SEGA/RGG Needs To See This (Make REVO A Complete Package)

I have a "few" major recommendations that should be taken into consideration by SEGA/RGG, especially considering the recent iteration of Virtua Fighter is to be the most competitive and e-sports friendly. The first recommendations for game improvements mainly involve giving both players the ability to get back into the match as fast as possible, as in both casual and competitive matches, this is essential. This can be done through several methods:

1) Please give both players the ability to skip the replay for the winning round of the match. The replay may be a few seconds, but in a competitive environment, seconds matter, and ultimately, the faster players can get back into the fight, the more matches players can have. Simple quality of life changes like this can increase replayability to a considerable degree.

2) In conjunction with skipping the final replay, the rematch option should appear during the win screen. This gives both players the ability to get back into the fight without any real downtime due to waiting for any additional animations to complete. If this is to be a competitive iteration of Virtua Fighter, the downtime between fights need to be reduced or mitigated as best as possible. Street Fighter 6 is currently the best example of what I'm describing. The only downtime that matters is "Round 1, Fight!" Anything past that point should be able to be bypassed with the Start Button. To take things a step further, background processing could take place possibly during the win screen if for example both players select "Rematch" immediately after bypassing the final replay.

In order for players to become stronger, they need all of the tools and mechanisms that exist outside of a robust Training Mode. There are circumstances in which the player could gather important knowledge and learn their character(s) better by watching specific matches in action. Aside from the random replays on the Main Menu, the best source for Virtua Fighter matches are found outside of the game. If Sega/RGG wants to have a thriving ecosystem that continues to grow and with new players, these features would be an important addition:

3) A robust Replay Mode with Replay Takeover features allow players to not only get a better understanding of a particular matchup, but it will also allow the player to learn how to deal with situations that the Training Mode might not be able to replicate very easily. For newer players taking interest in the game, they can utilize the Replay Mode to see specific techniques that the in-game Tutorial might not explain clearly. Allow the players to save and view replays that more stonger players may upload. There are players out there who might be interested in learning a new character that's different from the current one they play, so they might want to utilize the Replay Mode to see different playstyles of a character such as Lau, or Sarah.

4) A Wi-Fi/Wired Connection Indicator in ALL Modes should be essential for the Virtua Fighter playerbase as a whole. Let's get one thing clear, regardless of how strong a wireless connection is, it typically won't be better than a wired connection. That being said, for players can feel the difference between a Wired Green Connection vs a Wireless Green Connection. We need to be able to visually distinguish the two when searching for matches. To take things a step further, a Wireless/Wired Filter should be implemented. This is similar to having a filter for Connection Strength or Region Search. We all want to have the best matches possible when online. Implementing these features will not only improve the quality of the game and its players, but ultimately will maximize replayability.

5) With the on-going problem of online cheaters in games like Tekken 8, and Street Fighter 6, it is extremely advised that Sega/RGG work to improve the online ranking system, as well as the punishment system for players who feel the need to pull their connection, alter their connection speed, framerate, or utilize any other forms of cheating to "get ahead" in playing rank. I would also recommend bringing back the "smiley face" markers that incentivize fairplay overall, and also allows players to make a better decision when connecting to other players for matches. Sega/RGG also needs to incorporate a block list that empowers the players to avoid players that are notorious for having horrible connections during gameplay, practice any form of cheating, or maybe those players are the infamous "one-and-doners" that quit immediately when they win regardless if the aforementioned situations aren't a factor during the match.

6) This maybe a seemingly controversial suggestion, but I think it should be something mentioned and discussed amongst the Virtua Fighter scene as a whole. Excluding random situations that occur preventing the player from completing a proper first-to-two set, or extreme connection issues that occur mid-set, there are a subset of players who do go out of their way to only play one match, win, then quit. Some of those people will quit immediately after the first loss in the set as well. I do believe that if the player chooses to go about their online experience in this manner, then perhaps there needs to either be a separate queue for those players, or adjacent to the WiFi/Wired marker, another marker could show where it let's the player know that their opponent has a habit of not completing a full set online. Again, this isn't to punish players who have to end a set prematurely due to something like receiving a business call, family duties, or anything of the like. To that point, I do believe that this sort of behavior should be associated with a percentage value, and upon surpassing a set threshold, the player's account is then annotated with this indicator.

