VF5 Location Test: Hands On Impressions

Hey all – this is Namflow and SuperGolden reporting in with the latest info on VF5 straight from the new month long location test in Tokyo! We took the overnight bus from Kanazawa to Tokyo and got there around 6:00 am Sunday morning. We went out to the Club Sega in West Shinjuku to find it closed. :’( Then we went to the Sega Hi-Tech land in Shibuya, which was also closed. We waited in Shibuya for the arcade to open in what has to have been the longest four hours of our lives. Finally, at 10:00, the doors opened and VF5 was ours to play.

Namflow's Thoughts:
I was surprised to find we were the only ones there at 10:00 in the morning. First I had a bit of trouble getting a card cause the card machine kept spitting my 100 coins back. Finally I got one, sat down, selected Shun, and let the pwnage begin.

First, lemme talk about the setup they had at Hi-Tech Land. They had 2 VF5 machines set up, a VF TV terminal, a machine to edit your card, and the aforementioned card dispenser that hates 100 yen coins.

Before I get into gameplay and what not I will talk about the bells and whistles like the graphics, VF TV, etc. My first impression of the game was DAMN does it look good! The game was on the uber leet hi-res screens and it looked AWESOME. It made VF4:FT look like a crappy PS1 game in comparison. A few days later I played VF5 on a normal VF4 cabinet in Akiharabara and it didn’t look nearly as good. I think my first impression of VF5s awesome graphics were greatly influenced by the hi-res monitor.

VF TV has about three different programs or segments it goes through each hour, with a program schedule in the lower left hand corner.

“Exciting Battle Hour†is a mode which shows recent matches from arcades in the area (with preference perhaps given to matches from the arcade the machine is in). It is great to relive your victories on VF TV, but if you are watching VF TV and not playing then chances are your latest humiliating loss is coming up soon! /versus/images/graemlins/frown.gif

The Combo program showcased combos from various matches. A few cool combos I saw was Akira’s ++ -> -> -> -> dlc on Lau. Wolf’s ++ -> -> -> qcb+ worked on Akira. I have no idea how VF TV decides what combos to show... It showed a lot of lame 3 hit combos by Aoi and none of my awesome Shun combos made it. :’(

VF News is rather self explanatory... They have things like interviews with people, top rankings for the arcade and players that have played there recently...

I noticed another type of program when I saw a select match from another arcade which was Mukki Akira vs an Eileen. The Eileen got an early start 2-0 rounds and had a clear lead into the third. Then the match stopped and a message that said something like “Ut-oh, what will Mukki do!?!?†came on the screen... After a pause for suspense, the match continued with Mukki winning third round. Fast forward to the 5th round and the announcer saying something like “Can Mukki make the comeback?†Fortunatley he did. It seemed like all of the commentary and messages were automated which seems pretty damned cool. Super said he saw another one of these types of matches on VF TV at a later time... So VF TV occasionally shows comeback matches...

The VF.NET Terminal lets you edit your ring name, PR (the message it displays before your fight), your costume, and what I believed was called your "character image" or something like that... This is a series of three poses on different backgrounds you can mix and match for a cool intro before your fight...

When editing your costume you get a rendered version of your character to see what the items will look like on your guy. You can add and remove items as well as zoom in and out and rotate your guy. Each item takes a number of points to wear... As a first dan character I could wear 10 points worth of items. Also as previous mentioned, each character has 4 different costume types (A, B, C, D). When you hit first dan you automatically get your type C costume. You can only have 2 costume choices active at a time, so when I hit first dan I switched my A costume out so I could only use B and C. When you put in your card to select your guy it asks you “Is this card ok?†and shows what type of costume you’ve chosen. You hold start to switch costumes (you can set any costume as your default), and make sure your correct costume is selected cause you won’t have a chance to change it after selecting to use the card.

You can also use the machine to move your old card to a new card if your card runs out of matches, but that’s kinda boring. There were 3 more VF.Net service modes that weren’t selectable now.

The machine costs 100 yen to use and it gives you about 300 seconds.

