So
yeah, I decided: in a small hope that we'll hear Sega announce
something to do with Virtua Fighter 6 this year(or even like, 5 Final
Showdown Supreme Evolution featuring Shenmue's Ryo as the new
character, fuck, I'll take it), that maybe in an attempt to coerce
some new players into trying it out, I'd assemble a blog of good
online resources to get you started, and then drop a few of my own,
personal tips(which won't be as good as the online resources, but I
figure I should at least attempt to.)
First
to clear up a myth of Virtua Fighter.
Myth:
Virtua Fighter is SUPER HARD to get into.
Reality:
Virtua Fighter, at a high level of play, has a lot of demanding
knowledge, but is NOT hard to get into. Its raw execution level is
surprisingly low compared to many other fighters like Tekken, Guilty
Gear, Blazblue, or sometimes even Street Fighter, depending on
the version.
Most
of VF's difficulty comes after you've passed over the early and into
the intermediate threshold and need to learn the matchups, since it
is fairly important you learn matchups.
There
are some tougher characters. Akira is one of the more demanding
characters of the game, and Eileen is also more advanced there due to
hit-checks. Vanessa is a stance based character whose stances work
differently than most(rather than a typical one who often has a core
stance and set of moves, and then stances that flow into one another,
her movelist is literally split between two stances), and there are
other characters with their nuances, but there are a slew of
characters who are fairly simple to get into(Jeffry, Jean, Goh, Lau,
and some others.)
I
really don't know where the myth came from that the game is hard; It
may have stuck from the old days, when, if I think it over, it may
have been one of the more demanding games compared to what else
was out at the time, and it
never lost that stigma. Ring outs may add to it, but Soul
Edge/Blade/Calibur had ring-outs and was fairly popular in its
heyday(before they broke it. :P)
Another
cool thing is that stuff just works
in
VF like it says it does. Circulars are always tracking. Half
circulars always track to one side. Evading a move means it's evaded
properly, failing an evade means it fails. There are a few combos
that have some character nuances, of course(Taka-Arashi comes to
mind), but the game's rules are pretty strict, so you really don't
run into things like 'random crushing' or 'random low profiling'. You
can never be thrown out of attacks(intended.)
Basic
movement is easy to grasp. While in Tekken, as much as it's one of my
top 3 franchises, even learning basic movement can be a bear for a
new player(it's easier now), in VF, there are some advanced movement
tricks, but you'll be fairly cozy right off the bat.
Finally,
the VF4 Evolution has what is seen as one of the top 3 training
modes/tutorial modes of all time in a fighting game(unfortunately,
VF5 FS has more of a standard tutorial/dojo, but it's still pretty
good and takes you through enough motions). While I'd suggest FS as
the one to play(it's my personal favorite, though some name 4 Evo as
the pinnacle which is understandable), I'd highly suggest getting
ahold of Evo as well.
But
yeah, it got the stigma, it stuck, and it's a reason I think it gets
passed over.
I
think another thing that got people to pass it over was that it's a
fighting game light on flash and story. While it has some great
character designs(I to this day think Goh, Brad and Jean are
fantastic visual
designs and Jacky 'Billy Idol' Bryant is a classic), great looking
stages, and some really good looking moves that come from a wide
variety of styles, some of which don't even get represented
often(Mantis Kung-Fu rarely appears in fighting games, Jacky and
Sarah's Jeet Kune Do is NOT a Bruce-Lee ripoff variant, and Brad
Burns is, for my money, the best example of a Muay Thai character you
will ever find in a fighting game) it lacks any sort of
super/specials/meter, flash, and again, story. Also, the fact that
weight classes exist sometimes throws people off; while these aren't
new in games(Guilty Gear has them in a sense, Tekken has not weights
but combo variants on characters of different sizes), weight plays
into things a bit heavier; heavy characters have less damage done to
them in combos than lighter(this does not mean lighter is worse;
indeed, Lion is frightening in VF5FS.)
Story?
Mattering in a fighting game?
Yeah,
nowadays especially, but even back then a bit, story and flash DOES
entice people to play, particularly more casual players(who can
'level up' to beginners who then level up to rookies, to intermediate
players, etc), or just players who like a whole thing; I mean, there
are a lot of players I know who play, say, Guilty Gear or Tekken
competitively and also enjoy the story.
