Street Fighter V (Plus A Shadow Falls) (PC) Review

 (Originally posted on July, 2016)

(2016, PC)

Even after feeling rather indifferent towards the long running Street Fighter IV series, my hope for V grew quite strong thanks to Capcom's more consumer friendly sales pitch and positive feedback among beta testers. Of course, since this is a Capcom game (and Street Fighter in particular), there's always going to be a "by the way".  Funny as it was to read about all the fiascoes surrounding the game since it's February launch, after purchasing it in May, the first hand frustration at Capcom's last minute delays and shameless PR spinning was something else. Even with some broken promises and a (salvageable) lack of polish, most importantly, the core game is immediately one of the most engaging and satisfying to play out of the 500 or so Street Fighter iterations to date. Echoing the impressions of many others, the (first phase) of the game delivers if you're a serious tournament player, but leaves something to be desired for everyone else.  Now that "A Shadow Falls," a 3-5 hour single-player focused story mode is finally here, how's Street Fighter V now?...

When first getting into the game, the couple dozen online matches I tried were exciting and ran decently, but the experience was nothing like the 90s: hanging out amongst a small crowd gathered around an SF2 cabinet (or two!) which could be found not just inside any decent arcade, but even gas stations, grocers, and casual restaurants back then. Trying out the single player content, each character's individualized Story Mode is rather unsubstantial: short and lacking even a true 'final boss'. The Survival Mode is just as poorly constructed. Gone is the fast paced gauntlet enjoyed in Alpha 2 and 3. Here you fight one short round, endure pauses, menus, loading, finally fight again and repeat. It's more something to do while waiting for an online match than an enjoyable mode in itself.

Available since early July 1, "A Shadow Falls" still doesn't offer a deep and rewarding single player mode, but fills another big gap by finally giving more casual Street Fighter fans a proper welcome to the latest expansion to the universe. With hours of cutscenes, stages, characters and plenty of personality dominating the brief, single round fights served up every few minutes, A Shadow Falls would almost serve better as a demo to lure in new players than as another, somewhat unsatisfying mode for those who already bought the game. Going through it, part of me wanted to see what happens next in the story, while the other part wanted to jump into the online lobby after getting such small tastes of the actual fighting, which is what Street Fighter V does best. That being said, I enjoyed cheering on the heroes as they take on Bison yet again in a not particularly brilliant,  yet still enjoyable and captivating adventure that begins to shed some light on the near decades of mystery surrounding the Street Fighter III story arc. I don't think I'll ever be compelled to play through A Shadow Falls again, but briefly fighting all the new non-playable characters was neat, as were the several haunting, memorable cutscenes and truly exciting moments which had me fidgeting in my seat at the moments of joy and a sense of celebration as a fan of the series. If you're especially in to SFIII, your head will explode at the very end!

I've always enjoyed 2D and 3D fighters, but very few have I played just because the mechanics themselves were so much fun. Besides trying to win some glory at the hottest spot at the arcade, a cabinet housing the latest and greatest fighter, I tended to play mostly to ogle the fatalities, stages, music, and even follow the dumb stories. The only game I really fell in love with PLAYING was Street Fighter III, with it's smoothly animating, heavy and tangible 'feeling' characters, mind-game centered gameplay and demanding parry system that made you feel like you were "one" with the game when successful (I'll save all the stories for when I cover the SFIII trilogy). Bringing it back to Street Fighter V, I'm thrilled to say what little I've experienced has made a great impression: it's one of the most intrinsically fun fighters I've ever played. I'm not seasoned enough to comment on the little details that require hundreds of hours and opponents to get a real sense of, but I could immediately notice the characters feel as "realized," expressive and well-animated as ever...satisfying to control in even the simplest of ways. Besides the actual fighting, there's plenty else to take into account with the stun meter and new V-Gauge system(s)...

One of game's strong points is the sense of individuality each fighter has, reminding me of the glory days of SFII. Each character exudes a strong identity, from their music (Karin and FANG have  really slow and moody openings before transitioning into something more upbeat) to the V-Skill (Unique Attack) and V-Trigger (Unique Super) systems which Capcom cleverly utilized by bringing in the fighters' personality and backstory directly into the gameplay. How neat is it having Birdie enjoy a snack to augment his powers, or the pro-wrestling obsessed R-Mika call-in her partner for a quick run-in? A bit like the Alpha Counters, there's also a V-Reversal which uses some of the main V-Gauge to counter an attack while defending. I still get the terminology mixed up even after having played the game for a little while, but believe me that the systems are integrated surprisingly well to offer a deep, strategic, but never overwhelming experience.

