Virtua Fighter 6

@Funzies Sega/RGG Seiji Aoki are trying to figure out how to squeeze money out of the Virtua Fighter franchise. They would like to get the Tekken fanbase, or the Street Fighter fanbase The problem is, Virtua Fighter in concept and in execution is the opposite of these games. Virtua Fighter in general does not appeal to Tekken fans. It also does not appeal to Street Fighter fans. Sure, they all pay lip service to Virtua Fighter as the father of 3D fighting games but when it comes right down to it, Virtua Fighter is a nice game to visit but they never stay. They always claim that if Virtua Fighter had rollback, or better characters, or hit sparks they would play it more but... Even after Aoki added Tekken Style Hit Sparks, Tekken Skins, Tekken Music and a Tekken UI the game did not gain any significant numbers from the Tekken fanbase or the Street Fighter fanbase or for that matter none from the DOA fanbase.

Those players will never switch to Virtua Fighter, it doesn't matter whether they add rollback, or meters, or supers, or bigger hit sparks, that crowd will always see Virtua Fighter as an outsider.

Therefore, Sega, RGG, Seiji Aoki should stop aiming for the Tekken fanbase, the Street Fighter fanbase, the MK fanbase, or any other arcade based fighter.

The way forward for Virtua Fighter is to embrace its own goals of realism. Realism in the stages, realism in weather conditions, realism in customizations, realism in offensive moves, realism in the defensive moves, more legitimate parries, more legitimate reversals, more legitimate throws , sabakis, inashi's, evades, more legitimate and authentic high block, low block and mid block animations. They should add more legtimate martial arts styles, dramatic slo-motions replays,etc The next Virtua Fighter doesn't have to become (and should not become) a simulation like UFC., but moving in the direction of UFC is the correct and most logical direction for Virtua Fighter to evolve to. That's what Yu Suzuki was aiming for from the very beginning.

Sega, RGG should refocus the game around the World Fighting Tournament concept . Virtua Fighter has always been about the marital arts fighting styles and has always focused on quasi-realistic martial arts movements, attacks, defenses and movements. They should double down on this. The Tekken crowd, The Street Fighter crowd, The MK crowd are not really interested in martial arts fighting styles, that's why they are not attracted to Virtua Fighter in the the first place. They are only interested in fantasy beat-em-ups with meters, hit sparks, super moves, power-ups, flying, floating, disappearing/re-appearing, flashy come-back mechanics, rage arts, rage drives, heat mechanics, exploding androids, fighting bears, vampires, fantasy based environments, explosions, vibrant color flashes on the screen etc. This is not what Virtua Fighter has ever been about, and would never work for Virtua Fighter. If they added this kind of nonsense to Virtua Fighter, all that would happen is they would lose serious VF fans, and temporarily gain VF pretenders for about 6 weeks, and then they wall retreat back to Tekken and Street Fighter.

Sega, RGG, Seiji Aoki should totally, once and for all give up on the trying to win over the Tekken , Street Fighter, GuiltyGear, and Mortal Kombat fanbases. And instead focus on building a new fanbase for Virtua Fighter that prefers realism and martial art depiction and execution or fantasy based super hero fighting games.

There is a significant market for fun martial arts depicted with realism:

https://www.gamesradar.com/sifu-tops-1-million-sales-in-just-three-weeks/

The Sifu Kung Fu game blew the socks of the market place and stunned the world with millions of sales in less than a year. SIFU has a stylish art direction but extremely legit martial art offensive and defensive moves and story line. Sifu is not a simulation, but it reeks kung fu realism. And its arena mode is a true innovation in the fighting game genre.

Virtua Fighter does not have to become UFC but Virtua Fighter can learn a great deal from the UFC franchises as far as implementing martial art realism in offensive moves and defensive moves while making it entertaining and fun at the same time.

Sega, RGG, Seiji Aoki should forever turn their backs on 3D Arcade Fantasy Fighting and move in the direction of entertaining , fun, but quasi-realistic martial arts immersion

 

We all agree that Virtua Fighter should have a focus on realism. However, VF should not become a sports game. VF, in my eyes, should pit its characters against one another in grounded, realistic fights and not for mere sport.

Not neccesarily. Something akin to a finishing blow could make the fights feel more visceral and impactful when someone comes out on top. Furthermore, fleshing out the characters and their personalities can bring them to life and make them more than archetypes.

I agree. Every little detail counts for realism. Personally though, I would rather that dodges only look more realistic. If dodging had a slow weighty feel akin to the souls games, it would probably butcher the 3d movement and any sort of justification as to why the game should be a 3d fighting game.

There isn't really much to innovate regarding the system. Refinements would be a better approach in my eyes as the game's system is already excellent. There should instead be more content and a better training mode to lower the barrier to entry. That's all thats really needed though, as the skill floor is low, and the skill ceiling is high.

