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Fatal Fury: City of the Wolvesis finally here, bringing back many familiar faces and its robust systems, teleporting us back 26 years ago when Mark of the Wolves released. If you’ve been looking for a modern fighting game with a strong focus on defense and character expression, this is everything you’ve wanted and then some.
Even with the new systems and mechanics at play, it still feels like classic Fatal Fury, even if it does power up the fighters' combat prowess tenfold, such as Hokutomaru, who sees a massive boost since his debut in MotW, despite not having access to some key moves that feel crucial in this game!
Hokutomaru Overview
Hokutomaruis avery fascinatingcharacter in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves,due mainly to his unique move listthat can make him sort of challenging to get a grasp on. But once you do, you will be soaring to new heights. He’s ahyper-aggressive rushdown fighterwho hasmixes and okizeme pressure for days,making him the king of setting pressure.
However, there isone caveat that may make or break himfor you: Hokutomarudoesn’t have an uppercut move(reversal), whichcan be bad for a variety of reasons,but essentially means hisanti-air options are more limited.He alsoloses access to a solid wake-up option to stuff overzealous opponents after being knocked down.
That being said, Hokutomaru isstill VERY solidandcan be deadly in the right hands.While it will take a bit more time and effort to learn him compared to most of the other fighters, he’sremarkably rewarding and dominantin combat. He’snot beginner-friendly,but we would still recommend him if you’re willing to practice with him!
Hokutomaru Command List
Before springboarding into Hokutomaru’s combos, we’d like to tackle hisCommand Listfirst, as you will beusing all these actions during combat and throughout his stylish combos.Though, his variety will be on the lacking side of things, which is fine, since his speed and agility are off the charts, making him tremendously strong overall.
He has avaried move list with many ways to keep his opponent at bay via shurikens,making up for his lack of an anti-air reversal. While hedoes not have a dragon punch,he has somany other options that it ends up not being too big of a dealonce you get used to his playstyle!
c. = Close
f. = Far
j. = Jump
↘️ LK
↘️ HK
⬇️↙️⬅️ LP/HP
⬇️↙️⬅️ LK/HK
[While Airborne] ⬇️↙️⬅️ LP/HP
[While Airborne] ⬇️↙️⬅️ LK/HK
⬇️↘️➡️ LK/HK
⬇️↘️➡️ LP/HP
➡️⬇️↘️ LK/HK
⬇️⬇️ LP/HP
⬇️↘️➡️, ⬇️↘️➡️ LP
⬇️↘️➡️, ⬇️↘️➡️ LK
⬇️↘️➡️, ⬇️↘️➡️ HP
⬇️↘️➡️, ⬇️↘️➡️ HK
⬇️↘️➡️, ⬇️↘️➡️ REV
Hokutomaru Combos
With Hokutomaru’s Command List taken care of, we can nowfocus on his combos.However, unlike most of the other fighters, hiscombos are a bit strangein that he only hasone Special Move he can Brake,meaning he only has so many routes available when relying on that core combat feature.
But, hecan cancel many Special Moves into other Special Moveswithout needing to rely too much on that system, allowing him tostill pull off some clever and stylish combosfor significant damage.Nonetheless, he is stillincredibly potent and only needs a small opening to get in and obliterate his oppositionin the blink of an eye!
Combos For Hokutomaru
Hokutomaru Tips And Tricks
Lastly, it’s time to send this guide off with afew tips and tricks for Hokutomaru,as he isa very tricky fighterto get the hang of. As you may have noticed from his combos, there’snot too much variety on the surface,as hisstrengths lie in his ability to chain a c.LK into a HP naturallywithout needing to Feint, giving him a full combo off a light confirm.
Not only that, but he canalso chain together several REV Arts together,which provides him the ability toextend combos without Brakes.While this may seem bad on paper, themobility and evasiveness of Hokutomaru more than make up for this,allowing him to constantly stick to his opposition and set up suffocating amounts of pressure.
Essentially, sincebeginning a combo with a Light Attack won’t have all that great of scaling,you will berelying on his mobility and projectiles to keep your opponent pinned down,allowing you to eitherpunish them when they slip up,or strike when you see an opening.
Being able tocontrol the tempo and spacing of the matchis a huge advantage in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, andHokutomaru may very well be the best at doing so.It will just requirelots of time and effort on your endto be able to do it consistently and proficiently!
