Street Fighter V

[Shay Chaise]

Release a game with only training or online mode after several network test betas. Online doesn't work day one. Bravo.

As funny as that is and I'm neither surprised nor that arsed, it does say so much about the state of modern gaming,and about how low consumer expectations are these days.

I know it's all planned progression and free updates for the most part blah blah but it's like playing The Witness with all the puzzles greyed out. Street Fighter Jive, more like.

[brat-sampson]

Eh, I could've bet you anything the servers would get smashed on day one, it happens with everything and isn't really anything new. It's just never worth any company building ten times or more what they expect to be the average server capacity to cater only to the first day or two of release, after which half of it would never be needed again.

Also reading around it's very clear they pushed this out before the bulk of the modes were ready to schedule it around fighting game tournaments. If you're not ready to be actually competitive online, there's little reason to buy this before the content patch in March. It would be nice if they actually mentioned this anywhere, but I guess that would be bad for business.

[Hollow]

Alright this is odd, i've seemingly been given a digital copy of this for free.

I've searched my purchase history to try and explain this unexpected generosity by Capcom, but to no avail.

Wish I liked one v one fighters.

[The Region Legion]

Picked this up last night for PC. The online worked, just fight data wasn't getting saved - which worked out great for me actually because inevitably I lost 90% of my matches.

It seems a lot better balanced than Street Fighter 4, with less bullshitty technical gubbins in fights and more about timing your moves & blocks. I lost, but I didn't lose as badly as I did in SF4 all the time. There's at least one easy reversal move for each character if you can time them right, slightly easier than parrying in SF3 but not chainable, it seems.

But yes, the lack of an arcade mode on Day One is completely bizarre and quite typical of modern Capcom's general shenanigans. Strangest part is I don't think they've even announced plans for one.

[Hollow]

Has anyone else just been given this?

I'm mildly freaked out by it.

[brat-sampson]

What, like on Steam?

No, man. No.

Maybe you drunk bought it and deleted the emails as a surprise to your future self?

[Hollow]

That was my best guess, but no, i've logged in as all my accounts, and on all stores, it shows the price.

If i'd bought it, it would say purchased, i'm talking PS4 here btw.

I'm baffled, first thing i thought was odd is it spontaneously started downloading a preorder bonus theme, i thought 'hello? Whats this then? Oh free theme'

So 50 quid prezzie from Capcom? Ta Cappers, not like you at all.

[Hollow]

Unless...I got Batman on one of those way dodgy account sales thing that is banned from ebay now, i didnt like it, it felt dirty for some reason.

But the accounts still on my ps4, i wonder?

[Hollow]

Sorry for the semi off topic weirdness, game seems solid, runs well, i dont really like these games though.

Free game gods? Can i have a nice FPS please?

[Shay Chaise]

Well, minor moans aside, I've just got stuck in your this for an hour and it really suits my style, I've won about ten and lost one so far (edit: two). As much as I appreciated the insane depth of the FADC cancel stuff and after months of obsessive practice used to be able to pull off some crazy cancels into Ultra, this seems a lot chunkier and suits my footsie based AA mid range pressure game. Loving it so far.

[Thursday]

It does seem odd to start with such a bare bones package. I mean if they're going to add a lot of stuff in free updates anyway, what's the point? Also a bit of comic book exaggeration in the character design is one thing, but this game looks almost Dead or Alive levels of pervy.

[brat-sampson]

The reason it's not there is because it's not ready. The reason the game launched anyway is because of upcoming fighting game tournaments.

As much as I appreciated the insane depth of the FADC cancel stuff and after months of obsessive practice used to be able to pull off some crazy cancels into Ultra, this seems a lot chunkier and suits my footsie based AA mid range pressure game. Loving it so far.

I quite like threads like these because due to not having the game or ever really playing fighting games, I get some joy from reading sentences like this and having no clue what any of it means.

[Spiteface]

Sounds like I might have made the right choice not buying this day one.

Also, the "Alpha" fightstick might be a bit more fiddly to swap the buttons & joystick out on, compared to the old SE Fightsticks from SFIV (the SE sticks had nice quick connects that made it piss easy once you opened it up). Might have to look into alternative sticks, or a Fightpad when I feel it is worth it to actually buy this game. Might get the fightpad anyway, seeing as I'm gonna get Mortal Kombat XL next month regardless.

It seems like making a decent D-pad as standard on a controller is an artform that was lost when Sega pulled out of making consoles.

[Shay Chaise]

I quite like threads like these because due to not having the game or ever really playing fighting games, I get some joy from reading sentences like this and having no clue what any of it means.

