sad that it is almost impossible to find other people to play them with LOL
You should cover Kenju for the Atomiswave. Its pretty much a fully complete unreleased fighting game with a cool artstyle and cool air combos and air dashes and other stuff
I had somehow never heard of this game before your tweet about it, and now having watched this vid I'm fully on board. Time to make yet another mid 2000s doujin fighter my personality for a month!
> Cute waifu with Beast Cannon > Slow, heavy-hitting swordman > Maid with knives, uzis and a massive sword > Easy to pick, hard to master > Stupid (in a good way) mechanics and combos Sign me up. Big shoutouts to Reddish Region for making this!
You're doing God's work covering this game. I had no idea this existed, and upon searching that there's little no content or discussion about this game is such a shame. It looks amazing! Especially for a solo project. This is such a labor of love from someone who definitely had great vision. Seeing how well your video is doing is great because it's a big step in the preservation of Hinokakera's presence and legacy in an already niche genre of games. I'm literally commenting to boost this video in the algorithm.
Yooo thank you so much for talking about this game it's so fucking cool!! I hope this gets more people playing it! Does the community still nickname it "Hot Cakes" or was that only a thing back in the IRC days lmao? Reddish Region is definitely an inspiration for me, especially now that I'm finally trying to make my own fighting game.
I've been waiting for someone to cover this game for so long, thank you so much guile win qoute I'd recommend checking out Monster, a 2D fighting game. and Crucis Fatal Fake, another 3D-2D fighting game like this, but based on the fate series all of these can be found in doujin style btw!
This takes me back, because I've lived that doujin era. Getting this games "unofficially" because i was a early teenager without work, messing around with applocale. I've lived that
I remember playing Clestis and having a blast with a friend who was a Raven main. We played it for about a month straight during covid and its way better than it has any right to be
Man, I’m so glad this video got recommended to me. I remember seeing gameplay videos of this game a long ass time ago, but had forgotten the name. Glad it found its way back to me.
If you're looking for another solo developed FG you might wanna take a look at Wonderful World, it was made by one Japanese dude back in 2008 and is STILL being updated with new characters every year or so! It's a really fun game even if you have to go through a few hoops and hurdles just to get netplay to work
I'm definitely impressed that only one guy made this on a windows 98 rig in (Kinda) 2001, the fact that even the first version of the game doesn't look all that bad is definitely a show of how much went into this small game, it's really a shame that the guy who made it isn't active anywhere anymore because this series has a lot of potential from what I can see, also is it just me or does the color for Raven at 3:04 look like Kyo in the NESTS saga to anyone else?
In all honesty, you don't get to see fighting games made by one person, looking this good, nowadays. And the fact that this was made by a single individual, deserves a recognition, cause it actually looks pretty well done for being made in the 2000s. Since The Black Heart (which was made by a single person as well), i haven't seen an indie fighting game that looked pretty interesting, until now. Nice review, by the way, gotta give a try on this one.
Someone has probably corrected you about this, but Reddish Region isn't exactly the creator's name. The guy's name is Ryuuka Akaishi (2:21) and the circle's name is Reddish Region (circles being kind of the company name for their doujin)
Unfortunate that reddish region dropped off the map. They missed out on the huge resurgence of fighters and PC digital storefronts. I hope they're doing okay.
One guy made this? That's super impressive! I hope this guy works in the video game industry. Everyone tried out fighting games but people who really get into fighting games (learn combos and frame data) are a very small niche group so it is sad that many fighting games do not get the recognition they deserve
So cool hearing people talk about this game after so many years First time I played Hinokakera I must've been 8 years old lol, so seeing this video awoke some hella old memories Got it from a shareware compilation CD from a magazine here in Brazil. It was probably my first time playing something like it, and I barely had any idea of what was happening, but I still loved it because of the character designs and the flashy vfx. Knowing it was made by a solo dev only makes it more special now
Game looks so fun and man thats a lot of system mechanics lol. Hoping, like you, the dev sees your video and gets inspired to rework it and rerelease it with rollback of course. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
This was my second fg after x2 reload. It felt so easy and flashy to play, never thought it was made by one guy back then . Also, the music was so good(was it original tho?)
This man really did have a passion project. One man made something to give to others at Conventions and worked on it some more and upgraded the graphics and added characters, and finally this man was the OG roman cancel from Guilty Gear.
Lol I was looking for doujin fighting games yesterday after getting my hands on Melty Blood Type Lumina. And to probably no one's surprise there are barely any videos that discuss that topic. Thanks GWQ!
