Story Mode Side Topic from VF5FS Console Features

I haven't really read any of this argument, but a story isn't needed these days. It's nice, it can help the game make some money, but by and large what you are after is strong single-player content, not necessarily a story. The public impression of fighting games is completely different from what it was just a few years ago (pre-sf4, like when vf5 vanilla came out). The potential buyers of fighting games these days want robust online as #1. Everything else plays second fiddle, even a story mode. I'm sure someone has brought up MK, but it's a moot point. MK has a fanbase that expects and likes a story mode, with lots of unlocks. It delivered with a very entertaining campaign. Anyone who buys VF or is thinking about buying VF will not care if it has a story mode, because the characters aren't iconic on the scale as SF or MK characters. What's going to convince the type of demographic that will potentially purchase VF5FS will be strong online #1, costumes #2 (kind of goes along with online) and basically everything else #3 (single-player content, training mode features, etc.). Story mode won't make a difference, because no one wants to be told a story about the VF characters.

 

You're not giving Feck enough credit, clearly he has gotten your point and laughably dismissed it. The only person who seemingly is trolling is you my friend. Consider this:

Take a minute to see what you posted, realize the stupidity of it, and take a deep breath.

Also, you repeatedly bash Sega-AM2 and call them a shit company. Do I need to remind you that they released ghost squad, the best wii game to date? Check-mate.


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My say on this is that it wouldn't hurt to have better story but personally for me I don't care. To attract newer players to the game, I think making the game easier to pass the hurdle of difficulty is the way to go, via an incredible tutorial like EVO for example. Too many people play VF and then drop it soon after and I don't feel it's because of a lack of story, rather they just don't understand how to play and admittedly it is a hard game especially with no guidance. Mashing won't get you very far, so for the love of God please Sega I want a great dojo and a great tutorial please and thanks. Easier replay sharing and such would be cool too.

 

I agree that learning VF takes a big investment of time and energy which must be compensated somehow. It is not always the case that being good at the game is its own reward, and some may see a story mode as a good reward.

But showing off online your customised fighter is also an idea. If they link costumes unlock to trials and single player stuff, it could very well enlight people without overwhelming them from the get go.

I personally hate to have to unlock stuff, but I would do it, if for example I had to unlock akira new costume, even if I had to learn to do 10 knees in a row lol.

 

Also gonna give my two cents into that discussion.

Along that he things Marly already said, that point is also quite improtant for me. The charakters in VF are nothing more than a fighting tool. I choose the one whose fighting stye I like, and nothing more. Its not like I dont want to play Goh because he kicks puppy dogs or stuff like that.
But actually thats not entirely true, at least not for me. When I played VF the First time, one of the first things that cought my attention was the english voiceacting. Not the voices itself (Lion aside), but the sayings. They just sound horrible...trite.
This Thread might not be the right place for it, but what the series (imo) needs is a relaunch. Putting VFs systemmechanics into a shiny new robe.

 

So much is assumed in these discussions until sometimes we forget
to state the obvious. VF has three modes:

Single Player
Two Player
Online

In many many cases these represent three different markets of players/consumers. Believe it or not, there are some players who only care about single player. Nope they don't play others offline or online. Storyline, Character development, customization, quest modes, trials etc are especially important to that group. Not that they are the only group that appreciates those feature. But if any group will appreciate them, its the market that really only cares about single player. I personally know several people like this, they enjoy the game, but they never want to play anybody offline or online.

The two player (offline) market usually only cares a little about story line and character development, quest modes, trials, and single player options, in some case they could take it or leave it, because for them its the interaction with other live players that makes the game worth playing, single player mode for most of these players is just a preliminary to getting ready for offline competition.

The online market, sometimes intersect with the two player market, but generally they don't give a damn story mode, quest mode, trials, etc. They get the game, and immediately its all about who's online, and for them its all about the quality of the connection, lag, the lobby, and how many other people are online willing to play at any given moment.


Obviously there are overlaps between the groups that play these three modes, but we have to remember that each mode is legitimate, and in every case represents a whole market of people.