I know you're not asking for an explanation but for my own nostalgia, Focus Attack was a really great, very versatile mechanic in SF4. You held it and during the FA animation, you could absorb one hit and gradually regain that bit of health if you weren't hit again during the FA. If you received a second hit, your guard would also be broken, leaving you very vulnerable to a combo or big punish. If you reached full FA charge (maybe one second but differed according to character), you'd do an instant knockdown attack, leaving the opponent equally wide open. Some FAs had deceptively deadly range as well, which was great for tempting people to attack or dare to stay in range.

Now, that was quite a decent use of it, but even better is that while holding FA, you could Dash Cancel out of it. This meant that if you timed it right, you could basically dash through fireballs, etc. It was extremely satisfying to dash forward as the opponent fired a projectile, quickly FA to absorb the hit and then DC forward 'through' the projectile and punish while they were in the recovery frames of the fireball. Every time you pulled that off you felt god tier.

Astoundingly, that wasn't even the best use of FADC. By using FA, during a special move or even regular move, you would cancel the animation immediately, then if you dash cancelled it too, you could continue a combo and keep your opponent guessing, or set them up for juggles or even an Ultra combo. Playing as Ken, I would practise for hours on end doing a medium punch Shoryuken and FADC out of the second hit (which raised them high enough to juggle without knocking them down) and dashing forward into a heavy punch Shoryuken or even Ultra if you timed it and spaced it perfectly, and depending on whether it was a counter hit and other factors! The other really cool thing was to DC out of your fireball so you'd basically be dashing like fuck following right behind your fireball and putting putting double the pressure on them to defend your attacks.

The very greatest moment of my SF4 career was during an all night battle with my mate, Ken vs Ryu for hours and hours, after a good ten or fifteen beers, maybe 5am. I FADC through his hadoken and went into a FADC'd Shoryuken into full Ultra. I honestly practised for months to be able to pull that off. I actually felt the wiring in my brain and fingers being resoldered during that time, and I suffered many many hours when I felt like I felt I was in the very earliest stages of dementia when there was just a physiological and psychological block between what my brain wanted and what my fingers were capable of. I almost lost all motivation to play after I did that because it was the culmination of all I could possibly do, against my best mate and the only guy I knew who would really appreciate it in real life. I would never again have the coordination or motivation.

This is an example of the practice I would do for hours, dash cancelling shoryukens into these infinite juggles. Note that it was only possible to do this twice in an actual fight, because it used up your super bar, and you wouldn't, you'd do it to extend a combo or go into an Ultra but the juggle itself needed to be in muscle memory to have a chance of pulling it off in the heat of the moment. It also looks really cool.

https://youtu.be/lY-4RFlDSDo

And this is what the really good players could do with the FADC mechanic. The last one here is ludicrous. You can see the cancelled fireball follow up and the cancelled shoryuken and all manner of shenanigans. As fun as SFV is so far, I do miss the absurd complexity and infinite skill ceiling which SF4 offered.

https://youtu.be/h1fyGx_LNtc

[Bhazor]

The only important question is when the inevitable R.Mika mod comes in that fixes the camera. Just riveting it to her ass for the entire game. That'll hold me over until they manage to import Mika Tan in to the game.

[Swoz_MK]

I played Daigo in Harrow Leisure Centre. One of the weirdest moments of my gaming life.
Anyway. I played Balrog in IV. I see he is DLC in V and that he is no longer a charge character. Bah. I don't have a PS4 anyway so I can't play the bleedin' thing anyway.
I played V in Capcom's offices before Christmas and I dunno if its because of 7 years of SFIV but it felt a bit...crap in comparison?
felt more like SFvT than anything else.

[Shay Chaise]

Well, Ken is now shit, or I'm shit. I think both. I'm getting bodied left right and centre. This game makes me feel I've got dementia when I struggle to pull off combos. I should stop saying that, really, because I might actually have dementia. I'm certainly a lot older and more shit than when I was playing vanilla SF4.

[Thursday]

The only important question is when the inevitable R.Mika mod comes in that fixes the camera. Just riveting it to her ass for the entire game. That'll hold me over until they manage to import Mika Tan in to the game.

Ahh well here we go http://nichegamer.com/2016/02/fans-mod-r-mikas-buttslap-more-back-into-retail-version-of-street-fighter-v/

[Spiteface]

This week, I saw peolpe actually defending Capcom's piss-poor SFV release, saying things like "But Street Fighter's always been more about the competitive play!" or just dismissing anyone criticising it as an "XBox fanboy"

Fuck these clowns. I'm waiting until there's enough to it so it's worth buying. By which time there should be a few preowned copies in CEX. Besides, Mortal Kombat XL is out in 2 weeks, which should scratch my fighting game itch until Capcom decide to release the rest of Street Fighter V.

