I had also read Japanese players comments about lag, so I was pleasantly surprised by my experience. It felt like playing VF5FS in the arcade did. At first I even thought I was playing someone in the same arcade, only to look around the cab to see an empty beatmania machine

I did without problem:

• Basic combos with El Blaze
• Fuzzy guarding during Lau's PPP string to duck under third hit
• Throw, Punch, Elbow counter moves as expected no problem

What I didn't try:

• Just frames like Jacky iaigeri, Akira knee, or Kage DPoD
• Crouch dash cancel movement

I had some input misses though those were because I haven't played anything on a joystick in a decade or so. Certainly better experience than playing VF5FS on PS3 in Japan (which had noticeable lag regularly for me). Looking forward to playing again VFes in the arcade again soon, and hope the comp doesn't go anywhere!

Excellent report! : D

Slightly off-topic, but did you happen to notice what the other games in the cabinet were?

kinda lame it doesn't have two joysticks.

For Vs games, Japanese cabs are generally placed back-to-back with a networked partner cab--so the opponents are facing each other, with the cabs in between.

Here is a list of the games available on ALL.Net P-ras MULTI バージョン３ , including Dead or Alive 6, Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, BLAZBLUE, and others.

I went out to the local Round1 during lunch today and played a game of VFes.
Some more thoughts

Round1

• Playing in a no smoking environment is great (as much as I loved playing VF4 & VF5 back in the day, I didn't like the feeling that I was getting second hand smoke or smelling like a chimney for the rest of the day)
• While arcades used to be open until at least midnight, now this one at least is closed at night so my only chance to get out is during the day somehow (thanks to pre-Olympic COVID lockdown)
• Again not many people there during daytime, I was only one on the row of machines playing

VFes

• For online battle you get three flame icons, and when you run out game over
• Losing a 3/5 round match loses one flame icon
• Winning 9 or 10 matches will also lose a flame icon (which is different from all previous VF in arcade, where you could stay on as long as you kept on winning)
• You have to subscribe to VFesports premium monthly fee of 440 yen to be able to customize your character. In VF5FS, you got items by completing various quests and unlocking them.
• While waiting for online opponents, you can choose arcade mode or training mode. Arcade mode ends if you lose or beat the game, training mode you can do for a fixed amount of time. I've only done arcade mode and haven't played training mode yet.
• I don't think there is a way to save or download replays, which was a good feature of VF5 and I miss.

Comp

• I waited no longer than one minute to get matched up with a new opponent each time. Didn't even have time to beat one CPU opponent 2/3 rounds
• So far it is doing a great job of matching me with opponents of similar rank and skill level. In VF4 & VF5FS you were at the mercy of whoever was at your arcade, and sometimes it could be difficult to find someone to rank up against
• I made it to 2級 so far and still have 70+% win percentage. Most of the matches are fun and challenging against people who have obviously played VF before. Not getting placed against anyone spamming P, though so far comp isn't as hard as I remember VF4 or VF5 being back in the day.

Lag

• The game is still really enjoyable to play, and much less lag then I felt on PS3 VF5FS here in Japan
• I was surprised a few times when I tried to land delay knee in Blaze's 3+PPK combo, only to have the K come out as a standing kick instead of the knee. I think this is probably just me being rusty more than lag.

Long time no see everyone - I'm back as well!

SuperGolden was so pumped about VF x eSports (or VFes as the cool kids call it). I don't have a PS4 so made a trip out to the aforementioned Round1 in Takatsuku. Some thoughts:

Card System

• I haven't been to an arcade with the intention of playing fighting games in a good 12 years or so. Took me 10 minutes or so wondering around Round1 looking for the Aime card dispenser. Finally found it, put in my 300 yen, and my card didn't come out. So I had to call the staff over to open the card vending machine and get me my card.

