'Story Mode' For VF5?

So, to get all the pish-posh out of the way; after ages and ages, I finally caught up with one of my friends, whom used to love VF as much as I do, and, i'm sorry to say, he in't into it as much anymore, and I started to ask him why he wasn't and he had a few reasons, but one that seemed to bug him the most was the fact that VF has little to no storyline, or at least, only has why the Characters are there in the first place.

He thought that fighting games with bit more story behind it, were alot more fun to play (i.e., SF4, Mortal Kombat and, his fave, Soul Calibur 4), and were more worth it.
I sorta argued the point, and said, well, VF really hasn't had any huge, or real 'story' behind it, but rather than that it's just been plain and simply about fighting, and not just about fighting, but one of, if not the most deepest fighting system ever created, and that's what makes this game great.

And he said, yeah, well how come no many people play it, and it's not all that popular anymore eh? (I had an easy answer for that, a crap marketing team for Sega lol) but before I coul answer HE said that it has no story, and because it has no story, it has no substance, and because it has no substance, whn you are playing the quest mode, eventually, it just seems like you are doing the same old fights all over again, for no reason at all. He said he can get all the customization he needs out of SC, all the ddeepness of a story out of SC and MK and SF4 and the fighting system of SF4 and SC.

And, to be honest, it was very hard for me to argue the point after that statement as reached.
And I did start thinking to myself, well, WHY haven't they done much for the story? I mean, I've survived 5 parts of the series without it, why would we need it?
But then I thought, well, because, we got a brief idea from the manual on why each fighter is in the tourny, do we really need any more info, and do we really need to know what happens to them in the end?

I mean, think about it, what if, say in VF6, they add a new depth to the game in an extra playing feature... 'Story Mode'?
Would that add to, or take away from, the Virtua Fighter experience?
I mean, the addition of a story mode would be okay-ish... but it's not VF traditional.

What do you guys think?
There are 2 sides to this coin, and I'm interested to see what everyone else would think in regards to this, apart from, my ass-holish 'friend'

Thanks a Bunch everyone! /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

Story? Soul calibur? Soul calibur??!

edit: Youre right in that VF has never ever had any kind of meaningful story mode. While I wouldnt touch soul caliburs stories with laser beam from orbit, I agree that VF needs more. I wish all the VF stories would be rewritten from scratch.

Ultimately the problem with fighting game storylines is that there are very few logical reasons for over a dozen martial arts masters to get together and fight, apart from a tournament. Street fighter has possibly the most coherent storyline, based essentially on old "fight against ultimate evil"-thing. VF should also have characters that are on evil side (I can only imagine Goh atm though), and those that are on 'good' side.

 

Hahaha, yeah, I must say, I had the same reaction when he said Soul Calibur

5 Stages in a story mode is hardly worth it

Yeah that's what I thought too, How would they think of a story to accomodate that many characters? And, I figure, that they succeeded with the whole concept of a Worldwide Martial Arts Torunament.
SF, defintely has a very good storyline behind it, and that kind of game, where the story has been an important factor from the start, could make it work, unlike VF.

Hmm... In regards to the 'good vs evil' thing... For the evil side, We have Goh... Jean, right? and, Lei Fei too I'm pretty sure, because he's only in it for himself. And, of course Dural and J6.

But everyone else is fighting on what seems to be a good side.
Hmm... I'm not surewhether or not they should expand the story.

 

VF needs no story mode. That is all.

 

yes it does. And Lei Fei is defo on evil side too. Jean could be.

 

Hmm... I'm sort of in 2 minds about the wholething...
A story mode in VF would be interesting to see how it impacts on the game, but it might take away from the rest of the game, I.E. Coz it's not traditional VF.
Like, in some peoples eyes, classics should be left as they are, and in others, they want some sort of drastic change to keep them interested...
I suppose there's no pleasing everyone.
But I suppose it could be looked at both ways:
Those that don't want Story Mode, are dedicated VF fans, and have been playing it since the polygon days (VF1), and want VF how it always has been traditionally
Yet, those that DO want story mode, may be looking for something new, to keep them interested, and to keep them attracted to the game.

 

I dont think a story mode would add much really. It's nice to have a story of sorts in arcade games like house of the dead, because otherwise you would just get bored of shooting all the time, but for fighing games and shooting games, gameplay it's most important. SC4 did't have an arcade release, and I wonder how may people are still playing online. And your friend likes Mortal Kombat! thats bad. I mean, read a book or something if you are really into good stories, becuase Mortal Kombat is only appealing to 11-15 years old AFAIK lol.

