Did the September update provide what Street Fighter V has been missing?
Editor’s note: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not reflect Shoryuken.com as a whole.
Street Fighter V has walked a rocky road since release: this iteration of Street Fighter doesn’t seem to quite conform to what players and fans were expecting from the franchise, and it’s suffered in esteem for it. When it launched in February, it was criticized for its “incomplete” state, a product rushed to retail before it was ready. Why it was released when it was is obvious–whether or not another Capcom Pro Tour could have focused on Ultra Street Fighter IV is now a moot point, as Capcom decided that for us–but the lean features and missing functions have left a lasting negative impression.
Now, I would say I’m on Street Fighter V’s “side.” I’m rooting for it to succeed, and I think it has made good progress in smoothing out the game’s flaws, albeit slowly. The September 22 update brought not only the final (announced) DLC character Urien to the official roster, but a host of smaller features: purchasable colors, Fighter Profile statistic tracking, specialty KOs and stage transitions… those last two in particular were aspects of the game that were glaring absences for me, and great examples of unfinished features SFV has been running with up to this point. We were well aware that the launch stages were supposed to have those transitions through data-mining (and the scenery in the General Story mode), and the stat-tracking was a promising feature announced before the launch date that I had been looking forward to, with increasing frustration. We also got a host of balance changes and the reduction of the notorious 8-frame input latency, to closer to 6.5 frames (something I’m surprised Capcom changed before the completion of this year’s CPT, even if to normalize the latency across all platforms).
This massive update–completing the Season One DLC, and the host of other fixes–brought to mind the question of what the response to Street Fighter V would have been like if it had launched in this state, rather than the product we actually got. This has been on my mind since the addition of General Story Mode–something which, more than anything for me, had the feeling of something that should have been present at launch. So: based on some of SFV’s loudest criticisms, would the game be held in higher regard if the game we have now had been our first experience with it?
16 Versus 22 Characters
After Ultra Street Fighter IV’s whopping 44 fighters, only 16 was a bit jarring–so complaints weren’t surprising, but we’d been a bit spoiled. It’s worth remembering that arcade vanilla Street Fighter IV launched with a mere sixteen fighters too–the classic twelve, plus the four newbies (although Akuma, Gouken, and Seth were hiding in there too–so actually seventeen playable, and two non-playable bosses). When SFIV came to console however, it gained playable Seth and Gouken, and six more unlockable fighters: bumping the total up to 25 fighters. So an expectation for Street Fighter V to launch with a comparable roster size is justified, leaving SFV’s mere sixteen noticeably sparse–even with the console version of SFV as its debut platform. Would launching with an additional six have made a significant difference? Each added DLC character has generated a fair bit of hype for their return, so some of that excitement would have been dulled if they’d been present already (or worse, unlocked by playing through Survival Mode…), making their addition as DLC arguably better for SFV’s public perception. But: the Story modes make more sense with them in there, and the game does feel more complete as a result. And after SFIV reintroduced the iconic SFII lineup, it’s hard for me to accept the absence of classics like Sagat, Blanka, and E. Honda (not to mention other prominent characters like Akuma and Sakura–both prime candidates for Season Two, I expect). We can safely assume that more launch characters would have been at least a little better received overall–and we’d likely have an even larger roster now (through hypothetical DLC) covering even more of players’ missing favorites and mains.
Where’s the Arcade Mode?
I actually liked a lot about “A Shadow Falls”–but I have the acquired taste for the tacky dialogue and melodrama that a lifetime of anime–and video games, for that matter–provides. The General Story–combined with the Character Story prologues–does a great job in the SFV world-building department. But those modes do almost nothing in providing something fun to play. I still maintain that a traditional Arcade Mode is not an essential component for Street Fighter V; but adding a boring, bare-bones vs. CPU option to Versus Mode doesn’t offer what the absence of Arcade Mode leaves wanting. SFV is still running empty on engaging single-player content–there’s no point to fighting the CPU without some incentive or variety–and if training is your goal, the Training Mode already lets you fight a CPU opponent to your heart’s content, and more efficiently than Versus Mode. Time Attack, maybe? How about some kind of Shadaloo Soldier or Doll Rush mode, making better use of those assets from the General Story Mode? I guess there’s still Survival Mode, but…
Survival Mode, and Those Pesky Colors
Survival Mode sucks. It isn’t fun, and is the worst kind of challenge in game design: difficulty ramped up erratically by a roll of the dice, rather than something you can learn from and practice to defeat. Making the much-desired costume colors unlockable in this mode was an insult–and the “fix” of simply making them purchasable is the easiest answer–but hardly the best. The mode is still broken, and pulling a reward from an unfun mode just makes Survival Mode an even bigger blemish on the game’s design.
Capcom Fighters Network and Statistic Tracking
We’ve got stat-tracking now (although it wasn’t up there in the most vocal complaints), but there’s still tabs in the Fighter Profile that don’t work yet; so we’re just one tab closer to full functionality. The netcode is still applauded or reviled depending on who you ask–when it comes to online play, consistency seems to be exceedingly difficult. As the precious Fight Money gained in Ranked/Casual matches is so low (and Survival Mode: see above), the implementation of Daily Missions is a welcome addition that would have made the game’s Shop prices–Zenny or not–a bit less daunting. The addition of the rematch system is also a nice bonus they threw in later–but the majority of what we’ve heard about when it comes to CFN are the means to try and curb rage-quitting, with very mixed results and reception. Which bring us to…
Capcom’s Poor Public Relations
On this one, Capcom has a long way to go. So much of the goodwill gained in updates and improvements to this point was so easily undone by the dreaded Capcom.sys, the Street Fighter V anti-cheating measure that was slipped on to PCs with the September update–and did a whole lot more damage than good. Ongoing reports of new bugs don’t help either–as apparently pulling the colors out broke Survival Mode a little bit. But we’re well past surprised: this is a title that went to retail with an openly-ridiculed breast physics glitch–removal of which being promised well beforehand–still intact, and the game may never live down the graphical clipping errors that persist in its visuals to this day. One step forward and two steps back seems to be the rule for Capcom’s image lately–and that would not have been changed much by a more robust launch. The game’s launch state just gave them a head start on the hate.
Eight Frames of Doom
How much Street Fighter V’s originally reported 8-frame input latency (on PlayStation 4 only, not legacy controllers or PC) affected you as a player depends on your skill level and approach; it was enough to give Zangief main RB|Snake Eyez pause, and he’s hardly the only pro player to complain about it. Now the latency has been knocked down to 6.5 frames to bring both current-gen and legacy PS4 controllers (and PC) into the same range; would it have made a difference had it been 6.5F to begin with? Pros both decry and praise all sorts of different aspects of Street Fighter V’s gameplay, and while a frame and a half can make a significant difference, it’s still enough of a jump up from Ultra Street Fighter IV to have drawn criticism, informed or otherwise. Time will tell how much this adjustment improves the game at the higher levels of play–it is possible that SFV’s competitive perception from top players might have been a bit rosier with a bit less input latency, but to the largest percentage of customers and users, it’s just a different number to argue over.
To answer the question simply: yes, I do believe the current Street Fighter V would have been better received–but not that much better. It has made great strides to becoming a more well-rounded product, and a superior game–but not quite enough to satisfy what Capcom should be capable of. I still have high hopes, and I’m still signed on for this roller-coaster ride–but I have my doubts that Street Fighter V will ever be “complete.”
Sources: Capcom-Unity; streetfighter.com; Kotaku; Ruggiero Piazzolla (Twitter)