After some time with USF4 online, I noticed that while there are definitely good players out there, the game often promotes some rather frustrating behavior. I don’t mean to hate on the game, but I personally think the game has a few basic issues. Thoughts?
This just means you don’t know what you are doing. SF4’s frustrating aspects are all beatable by doing options selects and learning proper wakeup setups. DP’s unless they have comboable ultra’s deal so little damage that eating 1 or 2 isn’t a big deal given if you get the hit you could probably take 25%+ of their life and get another opportunity to do so compared to the 10-15% you took from eating the DP. Not to mention every reversal is beatable with some type of jump in tactic with almost every character on wakeup.
I think the only issue with SF4 skill wise is it takes too much skill to make the game not play like scrub fighter 4. That just means though their is a massive skill gap that can exist so the matches a new player plays don’t play like a pro player because the scrub isn’t implementing the same skills and reactions that force his opponent to play in a more respectful manner. If you mash dp’s, back dash constantly (with a character not named Rose), etc and it keeps working the players you are playing against just are not good. There is a massive skill ceiling in USFIV just it is up to you to find it and learn to bust all the things you have an issue with.
If it required minimal skill, the top players wouldn’t remain the same every year. There’s obviously a high skill ceiling and a lot of game knowledge to separate players. If it required too little skill then Joe Blow from Arkansas would win Evo or Capcom Cup.
Usually when people ask this question what they really mean is “I just lost to someone online who I think makes stupid decisions, did he really deserve to win?”
That’s one thing I noticed, the game can be pretty pathetic at low level, but I think it’s really entertaining at tourneys. Thanks for the response, I guess it’s just me, I have a more or less bad history of judging a game quickly.
I have lost to some pretty bad players, but I think i just have an inability to connect with USF4 like I did with Third Strike or Injustice, so it’s probably just me.
If 3s is your background, this game is going to seem dumb. Lots of 3s players feel the same way about SF4 so You’re better off not frustrating yourself and just stick to that. SFV is round the corner anyway and plays more faithful to what you probably know already.
That’s what a lot of 3S fans are saying, and I think it’s true. SFV seems to have a bit more of an emphasis on fundamentals, USF4 just feels a bit odd at times. One thing I struggle with consistently is getting in on my opponent. I generally play rushdown or an out of the blue character like Q or Necro, but in USF4 I just don’t know how to keep pressure on my opponent. I’ve had frustrating matches against runaway strats that I don’t know how to beat like I do in 3S.
It does require much less skill than any fighter I’ve ever played. Most people are too scared to admit that, as if they’ll be punished for telling the truth or something…
But in the end, the most skilled players still come out on top.
In my opinion the game does lower the skill barrier by a lot, and I’d be fine with that, for example NRS games are very simple, but I appreciate that they get people into fighting games, but USF4 takes simplicity to a degree where players can be translucent in terms of strategy but still win. Like I said earlier, this could all be in my head, but that’s what makes it my opinion I guess.
SF4 has a weird jump in skill requirements around mid level. Lowest level you can get away with really dumb stuff even more than other games because some lucky things lead to big reward like wake up ultra which is easier to get than a wake up super. So low skill players can hang with low~mid skill players because most mid skill players haven’t adapted yet to the high skill stuff where the game gets really deep and requires a lot of understanding of the mechanics of the game as well as player tendencies and yes, even solid fundamentals.
But execution for a lot of bnb combos or get in / break open players who aren’t the lowest skill mashers takes a lot of skill. Many chars BASIC combos require 1F links, even the ones that don’t you often have a lot more character specific, range specific and standing vs crouching combos. There is a lot of requirement for manipulating the deeper mechanical aspects of the game via option selects, OSes to counter other OSes, and mind games.
SF4 doesn’t require “too little skill” it requires “different skills” and some things that should be easy are hard while some things that should be hard are easy.
Execution wise, usf4 is definitely harder and from a matchup point of view you’ve got alot more matchups to learn due to the larger character roster. As a 3s player though, I recognize that 3s is certainly more abstract. Ultimately they require very different skill sets.
I feel like beyond just sheer numbers the different quirks of each match up are also higher for things that actually come up in matches (not just combo video fluff), but that could be inexperience with 3S. Not to say 3S doesn’t have them, I just feel that they come up more often in SF4, mostly due to the way hurt boxes in SF4 work mechanically.
I think my issue with USF4 is that while the game itself is just fine, there are small things here and there that add up to some obnoxious fights. For example, you can do a long, difficult 1 frame link combo, only to be met with a wake up Ultra. Things like that turned me off to the game because in Third Strike yes there are big damage opportunities, but not the degree of this game. In Third Strike there’s such a focus on fundamentals it’s hard to be foiled by one single decision.
Thanks for the in-depth response, I agree. The game is very entertaining at high level, but I’ve had fights that could only be described as sad online. What throws me off is exactly what you said: The game seems to have things in reverse. You can get massive damage for a few wake-ups or a counter-hit focus crumple, but to do a bnb combo takes much more effort. Like I said, the game itself is actually pretty neat, but how people play it is what tends to throw me off.
You’re right
The same thing can and does happen in 3s. Most mid/high tier character and even some low tier characters can decimate you from just a single guess. They might not kill outright but 1 mixup (which can often be far more cheesy) and you could quite conceivably be done.
Well, yeah, I mean every fighting game can have cheesy stuff happen, but what I mean is that it’s a bit less prominent in Third Strike. Well, that could just be some personal bias, but nonetheless, I can put up with the cheese in Third Strike (Genei-Jin, Aegis Reflector, Demon Flip mix-ups) because it just doesn’t feel like it’s as big of a factor in Third Strike as it does in USF4. Thanks for the thoughtful responses.
If you prefer 3s cheese, fair enough, but I can’t even count how many matches I’ve seen won with some ridiculously ambiguous post super mixup and that’s not to say I don’t love 3s, I do, but the game can be very cheap at time.
Don’t worry, I see your point entirely. I just prefer 3S 's brand of cheese, it just doesn’t bother me in the same way USF4 does. USF4 just comes off as a bit gimmicky at times, and while the same can be said for 3S, I have a bit more tolerance for 3S because it has an otherwise strong focus on fundamentals. For example, Genei-Jin can be very cheap, but I feel enough effort has to be put in to where I’m not salty, but in USF4 I get really annoyed at beyond simple strats being very successful.
I also enjoy 3s the most of any fighting game. I think it’s important when playing a new game to completely wash yourself of all assumptions carried over. so whatever you think is smart or stupid in 3s, may not be the same in SF4. rather than say “that wouldn’t work in 3s so it is stupid” try and think about it strictly from a risk vs reward perspective and that’ll allow you to make better decisions.
of course, if it turns out you would just rather play 3s than SF4, that’s okay too. 
Hey thanks for the incredibly nice response, there were a million mean ways to explain that. Anyways, I think I still like USF4, but there are things here and there that hold me back from liking it as much as 3S. Part of my reasoning has been exactly what you said, “Well, that isn’t a 3S type decision so I hate it”, but I’ve kind of realized “Wait, what does that matter? This is USF4.” Saying that is like saying, “Well, that doesn’t work in Tekken 6 so it’s automatically dumb for Tekken 7.” I guess the whole reason I started this thread was less about problems with USF4 and more about USF4 not being like 3S. Thanks!
I got beat in USF4 online by a ken that just jump forward + HK then sweep (over and over again). yeah it can be retarded at times.