Such nostalgia The music in this game was amazing.there was only one track but i still remember clearly! The version i had as a kid only had four characters,there were not that many mechanics either. I remember playing with a friend in the same keyboard😂
Just found your channel right now through the algorithm, holy shit what a great recommendation from TH-cam for once. Your channel is full of some really fantastic content
this game bleeds 90s character design and aesthetics and I love it, always appreciate when you put the spotlight on somewhat niche older games. In respect to the actual game mechanics though, I've always loved the idea of grooves. A feature that can potentially double the depth of your playable cast and MUs without actually adding any new characters is an idea I wish more popular fighters would incorporate (MKs modern entries have to an extent, but they're the only one)
This game looks mad good. Ever since I first played Cave Story and found out that it was a one man project, I've had tremendous respect for indie titles. This one blows my mind, and I really hope the creator is still out there somewhere making games. For a game to embrace anime _and_ 3D fighting game elements so cohesively? Wild. On a less related note, I've been staying at a friend's place for a few days, and he knows how much I like fighting games, so he brings out this old Xbox 360 copy of "BattleFantasia". It's an Aksys game developed by Arc Sys, and I'd never heard of it before. We're gonna drag out his 360 tomorrow and see what it's like, and I'm looking forward to it! I dont have a clue yet if it's any good, but knowing that you are a conoisseur of the forgotten and a defender of the weird, I figured it might be worth bringing it up in case you'd like to try it. I checked, and there's a version out on Steam. Hopefully, I'll get back to this comment with some early impressions another day. Lastly, I just wanted to say that I've really loved listening to your videos these last few weeks. I'm studying animation, and the last month of college was a crunch, so it's really great to be able to throw on one of your videos to keep me sane. I love that you talk about the obscure side of fighting games. I'm reminded of why I fell in love with channels like CGRUndertow and Yuriofwind back in the day, and I get to learn something I've never heard of before. Cheers! And have a wonderful Christmas season.
This message means a lot to me, thanks for the kind words and for watching!!! As for Battle Fantasia, it's a good game!!! Def a tame anime fighter that even a casual Street Fighter player could enjoy. I might have a video on it sooner than later too 🫡
Dude, THANK you for spreading more awareness of Hinokakera. I discovered this game last year in 2022 in the summer (to which shortly after I lost my PC due to age, but gladly got the games back). This game was so overlooked, and its not too often you see a doujin 3D fighting game thats actually good. More people need to hop on this. EDIT: I was always under the impression Aya was the main character, but oh well. Anyway another doujin fighting game you should look into is Axel City, as that is a game currently getting sequel. I don't know how much you'll like it, but its worth a look.
Ayyye! I remember playing this back when I started college and was discovering doujin fighting games. this one was so cool to me because of all the crazy combos you could do, and that first video of Ashley was EXACTLY what I was experimenting with in the game lol. Glad that's what you started with.
Oh man, that unlocked some memories I didn't know Hinokakera latest version was from 2010! Big bang beat is a name I haven't heard in a while... it needs a video too I used to have fun with that and melty blood act cadenza
This just showed up in my feed just looking for some Gameplay References but I didn't knew I will stumble on the Early Japanese Indie Games. This quickly went into my Indie Game Reference in Solo Game Development, Gameplay and Combo Reference.
this is the first fighter you covered I NEVER knew about. this game looks so fun, plus it was made by one guy??? it’s crazy how this got lost to time for the most part
YOOOOOOO back in the early 2000s here in Brazil, there were a bunch of magazines that came with CDs chock full of shareware games and I got Hinokakera in one of them. It had only 2 characters and, if I'm not wrong, only 2p versus mode enabled, so I couldn't do much with it. That CD is long lost, but every now and then I'd catch myself thinking about that game, wondering if it was any good, or if it even really existed, because I couldn't find anything about it when I searched, I guess I didn't have the right name. This video made me so happy, knowing it is real and it's a certified indie/doujinshi BANGER. Imma fire it up RIGHT NOW!
Talking about 3d anime fighting games, i would recomend you to play Crucis Fatal Fake. It's a interesting fighter that you control both servant and master in battle and there's a lot of references of the Fate characters skills. It would be a cool video (sorry if my english is bad i'm brazilian lol)
Knowing that one dude made a game this awesome and dripping with style has renewed my confidence in my ability to make my own game. Thanks for this video, the game looks sick and I'm gonna get back to work lol
I definitely wouldn't want _all_ fighting games to be as complex and technically demanding as anime fighters, but I'm very glad that this subgenre exists for the same reason you are.