El Blaze - First Games Back

• After hearing how SuperGolden had a good old fashioned noob stomping upon his glorious return to VFes I was looking forward to it as well. So I picked El Blaze and got ready for some pwning.
• However, as cruel fate would have it, I was the noob and I was stomped. I only won once out of my first four games. It was as if I totally forgot how to play. And I saw myself being a noob, standing there getting noobed, like a nightmare in slow motion that I had no help of stopping. Like if the opponet is just standing there waiting to be thrown, instead of throwing them like a sane person you them which gets blocked and triggers the other person to start moving again.
• I left after only one game because I needed to study up, practice a bit on VF5 mini-game in the PC version of Yakuza: Like a Dragon PC, and head back a different day.

Shun - Namflow Returns

• Since my El Blaze game was demonstrated lacking, I decided to go back to my classic Shun today.
• Game plan is simple: run away, drink, abuse , , , , knock 'em down, back away, when they whiff rising attack , etc etc etc.
• First game stated great against an El Blaze cause I ran away and he just let me drink. But then when I got in close I got destroyed again... no way I can lose with like 28 drinks! And somehow I managed to scrub out a win.
• This was a start of an 8 game winning streak. Either I remembered how to play Shun more than El Blaze, the competition wasn't as hard as the night before, or some combination thereof.
• It eventually started matching me with people who knew what they were doing and I won some, lost some, and had some fun.
• Left after two games cause I'm still being cautious until I get some jabs in my arms, but hey you gotta live a little every now and then eh?

This Jean as a Title!?!

• I got matched up against a Jean who had a title by their name. I felt it was a little unfair to match some guy ranking up in the kyus against some Jean who had a crazy leet title in their name. I'm not sure how you earn that but the Jean destroyed me. GG no re.

Rematch or New Opponent?

• After each match you have the option to fight the same opponent again or take get back in the queue. If you both want a rematch you get it.
• Win or lose I tend to want to take on a new opponent. The reason being to practice getting used to fighting new styles and new opponents straight away. It's quite a skillset to fighting someone new in three rounds.
• There is a case to be made to the skillset to adopting to someone else's style over multiple matches, but at this point for me I feel getting more experience against a wider range of opponents to level up faster.
• Have to resist the temptation if you noob stomp an opponent to rematch and roflstomp them again.

Closing Time

• Round1, which usually runs 24/7, closes at 20:00 for the state of emergency in Japan. So about 90 minutes before I saw a message on the game pop up on the bottom of the screen saying "Arcade closing in 90 minutes, you can start your last game in 60 minutes" type message. The numbers might be a bit off but you get the idea. Kind of cool they give you a heads up they'll eventually kick you off the machine.

Summary

• I really hope a PC version of VFes comes out at some point. And by some point I mean like yesterday.
• All in all my experience can be summed up by one of my opponent's PR phrase: やり方思い出せない (which translates to something like "I can't remember how to play this game"). Unfortunately he remembered enough to beat me though :'(

I played my 100th game of VFes today (all arcade).
I've found time to play between 10:30 - 14:00 JST when my kids are at robot and ballet lessons which are conveniently located close to the local arcade. Waiting for them to finish their classes is a lot more fun now.

• Thanks to online match feature, there is always comp, usually my match against CPU doesn't even start before challenger joins (even though there is no one else playing physically in the same arcade)
• The number of "online life" you get depends on date and time. On weekends you get two, while on weekdays you get three.
• I made it to seventh dan with 60%+ win rate. I'm curious if I get get any higher, as I played a lot of VF5 when it first came out and never got above sixth or seventh dan.
• I've been consistently matched with opponents of similar rank and skill level which makes it easier to rank up
• Akira is character I go up against the most (16% of matches), followed by Wolf & Kage (10% each)
• I don't get matched up against Goh, Jeffry, Taka, Brad, Aoi much at all (1% of all matches for each of them)

Thank you for reminding me, that did happen.
After reaching 6th dan all other characters got ranked up to 1st dan.

Yes to me it feels not as strict as other VF5 versions, and also you get rank up bonus for win streaks.

Until now I haven't played any opponents who are 10th Dan or higher.
I'm position 1,252 on the overall ladder and 98th for Blaze players.