7) I have to acknowledge the efforts that SEGA/RGG are taking to make REVO perform better online. What good is the online when the community is fractured by the platform everyone uses to play on? Virtua Fighter 5 REVO should have not only been made available for Steam, and PlayStation, but the Xbox players need to get some love. There are still Xbox players from the Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown days who still play that game, and when the news of a new iteration of Virtua Fighter 5 was announced, those players were excited, only to be disappointed yet again now that two versions aren't available on Xbox. RELEASE THE GAME ON XBOX!!! SEGA/RGG is not in a position to not cast their "nets" to any and all platforms, nor does it help the community to force them to hop from one console to the next, or just to ditch consoles and get a PC or gaming laptop. Moving on, the players on PlayStation do have the REVO update, but why utilize the nomenclature of "Ultimate Version 2.0" instead of just naming the game "REVO"? To my knowledge, the PlayStation version STILL DOESN'T SUPPORT ROLLBACK, preventing any real form of crossplay. This only furthers causes problems for the Virtua Fighter playerbase as it just disappoints players, and those that aren't dedicated to the game will stop playing and go back to playing Street Fighter 6, and Strive, games which actually support crossplay across all platforms, both have rollback, and do feature additional content for casuals, while still providing something for the hardcore players, ultimately creating and cultivating some form of community within their game.

Moving to a more casual yet equally important aspect of Virtua Fighter, I do believe that there are many missing components keeping Virtua Fighter 5: REVO from becoming the definitive Virtua Fighter, and players all across the world are voicing the same sentiment.

8) Cosmetic items were introduced in Virtua Fighter 4 as far back as 2001, innovating other competitors like Tekken to follow suit in later iterations. Virtua Fighter 5 was released in 2006 shortly after, and with it the cosmetics were revamped. At a BARE MINIMUM, we need ALL of those items that were introduced in previous iterations of Virtua Fighter 5 onward to return, as part of a complete package. Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown had so many items that didn't make it to Ultimate Showdown or REVO sadly, and that should be rectified. I believe that giving us non-customizable S Costumes from Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown (which were customizable), and repurposing them as 30th Anniversary Costumes is very disingenuous, and believe a more suitable replacement should be in order. Sega/RGG could have given us alternate costumes from older Virtua Fighter games (like Lion's VF4 costume), and for the more newer characters (maybe some original), perhaps costumes from other Sega franchises could have been implemented. I would like to see something like Akira in a Bahn costume, or perhaps Jean in Shiva gear; that would have made sense in my honest opinion. Ultimate Showdown started to go in the right direction with the addition of different health bars, so SEGA/RGG needs to take it a step further and add health bars from all of the previous Virtua Fighters, Fighting Vipers, Last Bronx, Eternal Champions, Phantasy Star, Streets of Rage or health bars from other Sega franchises. Also, what happened to the avatars, main menu themes, and from Virtua Fighter 4?

9) Speaking of themes, please give us a proper (customizable) jukebox for the game that allows us to change the songs for each stage and the main menu. Being forced to only select a set of songs from a single Virtua Fighter game is not going to suffice. Give the players the freedom to mix and match songs. I personally would love to boot up Virtua Fighter 4 REVO, and hear the soothing Virtua Fighter 4 main menu theme playing, then go into training mode hearing Wolf's theme from Virtua Fighter 3. These minor but equally important features can showcase to both fans old and new all of the innovations Virtua Fighter has brought to the 3D fighting genre, and can also become a conduit that builds excitement of the newer innovations that Virtua Fighter 6 will bring to further impact the genre for the better.

