SF5 combos. The non-meter combos, the only real difference is you might have a target combo or a link in there. Both are easier than SF2CE combos.
The difficult things combowise in SF5 are light-light links, and certain V-trigger combos, which are pretty advanced and something you’d rarely need until medium to high-level play.
V-trigger is what makes me annoyed with SF5 though- it’s just too powerful a comeback tool, and it’s very imbalanced. Overpowered comeback mechanics are the problem of this gen’s fighting games in general, but SF5 has it the worst (Tekken has it to a degree, Calibur a bit less)
Also, old age isn’t a detriment. I got a top-100 finish at EVO last year (to be fair, it was the smallest mainline game in a weak part of the bracket, but that’s still out of almost 1000 players) . It can be done, at least in certain games.
Yeah those V-trigger combo can turn the tide really quickly, IF you can pull it off. It brings back SF4 focus attack cancel combo nightmare. I think SF4 is the last time I have the time AND inclination to practice.
And the huge roster is a nightmare. I am basically flying blind playing online. I really really hate losing so I know if I start playing online I will just not stop until I git gud (or at least good enough to not suck). Which probably will be 2-3 hours per day. Oh no.
TBH 2-3 hours a day of focused learning (not just flailing around, but learning things practically, which is done best offline with someone who will teach you- though it can be done online) is the only thing that works.
This is part of why fighting games are so social, you need friends to learn from. I have my group, and we teach each other (though the strongest player- who isn’t me, does most of the teaching, I’m prob only somewhere between 2nd-4th strongest)
The strongest player is ultra specialized in destroying my character to boot.
Of course matchmaking will ensure you only win roughly 50% of your games anyway. That’s assuming you have a solid foundation and aren’t just terrible at the game. You could also grind up your skills and then get a huge win rate for a little while until you hit a ceiling.
Well…I’m not opposed, but: a.) I already have Tekken, b.) when I was deciding which game to get once upon a time I read an opinion that SC was if not harder at least a bit weirder to learn because the weapons mean everyone has different ranges. Not true?
Oh, I also chose Tekken because of the large player base (about ten times as big as SC), although I didn’t know in advance that they would all be murderbots.
every fighting game on PC has murderbots. You can’t escape that.
SC is a bit weirder to learn, but easier. Controlling your character is easier (with a few exceptions, 2B and Talim are difficult to control), combos are much shorter, and you have soul charge to get out of pressure. Range is something you have to get used to, but it’s not that hard, and it’s obvious. You know Mina’s not going to fight you close in, and Talim doesn’t want distance.
The other weird thing about SC is that it has some anime influence. Chars have their own mechanics, which can be a bit wild. There’s a lot fewer characters so you can learn what you need about your opponents more easily, and learning your own chars gimmicks isn’t that hard.
The most fundamental chars in Calibur are Geralt and Mitsurigi. Geralt does have his meter moves , but generally sticks to a basic poking game outside of it. Mitsurigi has a bit of everything , and a really fast super for punishment.
I enjoy SC6 a lot, but I decided to play a 2D fighter for a change and tried KoF 14. And I’m loving it. So many characters with so many different options.
I’d suggest giving KOF2k2UM a whirl when it goes on sale. It’s very similar to KOF14, but has a bit more soul, and much better netcode (it now uses GGPO-esque rollback).
Personally, 98UM will forever be my favorite KOF, because of the cooler roster, and easier combos.
Currently $11.75 on Steam, but it’s been much cheaper.
Here’s my small collection outside of ROMs/emulators and the freebies from Twitch/Amazon Prime. Click to expand as a few are cut off on the right. Oh, not shown but in my collection: Skullgirls and Them’s Fightin’ Herds as well as FIGHTING LAYER EX.
It’s a shame that 99% of the musou games/Japanese ports (upper right shortcuts) are limited to 1920x1080p and don’t support 2560x1440 resolution on PC :(
Still have a couple of seasons worth of missing stages/characters to get for DOA6, SCVI, MK11, DBZF but none of my friends play so it’s not worth it to get even for OCD reasons.
Scott Pilgrim’s upcoming release is the only thing I’m looking forward to I think. I had heard the Kill La Kill game wasn’t very good. Are there any I’m missing that I should get?
Samurai Shodown (2020) and Granblue Fantasy Versus have never gone on sale for me.
So I did pick up SC6, and after messing around in Libra of Soul for a while I just dipped my toe into ranked, and although I lost three straight matches against the same guy, I actually felt like going for a rematch twice! I won several rounds, and our last match went the full five rounds and was close at the end. Definitely enjoying this more than the Total Asshole Reaming of Tekken.
BTW huge gameplay patch scheduled for tomorrow night.
My character got massively overhauled.
The one bad thing about SC netplay (outside of the netcode) is that on XB1/PC due to lower playerbase they don’t filter by skill much.
(Justin Wong voice) You gonna learn… That said, most of the community is willing to teach via the character discords. If you get serious about wanting to improve, just hop in one of those and folks will teach. (I can give links if needed)
