So in the last post, it
sounded like I was pretty hard on Street
Fighter V -- and I hate that
it had to come out that way. I wanted to
sing about the game’s praises from dawn till dusk for the next eight
months. But with so many complaints and
controversies spiraling around the game -- with more than enough justification
-- it’s not like I can bury my head in the sand. People that are angry have a right to be angry. Those who are shaking their heads at Capcom
have the grounds to do so. The SFV launch is appreciable for releasing
sooner rather than later, but it did so in a less-than-ideal state.
At least, that’s what it says on paper. But the devs dumped a lot of time and effort
into the actual game, and it shows. I’m
not going to say this is the best SF ever,
because I’m way out of my depth on that one.
But this is still an amazing SF game,
if you ask me. It’s certainly my
favorite Capcom fighter in recent years, since it’s got a lot going for
it. Chief among them, the music. Survival Mode’s taken some heat, but
everything was forgiven when I first heard the Congratulations jingle.
IT’S SO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD. But anyway, let’s talk about the actual game.
You can probably guess what the basics of the game
entail, but for posterity’s sake here’s a quick rundown. It’s you and your character of choice against
an opponent (human or CPU), and the first one to lose all their stamina loses a
round. First one to score two out of
three rounds -- by default -- wins the match.
Simple stuff.
Since its launch more than 20 years ago, SF has established itself as a
six-button fighter. Light punch, medium
punch, heavy punch -- or jab, strong, fierce, if you prefer. Light kick, medium kick, heavy kick -- or
short, forward, roundhouse. SFV continues that proud tradition, and
as always, mixes in all sorts of potential inputs and results from each of its
(currently) 16 characters. You’ve got
your suite of buttons, a couple of command normals per character, and special
moves of varying form and function.
Using them wisely is the key to victory.
Of course, what sets this game apart from previous
iterations is that it adds the V-System.
Taking note from games like BlazBlue
and Killer Instinct 2013, each
character has a unique V-Skill that lets them unleash a special technique with
the press of two medium buttons. Series
mainstay Ryu gets a parry move that lets him nullify any attack (barring
throws), while second banana Ken gets the ability to dash a short distance --
and/or use one of his famous kicks.
Using these moves lets a World Warrior potentially gain an advantage
mid-fight by countering foes, repositioning, or changing the playing field.
The secret benefit of using V-Skills (effectively,
in an ideal world) is that it can help fill up your V-Gauge. Build up a stock for it, and you can use a
V-Reversal, i.e. an attack that lets you blow an enemy off you or escape from a
bad situation. Alternatively, you can
fill up the gauge and hit your two heavy buttons to activate your V-Trigger. Once again, it’s a character-specific ability
that enhances stats, changes attack properties, or just unleashes a secret
technique that’s sure to wreck your foes…assuming you actually use it properly.
Capcom seemed pretty proud of (and regularly
emphasized) the V-System on the road to the game’s release, and I can see why:
it’s one of the gameplay mechanics that’ll make it hard for me to ever go back to SFIV. The latest installment
doesn’t make the previous one any worse, but I understand now more than ever
why people might have complained about IV. Focus Attacks -- and by extension, Focus
Attack Dash Cancels -- were solid, but not without issues.
The FADC system profited some characters way more
than it did others; even if it didn’t, there would still be a disparity between
the haves and the have-nots. Dee Jay can
do some FADC combos, but they’re nothing compared to what C. Viper or Yun could
get off of them. Hell, Dee Jay couldn’t
even land an Ultra on a foe he crumpled with his paltry Focus. Well, not with Ultra 1. But Ultra 2 uses that bizarre triangle
motion, so good luck landing a successful Focus and holding the charge needed and
inputting the move and landing
it.
What I’m getting at here is that rather than
widening the gap via overarching mechanics that not everyone can take advantage
of -- and similarly, characters that just didn’t have the tools needed to avoid
frustration -- SFV opts to make
everyone the very best they can be by 1) emphasizing their individuality, and
2) supercharging each character into their ideal form.
Okay, to be fair?
You could kind of argue that a
lot of the V-Skills -- and move sets, to a similar extent -- are just there to
make rushdown easier. The increased
focus on aggression means that most of the characters had to be retooled to fit
the new mindset…even if it meant giving Ken a run and giving Laura a different run. But that’s just surface-level stuff. It’s a gross oversimplification. Is there a focus on rushdown? Sort of.
But the main idea behind SFV,
even more than creating those “hype” moments, is about smarter play. Better play.
And this time around, everyone has
a chance to reach that plateau, thanks in part to helpful V-abilities
(V-Reversals are vital if you need to escape a high-pressure situation, and you will) alongside overarching
mechanics.
