Devil's advocate: are we wrong about vf5?

So i have been given it some thought, and is it possible we are just wrong about virtue fighter? Is it possible that we are simply wrong and vf isn't the greatest fighter of them all?

For my money i can't accept that, but it is still just an opinion and the majority of every fighting game in the world seem to be in disagreement. For example, it takes me 10 minutes to get a fight and usually vs a 10th kyu. Then when i do get quick fights it's vs super high ranked players. Even then i can't tell you how often there are 3 worthwhile opponents; randyoffshore, elbow jason, and me ruin social (a joke if anyone didn't get it), but offshore randy and jason elbow focus on each other and i don't get to play hardly at all. Ultimately though, most of my experience is very very few to play if i want a competitive game. If i were to devote this insane amount of time to many different games i could just play my ass off. So is vf really that great of a game if so many people apparently don't think so?

I've been playing for 10 years now, and i just couldn't love the thing any damn more. I am going to take a minute to say my personal evidence of what makes it a near perfect game.

1. Balance? I think it is rivaled in balance. Just sublime. But can we even argue if this is important? Pure data says it is not. It's definitely important to our community but who cares. Unbalanced games are more popular and so long as there is balance among 4-5 top tiers the meta is balanced around those with a few weaker tiered characters with matchup advantages. Hell, life isn't balanced. Race, intelligence, sex, etc.

2. Execution vs anticipation? I love the (lol balance) between execution and anticipation. You have to rely on anticipation to perform your punish execution. I just love it. Anticipation is so paramount. Then ties into best possible execution. But still there is a balance. On 17f my goh's knee launcher is semi useless vs a knee launcher, and yet goh's knee is one of the best moves on the game regardless. Which ties back into a super intelligent balance of the game...which may not even matter to how good a game is.

3. Active+important+fun defense? This is the reason i have trouble playing other fighters. In my opinion this #1, but i still think as a community balance wins out. And they are really tied hand n hand. I absolutely love the active defense style of VF. It was reduced in vf5fs and i have mixed feelings about that. I don't mind it being reduced to 33% chance even tho it levels the skill cap KINDA. I was a guy who could o 3 evade TE's consistently, but realistically that is a worse defense than simply deciding between fuzzy TE, and evade TE. It simplified defense but it also made TE more standard and simple defense more important. IF you are great at defense it's a push. If u are average at defense, maybe still a push or very small nerf? Either way my favorite favorite FAVORITE part of the game is defense, and its just as much fun. I lose the heady experience of a 3-4 TE buffered evade, but i gain the heady experience of evade TE/fuzzy/TE when we both understand the consequences with a smaller die roll. Honestly it feel like more of a game and i like it. Also, it moves us towards those games i have no understand why i'd ever want to play.

I guess my point is you can win with defense and be proud of it in vfdc. You can be a dominant defensive play and make it wins in a glorious way. No other games offer that i think.

 

I play you any time i see you. I play anyone. High ranked or low. Idgaf! Im not like Tim's punk ass running in the opposite direction from you. Hell Randy does the same thing to me when someone like THE Weiend comes on but you dont hear me cryin.

 

Lion and Shun-Di are what's wrong with this game.
I said it, F*** someone had to.

 

on #3, evade-cancel-throw-escape-guard-attack-Option-select replaced MTE in terms of execution barrier defensive tech.

 

On top of all of it, yomi... this is what this game is all about.
Then the way u fight, u can fight 1 char played by 10 different persons, it won t be the same char against each players.
Def techs are awesome, more developped than most of games.
Combos are awesome, today we still discover new combos unknown even by jp players.
To finish the cast. Each char got his style and stick to ur style.

 

Sooo, I was one of the "10th kyu" you had fought back then. It was honestly one of the greatest feelings of the world, that after all these years I finally got a chance to get a console & the game to play this game, after lots of misadventures. It had been a huge dream for a while. So it was marvellous to make experienced high-rankers work for the win... On the other hand, it broke my heart when one of those names you mentioned (forgot which) bailed out on matches against me - after all these struggles getting to a point in life where I could play, I felt like I wasn't deemed worthy.

Anyway, I honestly believe the game is definitely good. The best. It's just that the western world is formatted to go for the flashy instead of the solid.

 

@social_ruin people forget the elephant in the room:

*aesthetics and presentation > gameplay depth & "balance"

(VF isn't "balanced" per say it's just that the options are so many they undermine manageable optimal strategies, which other games have a few of. Having a few optimal strategies is what makes games feel "unbalanced" since winning is then made limited to set options)

 

^ you reason for why Vf isn’t balanced is also the reason Vf is balanced. I find it hard to understand your argument there.

I agree with you that aesthetics and presentation are important for the game. VF always has amazing aesthetics while still meeting their design goals of having characters be the most interesting thing on the stage. I think VF needs help on the presentation, as in, making the story more visible to people In this game. Not for pachinko players only but for the Fgc.

 

It's just my pedantic interpretation of "balance", technically it's wrong for people to say that they want "balanced games" rather what they are looking for is perfect imbalance.

Extra credits explains the concept here


Core a gaming has an interesting related video

 

You can hate VF's system and style of gameplay,it's a personal preference. What you can't do is deny how functional, agile and ageless the game looks. VF5FS is like 6 years old (hell based on an engine and a game that is 12 years old) and still looks and plays smoother than many game released today.

Honestly, a port to PS4 with additional content would make satisfied. I can wait till they can make it worthy of the number 6.

XD