Fighting Games, Presentation, and Personality

If you were to ask me what I think the most important aspect of a modern fighting game is, I would be tempted to say its netcode and more generally the online experience. Whether it’s players who attend tournaments or those who like to play with a friend who can’t be there in person, online play is a crucial part of the fighting game experience. Netcode can be a huge tipping point for someone to check a game out if it’s implemented well or reconsider an otherwise unique game for the lack of it.

However, I can’t discount the plentiful amount of current fighting games with less-than-stellar netcode that still receive a lot of play. Fun gameplay is of course vital to that, but mechanics aren’t the end all be all. I think the element that excites everyone and that fighting games thrive on is their presentation and more specifically their personality.

This is most apparent with games based on popular IPs. As much as the fighting game community was ready for a new team fighting game a few years ago, Dragon Ball FighterZ was a huge success because of how faithful it was to the property it’s based on. Arc System Works’ anime-inspired visuals and fast flashy gameplay paired perfectly even with a novice who was a big fan of the series. Despite their novice skill level, they could appreciate the numerous nods and references.

The Injustice series is popular for similar reasons. Some players just love NetherRealm Studios’ games and the last entry did benefit from having rollback netcode, customizable options, and the incredibly high visual quality. When it all comes down to it though, a lot of people just love fighting with their favorite DC Comics characters. That’s the big selling point when these games are announced for a reason.

Of course, people can also be hesitant when the game doesn’t give the characters and world the justice that fans want. Case and point would be the precursor to the Injustice series: Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe. There are a lot of reasons why people weren’t happy with the game. One of the biggest reasons was that the toned-down violence did not match the Mortal Kombat series or its character. Likewise, the DC characters didn’t seem particularly cool with their “heroic brutalities.”

Jumping over to another fighting game partially based on comics we have Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite. Following up on the beloved Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, many were especially displeased by the new game’s visuals, character designs, and the lack of the fan-favorite X-Men characters. Capcom’s attempt to appeal to those fans with the notion that some characters had similar moves as the missing X-Men characters went very poorly, further proving that attachment to character is much stronger than attachment to specific movelists.

A more recent example of two games commonly compared and having different fanbase reactions is MultiVersus and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl. Both have great gameplay and well-implemented rollback netcode. Where many, including myself when I played the closed alpha, find the former to have a leg up is with the presentation. It can’t be understated how much having voice actors can exponentially help the characters be more fun. Even the remixed themes go a long way to satisfy fans.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl didn’t offer the same luxury. Although the BGM for stages was at least influenced by whichever property it was meant to represent, the game was harshly criticized for not having character voices. The game was very likely made with a smaller budget compared to MultiVersus, but even with deep mechanics and some well-animated characters, the lack of voices resulted in the characters feeling lifeless. Thankfully the game did recently shadow drop an update adding voices to everyone. With the expected crossplay update, the game might be able to gain some of the lost steam.

All of this isn’t limited to just games based on existing properties. Even though Skullgirls is incredibly approachable and everyone will rightfully gush about the in-depth tutorials, the characters have a distinct style and both them and the music are all brimming with personality. Guilty Gear Strive also has wonderfully animated characters and a soundtrack that you just want to bang your head to. Them’s Fightin’ Herds has a wholly unique cast of hooved characters that’s proved popular enough for the game to expand with platforms and content.

We’ve also seen fighting games change between iterations and leave a bad taste in the collective fanbase’s mouth. Soulcalibur V took place after a long time skip and used new characters in place of old ones. Fans weren’t happy and hated the main characters, so Soulcalibur VI became a reboot of sorts with the original characters. The King of Fighters XV has clean visuals and every character looks like they’ve walked off a runway or out of a club to beat you up. That hasn’t changed the fact that the previous entry is still criticized for the unappealing visuals it had at launch.

Another series that’s no stranger to this personality and identity shuffling is Street Fighter. When the series returned with Street Fighter IV, people loved the vivid colors as well as the varied cast of old and new characters. Street Fighter V featured a visual upgrade along with a competitive theme geared towards eSports.

Unfortunately, this came at the expense of few characters, far fewer modes, and not a lot of personality. The first two issues were solved over the years and its current state is well-received, but for all the differences it has, the game isn’t distinct beyond its rocky launch period for the casual audience.

This all leads up to the upcoming game that gave me the idea for writing all of this. It’s not coming out until 2023 and the marketing for it is only recently being pushed, and yet, Street Fighter 6 is making waves because of how different and unique it looks. Obviously, the visuals are a big reason why as the game is being made in the RE Engine that Capcom is using with nearly all of their titles now. While not as realistic as say Mortal Kombat 11, the latest iteration of Capcom’s flagship fighter does err on the side of realism more than the cartoony designs of its predecessors.

As big as that is, what has so many excited is the game returning to hip-hop and street culture. It’s themes that the series hasn’t touched since Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike and it looks to be diving into those themes even more than before. From the graffiti art that appears in supers and with certain mechanics to the potential garage-door character select screen and underground fighting VS screen, it looks wholly distinct from anything else and I can’t deny that all of the small flourishes I keep seeing only make me smile.

In a way, it makes sense for the game to return to these themes. Both Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter V took place before the third entry. The former was seen as a return to form with character designs harkening back to Street Fighter II. The latter mostly just continued with some characters receiving major design changes and others looking the same. Street Fighter 6 will be the first to take place after all of the previous games and move the series forward.

Even more exciting is that because it isn’t shackled to take place before any other entries, it’s presented the perfect opportunity to redesign the characters. From what we’ve officially seen, the characters look pretty amazing. We just saw a new trailer showcasing Guile at Summer Games Fest and he looks intimidating and cool with his beefy arms and new flight suit. Luke doesn’t look like he did in Street Fighter V so that’s a plus on its own. Just having Ryu with a different official look is absolutely huge.

There were also many leaks about the game, including concept art for what appears to presumably be most of the roster. I won’t post them here because I do feel bad that they were leaked and they’re only a Google search away if you can’t help yourself. That being said, I did look at them and like many others, I am a huge fan of where these characters may be taken. Even Capcom has noticed the positive reception when the official Street Fighter Twitter account confirmed that “we’ve all seen things we weren’t supposed to see” with an appreciation for the positivity.

That positivity has only continued as we’ve seen more about the game. Returning characters are being shown with all-new moves and the animations for everything look great for a game coming out in 2023. Chun-Li has a fantastic redesign and her parry animation perfectly encapsulates her years of experience while also looking a little sassy. The option to change and show different emotions at the end of the face-off VS screen is reminiscent of pre-fight voice lines in Soulcalibur II and is just a purely fun addition.

It’s far too early to know if Street Fighter 6 will be a huge success. What we do know is that the previous game was one of the many to leave a stain on Capcom’s record at the time, especially in their fighting game history after the controversial nature of Street Fighter x Tekken and then the following cold reception of Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite. Just because it became profitable does not mean it scrubbed away that initial poor showing and reputation.

It’s likely because of the history of Capcom’s fighting games over the last decade that they’re shaking up the series so much. Capcom is investing heavily into this new title and although the news that the game will feature rollback netcode (that’s hopefully well implemented) and cross play is potentially exciting on its own, the first step towards making it stand out is carving out a unique personality. From the reactions we’ve seen from casual and pro audiences alike, there’s a good chance it could work.