Initial observations as a returning player

[DevilJin_01]

Sexuality is pretty much a comedy act in Japan. Its not looked at with the same type of innuendo and invasion of privacy as it is in the US.

Which isn’t surprising since these are the same people that will let you leave expensive merchandise laying around in a public place and won’t steal it.

[Citrus_monkey]

Awesome, I’m not alone anymore. I skipped SFIV entirely, just played casually at home with my non FGC friends like once a month. So It’s been like 7 or 8 years since I actually played. What I have a hard time dealing with is the shorter range on normals. I used to play necro and alex…which also doesn’t help. Though I thoroughly enjoy how all normals now have a proper use, it’s refreshing.

[valkenar]

On a gameplay related note, I had more success last night then on previous nights. Maybe it was just lucky matchmaking or maybe something finally clicked, but I had a lot more success punishing and zoning with Dhalsim than I had, previously. There was still the occasional fight which seemed like I was playing against a real player and I got destroyed by massive combos (which is honestly what I think should be happening). It’s nice to win, but actually prefer to be utterly destroyed rather than winning in ways that I don’t think would ever work at a higher level. I really want to avoid getting into bad habits like throwing out a lot of unsafe moves, but against other noobs it seems effective, probably for the same reason I can’t handle rushdown.

Another observation I have is that I really don’t like the addition of super moves, which I realize all fighting games have now. Can anyone say what they add? My feeling is that they just make rounds end faster and increase the effect of punishment to the point where the just two or three hits ends it. If they’re supposed to help with comebacks, to me it would make more sense if supers were less about comboing into huge damage and more about creating openings. Maybe that’s just the noob talking though.

[Rugalitarian]

Vega is the most sexy character in the game. What’s all this talk about Laura/R. Mika etc?

[Tengu]

Good post Valkenar. I am also coming back to Street Fighter after 20 years. I played heavily in the 90s in Arcades and then Snes when it was released, but nothing since then. I’ve been having a lot of fun, that old muscle memory was there after a while and am able to do reasonably well after a few cobwebs were blown away!

[Wasted]

The men are unrealistic, for sure, and there is a documented rise in body dysmorphia among boys that has been tentatively linked to an increase in hyper-muscular characters. That’s a noteworthy phenomenon and requires some consideration. It’s not the same thing as sexuality, though it does relate to some extent.

Street Fighter characters are likely the last set of characters that men want to imitate. Body image is everywhere now, get over it.

It’s important to recognize the difference between sexualization and sexual attractiveness. Think about the difference between what a stripper dressed as a sailor looks like and how he behaves versus what an actual sailor is like. Both are dressed similarly and may be attractive, but one is clearly sexual and the other is just incidentally sexy.

Mika dresses exactly like a Japanese pro wrestler. Laura dresses exactly like a latina thot does. Chun’s alt is part of the HOT version for a reason.

In the game it also has a lot to do with emphasis and framing, not just how they’re dressed. From the camera angles to the poses, there is an obvious difference along gender lines in the depiction. It’s one thing to argue that it doesn’t matter, but it seems strange to say that it doesn’t even exist. If you don’t think the breast physics are meant to emphasize breasts (rather than just adding realism, which they absolutely don’t) then I’m not sure what else to say. What is the equivalent for the men? There are no jiggly and oversized bulges in the men’s pants.

Nobody said it didn’t exist. Most SF players are men. Most men are straight and like looking at tits and ass.

What I’m talking about is the way sexuality in street fighter is emphasized for every single woman even though it has nothing to do with the game. If this were a game about sex and all the men were hypermuscular and violent I would criticize the game for exclusively depicting men as violent and aggressive. But if the women were also violent and muscular then that would just be a fetish or BDSM game and then there would be no problem. I’m definitely not bothered by depictions of sex, in general.

You’re clearly bothered else you wouldn’t be complaining.

This problem where women’s looks and sexuality is emphasized even when it has absolutely nothing to do with the situation happens in all kinds of different things from politics to professional life.

Humans are sexual creatures. Sex is more than a procreative activity for us, it is a means of enjoyment, something that separates us from almost all other species.

[Quark]

While it’s inevitable that both male and female characters will be sexually exaggerated in video games, there is in general much more variety among male characters’ designs. Think of all the weird and unique characters in the SF franchise and then think how few of these characters are women. We get bendy yoga masters, electric beast men, even fucking soul-sucking demons on the male side of things while the female characters are more often than not just generic sexy girls in different outfits.

I think the sexualization of women in video games would be less controversial if female characters were just better designed in general. It’s ok to design a female character who isn’t pretty, or young, or even human. Hell, Mortal Kombat does a better job than SF in this regard and it’s not like MK is lacking in the titty department.

[ElectricGhost]

It’s nice to see how many people are coming back to Street Fighter with this game. I played SF2 Champion Edition on the Sega Mega Drive as a kid, but just mashed away like a kid does. Played some SFIV, but never got beyond “passable-average”. Definitely want to be more involved with SFV, both playing and spectating. “Where to start” is a bit overwhelming, but that’ll make understanding it more satisfying.

As for the wake-up problem, I haven’t been playing nearly long enough to make a good call on this, but as a Cammy player, I wake up with cannon spike and it almost always lands for me.

[Zac]

I dislike the death of arcades

[Slizzard]

I dislike the death of arcades

I miss arcades so much it isn’t even funny. It was like a bar without alcohol but it worked. Great social atmosphere, I’d give anything to do it again even if it meant spending more than usual to play at the arcade rather than buy and then sit alone at home playing online.

[Komatik]

Trying to play SFV like it’s SF2 will just lead to frustration. Try to play more like 3S, maybe Alpha or CVS2 and you’ll get the gist of it better.

Uh, I disagree. I think it plays exactly like SF2, with the exception of no-fireball characters having fireball-invincible EX moves.

This is flatly wrong. It’s true that you can state the rules of the game and they sound similar to ST, but how the gameplay actually unfolds is far closer to 3S than ST - ST is way more coarse, more like early SF4 than it is like top level SF4 or 3S. I mean:

ST:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAlSQYA4p_M

3S:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1memovarvtg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYDf0mWHe1k

SF5 is 3S without parries and in slow motion.