Hi everyone, time for another update.
Glad to share that VF esports arcade in Japan is still alive in well.

• I got in a eight matches yesterday against eight different opponents, from 13:18 to 13:39 on a Saturday afternoon.
• I'm now rank 錬士 (Lv. 21), and only had to wait a few seconds inbetween matches to find the next online opponent (in a different arcade).
• It is easier to rank up compared to VF4 Evo or VF5 , in the arcade I do not think I got above 6th or 7th dan in those
• Rank alone is not a strong indicator of opponent skill level. Win percentage and also how many matches they have played give a better idea. Even if they are like 10th dan, if they have played over 1,000 matches then they may not be so strong. For reference, it took me around 200 matches to get promoted above 10th dan.
• It seems once you get a character promoted above 10th dan, you cannot get demoted back to 10th dan
• No griefing, no major lag, easy to find opponents - arcade version is very enjoyable (at least a my level).

Finally, this was the first time somebody started playing on the cabinet next to me!
Some dad playing with his son watching. The father did not really knew what he was doing, but maybe his son will pick it up and become a strong next generation player

Well after a good run, I am afraid to say that the local Round One no longer has VFes. The cabs (which ran a bunch of other games, not just VFes) are nowhere to be seen.

Last time I played there was still steady comp (connecting from other arcades, though I never saw anyone else playing at this Round One besides an occasional kid who was there with his parents).

It was great while it lasted, could jog out there and get in a few matches at night after the kids fell asleep.

Will need to up my stamina to jog further to the next nearest arcade in Mizonoguchi, or give in and finally get a PlayStation.

Wow., I thought the netcode for VF5US and VF5FS was the same

Doesn't VF5US have better online features than VF5FS? Why would most stream in Japan still use Final Showdown

I haven't been out there for maybe 15 years now, afraid I'm not the best person to answer. What I can say that VFes Arcade version still has regular players, at least around my level (24). I believe the players you still see streaming from VF5FS must be hardcore ones who never stopped playing.

VF5FS arcade version didn't have any online play, you could only play against the person on the other side of the cabinet you were on in the local arcade. With VFes it's a lot easier (for me at least) to get in matches with people around my rank and skill level. With VF5FS it would be more luck for me if there happened to be someone my rank playing when I stopped by the arcade.

Sharing some thoughts after a few weeks of playing the PS4 version online (also from in Japan). This is A comparison between VF esports PS4 and VF esports arcade versions.

Competition Level
Arcade feels more competitive to me than same level players on the PS4.
My fight record stats also show this.

My Arcade Record:
Lv. 25
51.14% win rate
1,011 matches

My PS4 Record:
Lv. 29
73.45%
226 matches

By comparison, in VF4FT and VF5 in the arcade, I maxed out at maybe 6th or 7th dan.
My win rate was maybe in mid or high 40% iirc.

My PS4 record is crazy to me; I've never had such a high winning ratio in an online game before. Overall comp isn't bad at this level on PS4 but the arcade comp is just a bit tougher I feel.

Competition Frequency
On PS4 it felt difficult to get into matches consistently until Lv. 21 or higher.
After reaching Lv. 21 it is pretty frequent to get into matches, though arcade still feels faster to find matches.

In the arcade you don't get a choice to fight opponents or not based on their connection quality. The arcade will find you a match and then you go.

Lag
Overall PS4 is an enjoyable playing experience, though sometimes there is noticeable lag (game will freeze for some time, or commands don't come out as expected).

The arcade is much more consistent and I haven't had noticeable lag during a game at all.

Disconnects
No disconnects or anything like that in the arcade (with over 1,000 matches played).
On PS4 I've had two or three disconnects in 226 matches played.

Closing Time
Arcade will stop match making a bit after 23:00 JST.
Whereas on PS4 you can get in matches 24/7.

Overall
I'm glad to be able to play the PS4 version. No need to take a trip all the way out to the arcade, and can get matches anytime.

It's also fun to be able to stream with decent quality.
In the arcade I was limited to whatever I could capture on my phone.