[colacentral]

The very greatest moment of my SF4 career was during an all night battle with my mate, Ken vs Ryu for hours and hours, after a good ten or fifteen beers, maybe 5am. I FADC through his hadoken and went into a FADC'd Shoryuken into full Ultra. I honestly practised for months to be able to pull that off. I actually felt the wiring in my brain and fingers being resoldered during that time, and I suffered many many hours when I felt like I felt I was in the very earliest stages of dementia when there was just a physiological and psychological block between what my brain wanted and what my fingers were capable of. I almost lost all motivation to play after I did that because it was the culmination of all I could possibly do, against my best mate and the only guy I knew who would really appreciate it in real life. I would never again have the coordination or motivation.

Couldn't you learn to play an instrument instead?

[Shay Chaise]

Couldn't you learn to play an instrument instead?

I play the drums.

I started learning to get good at plinking.

[Kelvin]

I play the drums.

I started learning to get good at plinking. Donkey Konga

[samadriel]

You'd think you'd learn the piano to get good at plinking...

[Big Jack McBastard]

This is getting savaged by players, Metacritic has it at 2.3 while only displaying the 76 the shitehouse official reviewers have collectively dished out.

I'm getting hold of 4 now cos at least that might be worth a go, I've not played one since 2 was out in the arcades.

I tried DOA earlier tonight and got sick of it quickly, that got stuck in shoddyville and never got out.

[Shay Chaise]

You'd think you'd learn the piano to get good at plinking...

This explains my lack of success.

[Shay Chaise]

This is getting savaged by players, Metacritic has it at 2.3 while only displaying the 76 the shitehouse official reviewers have collectively dished out.

It's a brilliant fighting game, and now the server issues have settled, it's working as it should, matches easy to find and netcode seems much better than 4. It's cross platform. It saves every replay of your past fights, up to a point, for learning sharing purposes.

The roster feels pretty well balanced. I've beaten most and been beaten in turn. It's a game about controlling space and getting them in the corner to restrict their options. It feels less about just getting the first light punch hit in and more about using the strengths of your move set. It's more about normals and simple punishes than chaining flashy stuff.

I'm a fan of the series but very dubious about Capcom. They have released a fighting game without Arcade Mode but, honestly, will I ever play that unless my Internet is down? I expect that the fight money stuff will be a piss take when they update the game with the 'shop' but I've got my main and I'm enjoying the actual game play, which is exceptionally good. No other fighting game series comes anywhere near.

[samadriel]

https://youtu.be/7qLp9UQ-G1k
Maximilian talks about SFV's launch shortcomings and the importance of casuals. It's true what he says about games not getting reappraisals post launch, and that could be a problem with SFV; even though releasing updates for free/cheap at a steady rate is what people actually want, it precludes the game getting new reviews like Super/Ultra SFIV did, so people who give up straight after launch don't necessarily get informed of the new features as they come out. Well, we'll see.

As for me, I'm trying to get my PS4 controller working on my PC before I get into SFV; I don't like my chances, the online tutorials haven't worked. Tch.

[Big Jack McBastard]

I'm getting hold of 4 now cos at least that might be worth a go, I've not played one since 2 was out in the arcades.

I tried DOA earlier tonight and got sick of it quickly, that got stuck in shoddyville and never got out.

Turns out I've checked the fuck out of fighting games completely, or the genre has mutated into something I don't gel with. Gave SF 4 a whirl, I question that art direction, it's a nightmare cartoon. I never played 3 but looking on GIS I can see that's where it came from, it's basically a scrubbed up 3d take on it. Just felt dead, too much like.. I dunno Dragonball Z or something, it could have been gritty instead it looks like a bloodless Dreamworks outing. I take it the consensus is that SF2 was the best they ever managed?

All the 'bug-abuse method' of playing that Shay highlighted makes me think they need to tighten up the mechanics rather than leaving all these fraction-of-a-second windows open for people to cheese their way to victory. I mean no offence to players who do so of course, it can be impressive now and then and it behoves people who play *anything* to use every method available to succeed. I advocate making 500 iron daggers to become the best smith in the world if the avenue is there in the first place.

Maybe Tekken 7 can save the day when it turns up.

[Hollow]

Surprisingly I'm really into this game despite it's skeletal form and the fact that I double down suck at it.

[The Region Legion]

It saves every replay of your past fights, up to a point, for learning sharing purposes.

Where are these?