Counter hits have been a part of the genre for
years. Decades even. For the uninitiated: land a hit on an
opponent at the right time -- i.e. during the startup of their attack -- and
you’ll reap the benefits. Extra hitstun,
bigger combo opportunities, and so on.
To the layman, counter hits seem entirely nonessential; however, SFV makes their importance overt instead
of covert. Landing a heavy attack as
your counter hit results in a Crush Counter, which releases a burst of energy and leaves foes in an even more
vulnerable state. Granted Capcom’s
latest wasn’t the first to create a specific breed of counter (it’s basically a
Fatal Counter from BlazBlue/Persona 4 Arena), but this game’s new
system is there to emphasize how much you screwed up by being reckless. Or, alternatively, it’s there to reward you
for a smart read or iron defense.
I’ve openly lamented the fact that the SF series has relied so heavily on links
and split-second timing for some of its more in-depth combos. I’ve created some lengthy ones in other
games, like Marvel 3, Guilty Gear, Persona 4 Arena, BlazBlue,
Tekken, and more, but for whatever reason I just could not get the timing right for anything substantive in SFIV.
I probably could if I put more practice time into the game, but even
then I’d still be banging my head against a wall for hours trying to string
attacks together.
With SFV,
there was a conscious effort to lower the barrier of entry. Performing combos doesn’t require a blood
sacrifice to one of the dark denizens of Pandaemonium; once you learn the right
buttons to press, you can do it without too much of a struggle. Plenty of people have worried about that, but
I’m thankful for the change -- because as I’ve said before, the player should
focus on fighting the opponent, not the game.
I want to feel the flow of battle, not the frustration of trying to be
frame-perfect and losing my offense because my move didn’t come out. More to the point, it feeds into SFV’s philosophy.
I know that last time I called Capcom out for not
including more in-depth tutorials. But
I’m not about to dwell on it for long, and I’ll explain why: if the game is
doing its job right, then it should create environments and situations where
you learn on the fly. SFV not only accomplishes that, but
excels in it.
Well, it’s not as if SF games beforehand stumbled in that aspect. There’s always been something methodical
about the pace and practices of the franchise, where it’s just as important to
manage space as it is to blow foes away with fancy combos. That hasn’t changed here. You’ll need to use your attacks’ properties
-- power, speed, range, trajectory, safety, et al -- to maintain the advantage
or gain momentum. Likewise, you need to
watch what your opponent’s doing. What’s
he relying on most? What patterns does
he have? What can you do to reverse a
bad situation? Win or lose, I’d say that
the best matches -- and the best thrills -- come from cracking a foe wide open.
That’s part of the reason why playing against
human opponents is preferable to fighting CPUs.
Even with the most advanced hardware, you can’t really count on
AI-controlled enemies to have the same thought processes and reactions as a
human. Thanks to that, something gets
lost in translation. They can’t adapt to
you, and you can’t instill fear into them.
You can’t bait them, and they can’t disrupt your game plan. Well, they can, but only by virtue of perfectly-calculated, pre-programmed
subroutines. Or, you know, cheating.
As a reminder, this is the franchise that once let
charge characters use their special moves without
charging. It’s not exactly a bastion
of fair play we’re dealing with.
The common complaint with fighting games is (and
may always be) “Fighting games are too haaaaaaaaaaaard!” And in a world where a huge percentage of
games let players garner huge accomplishments -- single-player campaigns
cleared, and multiplayer matches won -- with only a handful of button presses
repeated nigh-infinitely, approaching a game where there are six separate
attack buttons can be pretty daunting.
Six attack buttons, times three types of attacks per button, plus
addition commands, plus special moves, plus blocking properties, plus attack
properties, plus EX attacks, plus Critical Arts, plus V-Skills, plus
V-Triggers, plus wake-up options…there’s a lot to digest.
Here’s the thing, though: SFV is proof that all of the jargon and all of the mechanics are
easy to grasp in a couple of sessions.
If that. The wall between
beginner and player is there, but it’s by no means unbreakable -- and that’s
especially true with SFV. I’m not entirely convinced that it’s for
beginners in the sense that there are some complexities in the execution (even
now), but the back-to-basics approach has made it so that you can focus on what
really matters. You don’t have to worry
about doing an FADC into Ultra with pinpoint timing, especially if you’re
playing in a less-than-stellar online environment. Matches are won and lost on the strength of
the players’ fundamentals.
I’d say that SFV
sells the philosophy better than predecessors and contemporaries
alike. And the reason why is
simple. SFV isn’t testing your ability to press a combination of buttons in
a sixtieth of a second. It’s not a
matter of fighting games being “too haaaaaaaaaaard”. It’s a matter of fighting games demanding
that its players actually learn. And you
will -- because I already have.
