Street Fighter IV revived my love for fighting games after not dabbling in the genre for quite some time. The rekindle flame made me become somewhat serious about fighting that I went ahead and purchased my own arcade stick. The gameplay, features, and online components really made that game stand out as one of my favorites from last generation. I was excited to learn that SFV would be hitting the shelves soon, albeit with some controversy, but I still could not wait to dive in once again in the world of Street Fighter.
As mentioned, before the games release it was well known that the game itself would be lacking content that would have periodical DLC in the coming months. Upon popping in the disc, waiting for the ever so long install time, I was finally able to get things going.
I quickly flipped through the menus only to find how barebones it was. features that should instantly be in any fighting game were missing. No arcade mode and no challenge mode. After messing around in the training room I jumped into Story Mode. Quickly it ends as it only has about 4 fights of 1 round games where you fight the insanely stupid CPU. The story portion is pointless that drags you along with unnecessary dialog.
Another game mode is Survival, which I thought was interesting but quickly learned how incredibly cheesy it is. There are 4 difficulties and each difficulty has a different number of levels. Easy is 10, Normal is 30, Hard is 50 and Hell is 70....technically it isn't really survival. Completing each grants you costume colors for that character you completed it with. Sadly, you will quickly learn that it is not worth it.
The way it works is that you go up against however many CPU opponents (depending on the difficulty) in 1 round matches. After each match you earn points that can be spent on supplements to help you get further. Some increase you health (low, medium, high, full), other increase your strength, defense, gauge, or you can be risky and earn more points by hindering yourself (taking more damage, 1 hit stuns, etc..). Later on, when the levels are high (especially on Hard and Hell) the AI cheats massively, reading your inputs and countering everything you do. It also doesn't help when the game gives you 4 low healths in a row which is surely going to end your bid at completion. Once you lose it's back to the beginning where you have to truck through it all again, only to come across the same problems. All this for color schemes? I'll pass.
Don't get me wrong, I love a challenge. Games like Demon's Souls made me love it even more. But there is a point where things become too cheesy, too cheap, and too annoying. This isn't the NES days anymore where you have poor designs that contributed to the difficulty of a game. Survival needs to be demolished, or at the very least reworked, badly.
That's pretty much the game! For the rest of the review please purchase the DLC for $5.99. Thank you!
Just kidding....
There of course the online portion where you compete against others like yourself to test your strength. The gameplay across the board is fine, new characters, new mechanics like the V-Trigger, and new combos. V-Trigger is very character unique giving you a great opportunity to open your opponents up. The combat is fluid, and more accessible to new comers since there window of opportunity for combos have been widen. Some view this as a bad things as some thing it is dumbed down, other may like it, totally a perspective thing. I welcome it since I am just an average player at best.
Online itself needs work. The new network code is spotty making online matches more difficult than it needs to be. There have been times where it works great, then times where your enemy is teleporting all over the place making it hard to telegraph moves. It's also difficult at times to locate ranked matched. It seems to just take too long to get back into the fight, especially when you're salty from a loss. There isn't a lobby system like from past entries in unranked matches. There's a battle lounge where 2 people can stay but no more than 2. How can I forget that Capcom seemed to forget (or ignore) to implement a system where rage quitters would be punished. They have adjusted some of the ranks for many, but some still get away with it. Ridiculous.
Capcom has done a lot of puzzling moves, especially to their premier franchises. How barebones this Street Fighter game is makes me worry about the future of gaming. Is releasing a game this shallow going to be the new norm? When the servers are offline, the game is nothing but a paper weight due to poor and lack of proper game modes. There was suppose to be an update in March but with only 8 days left in the calendar month, who the hell knows with this company, it might come out next year. The only silver light is that all DLC is free with the use of Fight Money, which is gained by winning online modes and completing survival. There is also the optional use of real money but screw that.
If you're itching to dive in to Street Fighter V, it may be best to hold off for a few months when a lot of the issues are ironed out. Heck, you might be better off skipping the year. It certainly isn't worth $60, or even $20 for that matter. I'm sure once everything is out it'll feel like a proper game but until then, go do something better with your money.
Street Fighter 5 launched in 2016, and is widely considered a misstep for the hugely popular franchise. This article explains why that is.
Every Street Fighter is called a misstep of the series since Street Fighter III..and even the Alpha games were not liked by everyone.
SF V had a miserable start but later it did a lot things actually better than SFIV and SF6.
SF6 is the first SF since SFII Turbo for that I did not buy at launch. And today, around 6 months after its launch I still have no motivation to buy it.
I've had every Street Fighter on launch since SFII on the SNES. SFV is definitely my least played of them all.
SF6 is very good. You should give it a second look.
Maybe in 2-3 years when there is a version that has characters I care for.
So far there is not one of the new characters I like..and my favourite 4 are not a part of it either. (Bison, Balrog, Sagat and Vega) + the whole hip hop style and the crappy music turned me totally off.
Looking forward a lot to Tekken 8.
SF4 vanilla was loved by most and and not considered a misstep. It wasn't until they went revision crazy that people started turning on Capcom.
Don't remember the criticques it got for the big hands and feet, the sometimes weird looking faces, the lame boss (Seth) and that so many characters were shotos and yup..the many new versions. Just every SF got its haters no matter how good it was.
It was criticized for the first trailers having an interesting art style with those ink splashes, but the real game had none of that and people felt cheated. And Capcom decided to add some of those effects in the game later because of the backlash. But I don't remember any other big complaints about it.
I grew out of fighting games, loved them as a kid but online you just get your ass kicked over and over leaving just the bare bones single player and also having no friends anymore who like fighting games either just makes me not want to buy or play them anymore.
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Street Fighter documentary 'Here Comes a New Challenger' is now available for all, following a successful crowd funding campaign.
By Jason Monroe: Join me as I rank the best Street Fighter games of all time, taking into account their impact on the genre, gameplay mechanics, character rosters, and overall fun factor. Let’s get into it…
Round One: FIGHT!!
An honest review with a score that I would concur with. PEACE OUT.