Street Fighter V

[Maryokutai]

So nobody cares probably but there was a recent balance adjustment to SFV that tackled one particular issue in such an excellent way that I just need to share it here.

 

To explain: when Dan came out in February, people quickly realised that his V-Skill 2, which allows otherwise impossible combos to work by making his normals combo into each other, made it possible to set up an infinite loop if the opponent is cornered. It was borderline impossible to set it up normally but if Dan managed to stun the opponent, starting said combo from the right distance for it to work was easy enough.

 

Combos like these usually get patched out rather quickly these days. While this does take away a bit of depth and fun, it also takes away the possibility of people being toxic in online matches. This one was rather hard to do so I was okay with it being in, but Capcom nevertheless decided to remove it.

 

However, they did so in the most unorthodox fashion. The easy fix for stuff like this is just changing some numbers. More pushback, recovery, less hitstun etc. on any attack that's part of the infinite loop would have made it impossible. But it would also make the move they touched, by definition, worse.

 

So what they did was making a move better instead. Now, there's a random chance his fireball, which was part of the combo, is stronger, travels further and launches the opponent into a juggle state. While this de facto removes the infinite loop from the equation, because the opponent needs to stay on the ground for it to work, it actually does make his overall gameplay stronger, since there's a roughly 33% chance of him firing off this super-powered fireball that could shift momentum in his favour. As an added bonus, they even treat it as an meta joke, because Ryu used to have a similar feature in early SF games and Dan is, lore-wise, kind of a goofball who occasionally does something super powerful but is just a bad fighter at the end of the day.

 

So they kind of nerfed him by making him stronger. Such a brilliant solution for that problem.

 

This is how it works now. Hilariously Dan is surprised himself when it happens:

 

 

[bellow]

Shame, though. Someone pulled that loop off on the Asia finals the other day and the commentators went crazy with delight. 

[Maryokutai]

Yeah, that was cool. Watching infinites in general is usually pretty fun but can understand why developers don't want these things in their games.

[Sly Reflex]

Nani?!?!

[HandsomeDead]

It's the type of infinite that is specific and fairly easy to fail since it relies so much on spacing but I do agree, the fix is cool.

I've not seen this at all in advanced play but could a red fireball be V-trigger cancelled into dp then super?  It's still damaging and dramatic in that sense.  It's RNG shit, but it would be reactable if you've built metre.

 

It makes me hopeful about Street Fighter 6 because the game got so much better when the original lead was kinda fired.  It would be sad but the game did get better after that happened, and it seems they also looked at the Monster Hunter team and are looking at that and trying to do what they do.

 

Capcom have been firing on all cylinders lately and I hope to see their fighting game section grow in a similar way.  I'd love to see it.

 

[Maryokutai]

9 minutes ago, HandsomeDead said:

I've not seen this at all in advanced play but could a red fireball be V-trigger cancelled into dp then super?  It's still damaging and dramatic in that sense.  It's RNG shit, but it would be reactable if you've built metre.

 

I tried that earlier, you don't even need V-Trigger for that juggle. If the red fireball lands Dan can dash forward, do DP and cancel that into Super. They're floating for a really long time when that fireball hits. Of course cancelling into V-Trigger or landing it in the corner makes it easier, but it's possible midscreen.

[HandsomeDead]

Holy shit, it's possible metreless? That's unusually crazy for SFV

[Maryokutai]

Look at this old game getting old characters that I can unlock for free.

 

Oro & Akira:

 

 

And Luke, who's actually not old but brand new:

 

 

Luke also is supposedly very important for the future of Street Fighter. I smell some New Challengers thing they already tried with SFIII which backfired rather heavily back in the day but a lot of the new characters from then are fan favourites now so I guess it worked out.

That said I strongly dislike his design, he looks extremely bland and more like a KOF character than a SF one. But I do like the look of Oro and Akira (those air combos!) and will give both of them a try when they come out in two weeks.

[hinn888]

With the speculation of a guest character coming over, it is a bit disappointing ending up with Luke.

 

His gameplay looks good though, just himself looks bland.

 

Akira is the one to try out I reckon

[Maryokutai]

I think there's something commendable about Capcom not diluting their own shared universe by incorporating crazy guest stuff for Street Fighter. Crossovers have gone a bit overboard in recent years so this is really refreshing IMO, but to each their own.

 

I'm also kind of relieved it isn't some fan favourite classic character because that'll be almost a guarantee for them not to appear in SF6 and to be honest I'd rather see the likes of Makoto turn up there than being shoehorned into the last six months of the previous game's life cycle.