I have a better understanding of my weaknesses
now, with just weeks of SFV time to my name, than I did with years of time with SFIV. Removing a universal
defensive mechanic like the Focus Attack has completely changed how the game
plays. In its place? You have to know and commit to button presses
without the safety net of an absorbed attack or an FADC to safety. It helps create a more intimate understanding
of your character, and makes you learn your foe’s limitations…alongside your
own, of course.
Notably, SFV
has a stat-tracking feature that lets you see how you’re doing across
various categories. Through that, you
can figure out what you’re doing wrong and strengthen your gameplay as a
result. Still, you can do all right just
by remembering and recognizing what you’re losing to after a match -- maybe
even mid-match if you’re savvy enough.
In that sense, SFV is more of
a puzzle than a fighter (albeit one reliant on punches and kicks). If you solve the puzzle, you win. If you don’t solve the puzzle, you lose. And I don’t know about you, but being able to
solve that puzzle -- to know that I’ve gained something, even beyond another
victory -- is a thrill that not a lot of games can match.
But enough about that. Let’s get superficial.
I’ll be blunt.
No, SFV is not a better
looking game than Guilty Gear Xrd, at
least in my opinion. But for what it’s
worth, Capcom’s latest has an amazing presentation. The Ryu we’ve got now is EXACTY what I’ve
always wanted out of the character, and now the hardware is showing off his
ideal form perfectly. I can hardly stand
to look at the SFIV model anymore;
compared to the newly-forged tireless wanderer, SFIV Ryu looks like a dunderhead.
Similarly, Chun-Li is as close to perfect as it gets. SFIV made
her an action girl; SFV made her a grown-ass woman. And I love how they didn’t do anything to
Zangief besides change his model some, and it’s perfect.
There are just all these quality-of-life
improvements throughout the game. In the
absence of a dedicated story (for now), it’s up to the game/gameplay to
characterize the World Warriors. Sure
enough, SFV doesn’t disappoint. I love how when Rashid lands after his EX
Spinning Mixer, he does a spin as he touches down on the ground. I love how Laura slicks back her hair after
landing a grab. I love Necalli’s double
stomp with his EX Valiant Rebellion -- and moreover, how he looks both crazy
and overjoyed when he does his
Critical Art. I love how Ryu closes his eyes when he does his parry,
just to prove how much of a badass he really is. He doesn’t even need to look at you to stop
you cold.
As I’ve said before, my brother practically needs SF more than he needs air. He was ready for the new installment to drop,
but I mentioned that there was one thing he’d miss from SFIV: for whatever reason, he almost exclusively picks the Overpass
stage, and now he can’t. I don’t know
much of a loss it was for him, but for me?
I’ve long since been won over by the new stages. The color palette for them -- and the game at
large -- isn’t ultra-bright, but there’s color and style in each stage (except
for the training stage, but whatever). I
actually couldn’t tell you which one’s my favorite right now, but if I had to
narrow it down to the top three? It’d be
Union Station, Apprentice Alley, and Bustling Side Street. There are all sorts of fin details in all of
the stages, but not so many that they become a distraction. They’re aesthetically pleasing, even if the
most you’ll get out of them during a match is the occasional glance.
And of course, I can’t stress enough how good the
music in this game is. True, not every
song is a winner (Bison’s theme is by far the weakest, IMO), but on average
they make SFIV’s soundtrack sound
like trash. They were fine for the time,
but Ryu’s theme back then
was a techno-laced track that ultimately sounded tinny and distant. That’s hardly befitting of Mr. Street
Fighter. This new game capitalized on
that; you can FEEL the power and soul of each character just by listening to
their songs. There’s a part of me that’s
tempted to do a whole post on Rashid’s theme, but I think I’ll just share Ryu’s
new theme and leave it at that.
Given the stigma and bad press that’s swirling
around the game right now, I think it’s safe to say that SFV got off to a bad start in the eyes of the average gamer. People that are complaining have, in some
ways, every reason to complain. And with
Capcom having toppled all but a few of its remaining pillars vis a vis its
long-standing game franchises, they can’t afford to have SFV falter. It won’t,
arguably, thanks to dedicated fans and the fighting game community -- pros or
otherwise -- but I hate to imagine a climate where people drop or refuse to buy
the game because of some negative comments.
With all that said, this is no EA-tier or
Ubisoft-tier debacle. Many of their
games and franchises have lost their luster because their gameplay doesn’t
entirely justify repeated entries. SFV does. It’s missing some key features, but the
gameplay, the presentation, and the love are all there in spades. Games have been trying to sell themselves as
experiences for a while now, but you know what?
This is one game that actually earns the title.
And that’s really all there is to it…for now. Let’s see how the story turns out this
summer. Until then?
What, not good enough? Well, I’m sure I can whip up something to pass the time…
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