Let's Talk About Hit Sparks

Dude what investment

VF5FS has been completely ported since its first inclusion in the Yakuza games

Sega didn't have to play it safe. There was never a risk

VF5US from the very start was nothing but a plan to suck Harada's and Tekken's pipe They had to have planned the Tekken skins, the Tekken UI, the Tekken music, The Tekken Hits Sparks, the whole lick Tekken's boot thing from the beginning There is no way that was a after-the-fact-thank-you-fans move The Tekken Licensing deal had to be signed before they even announced VF5US/esports

 

Perhaps. Aoki was able to oversee the inclusion of FS in the Yakuza games to make sure people were still playing the game. He wanted to make a VF6 but was cut short by budgetary restrictions. This resulted in him making a remake of FS. Maybe hit sparks wasn't the best inclusion in US, or the Tekken pack. But there is still an emphasis on realism at many points in the game.

 

Well, the licensing agreement to include all the Tekken paraphernalia had to cost more than simply including all of the customization that was already done for the port for VF5FS to the Yakuza games

RGG and Aoki could just simply released VF5US as a complete "as-is" port of VF5FS and it would have been more of hit.

No I don't think the Tekken stuff, hit sparks, skins, UI, music etc was related in anyway to budgetary restrictions but rather it was about trying to soften the blow for the eventual re-branding of the Virtua Fighter franchise as something different than what it used to be.


But maybe we should consult ChatGPT to get a clearer picture of what was going on in the mind of Seiji Aoki

 

Perhaps you're right about that one. Tekken and VF more than deserve a proper crossover with each other, but absolutely not in a main VF game! The world of Tekken has no place in the world of VF.

 

After a lot of introspection, DOA and VF make the best cross over games. Although some in the DOA community did not want to see VF characters, imo the VF characters fit fine into DOA, and I think the DOA characters would fit fine in VF (as far as cross overs go)

DOA would need to drop the waifu and scantily clad emphasis for the crossover but the game engines mix okay and the stages are more-or-less compatible style wise.

Tekken has already been to bed with Street Fighter in a cross over or two. They deserve each other. Hell I think Tekken 9 should drop the pretense and just become the 2D game its always wanted to be

 

That would be a great idea. Virtua Fighter has never been the series to include guest characters from other games, but DOA would be the best starting point.

As 2D as Tekken feels in its concepts, it's still a 3D game at heart. It has always been the game to emphasize its movement (both 2D and 3D) over all else. Instead of a full on 2D game, it's a 3D game with 2D concepts so that your 2D knowledge will carry over to Tekken at least a bit.

 

C'mon man VF has been played for about 20 years with hundreds of tourneys and we didn't have the FN hit sparks and players managed to handle the side step just fine. If you need colorized hit sparks to know whats going on with any offensive or defensive move in VF that simply means you need to spend more time in the Dojo, and spend more time learning match ups. Don't rely on visual crutches, color splashes and hit sparks to tell you what your next move should be. SMH Spend a little time with Yomi and you'll be fine

Shad you know better man....

 

One of the complaints I've always heard from players about Virtua Fighter since the original was that they couldn't tell when they were getting hit. Personally, I thought the sound of getting hit, my character reeling and my health meter shrinking was good enough, but I guess in modern times we've been used to seeing hit sparks, especially from the Namco fighters.

 

A very insightful comment there. That makes sense seeing how Tekken and 2d fighters rely on hit sparks to get the message across.

 

Exactly

And to add that Hit Spark $#*% into Virtua Fighter series was one of the biggest insults Seji Aoki and RGG could have hurled our way. If they were going to Fuckin add those hideous-tekken-wanna-be-noob-aid-please-help-me hit sparks they might have well just added one or two autobots, spiderman and a parachute from fortnite

 

The addition of hit sparks is indeed concerning for the future of VF, but that's one concerning aesthetic change made. If Aoki adds hit sparks, should we really care if he keeps VF's realistic, authentic aesthetic intact overall.

One thing I would like to point out is that the only thing that hit sparks actually did help with is counter hits. They were already able to telegraph side-turned opponents, but as far as I can tell, there were no counter hit indicators until hit sparks in VF5US

 

My friend, if you practice match ups in the Dojo, you don't need counter hit indicators during a fight, because you know your character's behavior and your opponents behavior from practicing.

