SINAG Fighting Game: Everything We Know

Introduction
Fighting games are easy to learn but difficult to master. A lot of
fighting games on mobile have swipe controls and cooldown-
dependent moves which sounds boring and repetitive. Well,
that is not the case with an upcoming mobile game known as
SINAG Fighting Game. It's a unique game that is being
developed in the Philippines. Ranida Games are the developers
of this game, and they have launched many fighting games in
the past. Enriched in Filipino Culture, Ranida Games are trying
to represent Philippine mythology through this game. Ranida
Games announced the making of the game in the beginning of
the year 2022. They announced it after they got permission
from the CCP Grants program for Game Development. CCP is a
government-owned foundation that stands for Cultural Center
of the Philippines. Their purpose is to promote and preserve
Filipino arts and culture in their country. Ranida Games was
chosen by the board of CCP to receive access and derive
contents from the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art. Read the
following article to find out what exactly the game is going to be
about.

What is SINAG Fighting Game?

SINAG is a 1v1 fighting game. It's an indie game that symbolizes
the mythological culture of the Philippines. Mythology is a vast
topic and often many games focus only on Greek, Roman, and
Norse mythology for some reason. Several other legends
occasionally make appearances and are quite rare. But SINAG is
trying to deviate from this trend, and it is trying to showcase the
rich culture of the Philippines infused with impeccable video
game. Many of us have learned the events of history through
video games, maybe real or fictional. You may be wondering
how a fighting game can teach people about Philippine
mythology, well, it is simple because the characters that are
being developed for this game represent different Filipino
legends, and are tied with exciting backstories derived from the
lore. Each character has a description that tells about its origin
and mythological significance. The game developers also ought
to showcase Philippine culture via the game backgrounds where
the characters fight. Depicting Filipino-style architecture, places,
and monuments.

Gameplay
SINAG is a fast-paced action game. Select your character and
dive into a matchmaking system, until a suitable opponent is
found. Fighting games are built up on combo moves. Never give
the enemy any opening to dodge or hit you back. Several
fighting games nowadays have a swipe mechanism and a
cooldown system. This is often exploited to minimize the effort
put into mobile games. However, there are a few other gaming
titles like Shadow Fight 2 that do not have swipe controls and
cooldown-dependent moves. SINAG lets you experience the
characters you play with a joystick control on the left and a four-
button layout on the right. These four-button controls are
comprised of light and heavy attacks, jumps, and dodges. There
is going to be a health bar, an energy bar, and a special skill bar
located at the top of the user interface. The matches are going
to be in 1v1 format. With easy to learn controls but hard to
master them, victory will be theirs who can land the most
number of combos without getting hit by the opponent.

Trailer
The trailer shows the gameplay of different characters. It's a
simple trailer but it completely represents how the game is
going to be. We see characters engaging in hand-to-hand
combat with unique ground moves and aerial moves. When you
look at everyone’s stance, you realize that they are quite unique.
For instance, look at Manananggal, a vampire-like mythical
creature that can separate its lower body from the upper body.
The game mimics that very well and includes this important
detail in her attacks. This just shows how dedicated the
developers were to include the Philippine mythology as it is,
without any changes. A lot of times we forget to look at the
backgrounds in a fighting game, but they are the ones that
provide a complete vibe and resonate a sense of belonging. We
can see different backgrounds in the trailer, that very well
represent locations of the Philippines.

Leaks So Far
The game is going to be heavily based on the combo mechanism
with that four-button system along with directional input. It's
going to be an easy to learn experience but hard to master
game. With an option of controller support the game transcends
the mobile platform encouraging more console players to try
this game out. The game comes with 8 background stages as of
now, and the boring gameplay mechanics of swiping to land a
hit has been removed.
During its release, the game is going to have 8 playable
characters with different types of attack animations. The
combos you create with one character may not work with the
other character, because these characters have different styles
of attacks in game. Each character is derived from the
Philippines' culture. The confirmed characters are:
 Anna Luna (representing Kaperosa or White Lady)
 Amon (A tree giant known as Kapre)
 Bathala ( The supreme being)
 Bugan (a male warrior)
 Daragi (a horse like looking creature known as Tikbalang)
 Juan (representing Filipino everyman)
 Mara't Clara (a vampire-like creature known as
Manananggal)
 Tala (a female warrior)

Release Date, Early Access, and Requirements

The pre-registrations have been open for quite a while. You will
also earn the Boracay Fighting Stage if you pre-register now. The
developers didn't reveal the date of its release but there's a
good news for Android users who want to try this game out. On
September 8, a closed beta test is going to start. You can signup
for closed beta test on their official website. The test has the
following game modes: Arcade, Versus, and Training. Although
you won't be able to play all the characters in the test, you can
still experience the following three characters: Juan, Anna Luna,
and Duragi. The developers didn’t state any system
requirements but considering that it is an indie game, any
mainstream device should be able to run this game smoothly.