Street Fighter V (PS4) Review

 Something's Missing Here.

 The Street Fighter franchise makes its 8th gen. debut with the highly anticipated, Street Fighter V for PlayStaion 4 and PC. Ryu, Ken, and Chun-Li are back and are better than ever. Street Fighter V is a departure from previous games in terms of visual style and gameplay. Capcom's been hyping the game for a while now and it was on my anticipated games of 2016 list. Since it's currently out, let's take a look at what the latest entry has in store for us.

STORY- When you play a fighting game, you'd expect a story mode that will tell you what's happening and why are all of these unique characters doing here. Sadly, we won't know for sure until summer. Yep, the main story mode will be coming as free DLC this June. Right now, we only have these "backstories" for the 16 characters which takes less than 10-5 minutes to finish. They pack only 3-4 fights and come with 2D cutscenes that don't blend well with the game's 3D design. The fights themselves are relatively easy and don't much of a challenge. 

Story mode... coming this summer.

GAMEPLAY- Probably the only interesting feature of the game so far is the gameplay. Street Fighter V plays similarly to previous titles while introducing new fighting mechanics. The EX gauge from Street Fighter III returns. The gauge will fill as long as you keep attacking your opponent, when charged, you can power up your attacks for more damage. Another feature present since Street Fighter III is the Stun Meter. The game encourages you to fight offensively so when your opponent has taken a great deal of damage, you can go in for the win. 

The gameplay is fast, fluid, and accessible to newcomers.

  A new addition is the "V-Gauge" mechanic. It's that three-part gauge on the bottom screen. When the V-gauge is filled, you gain three new techniques: V-Skills, V-Reversals, and V-Trigger. V-Skills offer sets of skills unique to each character, V-Reversals are handy when counter attacking opponent's attacks, and V- Triggers consume all of the gauge for a neat ability (e.g. more hits to Chun-Li's attacks, extra power boost for Ryu.) I found the V-Gauge mechanic a lot of fun and gives you a reason to try each of the characters and their special abilities.

Ouch!

 Street Fighter V's roster consists of 16 fighters. 12 are returning fighters and 4 are new to the game. Additionally, another five fighters have been confirmed as DLC. Franchise staples such as Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li are back, however, you'll notice that some veterans such as Blanka, Makoto, and Guile are missing. It's a pretty small roster when you look at it. Moving on, I really liked two of the new characters: Rashid, an aspiring fighter who controls wind, and Laura, an upbeat fighter who's also veteran Sean Matsuda's sister. They have fun personalities and hopefully we'll see more of them in the story mode.

The new fighter are fresh and fun to play as.

 In terms of game modes, Street Fighter V is lacking in some. Arcade Mode, which is a basic mode in fighting games, is missing. You have your standard Versus Mode, in which you can play with a friend near you. Online Mode was somewhat stable, but I experienced issues such as lag and disconnections. There is a Survival Mode in which you keep fighting until you are finally beaten, it's a fun little distraction that's similar to Abyss Mode from Blazblue. Sadly, there isn't much to talk here in terms of content. With very few modes here, spending $60 on Street Fighter V doesn't seem that reasonable.


PRESENTATION-  Thanks to the power of Unreal Engine 4, Street Fighter V looks fantastic. The color are vibrant, the stages are detailed, and the character models have beeen given a more realistic feel. On top of that, everthing runs on a smooth 60 frames-per second, making the fights quick and easy. However, the 2D cutscenes in story mode feel simplistic. The same can be said about the voice acting which can be hit or miss. Some performances are well-done, while others are... not so much. The soundtrack, on the other hand, is pretty neat and is filled with some great tracks to hear that fit each stage.

The presentation is great, with a few ups and downs.

 OVERALL-  Street Fighter V is still a solid fighter. However, it's lacking in content. While the gameplay and Survival Mode are both fun, there isn't much to keep you hooked. Online Mode takes forever to load and by the time you find a match it's disconnected for some reason. Capcom should have easily delayed the game a bit to fix these issues. Compared to other fighting games such as Mortal Kombat X and Guilty Gear Xrd, Street Fighter V feels bare-bones. Honestly, it's a tough recommendation at its current state. I really liked it, but can't overlook some of its issues. However, if you like what you see, then give it a try, you might end up having fun. 

 BORDERLINE