The hit sparks were a cosmetic thing that Aoki Seiji wanted to add (according to his own words) to generate excitement. Adding semantics e.g counter hit indicators etc was an after thought. @Solomon Rayland don't try to give this abomination more credit than it is due

Please don't try to advance the argument that as long as everything else has an authentic aesthetic that hit and kick impacts with purple, yellow, red, and white spark plumes don't really distract that much

VF is a game about martial arts, the primary activity is striking, and kicking,. If that activity is accompanied by purple, yellow, red, and whit spark plumes, the presentation is dramatically impacted

All of the players that don't care about the hit sparks (every single one of them) don't really care that much about VF's realism,or its simulation of martial arts. They are more focused on other aspects of the game play, perhaps the balance, the 3 button control scheme, nostalgia or whatever

If you read Yu Suzuki's 1993,1994,1995 interviews he was all about making VF as realistic and simulation as possible while keeping it fun and easy to play. He could have easily added hit sparks, hit plumes, hit clouds, flash-spark-cloud indicators in VF1, VF2, VF3, VF4, VF4 Evolution VF4 Final Tuned, VF5 V5FR, VF5, VF5FS but he didn't. He was very well aware of the aesthetic of hit sparks, or hit-spark-plume-cloud indicators, the use of hit sparks as indicators and he and all the other producers realized that is not the Virtua Fighter aesthetic and they've never included them in the Virtua Fighter series

But here comes Seiji Aoki, and RGG and they decide to make Virtua Fighter more exciting by adding low-budget-Tekken-wanna-be-please-help-the-noobs hit spark-plumes to make the game more exciting and easier to play and to bring in more players.

Well now that we have Tekken life bars, Tekken Skins, and Tekken hit sparks how is that working out for the massively growing player base of Virtua Fighter. Online is full of player rooms and players every hour of every day right? No matter when you log on there are plenty of people to play in any rank you happen to be right? Virtua Fighter is the talk of the fighting community right? Now that Seiji Aoki has added hit sparks and players can see when a counter hit has happened, the player base has grown by 50% right?

@Solomon Rayland Dude, I'm not the one., Just because a million flies like to eat shit, don't mean I'm gonna start eating it

As far as I'm concerned VF5US is persona non grata. Its an anomaly, a freak, a deformed-mutated-hideous offspring (because of the Hit-Spark-Plumes) and Seiji Aoki and RGG owe the VF community and apology for defacing, smearing, and demeaning the Virtua Fighter franchise by adding the hit-spark-plumes

On the other hand, I'm having big fun this week, deeply immersed into Virtua Fighter 5 on my PS3 and Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution on my PS2. Both on nice big 70 inch screens

Now, if you want to see how hit sparks are tastefully done in a modern day Kung Fu game. Look as Sloclap's SIFU ( A tour de force) and homage to the Martial Arts in a video game

 

Interesting. Thank you for your feedback!

 

I don't wish to excuse the addition of hit sparks in VF5US. It's undoubtably hurtful to the aesthetic of VF. However, I will say that the addition of hit sparks doesn't make the aesthetic automatically broken. Aside from the Tekken dlc and the hit sparks, can you think of a single thing in VF5US that takes away from the aesthetic of the game?

That is super funny there!

If I could, I would play the full game of VF5FS over the full game of VF5US. But I have no PS3 or Xbox 360 to make that happen. VF5US is the closest I can get to the full game of VF5FS and I am happy with that.

 

Yes the hit flashes in those versions of VF are an elegant way to communicate hit effects, and character status And they fit the aesthetic of the Virtua Fighter series. Also there was an option to turn those off. VF had the option to turn it off. In VF5US If I don't want to see them, I shouldn't have to. Especially in Arcade mode.

Rather than use hit-spark-plumes to communicate battle information and opponent status, it would have been better (and more in the tradition of VF) to simply improve the Training Mode CPU Action Settings, State, Reaction information. Also a more informative (improved) command list would have been in keeping with the VF series. Currently the command list in training mode only shows the necessary button sequence, there is no damage information, no opponent effect information, and no frame information on the command list. There is certainly enough room to add more additional info to the command list

I would rather see the game promote the training mode, and the command list, than trying to use Hit-Spark-Plumes as an ad-hoc, impromptu way of communicating opponent status or hit effect.

Yes @Solomon Rayland outside of the Hit-Spark-Plumes and the Tekken DLC insult Virtua Fighter Ultimate Showdown is a beautiful game. It has a beautiful presentation, the engine is amazing and fucking awesome. The online options are a massive improvement over VF5FS. I'm sad that Seiji Aoki and RGG did not add the full single player modes from VF5FS That would have been amazing. But what is there and what was ported is an absolute masterpiece (absent the Hit Sparks and Tekken DLC)

 

Absolutely what I think! As of now, Street Fighter 6 has what is possibly the best and most complete training mode of any fighting game. I would love it if VF could dethrone SF6 for that honor.

That is how I feel. I think a crossover with Tekken would be awesome, but not in a mainline VF game. I would like it if there was a VF x Tekken or a Tekken x VF.