There are so many cool mechanisms in this game! I especially like the sound of reactive breaks, I wonder if this is where Double Helix got the idea for counter breakers in KI2013 from
YOOOOOOO Bloody Rage! you are the first person I have ever heard mention this game in my life besides the friend who showed it to me in computer class in the 4th grade back in 04 lmaoooo
I remember getting introduced to Hinokakera from watching this one Super comp a FG channel I sub to uploaded. And I was *HOOKED* to say the least! The cast looked pretty cool, the music was pretty nice (Raven, Kakeru, and Hardy's themes are some of my favorites. And the fact that this game has a Sol vs. Ky/Ragna vs. Jin theme in the form of Raven vs. Silvis blows my mind!), and the gameplay looks really flashy and cool! To this day I hope someone talented would be nice to translate this game to English, because this game looks awesome and if 9:54-10:08 is anything to go by it has a story that the diehard Blazblue fan in me would enjoy.
![일상 속 기분 좋음 [Proto disco meme]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/DwmEIaZ7XGQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![เปิดใจ "อาจารย์เบียร์ คนตื่นธรรม" อดีตเคยสุดทุกทาง ถ้าใช้หนี้หมดไปบวชแน่ l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IxeE0xVhy08/mqdefault.jpg)
>doujin
>pc game
>early 2000s
yep, it's peak.
Shooting Line Spirits
>edgelord subtitle for every installement
inject it straight to my veins
>Made by one guy
SIGN ME UP
gemerald
They dont make em lik they used to 🥺
10:39 She's a demon. It's a grab. She does a flip. I would totally call that a demon flip.
Now THIS is fighting game math
Wait a minute! 😂
@@GuileWinQuote Akiha has amove like that too lol.
A Demon flip is what akuma does with different cancels. This is a Heidern "Neck roll"
I'd actually liken it to MOTW Freeman's leaping neck slash, but significantly less shit
Man, so much passion. He thought of all these different designs, modeled them, C++ programmed it without a modern game engine, added HUD, whacky effects for air combos, balanced it, you can tell he was 20something and dreaming. It makes us older dudes feel young again.
The amount of care for the CD case? I'm sad no official publisher struck a deal with this man.
Seeing a guy actually make a 3D anime fighter with a story mode by himself gives me hope for my own dreams
makes me feel like an absolute impostor of a dev too xD
Counterpoint: he's asian.
Me too also don’t you dare give up on your dreams . Don’t settle your a mediocre life that you have no passion for . Make your dreams reality
Samesies!❤
I really like your definition of doujinshis as “by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts” as I think the communal aspect of doujins are their defining characteristic.
In terms of scope and end product, they are very much equivalent to indies. But historically they have more in common with the old freeware PC game scene imo (despite most doujin works being sold for a fee), and with an even bigger focus on in person communities (which I assume has its origin in the old manga doujin circle communities, but I’ve never actually researched that myself).
the uninformed people would define doujinshi as "porn" and that's it or well doujin in general as "porn" but yeah you are absolutely right heck the legendary doujinshi developer of Touhou fame still doesn't strike people for using their Ip (except when they use his assets) for commercial products and that's insane
It was a distinction that I honestly struggled defining myself! I was iffy on that whole section and almost just called it a Japanese indie game to keep it moving but it wouldn't have felt right glossing over the culture that cultivated Hinokakera in the first place!!!
@@GuileWinQuote "Japanese Indie" works just fine as a layman's description if you don't downplay the "indie" part. passion and enthusiasm is a huge part of what makes indie what it is, no matter where it is.
im really confused on what doujin means in this context because ive commonly seen it be using as another word for "porn" so does doujin have multiple meanings?pls help
It does not mean porn, and never did.
It’s just the word for self published art, be it comics, games, etc. A lot of it is fan works using established IP, but it doesn’t have to be. Likewise, it CAN be porn, but it doesn’t have to be.
The comnon misconception that it’s porn probably stems from a lot of the doujinshi that got popular or gained fame/infamy outside of Japan has been porn doujinshi. It’s similar tio how hentai doesn’t actually mean “anime porn”, it means “perv”, and porn anime/manga isn’t called hentai in Japan. Or how people use yaoi to mean “gay manga/anime”, when the proper term is BL (boys love), and yaoi is only really meant to be used for explicit gay manga/anime.
