Virtua Fighter 6

I don't think anyone should be fired from the cast but some of the designs are pretty bad. Like Goh for example.



What's up with this dude? Is he a human being? Why is he purple? He looks like some kind of mythical creature. Is that intended?

Don't get me started on Jean and that terrible choker. It's good that the customisation options in VF:FS are so great because sometimes I can only use these characters once I have given them a thorough makeover.

But no one should get fired and certainly not Lau like I read someone suggesting above. Eileen seems to be on everyone's hit list but I don't mind her. I've literally never played with her but she's cool and you don't see monkey kung fu in a video game.

They should add at least two new characters as is the tradition for 3D fighting games. Anything less than that would not be viewed kindly I reckon.

 

I think in order to make Lau more desirable to play, they should change him so he uses eagle style kung fu. It would fit his design aesthetic and make his stance and attacks more exotic like in old kung fu movies. He is already almost the spitting image of the main bad guy in "Snake in Eagles Shadow." They could also give him much better throws. I feel that he suffers from the most boring throws in the game. Give him eagle style rakes and throat grabs like his on hit throw. Spicing up his play style and moves list would possible add some renewed interest in the character and he wouldn't feel so much like a clone with Pai.

 

Funny I was also thinking about an Eagle Claw stylist in VF. In general Lau does look like the kind of character that would be using Eagle Claw (i.e. a kung fu villan). In previous VF's I always used to look at Lau with a desire to play him but was put off my what I thought was a serious move shortage. But now I've spent some time learning him I can see that he has actually got some really good stuff going on.

Most of his raking strikes seem to be more Tiger than Eagle. I'm not sure layering Eagle Claw on top of the character is the way forward, so that he becomes a hodgepodge of different styles. Rather a new fighter can implement that style.

Though I would love them to give Lau a new stance to go along with Kokei (which I love).

 

Yeah according to Wikipedia:

Definitely looked like Tiger to me. That strike where he lashes out with both hands one after the other and ends up back turned (think it's but I'm not sure) is pure Tiger.


Just googled and it seems like Eagle Claw style does look at all like in the movies. It's mostly lock and pressure point strikes so would be more a Aoi than a Lau type character.





Defnitely a hint of Lei-Fei there too

 

I know that Lau's secondary stance is more rooted in tiger than eagle. I was just spitballing an idea that I had that I've had friends of mine that also play agree with. I just thought that eagle might be a bit flashier than the more rigid tiger style to bring a bit more flair to the character. Just posting my two cents, but tiger could be equally as cool if done well.

 

Hey, I aucutally play with radamyr myself often and we have talked about most of the things in VF we love and hate. Over all ide say its the cleanest fighting game out there in 3d form. It just suffers from lack of hype. -- Back to Lau, I play him and I do love his image, but as I said before I feel himself as well as others really need to be brought up to date. By that I mean the hype factor where you have a clean fighter like this, but make the things that do happen amazing. For me wall throws are about as hype as it gets. sure the combos are awesome, and you feel good doing it. but if we want to get more community behind the game we have to reach out a little bit to them and snag their interest. #VFSWAG

 

For me, the perfect cast was basically VF3 + Vanessa, but obviously we have plenty of Goh and Brad players here, plus Jean, Blaze, even Eileen, who would no doubt be highly disappointed if one of them was jettisoned. I think looking at some of the Western tournaments, the game is clearly very big now, and overwhelms some people, with trying to remember everyone else's move-list, and what sneaky set-ups can be thrown at them. That's an issue facing all these companies (expanding cast lists), but with a game like VF, that even back in the late '90s, had a myriad of random launchers, scary throws and ring out tools, you could say the dilemma is somewhat exacerbated. 20 does seem a nice round number though, so who knows, who might go, and who may appear.

I suspect if there was a vote, especially within Japan, Lau would not be the biggest loser. He's perhaps neglected somewhat because flashier new characters like Jean, or easy high damage guys like Jacky or Goh appeal to the newer generations of VF player, perhaps crossing over from other 3D games. With a few minor tweaks, he'd be right back up there at the top again, given his great basic tools and fast damage output. On the costumes, they could do a lot better I feel. Lose the dragons and Ming dynasty stuff, and embellish the sinister businessman look, martial arts film villain, or the Lan-Di angle.

 

But dragons ARE Lan Di's angle. It is kind of stupid that you can't give him a proper Lan Di outfit in FS though. The color scheme is all wrong.

 

@Chun - I think in Japan Lau has always been one of the more popular characters, doesn't seem like that over here though.

 

Definitely saw more of him while I was in Tokyo than I did of any of the bottom tiers, Eileen especially. Very little Vanessa too. If we were to base the roster entirely on my experience, I think we'd be down to nothing but Akira, Jacky, and Aoi. MAYBE Jean, and Kage too, but most of the people using the latter were pretty bad (myself included).

 

I actually can't believe we are even having a conversation about ditching Lau, of all people. He's one of the most iconic characters in the game. I agree that his throws are tired though. Definitely they could supply some more throws like his brilliant throat grab.

And definitely his look does not need changing. He looks great and you can always go for the suited and booted look if you like.

For me cast-wise the people I don't really feel stand up there with the old guard are El Blaze and Brad. I know there was a fashion for including luchadores in fighting games at one point but he always just looks like a random, freaky little wrestler dude to me. Brad just seems bland. But I still don't think anyone needs to be removed from the lineup though perhaps they could replace Brad with an actual Thai dude. Like this guy from The Raid (the long haired guy):

 

Oh sh*t yeah... he's probably Indonesian isn't he... Should have said "Thai-looking dude".

 

That guy was awesome. Real boss character... He had like 16 energy bars!

 

They should. It would be awesome. Yeah Muay Thai guy doesn't need to be Thai. Bruce Irvin is not Thai and he's one of the best Muay Thai characters around. We just need something better than Brad, he's just so bland...

 

Yeah he was such a badass. They kept knocking him down and he just kept on getting up. You could tell he had zero fear of dying. The more he got beat up the more deadly he became. Great stuff.

 

I'd like to see revamps of characters and more individuality between Pai and Lau other than weight and nimbleness. As much as they've individualized them, they still feel like two version of the same character. I agree with knocking out Lau and leaving in Pai (as much as I hate her stupid hop kicks and throw -> hop kick shenanigans).

Eileen should stay and El Blaze should go. They're both about craziness...I see it as the same when Tekken has both Eddy and Christine. I know that's a bit of a stretch for some of you guys, but you get the drift...the style is the same with one focusing more on throws and ring movement (El blaze) and the other about mad mixups and mind games (Eileen).

I'd also like to see Goh reverted back to his old style which mixed up brawling and tech instead of just being Jeffry 2: Electric Boogaloo. Even though he wasn't as easy to play back then, he was a hell of a lot more fun.

I think either Jacky or Sarah should split, too. I'd like to see Sarah replaced with Tae Kwon Do since she's practically one as it is with all her kicks and such. I know she's a staple, but so is Lau and I voted him off the island in my first paragraph.

This all being said, at least VF isn't like Tekken was for years giving the same moves to 5 or 6 characters and lots of characters just being a minor change movelists from each other (anna/nina, kuma/jack, heihachi was just paul and kazuya's bastard love child, etc.).

So props to Sega for keeping each character relevant but they still have a couple of overlaps I thing should get tossed out in favor of complete new styles, but I guess they might be running out of stuff as lots of styles in practice appear similar and keeping them from being close to each other is difficult...

Maybe a full on Wing Chun character could be cool, even though all of it's strikes are meant to cripple the opponent (instead of just striking them) it seems...it would be cool to see a character with the chain-fist move as a throw in VF...