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Review Street Fighter V: Champion Edition

Discussion in 'Video Games' started by Infernostar, Jul 15, 2020.

  1. Infernostar

    Infernopaw
    (Quilava)
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    Legendary Triforce ★★
    So being honest, its been awhile since I've done a review like this. So if it comes across as a bit rusty, bare with me.

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    Street Fighter V: Champion Edition. A game that, to put it bluntly, had an uphill battle. Technically the 6th mainline Street Fighter title (SF 1, Alpha, II, III, and IV came before it), SFV was coming fresh off the heels of Ultra Street Fighter IV, the final update of the much beloved return for the franchise to its 2d roots after years of hibernation from Street Fighter III's lukewarm reception at first. When it first dropped in 2016, it was bashed for having lacking content, characters, no main story mode, and not even an arcade mode. Yet, after 4 years, 2 major updates, and countless buffs, nerfs and changes to the game, is it worth finally getting now? Let's find out.

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    If I can praise one thing right off the bat, character artwork like this, is pretty sweet

    When SFV originally dropped as I mentioned, we had 16 characters for the base roster. Ryu, Ken, and....Birdie? From SF I, Chun Li, Cammy, Zangief, Dhalsim, Vega and M Bison from SF II, Charlie Nash, Karin Kanzuki, and Rainbow Mika from SF Alpha (All three are major fan favorites with this being their first big return since their home titles), and newcomers Laura Matsuda, Rashid, Necalli, and F.A.N.G. While not an awful roster to start, it was clear that many, MANY fan favorites still weren't here, even if we knew they'd come back as DLC. Heck, there wasn't even and SF III or SF IV reps to start, which makes sense for IV given a lot of its newcomers were just sort of....there, but SF III has many characters that have long since become fan favorites since their debut.
    Thankfully this issue nowdays, is no longer an issue. The roster for the game is now touting a solid 40 characters, with an additional 5 being promised after many assumed Champion Edition would be the final update for characters and balance tweeks. Fan favorites like Akuma Guile, Sagat and Balrog from SF II, Cody, and Sakura from SF Alpha, Alex, Urien, and Ibuki from SF III, and even Juri and Poison from SF IV. Not to mention a number of newcomers to bring more variety in their own way. Kolin, Abigail, Menat, Zeku, Lucia, Kage, G and more come with their own unique gameplay. Heck, this is even the first game in the franchise to feature all 3 major villain characters at once, M. Bison, Gill and Seth, and each of which are very different from each other and stand out amongst the other characters. Honestly, we've covered just about all the bases so Im excited to see who else Capcom has left to show as the games final characters.

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    Akuma (SF II) went through a redesign in both appearance and moveset, yet still remains one of the most popular characters in the franchise.

    In terms of gameplay, most of the major parts of Street Fighter are still present. Its a very grounded, 2d fighting game, with 6 buttons for combat; 3 punches, and 3 kicks, each of varying strength. Its best of 3 rounds, first to drain the opponents health bar down to 0 in two rounds, or have more health when time is called, wins. Using directional movements alongside a corresponding attack button either motionwise, charge wise, or in Ed and Falkes case, nothing (Don't ask), you can unleash a characters special move. Ryu's iconic hadoken? Still the classic quartercircle forward punch (Or down, down forward, forward in quick succession). Guile's Sonic Boom? Holding back away from an opponent for a set time, then quickly forward and punch. Some characters do have some slight moveset changes but most of them I'd say are for the better. Charlie Nash, originally a Guile clone, now uses Motion based inputs instead of charge to help give his moveset its own identity. Zangief lost his motion based Green Hand that he uses to close distance between his opponent, but now has a Flex V-Skill that lets him power through attacks.
    This brings us to the unique aspects of SFV, the V-System, and Crush Counters. Now counter hit has always been a thing in Street Fighter, that being attacking when your opponent presses and attack but doesn't get their attack out in time. This usually opens up unique combo opportunities you don't always get on a regular hit. But a Crush counter relies specifically on a Hard attack landing when the opponent, causing them to either go flying, spin out, or stagger from the impact, giving a larger opportunity to get additional damage. As for the V-System, this is essentially your comeback factor for the game. Characters have a V-Gauge directly above their normal EX guage, that fills up either from getting hit, landing Crush Counters or using their V-Skill successfully.
    A characters V-Skill is a unique attack or skill specific to them that can vary in terms of use, and as of Champion Edition, every character has 2 V-Skills they can choose from at the start of a match. By pressing medium punch and kick together, or just a preset V-Skill button, the move will activate, and if successful, builds a bit of V-Gauge. For Ryu, his first V-Skill is a Parry that protects against one hit of an attack and can be used sequentially against multihit moves. His second V-Skill is also a parry, but requires tighter timing while also landing a hit and either pushing the opponent back, or staggering them.
    When you have at least 1 bar of your V-Gauge full, you may use a V-Reversal. By pressing forward and either all punches or all kicks when blocking, your characters V-Reversal will activate. Depending on the character, this will either interrupt the opponents combo, push them a fair distance away, or give you an escape from the combo, including a side switch if you are trapped in the corner. But be careful, if your Reversal is anticipated, it can be punished, so try to use them sparingly.
    When a characters V-Gauge is full, then they can activate V-Trigger, essentially a characters comeback factor. By pressing Hard Punch and Kick together, the Trigger is unleashed, giving a character special properties, new attacks, or sometimes both. For someone like say, Chun Li, her V-Trigger 1, Renkiko, adds more hits to each of her attacks, with the exception of her light attacks. Whereas her V-Trigger 2, Kikosho, gives her a large, chargeable energy attack that can be used for combo or even guard breaking an opponent to guarantee damage if they try to block through it. As of Arcade Edition, every character carries 2 V-Triggers and its up to you to decide which one works best for you, alongside an appropriate V-Skill.

