After what happened to SVF5, my guess is that they will choose all monetization's schemes. DLCs, micro-transactions, loot-boxes, NFTs, season passes, etc...
So do I. Back in the day, fighting games were my favorite genre. Still remember the day I bought and started playing SF2 Champion Edition on my Mega Drive. And after that, I played almost every entry. Fighting games are no longer my favorite genre, but I still like to pick-up a game from time to time. But I skipped SFV after looking t the mess that game is, because of it's monetization. Unfortunately, most fighting games have adopted similar monetization schemes. Some not so bad, like King of Fighters and Tekken. Some even worse, like Dead or Alive. Fighting games are on the decline, and I think that this predatory monetization is driving away a lot of consumers. Only hard core fans, are buying most of these games. Most casual consumers, that just want a fun game to play, are moving away.
MK is the only fighting game worth playing. I still do some casual fights with friends on both MKXL and MK11 but thats it. Even though i like Soul Calibur, Skullgirls, Street Fighter it just ends there.
Fighting games may be declining, but i don´t think it´s solely because of monetization. Of course it doesn´t help, specially that dick idea of selling fighters separatly from the game, splitting the user base between those who only have the base game with half the fighters and the other who bought the remaining half... But for me the problem is that fighting games have not evolved in the last 20 years!!! They are basically the same games of the 2d era with some small differences, know one has managed to make the jump from 2d to 3d succefully in any fighting game! Street Fighter is a perfect example, the 4th and 5th installments are different from the 3rd one, some better graphics, some new mechanics and some others reused, some new fighters and that´s it. Also i´m really disappointed that they will continue to persist with the same art style, instead of going for a more realistic direction, like SST2.
Meh. I mean don't get me wrong, I like Street Fighter but... after SF number bazillion I'm kinda done with it in general. For me fighting games stopped being fun and became too complex and frustrating when combos started to appear and become a trend, and then became the norm. I was 'fine' with Ultimate MK3 combos, and with the original Killer Instinct. It was alright in SF Alphas. But the more time passed with this genre and the more difficult (to a point of complete impossibility for most players out there with the sole exception of the niche real hardcore fighting games fans) it was to play more than 2 or 3 characters, simply because you needed to have an actual computer in place of your human brain to remember the million inputs and combos if you dared wanting to play more characters decently. Back with MK2, UMK3, with Street Fighter 2s (Hyper Fighting or Turbo) and SF Alphas it was possible and fun to play basically nearly all the roster of the game. Chances are you could actually remember at least 2 to maybe 4 or 5 moves per characters but that's all you needed. It was fun enough that way. But now ONE character can have 10 or 15 freakin' moves and you'll NEED to know exactly how to play this character and understand ALL the game mechanics to perform even just decently. If you're not called Sonic Fox then forget doing this for more than 2 or 3 characters. It feels like this now in every. single. fighting. game, ever. You have to pick one or two characters, stick with them, learn them for weeks (at least), play this "burn in your brain" memory game to recall everything that can be and needs to be done in a match and that's it. Lord have mercy if you decide to switch to a new character only to then come back to your 'original favorite' only to realize you forgot half if not everything about it and need to start the whole process again. I did end up buying SFV when the Arcade Edition came out. I played I think 4 characters (Ryu, Cammy, some Zangief, and I think some Juri). It took me I think a week to burn most combos for Ryu in my head but by the end of it I got fed up with all the other game mechanics, V triggers and over heads and this and that on top of combos and timing and punishing or whatever it may be. I mean heck even the freakin' lexicon for fighting games could have an encyclopedia. I can't really care about that stuff anymore. The last 'modern' fighting game I can say I enjoyed was the 2013 reboot of Killer Instinct, which I played a fair amount of (maybe like 50 hours total). I played the same characters I used to play back with the original (Fulgore, Glacius and some Orchid), played online (since the netcode was fantastic for that game) and I had my fill, never touched it again since. This is nothing compared to the hundred and hundred of hours I used to play MK2 and UMK3 and SF2 Turbo for (and Killer Instinct, and SF Alpha 2), those were the days of simple, yet fun fighting games. I could also include just the majority of the 1990s fighters really. I could easily mention Tekken 1, 2 and 3, SoulEdge / SoulCalibur 1, X-Men (the Children of the Atom one I think it was called). Those fighting games for me were and will always stay the best ones. Simplicity, it was enough, we never asked for fighting games to become this complex over time; it just... 'happened', and screw it if you didn't go with the flow basically (which I guess has been my case).