The new location test costs 200 yen to play (start and continue) and the cards are 500 yen. More than a few players had PR messages like “200 yen is too much†or “Could you please lower it to 100 yen Sega-san?â€Â

Ok so now that I got all the bells and whistles out of the way, let’s go onto gameplay. When I read reports saying “VF5 = VF4:FT 2†I was a bit skeptical. I really wanted to believe that it was a new game with a lot of new gameplay features. But it really, really did feel like VF4:FT. When I was playing it was as if I had an angles on one shoulder and a devil on the other... The good angle of peeps from VFDC kept saying “Don’t play using VF4 strats, try the new moves, use the new dodge!†and on the other shoulder was Jeremy from Pure Pwnage telling me “Pwn teh n00bz!!!1!â€Â

There are two kinds of dodges (or "moves) now, a defensive one and an offensive one. A defensive dodge is done by simply tapping or . An offensive dodge is done by hitting ++ during a defensive dodge. (This command was or in the previous location tests) The defensive dodge is like a normal dodge from VF4, and when you hit ++ to do the offensive dodge it’s like you do a second dodge from your first dodge. VF4 style dodge attacks are now + while in defensive dodge. During an offensive dodge you can hit either or for an attack. I think the attacks will crumble with a MC and seem at least punch counterable, if not elbow counterable. I’m not sure about the attacks. Super and I tried using the offensive dodge in a lot of situations but the timing seems really difficult. Even if the opponent was attacking and I got what seemed like a successful defensive dodge, if I hit ++ to go for the offensive dodge the opponet’s attacks would hit me. Attacks seem to track the offensive dodge. I know Super tried to do it when he staggered an opponent but didn't really have any luck. I wish I had more to say about the new dodges, but even though Super and I tried I really dunno when it is a good time use them. And you don’t NEED to do an offensive dodge to get behind an opponent: I dodged Lei’s charge attack, ended up behind him, and scored a back throw. What's up with that?

I made it to Dural in the 1 player mode and beat her but there no ending. It just showed the credits... Kinda boring... Hey maybe we'll have endings in VF6… /versus/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I’m gonna start talking about individual characters.

Wolf: Has a ton of new awesome throws which he seems to have learned from watching WWE. He’s got the Angle Slam (a new side throw), the F-U ( John Cena's finisher) which is executed as a hit throw after a new qcf++ hits. I’m guessing qcf++ is semi-circular in the opposite direction if qcb++ but I have no facts to support this. Wolf’s qcb++ has a new animation where he picks them up, spins them around, and drops them. Also his throws from ++ seem to have new animations as does some of his low throws. He can now run like El Blaze by hitting either +++ or +++. He has a few attacks from these including a backdrop! I’m hoping the backdrop is a 2 hit throw that can be turned into a one man 3-D but I’m not sure if it can or not. I saw a Wolf hit the backdrop, turn around, ->->knee. (I think it was a knee)

Kage: Has a new stance you enter by +++. He has what looks like a two handed strike that crumples on MC and a two hit low attack. His + is now the first hit in a 2 hit canned combo. He has a new canned combo ()... The last two kicks are a jumping spin kick and a low spin kick… I've seen this hit after a knee in a TFT combo... It looks like something that Hayabusa would do in DOA… Not that I’ve really played DOA much, but it seems like something from that…

No one seems to know the new TFT combos so it seems weakened, at least for now.

The command for TFT is now ++

Shun: Shun can get +5 drinks by doing ++, qcf++, ++, ++ after a normal round. Even after a p I couldn’t get +6 drinks by lying down asap. Shun has a new combo with the last kick a jumping kick that looks like + but it is high. He has both of his first change moves from FT, the +, canned combo and the full circular swipe that’s now ,+. He has a new throw that’s ++ that doesn’t use any drinks! ++ will knock the opponent down but if you hit ++-> or ++-> the opponent will remain standing and you’ll end up behind him. I’ve seem +->f++ whiff a bit so I’m not sure if it’s guaranteed to hit or not anymore. Shun has a new stance (maybe 2?) that you can enter by hitting + or +. I keep accidently going into this stance cause I’m in the habit of hitting after + to cancel the canned combo +.

