A few weeks ago, Capcom released the full version of Street Fighter 6, and the amount of time I've already sunk into the game might be considered concerning to some individuals. I refute this by stating my classic axiom: the game is good.
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| (Left to right): morsh, Fredo, and Ian |
The Street Fighter series has been the golden standard of fighting games for a very long time, ever since Street Fighter II in 1991. While each game in the franchise switches up the formula to a degree, the core pillars of the franchise which primarily revolve around ground-based footsies have remained intact. Street Fighter 6 still very much holds up these pillars. Ground movement is just as integral to the franchise as ever, and the main new gimmick of the game revolves entirely on being grounded. The "Drive" system in Street Fighter 6 covers a few niches that were covered in previous games in the franchise which keep the ground game complex, while the air game has been more or less untouched. The Drive mechanics add to the game in the same way the "V-Meter" did to Street Fighter V. However, the Drive system's intuitiveness makes it much easier for new players to understand and implement than the systems in place in V or IV.
"Ground-based footsies" is a bit too abstract of a concept, though. We all know that the roster is what most people are actually interested in. I do say that the roster is pretty good. The base roster consists of 18 characters, all of whom play pretty differently from each other. While the roster size is a bit small at the current moment compared to the final roster size of the previous games in the franchise, DLC will be added, with 4 more characters already on their way to the game. While this is admittedly quite lame, it is unfortunately the standard for fighting games at this point. Holding the game accountable for this is completely fair, but avoids the bigger picture which is the gaming market that allows for these types of practices to be so common in the first place.
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| A truly vicious street fight |
The roster is very well balanced, which is cool, if a little bit boring to point out. Most fighting games are pretty balanced nowadays since the devs understand that people don't like to play unwinnable matchups. And while there are definitely certain matchups in the game that demand extra patience and wit (like Zangief vs Dhalsim, Guile, or JP,) most of them end up coming out to a pure battle of skill and consistency. Unless you're in a rank below Gold, in which case, everyone plays exclusively around the gimmicks of their characters and has no concept of fundamentals.
*The following paragraph contains slight malding. Please continue with caution.
I want to throw this part in here because I'm not sure where else to fit it, but E. Honda players and Dee Jay players are probably the most obnoxious in the game. Ken players are scary because they are likely missing chunks of their brains, but Ken as a character is only capable of moderate levels of degeneracy. Although, perhaps Honda and Dee Jay just happen to counter my main, and that's actually why I hate them.
There are maybe thousands of other things I could talk about that make up a more minor amount of my own experience with this game, but I think it would be pointless to go over every single thing that there is in this game. I'll just say the rest of my thoughts quickly since I don't care to elaborate much on any of them. The character creation system is one of the best I've ever seen, and the amount of stupid characters that have made me grin like an idiot are countless. The story in World Tour is super contrived and lame, The arcade mode is pretty bland and lacks much if any replayability. I have yet to try Avatar Battles. The UX is terrible, but I have found myself getting used to it over time anyways. The art direction is the best out of any 3D Street Fighter game without a doubt. The soundtrack is good, but a bit subdued compared to what I would have imagined.
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| This is the average Zangief player. |
Overall, the game is very fun so far, and easily the first new game I've really sunk time into in a long while. Fighting game fans can rejoice at the footsies, or whatever, and casual players can finally stop complaining about motion inputs, so really this game is a win for everyone.
- morsh
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