How do you think Marie will play?

[Bankenstein8]

Marie I think will be a character who could be interesting to see how her gameplay develops considering there seems to be quite a few ways they could take it. Any ideas on what her playstyle could be like?

 

[CaioLugon]

 

[Holy Goose]

Oh yeah, we needed that thread.

I hope that the demonic vacuum cleaner will be a part of her set. It has some potential. Also, it's simply awesome.
More shout outs to "Spaceballs", please. Because good is dumb.

I suppose, Marie's playstyle would rely on summoning quite a lot. Makes too much sense from the story point too. Basically, my boy The Skeleton will do most of the physical fighting. Having some hard-hitting projectiles would be logical. Maybe even some sort of life drain, using the vacuum cleaner.

Otherwise, it's a bit too early to say. I believe in the development team. They will make her very interesting to play.
Please, don't forget to add The Skeleton.

 

[tristePinguino]

I am pleading for this to be in the game in some capacity; it doesn't even have to be an attack please it's so funny, lol.
Also Dust Bunnies.

Spoiler: Take a Bow

With "Tohou series" listed as a gamplay inspiration, I imagine Marie being capable of filling the screen, similar to her Boss incarnation. Speaking of, here's hoping her vacuum gets to shine this time around. I could also see Marie having attacks and/or projectiles that lend themselves well to set play.
Can't wait to learn more!


Edit:

I figured I should just include the entirety of her attack-concept sheet:

Spoiler: Bloody Marie Attack Concepts

 

[Bankenstein8]

I am pleading for this to be in the game in some capacity; it doesn't even have to be an attack please it's so funny, lol.
Also Dust Bunnies.

Spoiler: Take a Bow

View attachment 16497

With "Tohou series" listed as a gamplay inspiration, I imagine Marie being capable of filling the screen, similar to her Boss incarnation. Speaking of, here's hoping her vacuum gets to shine this time around. I could also see Marie having attacks and/or projectiles that lend themselves well to set play.
Can't wait to learn more!


Edit:

I figured I should just include the entirety of her attack-concept sheet:

Spoiler: Bloody Marie Attack Concepts

View attachment 16498

Has Black Dahlia used any of the attacks that were on her concept sheet so far? I know Annie and Umbrella used a lot from their’s.

 

[tristePinguino]

Has Black Dahlia used any of the attacks that were on her concept sheet so far? I know Annie and Umbrella used a lot from their’s.

Truthfully, not quite (at least, not yet).
Some of the ideas are preserved, but nothing is 1 to 1 like it was for Annie and Umbrella.

Spoiler: Here's Black Dahlia's old sheet for reference:

I also realized this image wasn't already in any of the Black Dahlia threads.

But like they always say, early character concepts are very much subject to change.

I feel like Marie has enough going on that the concepts on her sheet could potentially go unused.

 

[Bankenstein8]

Here's a rough sketch animation that appears to show what her idle and dash will look like.

 

[Corridor89]

I hope a lot of her animations whiplash between "cute and dainty maid" and "undead monster"

 

[Chrono_Tata]

I hope the idle preview confirms that the vacuum will be a key part of her gameplay at least. It's a really cool concept.

 

[tso]

something has to suck up those dust-skullbunnies

 

[Holy Goose]

I hope the idle preview confirms that the vacuum will be a key part of her gameplay at least. It's a really cool concept.

The demonic vacuum cleaner is the key part of her appeal as the undead maid. My cats could relate to that.
I kind of find it funny that the demonic vacuum cleaner doesn't levitate with Marie, so she has to drag it behind her. The boss Marie could afford her appliances to hover alongside

But - yeah, the thing already gets way more action than before, and it's amazing.
I still wonder how much of her boss attacks would be implemented in the playable version. Maybe some of them could return in a different (probably, weaker) variation. Maybe, even with The Skeleton.

 

[Chrono_Tata]

I kind of find it funny that the demonic vacuum cleaner doesn't levitate with Marie, so she has to drag it behind her. The boss Marie could afford her appliances to hover alongside

Actually, now that I'm looking at the animation closely, you can see the vacuum is actually swinging from side to side as she's dashing. That definitely feels like it's floating rather than being dragged behind her.

Since she's completely off-the-ground during her dash I wonder if she will have an hoverdash like Ino that will actually take her up in the air. While the dash animation could change later, maybe that's the concept they are going for if they are animating her dash like that.

I still wonder how much of her boss attacks would be implemented in the playable version. Maybe some of them could return in a different (probably, weaker) variation. Maybe, even with The Skeleton.