Hope that helped
This is incredible, you never see doujin fighters with impressive 3D visuals like this! I definitely want to play this.
Thanks for talking about Hinokakera. This game was absolutely revolutionary on the Doujin scene when it was released at that time not only because it was 3D but also because of the netcode: yep, it's delay based, but considering that era is one of the best delay based netcode ever made, and works just amazing and with almost no lag even if you're like 150/200 ping with some people. You need to consider that this netplay mode was released in a time neither Melty Blood or EFZ have "Caster" and some other doujin games sadly never had proper online modes or there were just plain bad... try to play an online match of Fuuka Taisen right now... it is almost impossible to have a playable match.
Because of that I played a crapton of Hinokakera between 2003 and 2010, and I even meet some friends that I still hang around thanks to this game. It is probably the best 3D Doujin fighter, in fact the only one that you could consider a proper rival is Crucis Fatal+Fake that is also really cool.
As you commented at the end of the video, sadly the only weird note about Hinokakera is that the dev is totally MIA since 10 years ago, and the last post on his blog was just like "yeah, I'm still updating the game, see ya at next comiket" and things like that. If you go to that post you will see that the comments section is basically a lot of japanese, english and chinese post asking what happened to him. I hope Ryuka Akaishi is okay.
Great post,i played this on 2006 and honestly didn't even know the backstory about it.
Hayama moment
Hate to see it. One of my favorite doujin FGs is Mind Arms, but the dev went MIA at about the same time while working on a remake. Ah, those days...
Missing, eh? Nah Man, couldn't have been the big corps silencing competition... or maybe they got recruited or bribed to stop? Man, it makes me super curious. I wish someone could put in the footwork to figure out what happened to them. I don't live in Japan or speak the language, so I would otherwise.
@@Maniacman2030 There is a decent chance he is no longer among the living with suicide being one of the more likely causes.
I was so on board after gun maid broke out the zweinhander 🤣
That's a buster sword not a fucking zweihander.
Yes
@@Ten_Thousand_Locusts she's holding it with two hands, checkmate
Buster sword also opens into a big ass railgun for her ultimate
Got me acting like “Damn, girl! What that greatsword do??”
Japanese indie fighting games were something back in the day. We got a lot of good stuffs like Touhou Hisoutensoku, Vanguard Princess, Acceleration of SUGURI, etc. I remember our tournament setup was just a laptop at any local cafe.
I'm hoping AspreyFM and GuileWinQuote collab to cover all of TasoFro's Touhou fighting games, at least from a competitive standpoint.
Our shit was Melty, EFZ, and occasionally Fatal/Fake when we got it set up. It was so rad! VanPri was also cool as fuck.
the mai hime doujin fighter is better than both oficial fighters
My friend and I had a fierce Suguri rivalry. A Touhou-style VS game?? We were hooked from the start.
Shame that instead continue refine existing mechanics, TasoFro decided to dump Hisoutensoku and 2 previous fighting games into garbage and make jelly-movement fighting games like 13.5 and 15.5
Holy crap,ONE DUDE MADE THIS!?
THIS LOOKS SICK
If I had this I'd play it all day
Thanks for mentioning this game man
If you know where to look for PC doujin games, it's not hard to find
@@BridgetGX That's the thing,I don't have a PC
Still thx for advice
@@BridgetGXWhere do we look?
The hinokakera discord has DL link
@@anthonypimentel7218 Reddit is where. Google is there. Why are you HERE???😳
In early 2000's this game was even sold in Brasil in magazines that came with CD's with tons of flash and other small games ! Ooooh boy this one easily one of the best u could find in those! nice vid in this geeem!!
likely illegally too...
@@nate567987 Well, here we played a lot of ps2 games ilegally. And found a lot of cool gems alongside it! ^^ And I don't think that hinokakera was easily acessible outside Japan.
This video was beautiful and I absolutely ADORE hearing about these Japanese doujin games but it's so hard to find videos on them because are their seemingly intended obscurity. If anyone has a recommendation of other videos to watch that discuss little known doujin games please recommend!
Yea these kinda games are hardly covered in any proper discussion. Vysethedetermined does give some details about doujin fighters within their description
I would try my luck in Japanese sites like Niconicodouga
Nah this is sick one dude made all of this alone is absolutely crazy mad respect
I was there in 2002-2003... The best doujinshi to date... One guy made this ! And remember all the Easter eggs present in the game (like Kyo and Rock outfits for Raven, Silvis with Ky Kiske, etc...) A truly commitment from Reddish Region and a pure gem for fighting games lovers !