 

Lol, yeah I know, Mortal Kombat has waned ALOT over the years.
I must say I agree with most of that.
SC4, from what I've heard is crap online. And the stories crap too. The story mode is a huge disappointment as compared to SC3.
And MK, personally, I think the story is a little bit too all over the place for my liking. The ocassional blood and gore ain't too bad, but, I can get that out of KillZone 2
When you put it that way, it's probably better that VF Stays away from the whole story thing.

But I wat to get an opinion from the other side of the coin, what reasons do people think we WOULD needa story mode for VF?

 

Kevin, something I like about the VF story is that it mirrors the player struggle to get better all the time, the crushing disappointment of losing and that feeling of wanting to go away and improve like Akira's story:

"Akira failed to win the Third World Fighting Tournament. After he returned home to Japan and told his grandfather about his loss, he isolated himself in a mountainside retreat to train rigorously to atone for his lack of ability. Whilst questioning himself, "What is true strength?", Akira was surprised to discover a number of devastating new moves. As he continued to improve his style, Hakkyoku-Ken, Akira felt his soul strengthening, and immediately resolved to fight in the tournament once more to demonstrate his improved skill"

 

No story please Sega. I see VF's characters as nothing more than tools to knock the shit out of folk with.

 

Yeah, I see what you mean. SEGA adding a story mode would completely render your ability "to knock the shit out of folk" completely useless. :rollseyes: (Yes, I know there's no rollseyes smiley, but dammit there should be)
<span style='font-size: 8pt'>

Oooooor maybe you just won't be able to feel as "elite" as you think you are now for playing a game with no extras whose only purpose is fighting. Who wants those damn casual players' dollars ruining your sense of self-importance?
</span>

 

People not caring actually offends you now?

... and you even mention self-importance, wow.

In terms of sales, MK is the most successful fighting game series. Don't ask me how that happened but i'm pretty sure it's not just 11 - 15 year olds buying them.

 

VF has a story. A very good story. It's just that it isn't err... expanded upon using cutscenes and characters endings.

A story mode would be a very good addition.

 

Its not that "OH VF players are so elite they dont want a story mode." But VF is a realistic fighting game. It is a god damn tournament. What possible story cutscenes do you want? oh look Im paying my registration fees. cutscene 2 weighing in. cutscenes 3 to 8 me waiting in a chair in the lockerroom for my match. Final cutscene, I get my trophy and money and go home.
Virtua Fighter is not some "fate of the world is at stake mega blockbuster adventure" its a damn martial arts tournament. The real drama is in the ring. Go get your human interest story on the Ultimate Fighter reality show. There is a reason other fighters are 3 tiers below VF in terms of gameplay. They waste time on extraneous garbage.

You want some existentialist life reafirming story of self redemtion, youre looking at the wrong game. You play you win or you lose. If you need some other motivation other than wanting to avoid the humiliation of an ass kicking online, I dont know what to tell you. AT best theres a mini cutscene when you lose arcade mode and the timer is counting down to continue, each character says something different. Thats their losing cutscene. There is no winning cutscene. There are tidbits of the story of Vf 5 in VF5 Ps3's intro opening scene : Lei Fei is trying to kiill Lau, Pai saves him. SArah has issues with Jacky, Brad is attracted to Aoi. Goh is sent to kill Kage, the most likely winner of Vf 5. So there's enough story there about VF, for those of us with the attention span to see it.

Basically if you dont see the minimal story of VF thats the problem, people with short attention spans need to be spoonfed everything.

 

Not caring is different from saying "No story please Sega." Not caring would go something like "I don't give a shit whether SEGA adds a story or not, as long as the ass kicking stays the same". But the mindset that adding a story mode takes away from the fighting is ludicrous. They develop and test the game in the arcade, with a separate team doing the console adaptation. If there were no arcade cycle, you might have a leg to stand on. What's even funnier is that anyone who challenges this insipid line of thought is told to go elsewhere (which is the last thing a suffereing fighting game community should tell people).

 

You act like story mode influences gameplay/system mechanics.

It doesn't.

It adds personality to the characters, which they severely lack. Which is partly why VF doesn't do good in the west.

At the end of the day, it's a mode you can choose not to play. It's not gonna hurt you if it's added. But it is gonna hurt the game sales-wise if it isn't.

 

Can somebody, anybody, please explain where this comes from?

 

Identity.

 

Play DoA4 manji, then you'll see how story and CGI cutscenes can spoil a game.

 

You mean a game with no arcade release and a lead designer on his way out of the company (a company more concerned with trying to get a merger to survive)? Okay.