 

@Solomon Rayland keep in mind here is what I posted:

Sadly I suspect that the next VF is only going to be a shadow of its former self. @Solomon Rayland its not going to be more realistic, its going to be less realistic. I would like to be wrong, but I'm hearing its going to be not based in realism anymore. I can see meters, power ups, super moves, more dramatic hit sparks , higher floating, more floating, more launchers, more wall carrying, NFTs, DOA level DLC in the future for VF.

Fortunately, I have VF4, VF4EVO, VF5 and VF5FS and a couple of PS3's and PS2's in mint condition and I keep them well maintained

 

You are right about that. VF can learn from UFC on the realistic front, but it should not become UFC. Then it would literally have no identity of its own.

They would probably put dlc in their game, but it would certainly not be as predatory as DOA's dlc. As for air juggles, I am personally not opposed to the idea. From a gameplay perspective, combos offer much more depth to the combat. I'm not saying that air juggles should be in there, I'm only saying that some sort of combo system adds another layer of fun and engagement. I can't count the hours I've spent practicing combos for character in VF5US.

Furthermore, VF was never fully realistic. Characters like Jeffry have flat-out misrepresented their chosen martial art in game, and the last thing I would call the game's voice acting is realistic.

 

@Solomon Rayland actually even if VF was to be as realistic as UFC it would still maintain its uniqueness because in the UFC games, the fighters practice MMA. Mixed Martial Arts. This means that most fighters use multiple martial arts, wrestling, kick boxing, karate, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jujitsu etc. In Virtual fighter every fighter only has a single style. When MMA matches first started back in 1993 it was a lot like Virtua Fighter it was a contest to see which single style was the best. one. But as time passed Pride, MMA, and UFC fighters started training in multiple martial arts, and today, its not necessarily about which style is the best but which fighter is the best.

So a totally realistic VF would look and play a lot like the very early days of Ultimate Fighting Championship (back in the early 90's) and would not be like today's UFC matches.

VF is not a simulation. Yu Suzuki intentionally made it quasi-realistic, so that it would be fun.

You will probably get your wish with the new VF. It will probably have floating, launchy, flashy game play with meters, comeback mechanics, one button 10 hit combos, simplified controls and all the rest of the mechanics found in Tekken and Street Fighter.

You may not know this but the UFC martial arts games have 3, 4, and 5 hit combos
also However there is no floating and flying

 

It would be relatively unique but it would still have no identity of its own outside of that one thing.

Perhaps, but it should not be the exact same.

Then why would you want it to be any more realistic? I know it has become a tiny bit less realistic come VF5US, but hit sparks and optional Tekken crossover stuff do not burn the games legacy to the ground, diverging into becoming fully over-the-top does.

Like I said, the game does not need to have air juggles. Some other form of a combo system that is equally fun to learn will be fine. Also, no one strictly said that VF would become the other games.

If the combos are chain combos, that would be awesome. Links are frustrating if they are mandatory as failing one can cost you the game more so than a failed air juggle.

 

@Solomon Rayland

Well my man, you can pick your poison here.

The next VF is not going to have its own identify

Its either going to be a cheap knock off of Tekken, or a cheap knock off of Street Fighter, or a cheap knock off of Tekken + Street Fighter

By your posts it appears you are the kind of player that if your were forced to choose one or the other you would rather have it be a cheap knock off of Tekken. And you're in luck VF5US has already made a step in that direction by adding Tekken Skins, Tekken Music, a Tekken UI, and Tekken Style Hit Sparks. So it will be Tekken-Lite with the Virtua Fighter name.

On the other hand I'm the kind of player that if i were forced to choose one or the other I would rather have Virtua Fighter become a cheap knock off of a UFC game, with no Hit Sparks, No Floating, No Flying.

@Solomon Rayland I'm all about the martial arts in video games: Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Karate, Judo, Tae Kwondo, Jujutsu, JuJitsu, Kung Fu, Wing Chun, Wrestling, Sambo, Boxing, Sanda, Capoiera Brazillian JuJitsu, etc. With no flying and no floating and no hit sparks. For players like me this is very much fun. Keep in mind the UFC games have sold in the millions of copies, and millions of players consider them fun

 

I wish for VF to be its own identity. Realistic without hit sparks or supers, but also visceral and not sportslike.

 

I had more ideas I'd like to share mostly about presentation (oh how I love it ) I recall back in Virtua Fighter 2, Sarah Bryant's stage where the roars of lightning struck the sky and the wind blew massively all while the 'Black Moon Cat' plays in the background....

Can you just imagine how sick that would look in today's graphics? Funny how it would look quite similar to the Tekken 8's stage surely not as dramatic but still would be a dope stage if recreated..

And that's what VF6 needs to do..recreate stages. Simple. Give us more memorable stages like that rather than just the Shun's boat river stage (Great stage btw, I love it) but it needs more of that nostalgia touch. Maybe even an arranged remix would do..

https://youtu.be/U_TlvFKy_3k?si=3gH1pVvgYmiNAsdL

Can you just imagine with that soundtrack and the recreation of the VF2 stage? I hear and see something GODLIKE! Also I love that style design of Sarah Bryant there.