"i love anime fighters"
I WAS DUPED, I THOUGHT YOU WERE A GOOD CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTAL STREET FIGHTER PLAYER. ALL THIS TIME I WAS SUBSCRIBED TO A GUILTY GEAR PLAYING HARLOT !!!
jokes aside great video as always. it's inspiring seeing someone make an FG by himself seemingly from scratch. the games aesthetic looks real nice. it's got that infinite dreamscape that alot of psx looking fighters have that i love
still holding out for an EX2+ special someday I can show my friends to shill psx rollback.
filthy traitor, I bet he loves air dashing too
Oh god, we should’ve known, we were ignoring the warning signs this whole time. A major red flag was when he used fanfiction goth Tifa as the thumbnail for this video.
This is not the chaste, honest footsies I was looking for!!!!
These system mechanics are the type of stuff that Daisuke Ishiwatari was thinking up when it came to guilty gear and I'm kind of sad that the system mechanics got incredibly dumbed down from the previous games when it came to strive. This reminds me of the golden age days of guilty year like guilty gear midnight carnival in accent core
Funny story about this era I would spend HUNDREDS OF HOURS just playing this stuff, it was like this massive verse that no one spoke about. I hope to one day contribute to that vest net of creativity!! So many beautiful memories
In before the creation of Ky(le)WinQuote, a second channel focused entirely around anime fighters
00:48 bro, I see that background and get SMT3 Nocturne PTSD, already listening the background music of Amala Labyrinth, Lord spare me! Anyways, I love your vids bro, I've seen quiet a bit of them and I'm subbed for life.
Thank you for watching 🙇🏼🙇🏼🙇🏼
The fact it's made by a single dude inspires me to work on my own fighter myself lol. Mad respect to the creator
Something about the development of indies and doujins developed by one person is always interesting
Just got to finally get my first matches in the Hinokakera Chaotic Eclipse FGC Discord Server last night. Super helpful tutorials and people more than willing to help set up connections. Definitely was just a sandbag for at least 15 matches with this one gentlemen who seems to know all the tech as I watch his anime cut scene, but we all gotta start somewhere lol. Excited to play this gem more and get better, ty so much for popping up on my page. Much love and stay safe 😊🤙❤️
This is why I make videos. Thank you for watching 🙇
Man, I remember playing a demo of this game countless times back in the day, but I never had the thought off writing down the title and, eventually, I forgot the name of the game. Whenever I tried to locate this game all i had was a vague description to give: there was 4 cahracter, one was a bishop who summoned giant blades from the sky and the other was "human shadow the hedgehog" with dark flames and a giant sword. For around 20ish years this game was lost media to me, and suddely it came back with all its memories. Thanks for making the video.
Another certified GWQ banger 👌
Glad more people will check on the game now, like you said it's WAY ahead of it's time and will please both casual anime FG fans as well as hardcore labrats. (Ashley weapon switch combos are SO rewarding)
One thing that should be mentioned again is that the Delay based netcode the game has is probably the BEST delay netcode I've ever played (and I played my fair share of delay based FGs), so don't be afraid to hop on the Discord to ask for some matches.
I can't get over the fact that the round timer is replaced by an FPS counter
The timer is above the fps counter
A lot of doujin fighters did that back in the day.
I think they were referring to the early builds that didn’t have a round timer, the later ones had both the timer and fps tracker
I played this a ton when I was younger, you're bringing me back so much nostalgia.
Back then I mostly played obscure Doujin games like Crescent Pale Mist (sadly literally impossible to get now even pirated), Blitz, Melty Blood, etc.
Hinokakera was probably the shadiest shit I ever bought and I had to explain it to my dad who's first impression was that I was using his card to get scammed on some "Chinese Site" lul.
Damn... What a wonderful time of discovery. Today's internet just doesn't let you do that. You should make a video about Big Bang Beat too!
"Wagner mains can finally downplay appropriately" got me good.
that shit killed me, it was too perfect
man this takes me back to 2007 or so
hinokkakera, big bang beat, melty blood react, fatal fake...
peak doujin era
Bloddy Rage is not something I've thought about in yeas, lmao
Always found the doujin fighter scene to be rad as hell, glad to see more parts of it that I wasn't aware existed!
In Brazil we had these cds with a lot of flash games bundled. And one of them had the hinokakera installer! I fell in love with the series on that moment!