I think making her able to turn to her boss version for a limited time as a Level 5 could be fun. Otherwise, I don't imagine they will be used much. The old sprites are probably not on-model for her playable version anyway. Keeping in mind that based on the reveal trailer, the lore is that she will be depowered due to most of the Heart having been destroyed and I imagine her appearance will be different to reflect it.

 

[Bankenstein8]

Two more sketch animations of her jumping and turning frames

 

[Holy Goose]

Two more sketch animations of her jumping and turning frames

So much personality here.
Can't wait for the animation streams.

I also wonder if the demonic vacuum cleaner has any other expressions...

 

[tristePinguino]

The talent of the Skullgirls creative team has been quite clear, but my heart goes out to the artists who have to animate all those frills, lol.

I also wonder if the demonic vacuum cleaner has any other expressions...

Considering they even made Eliza's microphone stand expressive, I'm confident the vacuum will be too. : )
I wonder if they'll give the vacuum a name! Canon or otherwise/internally.

Here's the frame from the peak of Marie's jump as a static image if anybody would like a closer look:

Spoiler: Bloody Marie Jump

 

[Will]

Since some people have only posted portions of it, heres the full sketch of some old concept art on what Marie could play like in the upcoming months of her development. Even though we may not see any of these attacks specifically, I think this already gives us a good idea of what most of her moves will be based around which will be her undead maid motif and summoning undead minions / projectiles to do her dirty work or zone opponent in general. Like some people have mentioned already though, probably won't see any of these attacks specfically since this concept art is pretty old afaik

Edit:

Edit:

I figured I should just include the entirety of her attack-concept sheet:

Spoiler: Bloody Marie Attack Concepts

My bad, didn't see you had already posted this pic before me so apologizes for the redundancy

 

[Will]

Personally, similar to what her gameplay speculation suggests she'll play like, I think she'll mostly have a mix of both summon based zoning and maid based attacks. Whether it be beating your ass with her vaccum or cleaning your dirty face with a feather duster, I think we can expect at least most of her normals, some specials and possibly even supers to be based around this and her undead maid motif in general. For her summons, they'll probably be undead minions / projectiles of some kind that will probably have special properties, will have their own attacks that'll be able to help Marie in some way or can just be used to zone her opponent in general. Perfect examples I can point to from other games if you want references and characters I have personal experience with would be Rachel Alucard from Blazeblue (Most fun FG character ever made and best girl) and Dizzy from Guilty gear (Also another one of my favorites, right behind Elphelt Valentine). Last thing to note is that they mention Marie being able to get stronger by sucking up the corpses of her fallen teammates. Tbh, I'd personally like to see something like this in her gameplay since as the game progresses, she'll get stronger in some capacity and it'll make her feel more like the boss character shes supposed to be aka the Skullgirl which would be pretty fitting imo. Only problem is that I don't really see how they would actually go about this or if it would even be practical but its still somthing I think can work if devs get creative enough. Most of my thoughts on how Marie will play is mostly from her gameplay speculation and while its subject to change ofc, I think just based off her design we can expect to see most of what I mentioned previously in some form.

 

[Stuff]

Please give me chip damage please please please please please

Passive playstyle please please please please please please ple-

 

[tristePinguino]

Last thing to note is that they mention Marie being able to get stronger by sucking up the corpses of her fallen teammates.

This is the mechanic I am most curious to see in action (assuming they choose to include it, of course).

The old Speculation description simply uses the phrase, "corpses of the fallen," so it'd probably work with allies and opponents alike. But in what way would it "increase her own power"?
I don't imagine it granting her too crazy of an advantage, simply because she would be effectively barred from this option if played Solo. I know Solos have never been popular, but still.
I also wonder how it'd be like, presented (if you will), considering how they were so explicit with the whole, "Hungern DOES NOT eat/kill Umbrella's opponents!" Lol.

 

[tso]

suck up a corpse > more stocks of Mr Skeleton /j

I'm just hoping for anything like rachel's wind. Sure it was on the ancient doc and she still looks to have the dust buns, but that doesn't mean much. Maybe she'll have some of arcana heart or 8-way dash with the vacuum.

 

[Will]

I'm just hoping for anything like rachel's wind. Sure it was on the ancient doc and she still looks to have the dust buns, but that doesn't mean much. Maybe she'll have some of arcana heart or 8-way dash with the vacuum

I'd personally love to see something Rachel inspired myself since she's one of the main gameplay inspirations for Marie
(According to character concepts page anyways) but I'm not entirely sure what they would go with

 

[Chrono_Tata]

Slightly lore-related, but one interesting thing that has been noticed is that in most Marie art, she has the bone halo that other Skullgirls have, but an incomplete one. While the others make a full circle, hers is only about 1/4.