I use to love SF growing up talk first 3 here and how many incarnations they had? I got SF4 when launched on ps4? played all chracter and beat game with each. i rather enjoyed but was to complicated for "fighter" game special in vain of old school SF games. Then I saw SF5 was give away on ps + at some point i tried that, with in 15 minutes download it launching the game I delete it, SF5 was nothing more then way to monetize the series everything was locked behind some pay wall don't remember if was real money or in game both but it was instant turn off to me. vibe i got from SF5 and it interface and menus was they wont me micro transactions, These days I hate Fighting game almost as much as 1st person shooters *cough* COD *cough crap type games
No, monetization is not the only problem. The lack of innovation is one of them, but I don't think there is much more to innovate in the genre. Another issue I see in these games, is that they are catered for hardware gamers. With super tight controls, counting frames of animation, combos with dozens of inputs, super complicated mechanics, etc. For the normal gamer, that just wants to play a bit of a fighting game, this is quite daunting.
I can't believe I missed this amazing conversation. As many of you have stated, the microtransactions has indeed put a dark cloud over our favorite fighting games. I don't mind paying for DLC as long as the original content is a finished product. SFV's release was horrid. It definitely was not a full game. It was basically a demo at full price. This was an extremely negative look from Capcom. Let's not forget the many different versions of the same game. Capcom has been doing this with SF since the early days of SFII. SNK on the other hand will release a product that gives you your monies worth. The DLC are added bonuses. King Of Fighters 14 was released with 50 fighters. KOF 15 has 39. Both games with multiple modes and character endings. The only incomplete fighter that SNK released was KOF12. It definitely wasn't the development team's fault as we all know. They came back with a vengeance releasing the beautiful and arguably best 2d fighter KOF13. The Fighting Genre definitely needs another big catalyst to help move it forward. I truly hope SEGA release Virtua Fighter 6 and has the funding to make it phenomenal. I remember back in the 90s when the VF series was untouchable. VF ran on the most advanced hardware (Model 1,2 and 3) and was amazing to watch and play. Then along came Tekken 3 which ran on the inferior System 12 but the gameplay was groundbreaking. Tekken eventually dethroned VF in popularity and never looked back. I personally like VF4 evolution on the NAOMI 2 and Virtua Fighter 5R on the SEGA Linbergh. Right now I still play SFV, KOF14, KOF15, Soul Calibur 6, VF5 Ultimate Showdown, Tekken 7 and a little Guilty Gear Strive. What made fighting games so awesome many years ago was the Arcade and at home competition with family and friends. The gatherings and fellowship is what made it special. Playing online is an empty feeling most of the time.
Coming to PS4/5, XSX/S and PC (Steam) 2023 The game features two new modes: World tour, an "immersive single-player story experience", and Battle Hub (online stuff) Coming to PS4/5, XSX/S and PC (Steam) New character named Jamie (and possiibly another one named Kimberly? Luke confirmed to be a gamer New mechanic: Drive System (perform 5 different techs to enhance offense/defense) New modern control type being implemented for newer players
@Horus-Anhur I.............can't...........WAIT!!!!!!! The art direction looks fantastic!!! Jamie's Drunken Style is a welcomed addition. Grand Master Ryu and Grand Master Chun Li look amazing in their gear. I hope Sean Matsuda doesn't come back as comic relief. 2023........man oh man!!!! We need Fei Long but I fear he's gone for good. The urban scenery and Asian backgrounds look stunning. I truly hope Capcom makes a complete game with far less microtransactions.
Don't really know what it is about it but I don't like it. Open world in a street fighter game seems a weird choice also but maybe I'll come around to it... But probably not, think I'm stuck in the past with my games in general, majority of games I play are through emulation, still play sf2ce from time to time