When entering this stance Shun does an uppercut but instead of punching he turns his back to his opponent (but it isn’t his normal bt stuff.) If you hold while entering the stance you’ll drink. (This is dangerous cause I kept accidentally turning my back to my opponent and drinking at point blank!) He also has a sebaki that looks like something Lei would do when he swings his arms around like a windmill. He also has a kick that crumbles, as does the sebaki if it hits. I’m sure he has more stuff from this stance but I dunno everything. I think there’s a way where he can turn to face the opponent while in the new stance which opens up new moves, but I haven’t figured out how to do this consistently. The new stance seems kinda risky cause you lunge towards your opponent and then turn your back. Shun’s +[k] floats really nicely now, you can easily get a + after it took him for nice damage. The second hit of + doesn’t slam during a float anymore. Shun has a while standing that looks like Pai’s cartwheel backwards. It can be used to OTB (I found this out by accident) haha I think that’s about it, and Super wants to add his two cents about El Blaze and Jacky.

El Blaze:
See the El Blaze thread Super is gonna start soon…

Jacky:
Jacky has his punt kick (+) and his turn around kick (,++)…

His + is a jumping knee that floats… Might be high… It is a new animation…

His + is his + from VF4:FT… It crumples on MC, doesn’t float..

His + has a new type of stagger which is kinda similar to Shun’s mule kick…

He has a new combo: ++… The third hit is mid and elbow counterable… Doesn’t do too much damage but gives him advantage on hit and can be switched up with +, , +[k] to totally cheese opponents…

His ++, + hit throw has a new animation…

If you do a + throw and then down Jacky will do a new throw that leaves him facing his opponents side… Throws and launchers seem to be good follow ups to this…

Jacky has a new three hit combo ++...

Shuffle step has a new animation, but not sure about any new moves from it…

The command for his + .

Even if it crumples it can be teched, although most opponents didn’t actually tech letting me get a pounce for huge damage…

And finally, some info about saving your replays to download later. You can save one match per day per arcade. If you save a newer replay it will overwrite your replay for that day. After saving a replay you have to go home and wait for it to appear on your VF.Net for PC account. (This takes about a day.) Once it’s there you can select it to be rendered, which says it could take up to 3 days depending on how many people have movies in queue to be rendered. Once it’s rendered you can download it as a decently sized .wmv (around 15-30 megs) To download a rendered movie look like it costs money, but for now it’s free cause they want people to test out the new system – which I certainly did. Be sure to check out this thread in the media section to download some movies of us in action!

-Nammy and Super

 

Awesome report guys, hoping to read more. /versus/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

Much appreciated , write up and vids guys /versus/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

Amazing! For some reason, characters' dodging animation looks different depends on their stance. I saw the Namflow vs Shou match, Shou's Sarah gets a side hit when she dodges at 2:18. It has to do with offensive dodge, or just her stance?

 

Thanks for all the info guys!

 

how dural looks like???? awsome stage? water? fire???

 

Dural's intro actually makes her look intimidating... Her stage wasn't so hot though /versus/images/graemlins/frown.gif An outdoors stage in the ruins of some temple or something... I liked her last stage on the moving platform more /versus/images/graemlins/frown.gif

-Alex

 

[ QUOTE ]
tianyuan2k2 said:
Amazing! For some reason, characters' dodging animation looks different depends on their stance. I saw the Namflow vs Shou match, Shou's Sarah gets a side hit when she dodges at 2:18. It has to do with offensive dodge, or just her stance?

[/ QUOTE ]

Looking at the video I think she goes for an offensive dodge but gets hit in the process... It seems easy to hit opponents out of offensive dodges, and if that was a defensive one she probably wouldn't have gotten hit...

-Alex

 

Sweet. Hey was there anything on Vanessa?

