So, how does the next entry for the world warriors hold up? Here is what I think of Street Fighter V.
(Worth noting: I'm playing this game on PC with my Street Fighter IV Xbox 360 Fight Stick, I have also put roughly 8 - 10 hours into the game, which is enough to see what this game has to offer, though not nearly enough time to be, you know, good at it. I also FINALLY was able to get online and throw down against live opponents.)
The first thing you will notice about Street Fighter V when you launch the game is that it relies heavily on you being connected to the servers. This is because you can have the game look for an opponent in the background the entire time you are playing, so whether you are going through the Training Mode, Story Mode, or just looking through menus, the game can be searching for others to fight online, which is pretty slick. Though this is dependent on actually being connected to the server. At launch, the servers were, let's say, not adequate, and this will come up later in the review.
If you are looking for single-player modes, there is not much to choose from. You will end up spending most of your time in the Survival Mode, since this is how you unlock the different costume colors for the fighters. There are 4 different difficulties; Easy, Normal, Hard, and Hell, where you survive 10, 30, 50, and 100 fights respectively. These are all 1-round fights, so if you lose once, you're done. In between fights, you are given an option as to which "supplement" you want to take (don't worry, no drug testing here), these can range from a boost in attack power, to defense, to a full special meter, to a health refill. This mode is fine and all and I have played this the most just so I can get different colors, but it can get a little mind-numbing.
You can also take park in the Story Mode. Each of the 16 characters has a unique, and very brief, story. These serve as some nice backstories for the fighters, told through nice looking comic panels. These stories also put the fighters in unique costumes that don't appear elsewhere in the game. For instance, in Nash's story, you fight as him before he was "killed" and before he was disfigured. I can only assume these costumes will show up in some sort of DLC later on, which would be cool since some of them are really nice, especially Zangief's wrestling attire. I know I said the word "brief" earlier, and that actually might be underselling it. Each fighter's story can range from 3 to 4 fights, all one round. You could, theoretically, blow through all story modes (combined) in about an hour. No colors to be had here, you only gain XP, Fight Money, and Steam Achievements / PS4 Trophies.
There is also a training mode, so you can, you know, train. Pretty standard training mode. That's it right now for single player modes. You'll notice I didn't mention a Versus Mode. It is local Versus ONLY. As of this writing, you can not play 1P vs A.I. I'm a little baffled by this decision. You can not just play a normal Street Fighter match against the CPU in Street Fighter V.
Upon completing Survival and Story Mode, you are rewarded with Fight Money and XP for the fighter you were using. The Fight Money is the in-game currency that, right now, does nothing, and the XP for the fighter is how you unlock Titles for your fighter profile...I think, it's not really made clear what that does. The Fight Money will have some use when the Shop is added as a free update in March, and the XP is only given the first time you complete a mode, and earned through playing online. A note, if you are not logged in to the server, you do NOT get these rewards. Though it seems they may be added after the fact whenever you do manage to log on. Was tough to tell with the servers being the way they were.
Another thing, let's say you are connected to the server, and are deep into a round of Survival Mode, and the connection drops, you get booted out to the main menu and lose all progress. Sound frustrating? I had just beat the final match of Survival, win animation and all, screen went black to load my rewards, "Disconnected from game server", lost all progress, no rewards, no nothing. Let's say I was a little bummed.
On the bright side, the cast of characters and the redesigns are, for the most part, pretty damn cool. I love seeing Nash as he is one of my favorite characters in the franchise. The redesigns of Ken and Dhalsim respectively are pretty badass, and I think Rashid is the coolest new character the franchise has seen in a while. Some I am not so bully on. I think Laura and Karin are a little annoying, F.A.N.G. is pretty lame but does introduce the idea of poison fighting which is kind of cool, and Necalli is a cool character design but really has nothing flashy. Overall, a good roster that will only get better with subsequent DLC characters.
The fighting mechanics have mostly been left untouched, though Street Fighter V has done away with many "Charge Characters" (i.e. hold back 2 seconds, then forward + punch for a Sonic Boom), and instead making them traditional "Quarter-Circle Forward Punch" style characters. This is nice to help pick up new characters and have them feel a little familiar to one another, but you still may want to do some training to get even more familiar. Also, the big inclusion this year is the "V-Trigger" system. When it is filled, hitting both heavy buttons will cause different things for different fighters, Nash will teleport, Chun-Li will do double punch damage, Dhalsim will lay down a strip of fire and do damage over time, etc. There is still the EX/Critical Arts meter that IV had, but this new "V-Trigger" adds a new element of strategy that has some pretty cool looking effects.
Speaking of looking cool, this game sure does look damn good. The characters look terrific and the expressions when hits land are very pronounced. Also, on a beefy PC like my rig, I have everything up to "Max" settings and it all looks great and runs super smooth. Though I can't say the same thing about the backgrounds. When the action in the forefront looks so good and runs as great as it does, you notice that the background animates at what seems to be a lower framerate and the people in the back generally look muddy.
Back to the online part. The servers did end up toughing it out and I was about to play about 10 - 15 matches online (and getting worked, mostly). You have the options of "Casual" or "Ranked" matches as well as the "Battle Lounge" lobby system. You actually choose your character and color scheme before you even start searching for a match, which takes out the character select screen. In the Battle Lounge, you can set parameters such as Rounds to Win, Allow Character Select, and Enable Cross-Platform Play. In the matches I was
All this being said, I really like playing Street Fighter V. The fighting feels great, the character roster is overall good, and the game looks great. This game feels like it is catering to the competitive scene though. The lack of a Versus A.I. mode is baffling but telling, the fact that you have to be connected at all times to be looking for online fights is also very telling. Street Fighter V, in its current state, is meant for those who know the series and want to be competitive against live opponents. This may turn away the casual fan, especially since the single player content is so limited.
The free update in March will add the Shop, the Challenge Mode, and, hopefully, more single player content. This leads me to think that in some regards, this game may have benefited from a March release that included these things already. Right now, it seems like Capcom sort of put out a game, though what IS there is pretty good and I really enjoy it. There is a lot to enjoy about Street Fighter V, though in the same breath I can say this game feels a little rushed. Though, if the updates to Street Fighter IV are any indication, Capcom will update the holy hell out of this and help it reach its true potential.
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