I got into SFV mostly after getting tired of Marvel 3 and Killer Instinct and liking how a lot of the gameplay things I didn’t like about SFIV would be gone in V. Plus the idea that they were using a lot of the content release plans that Killer Instinct and other PC competitive games were known for.
The game launched really rocky, but I think due it just being solid in a gameplay sense and not having 2 other Capcom games to play kept it afloat in the spotlight and competitively. For me the game is really fun to play and watch because there isn’t so many systems and OS’s in the way of the game and you can just play it. Not to mention having to commit to things like DPs and being able to priority stuff lights that don’t convert as well keeps those things more honest. The game reminds me of a more accessible cross between Alpha 2 and 3rd Strike with emphasis on alpha counters and lots of button pressing without heavy execution (Alpha 2) and emphasis on one hit confirms and lack of guaranteed oki (3rd Strike). The fireball game isn’t quite as strong as it was in SFIV, but characters like Nash and Guile show that fireballs are still pretty relevant and can wall people (and they’re buffing Nash’s fireball).
The things that really created the most struggle was the inner workings of the game with data failing to send and lobbies and other parts of the game modes just generally failing for a while. Maintenance periods and loading times that are ridiculously long for 2017 and although not the first game to have this problem, rage quitting taking nearly a year to fully fix. These types of things kept a lot of the casual base out from playing as often, but Iuckily the game is still mostly like the most populated fighter online ATM due to there being a large enough base of competitive people who enjoy playing it.
It’s pretty amazing that 1400 + people showed up at Final Round and 5,000+ people showed up at Evo despite everything. It shows that there is something there and something to build on.
It’s good to see that things like rage quitting, PC D Input and music selection are finally being addressed. Hopefully if the PC issues like desynching get addressed we can finally have a pretty solid port for both platforms considering cross play was one of the great things they did with this game. I’m not sure exactly what they have in plan with selling 5 unknown, new to SF universe characters in a season, but we’ll see where that goes. They could be pretty fun to play and it’s obvious they’re focusing the casual money making with Marvel Infinite at this point any way. I just hope they’re fun to play and glad I got Ibuki who’s getting all da BUFFS (Chun Li still looks good too).
The new gameplay changes should really shake things up and create even more room for the DLC characters who I personally didn’t think were that bad to begin with (Hsien getting 9th at a stacked major with Juri who’s now getting buffed).
The one thing I also really like is that they have vowed to not mess with the game after the Capcom Cup Season launches. That’s a big reason why I like the game as I know I can just focus on what’s currently in the game for the year and not worry about things randomly changing in the season. You actually get to develop a meta for year.
Game has a very strong concept that I hope they build on in the future. Especially with being able to purchase the content the way you want and not being locked out the game no matter what you spend. Look forward to more content and changes and see ya’ll in Season 2017.