There
was a long time where I felt it didn't matter, and even liked VF's
light story touch. And hell, in ways, I still do. The gist is:
Tournament
is held, turns out by an organization called Judgement 6, or J6,
which is actually six heads of six different global megacorporations,
all who have their hands in stuff like weapons manufacturing,
terrorism, chemical weapons, human weapons, overall global
domination, and so on. Despite it taking place in 'modern' times it's
a kinda cyberpunkish story.
So
everyone basically gets involved for varied reasons which can be
boiled down to a couple to a few paragraphs each. It's really not
much. You don't get fancy endings or cutscenes, you don't get story
modes. And yeah, again, I feel that nowadays maybe this did trim off
some of the potential playerbase. Here's hoping that maybe for the
hypothetical VF6-if they go with this method-that people will be able
to look past it, but if SFV is any indication, yeah, more 'light'
players like this stuff.
“So,
okay, I kinda want to try this Virtua Fighter game, where do I
start?”
Well,
for starters, you can grab VF5FS over on the PS3. It's not terribly
expensive, currently around 25e for the complete edition, including
custom packs. If you want the Supreme Training/Tutorial Mode(with the
caveat that there are some mechanical differences between games) that
VF4 EVO has to offer, you can get that for around 10e(or whatever
equivalent currency you use, of course.) VF5 is where you'll find the
most players.
A
fantastic tutorial video right here: https://youtu.be/boM7T3BWewY
While it's a good 2h 40m+ long, it has a crapload of info that will
get you into the game. It is timestamped for easy watching, so you
can come and go from it. Highly suggested.
Virtuafighter.com
's forums have a plethora of information as well, like:
There
are some recent posts, too, that one can utilize to find games and
such.
For
community matters, while it's slow moving, the VF Reddit is here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/virtuafighter/
(and it's a good reddit too, for those a bit wary of the site.) As
said, also see above with virtuafighter.com.
Finally:
I have my OWN little personal tips to folks who are looking to get
into it! Note I'm like not an expert at the game, like most fighters
I'm more an intermediate type, but...
-Pick
who you like at the end of the day, BUT perhaps consider starting out
with a slightly heavier character. Heavier characters are less
vulnerable to certain combos, and it could well give you a little
leeway at the start. This is, again, by no means a requirement-if El
Blaze is a favorite of yours(one of the two Ultra Light characters),
than by all means give him a whirl! But for the heavier types,
Taka-Arashi is a super-heavyweight, and then you have heavies Wolf
and Jeffry, followed by Jean, Jacky, and Akira, as 'heavy
middleweights.' Out of all of these, Jean, Jeffry, and Jacky are all
fairly forgiving to learn at first(Akira being probably the hardest
in the game, but again, don't let this dissuade you if that's what
you want. I should note Jacky is generally
simple
however has a couple of bits that can be difficult for newer players.
Middleweight
characters are fairly numerous, including Goh, Brad, Lei Fei, Kage,
and Lau.
-There
are a small series of moves that you can learn with almost anyone to
get you started. P, PP, P 6P, 2P, a couple of throws to mix
up(forward, back, neutral), a low or two from your chosen character,
a common string(character dependent) and a circular/couple of half
circulars(one in each direction.) You can start learning the
super-basics with this as you go through tutorials, experiment with
the move lists, and so on. This list is only partially character
specific(everyone has a jab, f, b, and n throws and so on), making it
even simpler.
-At
first, don't worry too super-hard about character specific combos or
even weight specific(with an exception). Some of those nifty guides
over on virtuafighter.com have them listed fairly simply in a 'Vs.
Taka' and 'Vs. Anyone Except Taka' method. Again that's a great place
to go, and you'll worry more about optimizing combos vs. lighter
characters(who can take more damage) later on. Take it step by step,
you won't be doing mad juggles at first anyway.
-TRY
THE GAME AND HAVE FUN
Anyway
let's hope we hear some more on Sega at some point. This game still
has a community and a following; let's keep it going and maybe even
get some new blood involved!