Spoiler: Skullgirls

So I imagine the incomplete halo signifies the fact that Marie is not a full Skullgirl yet and is not able to access the Heart's full power.

That brings me to the gameplay speculation: maybe Marie will have some sort of gauge indicated by a floating bone halo. The more the gauge increases, the more the halo is complete, which allows access to stronger moves. Perhaps sucking up corpses would be a part of how this gauge can be upgraded.

However, we already have another gauge-heavy character this season which is Umbrella so I'm not sure if this concept is something they want to repeat with Marie, but I think their mechanics could be different enough to be distinct if it is the case.

 

[Hyggend]

That brings me to the gameplay speculation: maybe Marie will have some sort of gauge indicated by a floating bone halo. The more the gauge increases, the more the halo is complete, which allows access to stronger moves. Perhaps sucking up corpses would be a part of how this gauge can be upgraded.

However, we already have another gauge-heavy character this season which is Umbrella so I'm not sure if this concept is something they want to repeat with Marie, but I think their mechanics could be different enough to be distinct if it is the case.

I think that if this were a permanent increase in her abilities it'd be unique for the game and very fun. Sorta like the resident Frank West.

I think it'd also make sense lore wise but I am no lore master so I won't comment further.

 

[Chrono_Tata]

I think that if this were a permanent increase in her abilities it'd be unique for the game and very fun. Sorta like the resident Frank West.

I think it'd also make sense lore wise but I am no lore master so I won't comment further.

Yeah, unlike Umbrella where they made a point of saying that Hungern doesn't eat/kill the opponents, Marie certainly doesn't have any qualms against killing opponents (or maybe even allies). Lore-wise, Skullgirls are supposed to be stronger the more corpses they have access to.

 

[tristePinguino]

Oh, I hadn't considered that the killing had anything to do with a character's principles; I assumed it was a rating thing or something. I don't imagine that Skullgirl Umbrella has any reservations against killing, either.

I had a funny thought, though:
What if Marie does have an additional form of resource management, and the "corpses of the fallen" in question are the ones she brings into battle?
She spends resource to deploy summons, and and then has to vacuum up their pieces to ensure she has enough resource for further summons, lol.

 

[Chrono_Tata]

Oh, I hadn't considered that the killing had anything to do with a character's principles; I assumed it was a rating thing or something. I don't imagine that Skullgirl Umbrella has any reservations against killing, either.

Well, there are several stories where characters are outright killed (some rather violently), although they aren't part of gameplay so yeah, maybe.

Skullgirl Umbrella certainly won't have a problem killing although they wouldn't make different palettes work differently. (What do you think this is? SGM?? /j)

I had a funny thought, though:
What if Marie does have an additional form of resource management, and the "corpses of the fallen" in question are the ones she brings into battle?
She spends resource to deploy summons, and and then has to vacuum up their pieces to ensure she has enough resource for further summons, lol.

Yeah, I think that would be cool. Having resources that are not tied with actual opponent or teammate corpses also means there is no concern about balancing around team sizes.

 

[Will]

I had a funny thought, though:
What if Marie does have an additional form of resource management, and the "corpses of the fallen" in question are the ones she brings into battle?
She spends resource to deploy summons, and and then has to vacuum up their pieces to ensure she has enough resource for further summons, lol

Reminds me abit of Baby vegeta from DBZF:

Spoiler

Tbh, I'd love the idea of being able to use the corpses of our fallen teammates in some way, that would be hella dope. Not sure how I feelif she does end up having a resource to manage of some kind. Nothing wrong with the idea persay, I'm just not entirely a fan of the mechanic is all

 

[tristePinguino]

I also wonder if the demonic vacuum cleaner has any other expressions...

Bloody Marie's vacuum confirmed to be expressive during today's animation stream!

Spoiler: Confirmed!

"Two weeks."

The artist hosting the stream stated that the team is currently working on Marie's hit-stun animations and that her frills are, in fact, a challenge, lol.
I'm hoping Marie's hit-stun animations are like, Eliza-level silly. I wanna see Marie come undone (literally) upon being kicked in the shins.
Two weeks!

 

[Will]

Bloody Marie's vacuum confirmed to be expressive during today's animation stream!

