Street Fighter V has had a rather troubled road to release, first the controversial decision to make it a console exclusive for PlayStation 4 as well as a PC release. Then the news just before launch that it was releasing incomplete with some of its core modes coming to the game in March, post launch. It released on February 16th and suffered server problems for the first week. Three weeks on I feel I can offer my thoughts on just why SFV has been a let down, and sadly so.
Firstly I will start with what is actually positive about SFV, its gameplay. For SFV the fighting system has been overhauled to make each of the sixteen characters on the roster feel unique in battle. The new V-Abilities add a way in for the more casual player but also a new level of depth for the experienced Street Fighter player. V-Abilities adds three elements to each character’s make up and replaces the focus system from SSF IV.
The three elements are V-Skill, V-Reversals and V-Triggers and are different to each character and can change their fighting style in rather intriguing ways. The V-Skill grants a fighter an extra ability such as Ryu’s parry move. The V-Reversal can be used to escape a beatdown and potentially flip the attack in their favour but with it being different for each character it has a natural pros and cons aspect to its use. The V-Trigger activates a buff to each character in different ways which can add extra damage, give access to extra combo moves or enhance defensive skills. The V-Abilities really make the gameplay feel smoother and more accessible to all levels of player.
The gameplay changes make the core of SFV, the fighting, very satisfying and can give each fight a dynamic battle which engages the player on all levels. It feels fresh and well thought out with feedback from SSF IV clearly taken into account to improve it once again.
It is because of how fun and rewarding the gameplay is in SFV that makes the rest of the launched version of the game such an infuriating mess that put quite simply feels like an insult to the Street Fighter legacy and its fans.
SFV is not the first game to release but have game modes added or activated post launch, but it is now well documented just how bare bones a release SFV actually is. The game lacks the traditional Arcade mode, something all fighting games have almost as a default game feature and is usually the starting point for many Fans heading into a Street Fighter title. Writing this three weeks post release and Capcom have hinted that an arcade mode could be brought back which means it was never even considered, which is staggering to me.
There is a very basic ‘Prologue Story’ mode ahead of the planned full cinematic story mode coming to SFV in June. June! This Prologue gives some back story for the roster but as a game mode it is really laughable at best as the AI is set to its lowest setting and all feature 3-5 single round fights with a storyboard cut scene narration style. You can complete all sixteen character prologues in an hour. Perhaps the mode’s only redeeming aspect is that you earn a good amount of the new in-game currency system, Fight Money. It can be used to buy new characters when available and costumes from the in-game shop which has yet to be opened, coming this month in March. Sigh!
There is a survival mode which puts the player’s chosen character into a 30 match battle with only a single health bar but after each single round fight you can purchase supplements to restore health or to boost another skill helping you fight on further. I found it fun and a good way to get to know the new roster especially trying out unfamiliar characters to you but it is still no replacement for a true arcade mode and survival modes are usually seen as an extra mode in fighting games but it feels strange that it has been included as a main mode in such a stripped down final version for release.
The main focus of SFV right now is the online competitive mode featuring Ranked and Casual matches online. For many, this has been the main defence for why SFV was released in such a reduced manner. But not every fan of Street Fighter wants to be part of what can be a very daunting competitive side which is why I feel so strongly about the lack of an Arcade mode and other offline game modes such as the challenge mode which again, will be added in March, being such a disappointment. On launch SFV suffered many issues with its servers but happily at time of writing they have improved greatly. The cross-platform play between PS4 and PC players is seamless and works really well which was initially a concern of mine. There is a Lounge Mode to have battles against friends but right now it only allows one on one battles, not so much a lounge but a small sofa!
The main bug bear with the online currently is the surprising lack of any ‘Rage Quit’ punishment in particularly for the Ranked matches. It has been highlighted by players that a player can rage quit out of a ranked match and will not lose any ranking points and keep any win streak intact and move on to another fight and the other player will not gain anything despite doing nothing wrong. Almost all competitive modes in other games have some sort of penalty whether it is a loss of points, it counting as a win for the other player or a time out from matchmaking for repeating offenders. Capcom have responded by saying they are looking to add a severe punishment for rage quitters but currently they have simply asked for players to name and shame offenders online using the PS4 Share button.
I wanted to love Street Fighter V, I really did being someone with the same familiar story of growing up going to the nearest Street Fighter II arcade machine in a shop after school with friends and lining up to have a go. I started SFV a week after release in order to allow the servers to settle and give it a fair chance. But due to its unfinished state I can not in good conscience give it a definitive review score right now.
I am angry as a Street Fighter fan to see what has been thrown up as a ready for release game. Despite it visually looking the best it has in the series with locations and character designs, the texture on player models tear so badly it just detracts from the new visual style and animation details. That combined with the criminal lack of solo game modes and a limited online experience, it really is a disgrace that Capcom or more so Sony PlayStation felt it was OK to release it this way.
As a result this is very much a review in progress and I will be revisiting the score once the March update has added the remaining game modes and store. Right now for me SFV feels as though it never left the Beta stage and is in a preview condition which for this series is unforgivable especially when you compare it to its nearest rival Mortal Kombat X which released almost a year ago in a much more complete state and who has just released its GOTY Mortal Kombat XL version which highlights even more what SFV is lacking.
With far more negative points than positive ones right now, all I can praise about SFV is the gameplay but that is not enough to give a standing score which is fair. Capcom were clearly not ready to release it and it sets a dangerous precedent that PlayStation pushed it to market so incomplete. It entered the UK Top 20 sales charts at number 2 but slipped to 10th after just a week. The poor reaction by fans to its unfinished version is in sharp contrast to the surprisingly glowing reviews on the first week which let it off for having so much content not ready. I however simply cannot let all that slide and my score below, for now, reflects that.
*Review score based at current released version of Street Fighter V to be updated following March Update