It's really bittersweet how many fantastic fighting games were made that never got their deserved recognition, in one hand it's really cool to go to fightcade and browse games with 0 players and having your night set, but on the other hand it's sad that it is almost impossible to find other people to play them with LOL
I remember playing this as a kid, so seeing this in my feed unlocked some crazy memories
I knew you were cooking something up when saw you in the Hinokakera discord server. can't wait to watch!
You should cover Kenju for the Atomiswave. Its pretty much a fully complete unreleased fighting game with a cool artstyle and cool air combos and air dashes and other stuff
That will definitely happen eventually!!
I had somehow never heard of this game before your tweet about it, and now having watched this vid I'm fully on board. Time to make yet another mid 2000s doujin fighter my personality for a month!
> Cute waifu with Beast Cannon
> Slow, heavy-hitting swordman
> Maid with knives, uzis and a massive sword
> Easy to pick, hard to master
> Stupid (in a good way) mechanics and combos
Sign me up.
Big shoutouts to Reddish Region for making this!
I talk about this game all the time, I'm glad you mentioned other games like EFZ and Blitz. Called it The Wasteland Years with a friend of mine.
You're doing God's work covering this game. I had no idea this existed, and upon searching that there's little no content or discussion about this game is such a shame.
It looks amazing! Especially for a solo project. This is such a labor of love from someone who definitely had great vision.
Seeing how well your video is doing is great because it's a big step in the preservation of Hinokakera's presence and legacy in an already niche genre of games. I'm literally commenting to boost this video in the algorithm.
You’re one of my favorite fighting game youtubers dude, never stop
Thank you for watching 🙇🏼
The game looks so damn smooth.
Very impressive work for one man, some teams cannot even make something that looks so good.
Yooo thank you so much for talking about this game it's so fucking cool!! I hope this gets more people playing it! Does the community still nickname it "Hot Cakes" or was that only a thing back in the IRC days lmao?
Reddish Region is definitely an inspiration for me, especially now that I'm finally trying to make my own fighting game.
I've been waiting for someone to cover this game for so long, thank you so much guile win qoute
I'd recommend checking out Monster, a 2D fighting game. and Crucis Fatal Fake, another 3D-2D fighting game like this, but based on the fate series
all of these can be found in doujin style btw!
This takes me back, because I've lived that doujin era. Getting this games "unofficially" because i was a early teenager without work, messing around with applocale. I've lived that
I remember playing Clestis and having a blast with a friend who was a Raven main. We played it for about a month straight during covid and its way better than it has any right to be
Man, I’m so glad this video got recommended to me. I remember seeing gameplay videos of this game a long ass time ago, but had forgotten the name. Glad it found its way back to me.
If you're looking for another solo developed FG you might wanna take a look at Wonderful World, it was made by one Japanese dude back in 2008 and is STILL being updated with new characters every year or so! It's a really fun game even if you have to go through a few hoops and hurdles just to get netplay to work
I'm definitely impressed that only one guy made this on a windows 98 rig in (Kinda) 2001, the fact that even the first version of the game doesn't look all that bad is definitely a show of how much went into this small game, it's really a shame that the guy who made it isn't active anywhere anymore because this series has a lot of potential from what I can see, also is it just me or does the color for Raven at 3:04 look like Kyo in the NESTS saga to anyone else?
from what i have saw in other comment, yes it is suppose to be a reference to kyo that color palet.
In all honesty, you don't get to see fighting games made by one person, looking this good, nowadays.
And the fact that this was made by a single individual, deserves a recognition, cause it actually looks pretty well done for being made in the 2000s. Since The Black Heart (which was made by a single person as well), i haven't seen an indie fighting game that looked pretty interesting, until now.
Nice review, by the way, gotta give a try on this one.
Someone has probably corrected you about this, but Reddish Region isn't exactly the creator's name. The guy's name is Ryuuka Akaishi (2:21) and the circle's name is Reddish Region (circles being kind of the company name for their doujin)
Unfortunate that reddish region dropped off the map. They missed out on the huge resurgence of fighters and PC digital storefronts. I hope they're doing okay.
One guy made this? That's super impressive! I hope this guy works in the video game industry.
Everyone tried out fighting games but people who really get into fighting games (learn combos and frame data) are a very small niche group so it is sad that many fighting games do not get the recognition they deserve
So cool hearing people talk about this game after so many years
First time I played Hinokakera I must've been 8 years old lol, so seeing this video awoke some hella old memories
Got it from a shareware compilation CD from a magazine here in Brazil.