Spoiler: Confirmed!

View attachment 16724
"Two weeks."

The artist hosting the stream stated that the team is currently working on Marie's hit-stun animations and that her frills are, in fact, a challenge, lol.
I'm hoping Marie's hit-stun animations are like, Eliza-level silly. I wanna see Marie come undone (literally) upon being kicked in the shins.
Two weeks!

Abit off topic but did they mention anything else about Marie, like how much longer she has to go until she at least reaches alpha stage or something like that? Only reason I ask is because wasn't able to catch stream and I'm just dying to see where they take this character

 

[Shnarfl]

Abit off topic but did they mention anything else about Marie, like how much longer she has to go until she at least reaches alpha stage or something like that? Only reason I ask is because wasn't able to catch stream and I'm just dying to see where they take this character

Expect an alpha somewhere in the summer if they keep up with their current pace.

 

[Holy Goose]

Bloody Marie's vacuum confirmed to be expressive during today's animation stream!

Okay, this is amazing.

I knew they couldn't miss that opportunity, but it's nice to get a confirmation.

I hope this also means that the Vacuum Cleaner will have a serious role in Marie's playstyle.

 

[tristePinguino]

Abit off topic but did they mention anything else about Marie, like how much longer she has to go until she at least reaches alpha stage or something like that? Only reason I ask is because wasn't able to catch stream and I'm just dying to see where they take this character

Unfortunately, not that I'm aware of. But I can't say I had my eyes glued to the stream chat, either.
Recordings of their streams are available for viewing on Future Club's Twitch page if anyone's interested!
It might also be too soon for such info. The animation streams aren't the most informative on such matters anyway, lol.

The artist hosting the stream also spoke on the team's usual order of progress on a character. They haven't begun animating Marie's attacks just yet.

Spoiler: Order of Operations

"Two weeks."

 

[Brokas488]

View attachment 16712

Since some people have only posted portions of it, heres the full sketch of some old concept art on what Marie could play like in the upcoming months of her development. Even though we may not see any of these attacks specifically, I think this already gives us a good idea of what most of her moves will be based around which will be her undead maid motif and summoning undead minions / projectiles to do her dirty work or zone opponent in general. Like some people have mentioned already though, probably won't see any of these attacks specfically since this concept art is pretty old afaik

Edit:

My bad, didn't see you had already posted this pic before me so apologizes for the redundancy

How could I find all the old concept art sketches of all the characters?

 

[tristePinguino]

How could I find all the old concept art sketches of all the characters?

It takes a bit of digging, but the Skullgirls Wiki Galleries page is a great place to look! There's plenty to see here.

Just bear in mind that not all characters have concept art and that some galleries contain spoilers for Story Modes (2nd Encore and Mobile).

 

[Ikkisoad]

Always thinking about Marie having the Graze mechanic from Touhou Hisoutensoku.

 

[Chrono_Tata]

Always thinking about Marie having the Graze mechanic from Touhou Hisoutensoku.

As fun as it would be, probably not as useful in SG since projectile attacks aren't as universal for all characters.

 

[tristePinguino]

As per Black Dahlia's release notes (and the Skullgirls Twitter), a sneak peek of Bloody Marie's Burst animation has been revealed:

Spoiler: Bloody Marie Burst

https://twitter.com/x/status/1641907871615942656

It's cool to see that this... thing has been incorporated!

Spoiler: Vein Structure

I've wondered for a while if Marie would have assets that follow her around during gameplay (like the bone halo, bone wings, skulls, etc.) the way the Skull Heart follows Umbrella for her Skullgirl palette. Could this rough animation suggest that this might not be the case?

 

[Holy Goose]

I've wondered for a while if Marie would have assets that follow her around during gameplay (like the bone halo, bone wings, skulls, etc.) the way the Skull Heart follows Umbrella for her Skullgirl palette. Could this rough animation suggest that this might not be the case?

I guess, it's too early to say. Who knows, what is awaiting us, floating-wise. I guess, these things might be animated separately.

Though, I personally hope to see the above-mentioned things. They are too good not to make it into the game.

 

[tristePinguino]

Today is Marie's birthday (apparently)!

To celebrate, the Skullgirls Twitter has shared another rough animation:

Spoiler: Bloody Marie Vacuum Swing

https://twitter.com/x/status/1642913281848352768

Swinging your wheeled vacuum around like a ball & chain? Amazing.
Is this attack as big as it looks? That's like, a lot of space, lol.

 

[Sun]

i do hope marie gets her dust bunnies