 

I'm just adding to this thread since I got to play the game a little today at E3

disclaimer: since I play Akira, some of my impressions could be because small tweaks to his game make a big difference, so that another Akira player from LA, Jack and I spent the whole time trying to figure out the tiny nuances, like what works after Stumbling Throw, SDE, PIT, 46P+G etc, all of which seems to have changed. For another character, the game might seem even more similar to 4

In general, this game does feel pretty new to me, but it isn't like the leap from 1 to 2, 2 to 3, or 3 to 4 at all. The best comparison I think is from 4 to 4 Evo. A lot of the old stuff works, some doesn't, so many things feel new, sound different, have different properties etc that it seems like there's so much work to be done just to know the basic combos, recovery, incorporating new moves etc (for example, I quickly felt I should only focus on one character).

because of the "Throw Shift" and the Offensive Move, the game has a feel that I can only describe as more organic, and somehow VF4 seemed very "clicky" to my mind. Like, looking back, I imagine VF4 as very fast with the characters moving perfectly in a series of dashes, dodges, attacks etc with a kind of rythym. VF5 seemed (in my VERY limited playtime) less on rails somehow, with the side/back hits and stuns, attacks that spin oppts, the OM (which can easily put you to someone's side/back if used properly) and the shift. OM is the big change, as everyone has said before, and it'll be really powerfull when people use it right; especially combined with side stuns/KDs. In a nutshell, it's more 3D fighting than 4.

the graphics are insane, I couldn't believe the wood carvings in the lattice work on Akira's "statues" stage, because I like photographing/studying these things at real temples in Japan for my work, and the detail is amazing. Talk of seeing all the pores in Wolf/Jeffry's faces are true to the reality. The characters don't look plastic at all, because the textures on the skin kill this effect. In Evo on PS2, Jeffry looks like he's made out of chocolate, but here, even when a character shines, you'll see all the tiny countours of the skin, hair, pores etc, so it doesn't look like a smooth surface.

Alas, some of the stages are boring, Shun's comes to mind. It's too bad, because the nice ones are SO nice.

I'll write more later, everyone who played @ E3, please post up. We've got a lot of time to waste until November when any of us get to play again /versus/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Bryan

 

Woot, Shun's stage is my favorite!! To each his own I guess. /versus/images/graemlins/smile.gif Glad to hear that your initial impression of VF5 is positive.

 

My E3 impressions:

First off, the game is a bit slower feeling. Once you get used to that, stuff seems to flow a lot better.

I played about 25% Vanessa, 75% Eileen. Eileen is wicked. I love her. Her moves and stuff are just really fun, she seems like she has a lot of depth and tricks, and she's quite flashy and powerful. In short, just what VF needs to attract new players. I want to use her as my secondary!

I really have to sit down with a console version to understand her moves, but Eileen has some really neat tricks. A special crouching stance into launcher, flipping back moves to avoid attacks, this one weird yoga kick thingie where she kicks you with her leg arching over her head backwards... hard to describe, cool to see =)

I got really into the game as you can tell:



(Thanks Spotlite for the suggestion)

Offensive dodge really does change the game a lot. I really am not sure exactly how it works, but sometimes if the opponent is using linear moves that move them forward, the offensive dodge, if used with good timing, can get you right behind them, where you can stun them and combo for big damage.

Stages are beautiful. Character models are beautiful, Music is great. I was nitpicking about little details, but everything is miles better than VF4. I personally love love love shun's stage. It's so beautiful... although the hills in the background, when they get their closeup, are a little pixely. Honestly though, that's such a small detail that it doesn't matter.

I'm looking forward to this game even more now. My only regret is that my time with it was so short.... but hopefully we'll get our hands on it by the beginning of next year =)

 

OMG KENAN GREW BOOBS!