 

On the back of the case for my Virtua Fighter5., The game advertises:

"Fight on stunningly realistic stages from around the world"

Sega knows how to make realistic stages. The real question is do they want to make the investment?

Yes of course this is what we all want., But Taka's stage, El-Blazes stage, Jean's stage are very sportslike

And Virtua Fighter's story mode is about the 1rst, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th World Martial Arts Tournament which is kind-a sportslike (NOT UFC), but I'm just sayin...


I get that you don't want VF to turn into a sports game. But there's only so many directions you can take martial arts realism unless you're going to add a story mode that explains why the characters are fighting for 3 rounds in an Arena, without it sounding like a sport or tournament.

 

That's the unfortunate position that VF is in now, where the only directions it could go are already taken.

 

Crazy thought that came in my head. What if Virtua Fighter decided to use its gameplay and its aesthetic to tell the story of these characters. In no way am I saying VF should have supers, but a finishing blow at the end of a full fight could reveal so much about the characters. For example, Sarah was brainwashed to become a deadly fighting assassin, so her finishing blow could be a killing blow to a fatal point like the throat or the spine.

 

The Progenitor, originator, inventor of Virtua Fighter no longer works at Sega, the original AM2 team that did all of the amazing work on VF4, VF4EVO, VF4 Final Tuned, VF5, VF5R, VF5FS they are for the most part gone from Sega. The Jig is up

All of the people with the original vision and passion for Virtua Fighter and its martial arts are gone

The best thing Sega could do for Virtua Fighter is to put out a version that includes the combined unique features of VF3tb, VF4, VF4EVO, VF5, VF5FS the online features of VF5US {minus the hit sparks} in One Game an call it Virtua Fighter Complete. Make it for all consoles and the P.C. and call it day

And whenever there is a new generation of console just port Virtua Fighter Complete to the current gen.

I think Virtua Fighter has reached its peak with VF5FS hence (Final Showdown). I think once you get into VF5US you are looking a diminishing returns because the Virtua Fighter OG's are all gone and the new crop of developers just don't have the same passion for realism and martial arts. The RGG studio is excellent at story telling, and their graphics capabilities are top notch. RGG should do a true remake of Shenmue I,II, & III. However, they appear not to have the stomach or passion to actually innovate the Virtua Fighter series in the footsteps of the vision of Yu Suzuki and AM2

At this point, VF4EVO and VF5 are the most complete versions of Virtua Fighter anyone one the true and complete Virtua Fighter experience should get VF4EVO and VF5 and make those their VF diet

 

None of us want the VF franchise to perish, but that is so much a real possibility that it's sad .

One problem is the way SEGA treats their games. They let them make their mark for one generation...

...and then let them rot the next.

 

It appears they only understand their IP in financial terms. They appear to only value it from how much money they squeeze from it. From the outside it looks like they are totally unaware of the cultural, historic, or role that their games play in the gaming ecosphere. And if they are aware, it appears they don't care

I am a fighting game aficionado I play the most elite fighting games in all fighting game genres. VF4 thru VF5FS are in that category. But at this point , it appears Sega/RGG no longer have anything serious to offer in the elite fighting games category. In that regard, other game publisher and developers are getting my attention and my money.

Hasta Luego Sega/RGG

 

They have made critically acclaimed games like the Yakuza franchise. However, they treat their older franchises terribly even though many of them were genuinely phenomenal. Shinobi III, Streets of Rage II, Sonic the Hedgehog II and Golden Axe III are some of my favorite games, and I keep coming back to them. That is why I am so happy to see that they are finally putting actual effort to bring these franchises back from the dead. I only hope they also put in the effort to make them as high quality as they were back then.

 

@Solomon Rayland I am so sry to rain on your parade mate, but., Sega's announcement to bring back these franchises is part of their NFT, Supergame , Block chain nonsense

https://wccftech.com/sega-reviving-more-franchises-aaa-super-game/

If you closely look at Strategy 2, you will see using existing IP assets as a major component of the strategy. I'm truly sry to report they only mean to exploit these Sega classics.

https://decrypt.co/97681/sega-lays-groundwork-for-metaverse-with-super-game-nft-plan

Don't be fooled, Sega is not bringing back these classic franchises for you. They are bringing them back to exploit the $h#t out of them If you get any real value out of their scheme, it would just be luck

 

Perhaps...

...back in the early 2000s, SEGA made half assed remakes for their old games on PS2 and those did more harm than good (looking at you Golden Axe). I only hope they learned their lesson this time.

 

Hopefully not. That would be a bad decision, especially since a few companies are dropping NFT's, and anything similar to it.

 

Like I've said before, Virtua Fighter is in the unfortunate state where the only two logical directions it can go have already been filled up, as the realistic direction is held by the UFC games and literally every other fighting game is more dramatic and over-the-top. I think that one way VF can stand out is by making the fights feel more like real fights to near death rather than a sport. This might seem like MK, but if VF makes the impact and fighting styles realistic and down-to-earth, it could be able to stand out.