I play other people regularly, haven't played online yet because there is no online for PS3. But I'm on the record saying that I'd rather have an awesome AI that is adaptable to play against. So I enjoy single player as well as two player, but when nobody's around to play, I'm glad there is a single player, I just wish the AI was stronger, smarter, more dynamic. So I'm one of those who love story mode, customizations etc.

We should respect the Single player crowd, the two player crowd and the online crowd, each group wants something a little different, and there's some overlap between people and modes.

just remember there are three modes to the game all are legit.

I hope VF5FS focuses and improves each of the three modes

 

I've simply stated that games no matter what the genre can sell without story and depth to the characters, go and read some threads or articles about fighting games and read the comments. Hardly any one plays Soul Calibur cause of the story between the swords and all that nonsense, same with SF. The story might extend the fanabase through the movies like the anime movies in SF's case but as far as the game is concerned it's just an extra that few people care for.

Then there's game like DoA, where people aren't concered with the story at all, they just make up their own lewd fan fiction, share it with each other and that's good enough for the DoA community.

I can see that CJA, blackdragon and a few others really want a story mode but the need to pretend that it will make VF sell like MW3 just cause several people here would prefer the game to have those features seems awfully delusional to me.

 

Actually, there are many who care about the story in their dedicated forums. As masterpo has said before, the single player must be accounted for.

Hell, Project Soul have revamped their story mode for SC5. Namco made a CG Tekken film. And you're telling me that no one cares for the story?

 

Yeah, I wouldn't mind it at all and though I can't see it helping much outside of the few people that do want features like that, I also admitted I could easily be wrong.

I just don't understand blanket statements like "story mode is a must for VF" when the series has been dead to the masses for years. Anything Sega could do to help can only be a good thing, I just think there's better and cheaper options than adding features like the ones we're talking about here. Like others have said, seems that we'll be getting a small budget release with FS, hopefully it provides enough sales to give the console fans what they want in the future.

 

Older win poses would be a nice surprise if they added it.

Also, anyone who plays FS in Japan, how do the item win poses work? Are they random or are they like VF4 when you press a certain combination of buttons?

 

Story is massively important if they want to hook in casual fans.

And new casual fans mean greater general sales, and a percentage of those fans go on to become competitive players.

Reviewers and "games journalists" also like good single player experiences. Mortal Kombat did well in a lot of best of year lists thanks in no small way to its engaging single player mode.

 

Look, I'm as big a Sega Fan as the next guy, but at some point, you have to admit when the emperor has no new clothes. VF and it's nearest competitor ,Tekken have been going tit-for-tat for over 15 years on every feature, except story. Which one has been winning the sales war domestically and abroad ? Tekken , you know, the one with the story mode.

The Sega yes-man mentality has got to stop. The same arguments were made that "VF5 doesnt need an online mode" when PS 3 VF5 dropped. Yet all those fanboys and yes men that defended Sega's failure to keep up with the times hypocritically jumped online when VF5 online was released.




The game needs a story mode to make it appeal to new players. An academic point, Mortal Kombat has transcended being a video game and become a part of pop culture, partly due to its well known story, conveyed by its story mode.
If you purist must stick to your guns and support the minimalist feature set VF is known for in it's console releases, fine. But look at it from another angle: including a story mode is an extension of marketing. It sure worked for Mortal Kombat's marketing !



The boys at Sega marketing would really appreciate a little help from the devs, give them another bullet point to promote, a story mode. Next you people are going to say VF doesn't need subtitles for the japanese speaking characters, even though every other fighting game on the planet has them.

 

Hey guys i think you'r missing a point. This game is going to be delivered as arcade live. That means it won't sell like a retail game. Given that, you understand it will be bought by fans already right? yeah of course SEGA has to do some stuff to sell more like tv spots or whatever BUT this is a game made for the fan base (like US). So Story mode probably won't come.
Most important feature is the Training mode like vf4 evo or BETTER.

If Sega wants to add some bio about character is wellcome altought, but not a story mode.

 

Going forward if Sega doesn't eventually add a story VF6 won't see any success or anything VF related outside of Japan.

 

VF5 had a lot lacking but I truly believe that a story mode wouldn't somehow had made it a success, I just don't see it. Would it attract a few curious players that have always been curious about the Virtua Fighter story? Yeah, it would, but I highly doubt kids would be flocking to stores in doves transforming VF5 from a failure to a success. Now granted a story wouldn't hurt it, "why add less when you can add more" is what I always say but don't count on VF success rate some how changing drastically.

