We wouldn't say that the Street Fighter series is impenetrable. Just about anyone can pick one of the games up and bash out a few basic attacks - but it's often the massive amount of depth that's to be found in competitive play which is too much for many players to wrap their head around. It's always been the case: if you want to be good at Street Fighter, you need to put in some serious time and effort.
With Street Fighter V, however, Capcom wants to make sure that the brawler has the potential to attract a wider audience. Speaking with MCV, brand manager Brian Ayers says that the Japanese company's goal is to "make the game approachable and accessible again", perhaps alluding to the fact that the franchise is commonly viewed as a hardcore gaming experience.
"We really hope that Street Fighter V can bring in a newer, younger audience," Ayers states. He also references the growing esports scene, admitting that while Street Fighter is "relatively underground" compared to more established esports titles, that audience is something that Capcom wants to tap into with next year's brawler. And that's no real surprise, given the lucrative nature of games that manage to settle under the broad esports banner.
How does this sound to you? While we're sure that Street Fighter V will no doubt fulfil the needs of its more serious players, do you think that it could do with being a little more accessible than past entries? Input some complex commands in the comments section below.
[source mcvuk.com, via gamespot.com]
Comments 12
While I don't care about esports, part of the fun of fighting games comes from playing against others, online or not. And considering how hard it is to really enjoy online play if you're starting out, I welcome more accessible gameplay. I know, you can be told to stick with it and "git gud" as many times as needed, but when you're just trying to break in, trying to figure out what works and constantly experimenting while getting smashed, it gets daunting. I know from experience, believe me. And it stinks.
I don't welcome this for myself, but for alot of guys and gals who want to play fighters but can't handle the execution barrier.
Have a feeling the rapid growth of the Sm4sh scene played a part in this.
Interesting. ...
Yeah, SFV is extremely casual friendly. It's cool. Capcom said the same thing early this year after the exclusive reveal. And it looks like they are aiming to sell a lot of copies, which is normal. Hopefully people who are interested will adapt and enjoy it.
Yeah! This is great! I can play Smash and Soul Calibur as competitive player but Street Fighter and King of Fighers were to much to me! I'm glad they're trying to help new players!
@Jazzer94
Yet smash players train just as hard for tournaments as SF players. Maybe more people think they're any good in SSB, but just one tournament will tell em otherwise. So accessibility is always good, but that doesn't mean that the hardcore players won't be untouchable. But I understand the reasoning behind it: the more people pick it up, the more chance of someone sticking to it and becoming a true challenger.
@Boerewors With smash you could get a lucky item and there's a couple of easy to learn strategies to keep you alive - you can always run away as well. So in that respect you can get good at things away from the immediate act of hitting other people.
With SF4 if you are against a better player you cant escape, you just get pummeled. But that's the game - if your not good enough you get pummeled. Just like in real fighting. Smash offers more than just fighting, platforming, team fights etc etc
But sf has always been about pure skill and I dont like were this brand manager is going - maybe advertising the game would help. I've had mates round and do you know what they say whenever usf4 goes on? They immediately talk about street fighter 2.
Maybe street fighter and one on one fighters have had their day in the massive competitive scene. Mobas have various roles, as does Blops and Starcraft has loads of ways to win, Rocket league is a great example too. Even watching usf4 gets boring pretty quickly whereas the streams for gta and even Minecraft are pretty enthralling if planned out, so making it more accessible in my opinion won't help. Maybe its time to give the underground what they want - rather than people who haven't given Capcom a penny.
@themcnoisy
The competive smash players almost never play with items on, but it isn't like your traditional fighting game, that's for sure. I think SFV's approach could be succesfull, but the wording this guy choose is a bit clumsy: accesible will most likely rub the pros the wrong way, where I think SFV could be much more of a spectator sport than SFIV is. SFIV is really well balanced, but boring as ef, especially because defensive fight styles almost always win. I feel in SFV there are more options to play aggressively and this could also mean we'll see more fighting styles in the tournaments.
This year's Evo was great to watch, so I think there is a place for fighting games within e- sports, but if the biggest of them all is boring, people are less interested to see some of the other games.
Street Fighter was already pretty casual, I don't see how it can be made anymore so without completely dumbing it down.
@themcnoisy If they wanted to give the underground what they wanted, they would've made a game like SFIII. You know, the game that nearly killed SF's casual audience? Best game for tournaments, worst to pick up and play.
Maybe it's just me, but when I think of the phrase "approachable and accessible", I can't help but think of SFII. Anyone can pick up that game and play it without feeling overwhelmed. I feel that's the route they're trying to take with this one. It's trying to get players to be comfortable playing fighters while making the learning experience enjoyable. Essentially, a fighting game that's fun to play competitively without feeling like you're going to get murdered for daring to step up. I probably make it sound like it's super simple while it isn't, but considering how hard fighting games have been in the past, this seems more welcoming in comparison.
I can probably sum up my thought like this- Back in SFII, it was like playing sports with your friends or the local kids. Recent games made it feel like a school team or similar. SFV is trying to get it back to the former. That's how I see it anyway.
@DerMeister your right sf3 performed badly - I don't think anyone envisaged the disaster of releasing a 2d fighter with the introduction of the playstation. It came out when brand new 3d fighters were looking really good, the casuals had left due to the millions of sf2 versions, it didn't play well (until you learnt it), it wasn't marketed well as Capcom had Alpha and a 3d version of sf2 in magazines. Also I think its worth pointing that the art style is weird - where as sf2 was simple but well presented.
Street Fighter 4 was awesome but again they have fallen for their own hype and stupid marketing tactics. There's 4 versions SF4 and they have become more and more complicated - its like we are back at the end of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo all over again.
Street Fighter is an iconic great game, which is a t shirt and toy manufacturers dream. Maybe that's the avenue they should rinse in the future.
I would also like to point out that I was really good at Super Street Fighter 4 so maybe I dont want the game to change too much other than a larger window for combos as my reactions are worse these days. Although Im looking back through rose tinted glasses as I've barely played the ps4 version of ultra.
I tried playing SF4 once.
The series does need to be more accessible.
There wasn't even a tutorial in the game! Just a practice room. I think something like Injustice is a fantastic (and similar) example of how to bring in new players with its introductory tutorial, ability to put combos on the screen while you play for practice, etc. If SF5 is anything like that, then I'm in.
@DrJoeystein I agree, I actually found SFIV to be nearly unplayable. Sure, I could occasionally win by button mashing or using basic combos, but getting the timing down and establishing muscle memory to do more complex moves was too much. Simply put, it just wasn't worth the time to me.
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