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SFV is made to be more accessible than its SFIV, and it is - but competing will still be difficult.
With the end of the Street Fighter IV era, the Street Fighter community finds itself in one of the most interesting positions in competitive gaming: between titles. While those who love USF4 will continue to happily play it, a large portion of the competitive community is eagerly anticipating SFV and the new experiences it will bring.
SFV is meant to be is accessible. Street Fighter creator Yoshinori Ono has said that he would like to create a game that appeals to a wider audience on multiple occasions – and on the surface, his latest title is just that. Without complicated FADC combos and one-frame links, the technical barrier to entry is much lower than the Street Fighter IV series of games. But does that truly make SFV easier to play? Here's a look at all of the angles that aspiring Street Fighter players old and new should consider.
Back to Basics
Street Fighter V has, so far, been considered a return to the fundamentals of the series. Devoid of reversal uppercuts made safe by focus canceling and backdashes with significant invincibility, players have less ‘get out of jail free’ options than they did in Street Fighter IV. This gives the game a more straightforward feel – attacking more often holds the real weight of punishment on whiff or block, and defending isn’t as easy as backdashing to safety.
But who does this benefit most? Journeyman players who started with Street Fighter IV have relied on these tools for as long as they’ve been competing, and will find it difficult to wean themselves off of habits they’ve been relying on for years. On the other hand, top players are more acutely aware of the finer points of spacing and footsies, making them even more dangerous compared to their less experienced counterparts. Throw in Crush Counters, powerful attacks that punish opponents for throwing out weaker options (think Kazunoko’s wake-up jabs), and it’s easy to consider SFV a very dangerous battlefield for anyone still learning footsies.
A Whole New World
Footsies and fundamentals may be a large part of SFV, but that’s not to say there aren’t several new mechanics in place. The aforementioned Crush Counters are one of the most obvious additions. Each character has different Crush Counter attacks, but each one puts the countered opponent in a very dangerous state. Crush Counter sweeps put opponents into a hard knockdown – the only move in the game to currently do so. Ground-to-ground Crush Counters put players into a huge amount of hitstun, allowing for most characters to pull off a full combo for massive damage.
These moves are also strengthened by SFV’s attack priority system: unlike in SFIV where heavy attacks could trade with light attacks, the heavier attack will win out in SFV. Fishing for safe trades no longer works, meaning that waking up with a quick button is more dangerous than ever. At a high level, players will have many more factors to consider on both attack and defense.
The V-System is also completely different than the Ultra Gauge. It charges similarly, but each character uses it differently. It is made up of three parts: V-Skill, V-Reversal, and V-Trigger. Ryu and V-Skills can be used at any time, and vary greatly throughout the cast. Ryu and Zangief both have parries of a sort, while others have unique traits. Birdie, for example, can eat a donut to charge his V-Trigger, throw a banana in front of him, or throw a can that rolls at the feet of his opponents depending on input. When one bar fills, V-Reversals become available. When the entire meter fills, V-Trigger becomes available.
On one hand, this secondary system clarifies the use of meter. Unlike in SFIV where the vast majority of the cast never had a reason to use their Super, using EX-Meter offensively is much less risky now that it's not tied to a life-saving mobility option. But at SFV continues onward, choosing whether to use using V-Meter for V-Reversal or V-Trigger may become a more complicated choice.
V-Triggers are massively important to unlocking a character's full potential. Passive boosts to special attacks, combo extensions, single-use teleports, or even a Capcom vs.-style assists dropping out of the sky are just a few of the things that come from V-Triggers. But the most unexplored part of the V-System is the V-Reversal. Similar to the Alpha Counters found in the Street Fighter Alpha series, the Reversal puts a defending player at the advantage. As with all V-System mechanics, the V-Reversal changes drastically depending on what character is using it. Some characters hit with a simple counter. Others dodge the attack, moving out of harm’s way. R. Mika even has a power bomb-style grab that puts the opponent in knockdown.
The V-Reversal is currently the biggest wild card in SFV thus far; some players began to experiment with it during last weekend’s open beta, but there is still much to be learned. And as the video below will show you, V-Reversals have amazing potential when coupled with a little bit of creativity. When players talk about saving meter in SFV, they might not be talking about their Super meter anymore.
The Verdict is: There is No Verdict
Clearly there’s a lot to learn for new players and veterans alike. But if the beta has taught us anything, it’s that everything is up for debate. What makes a character good is largely unknown. Strong combos, pokes and mobility will continue to be important, but how valuable is a good V-Reversal? Which V-Skills will be the most useful as players learn the game in more depth? Will the large amount of command grabs available make dedicated grapplers obsolete, or will it show how truly powerful they can be? Which characters have the best Crush Counter options? There are several questions yet to be answered.
What can be stated is this. Street Fighter players new and old are having a good time with SFV so far, and while there are certainly concerns to be fielded (blockstrings and input buffers have been fingered as points of contention by many FGC members), there’s a lot to look forward to. With the game still in beta, there is plenty of time for changes to be made.The development team at Capcom is keeping an ear to the ground, making it easy to maintain hope that the proper changes will be made before SFV releases next February.
SFV is coming. And the more time players have with the game, the clearer it becomes we've only just scratched the surface of what is possible. Is SFV easier to pick up and play than its predecessors? Maybe. But will it be easier to master? Unlikely.
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