 

Just a quick expression about (mainly) Jeffs stuff I noticed on E3:

Jeff:
* P,P,P - last hit looks like jgl starter from animation, knocked down, but can be techd and it seems nothing is quaranteed after it
* db+K (max charge) - f,f+P,P seems to not be guaranteed anymore
* f,b+P has been reanimated - looks really slower and not sure if it's full circle still
* K,K,P - if 1st kick i blocked and 2nd hits, hit throw is no more aviable
* new side throw - look weaker and nothing guaranteed
* that new big kick from some movies is K+G - looks like sH or M
* threat stance throw have awesome range

Lei Fei's IN d+K looks like have really smaller stagger

Akira's (I think df+P,P?) mid-high punch series looks really usefull

Brad have a new string, looks like P,P,K,jumping double kick (can be do 1 or both of this kicks)

 

[ QUOTE ]
Unicorn said:

Brad have a new string, looks like P,P,K,jumping double kick (can be do 1 or both of this kicks)

[/ QUOTE ]

Whoa! You mean they've added after his (Combination Low)?! How do they look? Are they Knees like the end of his or long kicks like his ? Are they linear like Akira's or crescents like Brad's +?

Brad with more kicks = Good!

Thanks for the info.

 

[ QUOTE ]
Adio said:
Whoa! You mean they've added after his (Combination Low)?! How do they look? Are they Knees like the end of his or long kicks like his ? Are they linear like Akira's or crescents like Brad's +?

Brad with more kicks = Good!

Thanks for the info.

[/ QUOTE ]
Nope, it is not low. It looks like knee (maybe jumping? I don't remember) followed by something which looks like close Jackys VF4FT u/f+K. I think kicks are mid, mid, mid or (more likely) mid, mid, high; trheoretically last one of them can be half-circle, but i don't think it will be.

Saw one button-masher perform this string 2 times against me, and for 3rd time ho don't do the last kick. Then I kill him and he leave the booth - and it was only one Brad player I saw there.

 

Thanks for clearing that up, Unicorn. I think I get what you're saying (I'm trying to visualise the combo in my head), mentioning Jacky's gives a good indication of how the whole combo would probably pan out:

= Left stance: Jab, cross into low kick with hind right leg.

= Jab, cross into low kick with hind right leg. Low kicking right leg stays at the fore, changing into right stance and shifting weight to the fore, allowing a skipping/hopping front knee with the left hind leg.

= Jab, cross into low kick with hind right leg. Low kicking right leg stays at the fore, changing into right stance and shifting weight to the fore, allowing a skipping/hopping front knee with the left hind leg. Hips are twisted to left and used as leverage for a round kick with right leg.

Purely speculation, but it sounds like the whole string is high, high. low. mid, high/mid. Which sounds as slick as hell! /versus/images/graemlins/cool.gif

It just goes to show how conservative the players testing VF5 have been in the clips I've seen. Understandable, but boring. Thanks again Unicorn!

 

I was thinking the same thing too, Myke. But, like the possibility of VF5's PS3 exclusivity being only a six month contract, with a Xbox 360 version also in the works...I've got my fingers crossed. /versus/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

I guess i'll post my impressions as well. I tried to get through as many characters as possible only playing most characters once. Take everything with a grain of salt please. Of the 3 hours i was there, i probably had only 1 hour of actual handson playing

Lei-Fei
----------------------------
It was really hard to try any of his new stuff, since i didnt know any of his stance cancel commands, but heres some stuff i found out. Lei-fei's range overall feels reduced, and [DM],+. The new laydown stance is almost near worthless as of the moment. ++, feels like it takes nearly 30-40 frames before leifei is even prepared to attack out of it. It might be somewhat useful if setup correctly for okizeme, but against a high reflex player I see myself getting hit out of it frequently. Also with the Offensive evade, i really feel lei-fei will be a low tier character due to his linearity. Where i've eaten sidestep bodychecks previously, now every character can take advantage this as well. I'll elaborate on this further down. Since, I havent really gotten to use the new stance cancels, I cant really tell if Sega am2 used this to counter offensive evading. Just my general feeling for now.

Wolf and Jeffry.
-------------------------------------------------------
The range on these two characters are awesome. Can cause a lot of spacing trap problems.
Wolfs new +shoulder, is brutal - causes "tekken" wall slam stagger. Wolfs imperfect giant swing does only about 40-50 points with perfect tech now.
Jeffrys catch throw is too strong and long, toe kick splash mountain now goes into toekick bakcbreaker. His new strings seem like they'll cause basic nitaku headaches for opponents.

Shun
-------------------------
Has a lot of potential, his much reduced size might actually contain more evasive properties than before, too early to tell for me. New moves out of drunken stance sidestepping.