 

That's the fair position. If a player doesn't want the cues, or the Hit Sparks they should have the option to turn them off. If the cues and Hit Sparks help, then by all means turn them on. There should be an option

But the real problem here is the very poor training mode and command list that Virtua Fighter has in comparison to other 3D fighting games.

If you compare VF5US training mode to Soul Calibur 6 training mode it is clear how meager, poor featured, and lack luster the VF training mode and command lists are.

If you compare VF5US training mode and command list to Tekken 7's training mode and command list you see a dramatic difference in just how little information VF5US training mode gives you and just how poor the command list is.

Both Tekken and Soul Calibur's training mode have a move demo for every move in the game. VF5US lacks this. VF5US command list only shows what buttons to press to achieve a move . No other information is displayed. Compare this to SC6 where the command list shows what high, low, mid, side, unblockable, etc etc.

@Mackfactor if the hit sparks make the game elegant, and more informative for you that fine. I'm glad its there for you. On the other hand, if VF5US had a proper training mode and command list, the need for hit sparks would only be cosmetic.

I dunno bout that., Soul Calibur 6 training mode is stunning, its rich, it has all of the information you can possibly need to learn. I don't think any 3D arcade fighting game made can compete with the battle information, command lists, CPU settings options, glossaries, tutorials that are available for the Noob as well as the most Advanced of players. I think Soul Calibur is very very very underrated. The Soul Calibur series is at the very apex, pinnacle of 3D arcade fighting games.

In addition to Virtua Fighter 5 I've been playing a lot of Soul Calibur 6 lately and pound for pound from music, to graphics, to training mode, to the two story modes, to the absolutely amazing, stellar, and superior customization system it has won my vote and stolen my vote for Virtua Fighter as the best 3D arcade fighting game ever made

My 3D Arcade Fighting game rank is now

1 The Soul Calibur Series
2. The Virtua Fighter Series
3. The DOA Series
4. The Tekken Series

Virtua Fighter use to hold the top spot with me. But if I'm being totally honest and compare Virtua Fighter to Soul Calibur on a feature by feature basis. Soul Calibur eviserates Virtua Fighter. That was a hard pill for me to swallow at first, but I'm alright with it at this point

 

Soul Calibur 6 and Street Fighter 6 both have incredible training modes that can both contend for the best in the genre.

 

I haven't played Street Fighter, I don't play 2D fighters. So I don't know about SF6 training modes. BUT! Soul Calibur 6 Training Mode has:

Move List with complete animations for every move and with every move attribute described in detail.. E.g High, Low, Mid, Unbreakable, Tracking,

Combat Lessons which has a comprehensive universal tutorial for how to play the game, defensive and offensive moves, characteristics and behaviors, behavior attributes, and effects. In addition to the universal tutorial, the combat lessons has an in depth tutorial and combat lessons strategy for every character in the game along with pros and cons

Training mode has Instant Replay and total CPU training setup and control

Dummy Character settings are comprehensive, 2 programmable actions, full counter settings, Ukem setting reversal edge settings, aerial control settings . Total control over situation and scenario setup. Full difficulty level control

Gauge settings Total control over how to set up life bars, soul gauges, soul charge gauges, and soul crush settings.

Each area in the training mode comes with complete in-game comprehensive help.

In addition to the thorough and detailed training mode, SC6's museum has:

Portrait for every character in the game that provides a detailed description and function for every weapon a character has as well as a detailed history and explaining of the fighting style for every character in the game. It also provides the complete back story for every character in the game. Once you've gone through Portrait all question concerning any given character are usually answered and explained.

Library explains concept, location, opponent, NPC, backstory, lore, mission, goal, every thing that is mentioned in the context of the game is described and explained in Library. Every Thing!

Character Compendium Has a deep and fairly complete backstory for every character beyond what is mentioned in Portrait

Weapon Compendium Has a deep and complete backstory for every weapon in the game.

Historical Documents Explain the entire story mode for BOTH story modes including the Who, What, Where, Why and When

Literature gives a comprehensive explanation of the context for the backstories for every character in the game

Hidden Records Literally a cornucopia of Soul Calibur 6 Easter eggs.

In addition to Training Mode, and Museum there is a separate complete Combat Lessons Mode that painstakingly describes each battle strategy , move list for every character in the game.

I can't speak for SF6, but I can with full confidence post that Soul Calibur 6 has the most comprehensive, complete training mode, move list, combat lesson tutorial that I've ever seen in any fighting game, and I've seen more than a few fighting games over the last couple of decades.

@Solomon Rayland if SF6 has even half the explanatory and exploratory material that SC6 has then SF6 has a very good training mode.