There are reasons why Tekken and Street Fighter will do better than Virtua Fighter in the States and it's not just because VF doesn't have a story mode. How many people had a Saturn compared to a PlayStation? You be hard pressed to find people who even know what a Virtua Fighter is nowadays. Virtua Fighter never had any real recognition outside of Sega fanboys and it's mainly due because it was a game founded on dead Sega Consoles that nobody had.

When I talk to people that don't like Virtua Fighter (and I've talked to many many people that don't like VF) the reason they give me is never because the game doesn't have a story mode. I get reasons along the lines of "game is boring" "too hard" "too slow" "online mode sucks". I've never gotten "the game plays great but I don't want to buy it because it doesn't have a story mode". Now I know what I'm saying is mainly anecdotal but it still shows me that a story mode is mainly an added bonus in an overall package. VF5 as a whole is pretty lacking in terms of content

 

I used to think that too. However, I came to realize just how much the game offered after years of thinking that the console ports were barebones. It may not have a Namco-esque plethora of extra features, but it does have quite a lot. Quest Mode doesn't feature as many thrills as its Evolution counterpart, but at least on the 360 it offers nice challenges and rewards. The AI it features still sets the standard for fighting game AI, and while some of the opponents are obviously reading your inputs overall they are fun to fight.

I think that people may also be underestimating the customizations. There's a reason for why Namco copied these in Tekken. Furthermore, while I will likely not use it much, the Arcade Mode does offer some frills. Trying to obtain the highest score and beating Dural (as well as getting all of her appearances) is decently challenging. People also think too little of the training mode, I think. A lot of people get caught up in the fact that it lacks a record feature, but in some ways it's better than the training mode in Evolution.

Let's not forget about the online play. For a fighting game, it has some of the best net code to date.

While there's no survival mode or Virtua Fighter Force or Virtua Fighter Bowling, I think the game already offers a lot even for casuals. That said, I also would like a story mode for a future console release. It seems like a pretty inoffensive way to potentially increase the appeal of the series.

 

I would love a story mode for VF. I want to know what kage and his mother dural are up to now that he's save her from J6, and what's the deal with the new dural they have now. Sega really does have the makings for a cool story a la Tekken mishima family style, they just need to flesh things out. I want to know what eileen finally does when she meets her girl crush pai, who's she's been looking for. Does Brad finally get it on with Aoi and wtf is Akira even fighting for ?

I know most of us here would fall into the hardcore super serious don't care about the story, as long as the game is balanced. I for one would be more likely to pick a character who's story I felt resinated with me though, and I'm sure others would too.

Just look at Marvel vs Capcom 3, and all the story that's behind each and every character in that game and it serves to help the community stay strong. Imagine what would Maxamillion's assist me series be if Dr. Doom wasn't a boss in the comics, or if nobody knew about how evil wesker is? These details to a character do matter, not as much as the character gameplay, but the personality of the character is a part of their gameplay (in my eyes). I pick Jacky sometimes just to hear him taunting "c'mon" or "YEAH".

Story mode is just a hook to get people into playing the game, to look past the perceived high bar for entry into this game and to just forget about fighting for the sake of fighting. They'll be playing to know what happens to the character they're starting to build an emotional connection with. Then, some of these people will have realized that they actually are liking the game and take themselves online to keep playing.

I'm not saying story mode will be the silver bullet to save VF. I just feel like some of the sentiments around the forum that story mode will have little to no effect on the game aren't correct; Story mode is important.

 

How is it better??? EVO had demos for every single move. On top of that, the game helped you figure out all the possible combos from whatever move used in whatever situation you decided...

I will say this, speaking of training modes, I'd like the option to change the stage instead of using that same training mode. I understand why they do that, so you can change the type of wall type without having to change the stage or whatever. Tt would be nice to have the option to pick your own stage though, at least sort them based on wall type.

 

There are more options to set for the CPU. For instance, you can set it to use a mid or a throw after guarding. This is very useful for practicing defensive techniques.