Street Fighter V: First Impressions

It was a great, well-made game, but there was something about it that just didn’t light my fire, like most past iterations managed to do nearly instantly.

V follows a similar formula compared to its past iterations, but with a few differences – most notably, the V, or “Variable” system. Playing on an i5-4690K with 16GB RAM and an Nvidia GTX 970, I was able to run the game at 1080p with all graphics options set to max, constantly maintaining a silky smooth 60FPS. It has been very stable – no doubt as a result of months of beta tests – but it is a pre-release period, so we’ll be sure to report on stability news as it arises. We’ll tell you everything you need to know right here and how to get Street Fighter 5 at midnight. In the meantime, here are my first impressions of the game, based on a small sample of network play and a much bigger plate of singleplayer.

Street Fighter V: What’s new in Street Fighter 5?

In a lengthy post on Capcom’s Unity blog, new info regarding costumes, game modes, new characters and more were previewed in advance of their release next month. For the first time in the history of the series, there will be no release in the arcade, that frontline of competitive play where Street Fighter has, traditionally, always debuted. Replacing Street Fighter 4’s Focus system, Street Fighter 5’s V-System offers three mechanics: V-Skills, V-Triggers and V-Reversals. Street Fighter 5 has a near-endless skill ceiling, meaning that for even the most knowledgeable and dedicated fans, training never really ends. This is your jam and it’s backed by excellent visuals, reliable online performance, a balanced yet unique roster and great gameplay. Whatever metric you look at – old characters versus new, different playstyles, character designs – Street Fighter V has more variety and balance in its 16 fighters than most other games have in twice that.

Apart from Alex, other DLC characters include Guile, Ibuki, Balrog, Juri, and Urien.

The four brand new fighters are Laura, an electricity-wielding Brazilian fighter that seems to be meant as a sort of female Blanka; Rashid, a Middle Eastern fighter with the power to create tornados; poison-obsessed assassin F.A.N.G; and supernatural Aztec warrior Necalli. The pacing has been expanded in both directions: many special moves feel quicker, while the moment-to-moment exchange of strikes and blocks has a chunkier rhythm than ever before (aided by Capcom‘s masterly implementation of the “hit pause” which accentuate the impact of strikes). He seems nearly like he’s been reworked to be as appealing as possible to “Flowchart Kens” – more rushdown, more pressing of buttons, more dragon punches.

Additionally, the source features a bonus video, seen below, which brings up the hype level of “Street Fighter V”.

There’s your standard multiplayer versus mode, which is the only part of the offline package in which I can’t find fault. This can become annoying when you try to finish a fight with a single opponent but keep getting pulled into an online match just as you near the end of another match but it can be turned off. You can also choose your default fighter, their colour and whether you want to participate in casual or ranked matches.

That’s all there is for now, but more modes are in the pipeline. Trials and challenge modes are also coming in March, to help get your combos up to scratch.