Street Fighter V Review: No, Its Not A Remarkable Comeback

[Derouiche™]

It took Capcom almost a decade to release the new game in Street Fighter franchise because they had a tough and delicate job in their hands of retaining the features that loyal fan base love and refresh the decor at the same time. Capcom tasked Yoshinori Ono to look after the development work on Street Fighter V as he has a comprehensive knowledge and skill in this genre. Did Street Fighter series make a remarkable comeback under the supervision on Yoshinori Ono on PlayStation 4 and PC? I have listed everything you need to know in this regard in my Street Fighter V review below, but if you are among one of those restless fans who just want to know whether or not to invest your hard earned $60 in few simple words/lines then here is what I think: "Street Fighter V ticks most of the boxes RIGHT, the launch roster is eclectic, varied stages, addictive gameplay and most importantly the move lists has been lowered in order to welcome newcomers."

Gameplay:

Along with traditional fights elements, Street Fighter V takes gameplay to next level with refreshing concepts of V-gauge and Critical-Gauge. You can use V-gauge and Critical-Gauge as game changer weapons in the time of need. You can plan out various tactics. Remember to skill your defense strategy more than offense because reversal and counter attacks from your opponent do take a big chunk of your health bar. Every game mode is good in its own way, even the training mode where you get a sparring partner to try every attack with unlimited health, V-gauge, and Critical-Gauge bars. Traditional versus mode is also there to play with a buddy holding the second controller, it adds plus point to make Street Fighter V a competitive offline game.

Story Mode:

This mode gives you intro of every character, set up of 3 fights and defining the purpose of each fighter to fight the rest. Few character stories are so interesting that you wish to know more of it but it doesn't conclude stories, just the intro defining the purpose of a character to fight. It's not the much difficult mode, you get through every character story easily. One thing I didn't like in storytelling of every character is the usage of artworks during dialogues before and after every fight, cut-scene videos would have done a better job.

Survival Mode:

Good for testing your skills at various difficulty levels. It can also be utilized as practice to perfect any character of your choice. It is very competitive, keeps you engaged and the idea of Battle Supplements after every fight makes it innovative, you have to decide perks you wanna choose which makes your decision makes different in every next fight after choosing Battle Supplements, so spend your points wisely.

Casual Match Mode:

Casual Mode is good to test out your skills with other online players without losing your rank stats. To find the match they have given you search criteria options so that you can find players to your console and levels. My experience was smooth during a fight, with no lags. Sometimes you have to wait long before your search match gets found, it's all depends on a number of players availability searching for a casual match at the same time as you, so be patient.

Ranked Match Mode:

It's similar to casual mode except your ranking stats are on the line, you gain points and increase in ranking if you win else you loose ranking.

Battle lounge:

It's a hangout place which enables network matches with other players and allows inviting players to the Battle Lounge from Favorites. You can join others or create your own lounge with your custom settings which can be changed later. This mode I feel will evolve with time, right now you won't find much fun it. Hopefully, it will be a lot more interesting with more boost in eight-player lounges after free March update as promised by Capcom.

Sound and Audio:

I didn't like the background sound much, it is same for every fight, you get bored hearing same tunes after few fights. Character voices are good during fights but their dialogues pre and post fights doesn't have many variations.

Graphics:

Character graphics are good, they look alive enough if you play at max settings. Every fighting stage has a unique theme, spectators in the background watching your fights are always doing funny and repetitive acts so that makes it bit boring at times to see similar animations over and over again. I faced slight lags during Critical attacks, but not with every character.

Conclusion:

After playing SFV, I have become a fan of series. I'm impressed with most of the elements and features it offers but still there is a lot of room for further improvements which we will hopefully see in [CENSORED]ure updates and DLCs. I really wish there would be more story content. Online and Offline modes have good balance but it is mainly built for online modes and leagues. Graphics are good but sound is not. Gameplay is competitive and keeps you engaged.