VF4 stages suck

Well maybe suck is too strong, but I was really disappointed that they did away with the slopes and some other things. Like partially walled arenas and different sized arenas. All the arenas seem to be the same size and come in two varieties: walled and unwalled. The arenas in VF3 were as individual as the characters IMO. Also, different surroundings mean you have to think on your feet much more(thinking about higher/lower ground, if you're near a wall/edge).

Sorry if I'm treading old ground. If I am then could someone point me to a similar topic?

P.S. Why so many views and so few replies on this board? Is there an army of lurkers here?

 

Well, for starters.... I do understand what you are saying, but to clarify, VF4 does have different sized arenas.

I tend to prefer VF3's stage designs myself, but I think the decision made for stages in VF4 was a good one. It focuses on what the developers intend to do in VF4 (of course--naturally--duh), and it does so with little compromise. As much as I felt the flow of the beta overall was slower, the action was indeed faster and quick to the point with classic style rings and walled rings.

I really like VF4 for what I've seen in it, and I really love VF3 for what it is. I'm glad they're two different games (that share the same heritage of course). As much as I love VF3 over all other fighters, I have to admit that the stages in 3 can very well slow the action down compared to VF4 when players start to put more emphasis on environment. The opposite is also true, depending on the situation. You can think of it as more complex, and I like that. But VF4 is designed to be a much simpler game on some levels and stage decisions are much easier to understand.

Well, if you haven't played the game yet, you'll get to form a stronger and supported opinion when the time comes. All I can tell you is that I think it fits VF4 very well.

-Chanchai

 

I've been playing VF4 test for a couple of weeks now, after awhile, you really don't notice the lack of undulation (IMHO). I always ended up picking Akira's or Taka's stage in VF3 anyway (or maybe the cave on occasion)... so I think some ring standardization is all for the best. The only thing I miss is having stages bounded on two sides but open on the other two, but... it's not a biggie.

 

Hey man, I sort of feel you on that one. Playing with the undulation on the stages looked really awesome visually, and made for some interesting fight action on screen. WIth those type of stages there is strategy, like ringing out someone easier on smaller rings such as Jeffry's or Taka's. Height especially did factor in at instant moments where my opponent was either higher or lower, as it was easier/feasible to execute certain attacks. On Pai's stage, I found it easier to pull off floaters as you could dig deeper if you were on the higher level on the roof, and usually it would end up in a ring out. Well, the more I think about it, the more I can praise how undulation was awesome in VF3. I read somewhere online, I can't remember where, but in an interview with Yu Suzuki, he explained that with VF3, he thought that there were trying to pull off too much in terms of the level of gameplay they were trying to achieve, reflected especially with this one feature, among other things. Maybe someone else read this article also? It was one of the main reasons that they converted back to the original flat stages.
Well, when and if VF4 comes to arcades East Side in the U.S., I know I'll be enjoying it, no matter how the stages are. Looking at the bigger picture, honestly it was more visually appealing, the stages I mean. There is always VF5, maybe Suzuki-san can satisfy our requests~

 

They're flat to keep 4 separate from 3, and to ensure that 3 is different enough that there's a reason to keep pumping quarters into it. To a newbie, both will look attractive, at least graphically. That's important since 4 wasn't as big a jump graphically as 2 and 3.


"You can't machi with Pai vs. a button-masher Jacky, n00b." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War