Lion
--------------
More or less the same. His new ducking stance is a nice addition.

Lau
------------
Ditto

Goh
---------
Ditto- i hope im wrong.

Akira
-------------
While I didnt have any real hands on playing with him, playing Akiralove and Jack gave me a pretty good impression of him. His new mid punch string is awesome. The new ++ (sideturn hit) is much improved over the old one. +, does need hit check anymore, also that move destroys offensive evade.

Aoi
---------------
She has even more movement and cancel options, sure to cause many more people headaches. Im not sure if we saw this right, but + elbow ringed out on a halfwall. I really hope the opponent was trying some move that had him jumping.

Kage and Vanessa
----------------------------------
i hope kenan can elaborate more.

Eileen
-----------------------
Really doesnt fit my style. Kenan seemed to start to get a grasp on her playstyle. Seems like a character lion, pai, and sarah players will like.

El Blaze
------------------------
A character I had a lot of fun with. His throws dont seem to do a lot of damage but he seems to have plenty of them. He feels like a cross between goh and jacky minus the damage. His ++ run is pretty messed up in causing basic nitaku. Imagine Leifei FT rolling with evasive properties. It seems he can cause a low kick, mid jump kick, or catch throw that hits for either 40 damage or 60 damage, I'm not entirely sure why i got two variants. I've also had opponents try to attack me out of the run, and El Blaze just runs straight past the attack and character like he was invincible. I'm not entirely sure what the properties are for the running, but that was definately a weird experience. Im sure this will cause some okizeme hell.

Jacky
-------------------
best character of VF5 so far
everything you've seen in videos, plus a new hopback step move thats not shuffle step. causing flop now is probably his only new major drawback. Considering his new moves, ill trade off anyday.

And at last
SYSTEM
-----------------------------------
Unlike the other players on the board, I feel that VF5 plays actually faster in the mental state. Its really hard to shake off that play to win STICK WITH VF4 style of play mentality if you're competitive. When playing in the VF4 style, the game does feel slowed down, especially with "throw shift" (is that the new official term?) really causing a pause to the game at times. In my final two games of playing, offensive evade started to really click for me. I feel that where as VF4 really concentrated on defensive techniques with EQTEG, Sabaki, and more inashi moves for characters, Offensive evade hopefully is to VF5 what those techniques were to VF4. While, i never really got a chance to take advantage of side hits or creating them, since i was concentrating on the timing and situation useage, I still found some very interesting results.

Offensive Evade.
----------------------------------
/ - neutral ++

1. Like its name, it is very dangrous to use at a disadvantage. I had a situation at -4-6 frames, I'm not sure if akiralove delayed or not, but I ate a Yohou while trying to execute offensive evade.

2. Destroys linear character attacks. I've ended up getting several side and back throws versus Akira. I can only imagine the same for LeiFei or other linear characters. Offensive evade vs PPP strings seems to really step out of the way, like a matador with a bull. So no more of that PPP tracking BS.

3. Against small attacks, it seems you still end up staying in front of the opponent, almost leaving you at disadvantage (since the animation takes a while). So offensive evade also needs to be used carefully as well.

4. Vs akira
Since Akiras +,, does not need a hit or guardcheck now. If I offensive evade the first part, I end up behind akira, but the 2nd part of the string hits me with his weak hand. So akira is not even looking at me and he still punishes my offensive evade with his opposite hand. Also it seems like akiras new knee double arm swinging thing, is used to bait people who use offensive evade too much. Didnt see that in action, just speculation.

5. So once ive gotten use to the timing of offensive evade, I felt like the game sped up a lot since i have more options to deal with. The opponent really gets the feeling of OH FUCK when you get a major offensive evade. Like Jack told me, "i feel like you're running circles around me". I'm not sure if this will be enough to make VF5 feel "new" for everyone, but its a start.

oh and for graphics agreeing with akiralove above, Unicorn said it best. "Its 2x better than whatever you were imagining from the videos!!"

Sorry for the long and lengthy post i hope someone finds it useful.