It was probably my first time playing something like it, and I barely had any idea of what was happening, but I still loved it because of the character designs and the flashy vfx.
Knowing it was made by a solo dev only makes it more special now
Thanks for highlighting this game! Looks absolutely amazing, I need Hinokakera side tournaments in 2024.
I remember this game back in the day; it was so fun and I loved its OST.
Game looks so fun and man thats a lot of system mechanics lol. Hoping, like you, the dev sees your video and gets inspired to rework it and rerelease it with rollback of course. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
This was my second fg after x2 reload. It felt so easy and flashy to play, never thought it was made by one guy back then . Also, the music was so good(was it original tho?)
Wow remember playing a demo as a kid and thinking how awesome it was. Never knew that there is a fascinating story behind this game.
This man really did have a passion project. One man made something to give to others at Conventions and worked on it some more and upgraded the graphics and added characters, and finally this man was the OG roman cancel from Guilty Gear.
Lol I was looking for doujin fighting games yesterday after getting my hands on Melty Blood Type Lumina. And to probably no one's surprise there are barely any videos that discuss that topic.
Thanks GWQ!
Such nostalgia The music in this game was amazing.there was only one track but i still remember clearly! The version i had as a kid only had four characters,there were not that many mechanics either. I remember playing with a friend in the same keyboard😂
8:48 I spent hours on this stage labbing Kasumi, this game was great
If this was made by one dude TODAY I’d be impressed. For the early 2000’s this is insane
love the enthusiasm you clearly have for this sort of thing. it's so infectious.
This was an awesome video! I would love to play a 3D fighter with anime mechanics. It's even more incredible that this was developed by one person!
I'm very much into several of the character's playstyles.
Just found your channel right now through the algorithm, holy shit what a great recommendation from TH-cam for once. Your channel is full of some really fantastic content
Thank you for watching 🙇
Incredible to see that one guy made this amazing fighting game, for everybody to enjoy.
this game bleeds 90s character design and aesthetics and I love it, always appreciate when you put the spotlight on somewhat niche older games.
In respect to the actual game mechanics though, I've always loved the idea of grooves. A feature that can potentially double the depth of your playable cast and MUs without actually adding any new characters is an idea I wish more popular fighters would incorporate (MKs modern entries have to an extent, but they're the only one)
This game looks mad good. Ever since I first played Cave Story and found out that it was a one man project, I've had tremendous respect for indie titles. This one blows my mind, and I really hope the creator is still out there somewhere making games. For a game to embrace anime _and_ 3D fighting game elements so cohesively? Wild.
On a less related note, I've been staying at a friend's place for a few days, and he knows how much I like fighting games, so he brings out this old Xbox 360 copy of "BattleFantasia". It's an Aksys game developed by Arc Sys, and I'd never heard of it before. We're gonna drag out his 360 tomorrow and see what it's like, and I'm looking forward to it! I dont have a clue yet if it's any good, but knowing that you are a conoisseur of the forgotten and a defender of the weird, I figured it might be worth bringing it up in case you'd like to try it. I checked, and there's a version out on Steam. Hopefully, I'll get back to this comment with some early impressions another day.
Lastly, I just wanted to say that I've really loved listening to your videos these last few weeks. I'm studying animation, and the last month of college was a crunch, so it's really great to be able to throw on one of your videos to keep me sane. I love that you talk about the obscure side of fighting games. I'm reminded of why I fell in love with channels like CGRUndertow and Yuriofwind back in the day, and I get to learn something I've never heard of before.
Cheers! And have a wonderful Christmas season.
This message means a lot to me, thanks for the kind words and for watching!!!
As for Battle Fantasia, it's a good game!!! Def a tame anime fighter that even a casual Street Fighter player could enjoy. I might have a video on it sooner than later too 🫡
I have this on my toaster laptop, but I can't believe I held back on playing it for this long! This is truly a hidden gem.
You had me at the first frame of the maid. LET'S GO!!!!!!
God damn this is my favorite fighting game channel. Thanks for profiling these gems.
Thank you for watching 🙇🏼🙇🏼🙇🏼
Dude, THANK you for spreading more awareness of Hinokakera. I discovered this game last year in 2022 in the summer (to which shortly after I lost my PC due to age, but gladly got the games back). This game was so overlooked, and its not too often you see a doujin 3D fighting game thats actually good. More people need to hop on this.