I complained in my SFIV review years ago about how all the characters had cookie cutter bodybuilder physiques that lacked distinctness. Here, the characters truly look like world warriors, each arriving to the battle having walked their own training path. Not just a comedy character, Zangief is built like a wall of muscle that's as imposing and explosive as ever. Looking like how I feel if I go off my diet/gym routine for more than a couple days, the now obese Birdie is more interested in eating than thuggery, yet still retains plenty of athleticism within the ripping holes of his "skinny" jeans. R. Mika and Karin show off loads more personality and character depth than in their Alpha 3 appearances, while newcomers Rashid and F.A.N.G. steal the show in A Shadow Falls. Other new characters like Necalli are flops at this point, or still developing their persona (Laura). Impressively evolving from SF2 weirdo and generic philosophizing warrior (Alpha/SF4) to a genuinely believable super natural force in SFV, Dhalsim shows off insane stretching and contorting animations as his character and abilities mature with the series. The blandest of the cast are the conservatively presented Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li. The longtime SF mainstays are as fun as ever but are otherwise kind of "just there," lacking their promising, youthful potential from Alpha or mature-yet-able skills from the 3 series. All in all, the current roster is presented better than ever and generally regarded as balanced by those better qualified to comment than me. I'm looking forward to both new and returning characters in the future, particularly the long missing Sodom and perhaps a radically different, pre or early-experiment Necro.

My 5 year old laptop has a lot of trouble doing the game's textures and shadows justice, but the graphics are still incredible. The animation, detailed musculature and brighter colors of the new fighter models make the once stunning SFIV renditions now look like stiff ventriloquist dummies. The backgrounds are pretty, rich in detail and depth, but it's hard to really dig the locations when  many of them borrow heavily from previous fighters. The grungy, neon-lit Chinese stage looks way too much like Lei's fighting grounds in Tekken Tag Tournament. Karin's much praised Kanzuki Estate obviously borrows from Amano's luxurious canal street in The Last Blade. I saw plenty of vast, grassy land and sheep in KOF2002, and so on. There are still a few really good stages, the best being the cheesy but pleasingly bold Mount Rushmore homage featured in the "Four Kings stage," a secret laboratory which has plenty going on besides the giant heads of the Shadaloo leaders. I wonder when Sagat's going to come get his spot back...

The soundtrack is very well done, with plenty of original themes and "classic" remixes (Some tired, others incredible such as the remix to Balrog's theme, matching his over the top character with sirens, opera, rapping and a general rave sound that in theory sounds like too much but manages to be reborn better than ever). Karin's 70s style music is another stand out, as such a laid back groove shouldn't work in the midst of a fight but is so good that it just cooly commands players to enjoy it. "Brazil Alternate" is really nice and trancey, giving off the dazed euphoria of too much time spent under the sun on a beautiful beach in Brazil. The dynamic of the acoustic guitar managing to overpower the electrics in Ibuki's theme is really neat. My only complaint is that with so much technology and storage available, the soundtrack as a whole lacks the limited but distinct identity felt in past Street Fighters. You'll get some good music, but nothing that's going in a particular direction, like Alpha 2's cool, often relaxed jazzy sound, 2nd Impact's unnerving trance, Hip-Hop/Drum+Bass in 3rd Strike or the aggressive and immensely iconic package from SF2. Still, there's a number of tracks I can instantly recall in my head, which is much of what great video game music is about.

Even with Street Fighter V's rough takeoff, I immediately liked it more than any of the SFIV iterations I tried, which seemed solid but never really drew me in. I'll definitely keep running up enough fights to "earn" the in-game currency required for all the new characters, stages and more to be added for who knows how many years.  Without a nearby arcade cabinet or more intimate online mode, I won't be diving deep into this game like I did as a teen with Street Fighter 3, which is ok as I'm not looking for that kind of obsession at this point in my life. Without a real life human next to you, it's rushed and still lacking, yet still fun and full of promise. I don't see myself entering the time-demanding, white hot fire necessary to begin forging myself into a top ranked Street Fighter V master, but will  visit briefly but often to bask in the pleasant warmth that is a classic series successfully living up to it's near 30 year legacy.