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    Kage and Akuma both carry a 2nd Critical Art, or Super, when they activate their V-Trigger 2 and V-Trigger 1 respectively, known as the Raging Demon.

    So, what are the upsides to SFV now that its had a solid 4 years added onto it? Well, surprisingly its gotten a lot better. I already mentioned the additional V-Skills and V-Triggers along with all the new characters, but plenty more was added. Months after the game first released we finally got the main story mode, "A Shadow Falls", featuring all 22 characters at the time including all the Season 1 DLC characters, even if you didn't own them at the time. While the story mode itself is........eh, its a least fun to see the characters interact and the wacky shenanagins that ensue. Highlighted by the most absurd thing in this game, Russian wrestling master Zangief flexes SO HARD, he BREAKS A SWORD WITH HIS PECS. And no Im not giving an accompanying pic, you have to see that for yourself. And once Arcade Edition Dropped, we not only got a proper Arcade Mode, we got several. Arcade Edition gives you the option to explore 6 unique arcade ladders, one for each branch of the Street Fighter timeline. Not everyone can do every branch of the timeline, mind you, but its still an honestly really neat idea and adds a lot of replay value, since clearing each one unlocks unique ending artwork for each character at each point in time.
    With each yearly update we also received a number of new combo routes and opportunities for each character, which can be explored in character specific trials which cover just about everything a character has for decent damage and V-Trigger usage, to Demonstrations giving you detailed instructions on a characters specialties and tools. And if you want to experiement yourself, theres even a useful training mode that lets you see the frame advantage on your moves to know when and if you can continue a combo, as well a learn what moves are safe or unsafe to use if they are blocked.
    And before I forget, good lord, whoever was hired to make the soundtrack for this game, A+ for that. Nearly every character, stage, and overall background theme for the game is equisitely done, using all sorts of different musical styles, instruments and arrangements to give life to characters through their themes. Shoutouts to Guiles theme for somehow STILL managing to go with everything, Akuma's for mixing intimidating Japanese tunes with of all things, dubstep, and it working, and Zeku's theme, for a jazzy, yet energized and exciting tune that even has references to the Strider Hiryu theme (Makes sense, given Zeku is HEAVILY implied to be the founder of the Strider organization, effectively putting the two franchises in the same continuity.
    Though honestly, the best part of this game is something I hadn't expected would be when the game first released. And thats the myriad of additional costumes you can acquire, ranging from battle outfits, unique story costumes, and my favorite, costumes from other Capcom series. Who wants to see Ryu dress up as Mega Man, Jin Saotome from Cyberbots, or even Arthur from Ghosts and Goblins? How about Cammy rockng a Jill Valentine costume from Resident Evil, complete with RE1 and RE3 variations? Or even Kage embracing his rage with an Asura attire, complete with a hidden code for 6 arms? There's dozens of these kinds of costumes, and its real hard to pick a favorite given the sheer quantity and quality. Or in Blanka case, the memetic power.

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    This is Blanka-Chan. Don't question it. Embrace it.

    So whats the downsides of this game? Theres a few. If you want consistent quality connections in your online matches, this games netcode is....Shaky. Not Smash Ultimate levels of problems with the online, but it can get there at times. I've had very solid connections but very bad ones as well where it feels like it takes seconds just for moves to come out. Adding onto this is the fact that this game, balance wise? Not nearly as good as its predecessor. I wouldn't say anyone in the cast is particularly awful, but its very clear that certain characters are just better than others. As of Season V, Rashid, G, Urien, Akuma and Seth are arguably the top characters who have much better options and tools than the rest of the cast, especially when compared to low tiers like F.A.N.G, Alex, Vega, and even Ryu. Yes, the poster boy for the franchise is low tier at best in this game. It sucks, but this game is oriented to benefit offensive play, and Ryu being an all-rounder does him zero favors for this particular installment. Lastly, and this ones more debatable, the redesigns of the game can vary in quality. Some look great like Akuma, Sagat or Dhalsim, but then we have Ken going through his midlife crisis, or Ryu and Chun not changing at all. They have costumes that feel like natural evolutions of their designs, but their defaults are the same old outfits they've had for decades. If you want to redesign the characters, go big or go home, and please fix Ken's ugly face.

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    Ken, we love you, but your hair looks like goop from a playdough workshop. Get a haircut you uppercut spammer.

    Overall, while there are still some kinks that need to be ironed out in my opinion, Street Fighter V: Champion Edition has come a long way. The games online my still not be perfect and the offensive oriented/more simplified gameplay may turn off a few diehard fans, the game is still perfectly playable. Its got dozens of characters with all of them having unique movesets and playstyles, a number of beautiful stages to have as the backdrop for a good fight, and the amount of additional content adds a lot of time to the game. Will you find a new favorite fighting game with this? I couldn't tell you, that's your job to find out (SFIII Third Strike is still the best in my opinion for the series). But it might just surprise you.

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    And if it doesn't surprise you, a ninja master that can alter his age to a younger time with an entirely seperate moveset and fights with both young and old styles probably will.
     

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