EDIT: I was always under the impression Aya was the main character, but oh well. Anyway another doujin fighting game you should look into is Axel City, as that is a game currently getting sequel. I don't know how much you'll like it, but its worth a look.
Thank you for shining a spotlight on my childhood!
3D visuals for a solo doujin project is incredible, especially for the time! Very impressive stuff
OMG THISSSSSSSS YOU JUST HIT THE MOST HIDDEN GOOD CHILDHOOD MEMORY OF MY BRAIN
The machanics for the jewel lady is just mindblown
Ayyye! I remember playing this back when I started college and was discovering doujin fighting games. this one was so cool to me because of all the crazy combos you could do, and that first video of Ashley was EXACTLY what I was experimenting with in the game lol. Glad that's what you started with.
🤯🤯🤯that is totally loco .. awesome story dude !!
Oh man, that unlocked some memories
I didn't know Hinokakera latest version was from 2010!
Big bang beat is a name I haven't heard in a while... it needs a video too
I used to have fun with that and melty blood act cadenza
The early 2000s Japanese video game aesthetic is so nostalgic
Have you checked Phantom Dust?
Rarely do I see something on YT that I haven't heard of before.
Thanks for the video, you rock!
Awesome as usual. Thank you.
This just showed up in my feed just looking for some Gameplay References but I didn't knew I will stumble on the Early Japanese Indie Games. This quickly went into my Indie Game Reference in Solo Game Development, Gameplay and Combo Reference.
I’m a simple man. I like my dog, my family, a warm breeze on a nice day, and fast-startup antiair shotgun. 7:04
I had never heard of this game before. It does look pretty cool and I definitely want to check Hinokakera out now! Great video!
I played the first game before, now I wanna play it again now that you mentioned it had an update.
Thanks man.
This is incredible work for 1 guy!
this is the first fighter you covered I NEVER knew about. this game looks so fun, plus it was made by one guy??? it’s crazy how this got lost to time for the most part
So glad you finally got around to this one, it's probably my favorite doujinshi fighting game I've played
YOOOOOOO back in the early 2000s here in Brazil, there were a bunch of magazines that came with CDs chock full of shareware games and I got Hinokakera in one of them. It had only 2 characters and, if I'm not wrong, only 2p versus mode enabled, so I couldn't do much with it. That CD is long lost, but every now and then I'd catch myself thinking about that game, wondering if it was any good, or if it even really existed, because I couldn't find anything about it when I searched, I guess I didn't have the right name.
This video made me so happy, knowing it is real and it's a certified indie/doujinshi BANGER. Imma fire it up RIGHT NOW!
Talking about 3d anime fighting games, i would recomend you to play Crucis Fatal Fake. It's a interesting fighter that you control both servant and master in battle and there's a lot of references of the Fate characters skills. It would be a cool video (sorry if my english is bad i'm brazilian lol)
Knowing that one dude made a game this awesome and dripping with style has renewed my confidence in my ability to make my own game. Thanks for this video, the game looks sick and I'm gonna get back to work lol
Obscurity is the #1 reason why many gems of games go unsung especially in the early 2000s.
damnnnn this game looks so fucking sick i HAVE to play this you are the goat fr for shinging a spotlight on this dude!!!
I definitely wouldn't want _all_ fighting games to be as complex and technically demanding as anime fighters, but I'm very glad that this subgenre exists for the same reason you are.
That gameplay showcase at the start made me immediately hit Like. The fact that was done by one person is legit 🤯
There are so many cool mechanisms in this game! I especially like the sound of reactive breaks, I wonder if this is where Double Helix got the idea for counter breakers in KI2013 from
I'm sold immediately just from the art style alone. Late 90s to 2000s era art style was just simply peak.
YOOOOOOO Bloody Rage! you are the first person I have ever heard mention this game in my life besides the friend who showed it to me in computer class in the 4th grade back in 04 lmaoooo
I remember getting introduced to Hinokakera from watching this one Super comp a FG channel I sub to uploaded. And I was *HOOKED* to say the least!
The cast looked pretty cool, the music was pretty nice (Raven, Kakeru, and Hardy's themes are some of my favorites. And the fact that this game has a Sol vs. Ky/Ragna vs. Jin theme in the form of Raven vs. Silvis blows my mind!), and the gameplay looks really flashy and cool! To this day I hope someone talented would be nice to translate this game to English, because this game looks awesome and if 9:54-10:08 is anything to go by it has a story that the diehard Blazblue fan in me would enjoy.