 

So in that respect I actually think Luke is a good choice to conclude SFV. Maybe people will have warmed up to him by the time SF6 is out, maybe not. But at least there's nothing of "value" lost when everyone moves on to the next game six months after his debut.

 

Also, yeah, Akira all the way. Definitely my favourite of the trio as well.

[HandsomeDead]

Luke's design is MMA fighter dude so it's not the most out there but SF has always had characters like that, I mean Ryu?  I don't think it's that inappropriate for someone like that to be one of the leads of SF6, and I'm sure more eccentric characters will fill the roster.  

 

It probably is a more interesting use of the final slot to tease the next game rather than a guest.  But the Fatal Fury / Garou series is pretty in harmony with SF so it wouldn't hurt to have one of those characters in it, but they have turned up in other games (I don't play them 🙁) though it would be a nice nod to CvS.

 

The animation where Luke powers up his forearms is a missed opportunity to do this

 

 

[Maryokutai]

Oro and Akira have their own trailers now, too:

 

 

 

They both look super cool but I'm not sure if I'm going to bother with Oro. I just learned one of the more complex characters in Rose and unlike with her I have no attachment to Oro as a character. Akira looks easy to pick up and have some success with though, will absolutely try her out tomorrow.

[Maf]

Is the art style for SFV popular with SF fans? I think a lot of characters in it look bad to grotesque. Oro being a great example. 

[Maryokutai]

Some characters look a bit odd due to the game's rather rough development path but Oro is supposed to be disgusting. In Street Fighter III you could even see his penis in one frame. It's just one of those weird things from that game.

 

Also keep in mind this is pretty much the oldest current fighting game on the market at this point and it's showing.

[Maf]

I suppose. I guess I don’t really like SFV’s style. Even basic character’s like Ken and Guile look really bad to me (From the little bits I’ve seen maybe I just haven’t got used to it). 

[Maryokutai]

It's hit and miss due to basically everything being outsourced work. Ken is really ugly-looking but Ryu, Chun-Li, Necalli, Cammy, Menat, Juri, Dhalsim etc. all look pretty good. I hope SF6 will have a more consistent art direction though.

[Maryokutai]

Had a pretty decent match with my Day 2 Akira against what I presume was a Day 1 Oro: 

 

 

The 50:50 at the end with "Onii-san!" was super gimmicky but I'll take it.

 

She's fun but has some serious trouble against zoners from what I can tell so far. If Oro had stayed mid/full screen and bombarded me with projectiles the match wouldn't have been over so quickly. Will definitely stick with Rose, who got some surprise buffs with the update, as my "main" but I might pick Akira from time to time to mix it up.

[bellow]

So after some enjoyable weeks with SF4, I've moved my training onto this - a game I've been an avid spectator of since it came out (just watched a mind boggling SE Asia top 8 this very day)!

 

Definitely helped learning the basics on 4, and it feels to me that this game is rather easier (of course that could just be that I've nailed some basic moves). Having said that I was doing Cammy's first 10 part challenge mode and I pulled off one of her classic combos into ultra on my third try - a move I've been watching pros do for years. When I left 4 I hadn't managed Ken's FADC ultra even once (or Ryu's).

 

I can feel a bit of rhythm to the combos, a bit of musicality that's making them easier to learn, and enjoyable too.

 

After a couple of weeks (months) I plan to take this online. I accept that most people still playing this will be extremely honed and I'll be beaten bloody, but my purpose is to just get a feel for one on one street fighting before the new one comes out so that I won't be a total scrub on 6.

 

With any luck there'll be a few novices popping about who've had the same idea as me, and I can grab the odd shady win.

[Maf]

It doesn’t matter how much you prepare for online you’re still going to get your ass beat. Might as well do it now. It’ll still be more fun than practicing combos over and over. 

 

I don’t know about SFV but aren’t most of the training room combos in fighting games not that useful or practical in a real match? Maybe I’m wrong but from what I’ve learned so far you’re much better off looking up a YT video of some basic combos, taking those ones online and learning how to play from there. 
 

You’ll also learn way more from mistakes and losses than you will playing in a practice room

[bellow]

Yes, I'll just be getting a few bread and butter combos under my belt for ken and Cammy before going online. That will be more than a few weeks work with my current (rather paltry) gaming time.

 

I don't know if you're a follower of the game but you'd be surprised just how many useable combos (or combos you'll see the pros use in matches) they've put into challenge mode. I don't see how it can hurt to get some under the fingers before going online. 

 

Of course I fully expect to be unable to implement them in the heat of battle......at first.