--The following is a mini-rant based on the current state of this game--
Okay, so SFV has been out for close to 2 weeks now and all the internet hatred for it has lead me to play it very little since launch.
Okay so it's not entirely just internet hatred ... there's something that feels off with SFV right now , I've been the first in line to defend it's content distribution model (and I still think it's a good idea) but the shape this game was tossed out the door with is kind of inexcusable. There are a few ways that things might have been different but in their haste to make sure the game was released prior to the official start of the pro tour they may have burned a lot of bridges that they were trying desperately to open. It's a real shame because between the betas and final release I really do like what I've played , the fighting itself is pretty solid and they've nailed the most important part by getting that right but I worry for the future of this game beyond the series faithful.
Obviously capcom is counting on sales throughout the year but we all read that they've projected 2 million sold by the end of march. There's simply no way that will happen. I'm honestly kind of flabbergasted , the simplest solution would be to give early local VS/training/online ranked/casual access to anyone that pre-orders and then delay the "official" finished product launch until maybe June or July ? Or , just sell the game for less from the get go. What's done is done now and the initial launch of this game is suffering the worst critical reception for a SF title since SF3 originally came out.
I can only hope that maybe next February we get the equivalent of a SFV Championship edition (capcom has said many times they won't re-title it in this fashion, buying it once will give you all future updates, etc).
For many the complaints of the game feeling unfinished refer to the lack of single player content - for me personally it goes a bit further than that. The character stories could easily have been expanded into a traditional arcade mode with difficulty settings but instead - they feel like a low budget afterthought because that's exactly what they are. Something thrown together a few months before launch because they were probably planning to just skip out on that entirely. Survival mode being such a grueling slog (too easy for 95% of the matches, too hard for the only ones that matter) was another last ditch effort to make the single player content feel more substantial than it really is. The biggest sign of how rushed out the door SFV is though - the lack of polish on most of the games stages. Everyone has already pointed out that only the first revealed stage (crowded night time street) has destructible barriers that can change things between rounds AS WELL as having humorous stage based enders like the bus or noodle bowl. This isn't so much an issue to me but what is an issue is the remainder of the backgrounds feel like phoned in half way finished concepts compared to that original level. Kings Cross Station feels like it should have more people in it , the new zealand level feels kind of cramped , kanzuki estate looks great but runs like ass (the 30fps backgrounds really show up poorly here) the russian underground cage feels like it's been cut short , Rio looks great but is also sparsely populated , new york/metro city has too many low quality assets (mostly alex) and feels smaller than it should and finally the shadowloo airforce base and 4 kings layer level feel more like cheap cutscene backdrops than actual full stages. India is actually the only other level in the game that feels somewhat finished but it also suffers from the 30 fps backgrounds. The load times in this game are hellish and just on the whole - the graphics feel like they lack a final coat of polish. The character models/designs are great , all animate beautifully but the textures seem a bit inconsistent at best.
All of my nitpicks aside , it seems like the biggest problem I keep hearing is that the one thing capcom really wants players to do - which is play online , is gimped and undercooked - no rage quitter penalty , too much time between matches, private lobbies limited to 2 players until the march update.
I know I'm being a little redundant here with the amount of vitriol others have spewed about this game but I really REALLY want SFV to be a big success for capcom so they support it for a while and possibly even make other fighting games this generation. They've made that very hard to do by mishandling this launch and I hope they and SFV can recover. Perhaps all the stuff being added in March will negate a good chunk of these issues , perhaps it will only fix a few of them ? All I know for sure is that I haven't felt like investing much time in this game despite months and months of hype because this just feels closer to a beta then the "real game".