10) One of the topics of discussion amongst the Virtua Fighter scene in the drastic difference between many of the stages found in both REVO and Final Showdown. There are changes that have been made that do indeed change the original feel and charm of the stage. To that point I say it would be a good idea to take a cue from Dural's original VF5 stage and have alternate versions of the stages that can easily be selectable and not random. We have been staring at the same stages for almost 20 years (with the exception of a few stages), and I'm sure that alone can be a turnoff for some players. It would be a good idea not only to utilize the RGG engine to revamp the current stages (which has already been done), but to have different versions of the stages, be it seasonal changes (winter/spring), day/night changes (the infamous "taco" stage comes to mind), or maybe extreme cases like Dural's stage alterations.

Replayability is an extremely important component in gaming in general, especially fighting games. Achievements were introduced by Microsoft during the Xbox 360 era which expanded the lifespan of many games for years to come.

11) Sega had other ways to cultivate replayability in previous Virtua Fighter games. Quest Mode, Fight money, treasure battles, orb battles (collect several orbs to earn a special cosmetic item), AI Mode (create and train an AI character to fight and rank up), and arcade/quest challenges were some of the ways Sega incentivized players to consistently engage in the game. I believe if those modes were to come back to REVO, Sega would net an easy win with the casual market, and the Virtua Fighter fanbase as a whole. Not everyone will turn the game on and start playing rank/room matches, or hop onto Training Mode. However, some players will get on to play Arcade Mode, or knock out a few missions in Quest Mode. Those incentives will also help the player (be it casual or competitive) to understand mechanics, their character, or a particular match up better.

By no means is this a rant. I've compiled a list of very important things that Sega/RGG should incorporate into Virtua Fighter 5 REVO to make the game stand out in the sea of Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, and other fighting games that fight harder to stay relevant in the market. There may have been some points missed, such as turning Dural into a balanced playable character (with cosmetics, etc), and I'm sure others will be mentioned in later posts and replies. Also, each item is not ordered by importance, as it's already a rather lengthy write up, but they're all important areas of concern that I think will bring relevancy to the franchise, and build hype for the upcoming Virtua Fighter 6.

NOTE: At some point I'll have a tldr or discord-friendly version of this, but I think each point needed to be explained.

EDIT: Xbox version

 

Forgot to add..

release this BS for.
Xbox
Switch 1 & 2

 

I agree. I think I slightly mentioned something about Xbox, but yes, SEGA/RGG does need to release this for at least Xbox players. Fighting games are not in any position to be console exclusives, and considering SEGA's and Microsoft's relationship going way back to the Dreamcast era, it would behoove them to support a release to the current gen Xbox.

As for the Switch release, I think releasing the game on Switch 2 would be more beneficial. If the game could get ported without taking a graphical hit, Switch 1 would work, too.

 

exactly. Sega still playing these stupid ass away games. This game don’t have the Fanbase big enough to be exclusive. I’m tired of it. I’m not buying a PC just to play this game. It’s not worth it atm

 

Tbh, given the climate of console gaming, I've just stuck with PC gaming. Like I only got a PS4 at the time for fighting games, PSO2 NGS (gave up on that mess), and FFXIV (I have it on PC). Most if not all of my fighting games are on Steam anyway lol...

 

I agree Sega is fucking around. I'm a not PC gamer! I was avoiding some games on PC (Red Dead Redemption 2 ) because of cheaters. Now, Revo is out and they did not completely "fix" VFUS (the netcode). Some of these companies (in this case Rock Star and Sega) don't really care about about their fan base.

 

Smh.. always the PC crowd. Nowadays I don’t know what’s real from fake in cross platform. As much as I love VF. I knew this game was dead in the water the moment COTW demo dropped they moved on. Dudes only bothered with it for streaming content. This game needs DLC. In 13 years we couldn’t get 2 new characters and stages. I’m not cutting Sega no slack for this exclusive crap. I can’t.