[Multiplatform] Street Fighter 4 - For some reason they're still putting in characters other than Ken

So, got a call from the place I pre-ordered Street Fighter IV and I've been playing it non-stop since then. Well not now obviously, since I've decided to give my PS3 a rest and internet for a while XD. Apparently someone in Australia broke the street date, so rather than releasing it on Thursday all hell broke loose for electronic stores here. Never mind, the consumers win!

I've almost unlocked and played with all the characters with the exception of Akuma, Gouken and Seth. Apparently Akuma and Gouken require some special conditions (of which I've yet to unlock... still a noob :P) but otherwise the whole cast in general feels very solid. The new characters fit quite well too with the exception of C. Viper... Who still seems a little too KOF. She's still pretty nice to play with though until the tourney guys start tiering all the characters.

My impressions (spoilered for space saving):

Spoiler:

This game animates like sex. The graphics look extremely nice and are even better with the HDMI setup and an HDTV. The colours are vibrant and the little details in the backgrounds make it seem very lively.

Music is a mix of cool new tunes and tear-inducing (in a good way) remix of old themes. The character voices are mixed bag, but while it's been confirmed online, I'll re-confirm the ability to specifically switch Eng/Jap VA, and yes, you do have to beat the game at least once. The anime cutscenes before and after arcade mode stay on your general language of choice, though, so it might seem out of place when watching that and then suddenly having your character speak another language.

And the gameplay is definitely more "Friendly" than SFIII, although the new "Focus" attacks make up for the lack of parry. There are different layers of the focus attack as well, giving hardcore fighting gamers something to chew over (and spoil the fun of the game x]).

To confirm another thing, the Collector's Edition's so called "Downloadable Content" is only the alternate costumes for the "Brawlers" (Zangief, El Fuerte, E. Honda, Rufus and Abel). The other costume packs aren't included, unfortunately, which is a lot of suck ;__;.

Anyhoo, this game just plain rocks. Everyone else, check to see if your local store has broken the street date (or following whoever broke the street date)!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by KCJ506

Man is Seth cheap or what?

Seriously, this is effin ridiculous. After spending a half hour trying to beat him with Ryu and another half hour with Chun Li I can safely say he's one of the cheapest bosses I've ever gone up against. He's right up there with Onaga and Kintaro from Mortal Kombat.

First round he doesn't try. Anyone can perfect the first round on him. However the second round is where he starts to destroy.

Seth's character isn't overpowered per-say but his AI even in easiest is just beyond ridiculous. You can actually learn the programming of the AI just by watching how he reacts to you. You see, Seths AI is actually programmed to react based on your input. At one point I watched him attack every single time I stopped moving backwards.

I originally thought focus attacks would be really useful but they aren't. Try charging one up and he immediately grabs you. The only things I found effective against him are grabs of your own (which mind you is a dangerous tactic seeing as anything he does seems to trump you) and landing dash attacks on him.

Quite honestly anything Seth does beats anything you do. Go for an ultra move and he will actually attack you while you're in the middle of your ultra. he will grab you while your fist/foot is in his face, and alot of times he will grab you a fraction of a second after you go to grab.

On top of all this, I actually watched him spam sonic booms at me to the point where I watched half my health go just blocking (I was trying a completely defensive strategy at that point).

Probably his worst cheese is his teleport. This SOB will actually telport behind you and imediately grab you. Not only does his teleporting give him cheap hits, but it is made harder to counter by the fact that he randomly teleports in front of AND behind you and anytime he goes behind you it completely ruins any drectional input you had in for a counter-attack.

But yeah, I just figured I should warn/advise people here on the BS to expect with Seth. Prepare to basically depend on luck because I could consitently kick his ass yet he always pulled miracle comebacks...

My tactic with Seth was to spam back with low kick sweeps in a rhythmic pace. Either that, or do the "jump-kick, low sweep" combo, which works in the first round but starts becoming useless in the second one (after which I revert to just spamming low sweeps).

I also usually saved my Supers for the 2nd or 3rd round, relying instead on the Ultra attacks since you were going to be pounded by Seth anyways. When Seth teleports, I try to stay still so that he doesn't appear in a direction I am heading and grapple me. Jabbing while he teleported helped a little as well, but I suppose it all depends on the player.

For those with impossible supers/ultras, however, such as Guile or Vega... It's balls-frustratingly impossible to defeat Seth. And then there was the case of Dan... O_o

And yes, Seth is the master of Sonic Boom spam and stretchy arms. Capcom's lack of understanding difficulty levels strikes again. Since when was "Easiest Mode" Normal, "Easy Mode" Hard, and "Easy" FRICKEN HARD? By crickey, there's even 3-4 difficulty modes up from those!

Also OmagnusPrime, 2 more days! Just hang in there. :P

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by OmagnusPrime

Out of interest, those of you struggling with the boss, are you using the a stick, or a joypad, or what?

I've been using the PS3 joypad, so while that isn't all too bad, a joystick would probably go years and miles to give you an advantage. Of the two systems, though, I'd agree that the PS3 would probably be the better of the two. I'm loving the massive Jupiter-sized blisters, though (after clocking in 14 hours of this game ). Gawd I miss those. Topic addition about blisters, anyone?

I've also just tried online, although it was an Aussie-Aussie friend match. Plays alright, although some lag creeps in at random times. It all depends on your country's internet, I guess (Aussie Prime Minster, where's our internet revolution? >:/)

And as for early tips on how to get Akuma and Gouken, Dhalsim's low and long-stretchy arms are spamalicious. The means to an end is what counts, right? XD

EDIT: RYU, if you meant compared to Street Fighter III, then yes it is a little "slower". It's a little like Brawl compared to Melee: It's not "slow" to the point of sluggishness, but rather it feels like Super Street Fighter II.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by kensuke

Has anyone else noticed how even if you pick 'easiest' difficulty, sometimes the CPU just goes into complete ass rapage mode? I was happily playing through the game with the CPU not even blocking, and then suddenly it was using focus attacks and doing ultras on me.. I think it must be a bug, because when I start a new game, if I cycle the options to hardest and then back to easiest, I don't get this problem..

It's one of two things (maybe even both)

(1) Everyone is still trying to get used to the game mechanics and new techniques, thus some CPUs seeming frustratingly hard. If they've played it in the arcades, then it's the initial adaptation to a console controller.
(2) Capcom's inability to understand what easy means strikes again.

I'm starting to defeat the easiest and easy difficulties with no problems now, suggesting that option one is probably more accurate to you and everyone else's situation :P. Easy to grasp, difficult to master, if I should use one cliché.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by OmagnusPrime

So is it just me, or despite there being a healthy range of characters to pick from, most people online are either Ken or Ryu (with the occasional Akuma for good measure). I know they're fairly stock characters and all, but come on.

I think it's because most online players are still trying to get into the whole fighting system. That, or Ryu and Ken are safe bets for laggy games given their easy movesets (which don't require frame-by-frame perfection).

Apart from Ryu, I'm trying to master Fei-Long since there seems to be an apparent lack of love for the character. Either that, or Abel/El Fuerte. Those new characters need to have a reason for being included!

As for Gen, my brother took about 5 people by surprise by kicking their ass with him (all of them Kens, Akumas and Ryus). Gen's hard to grasp, but if you can make use of his combos he's quite effective. My brother's 6th match involved some lag, thus losing our chance of getting that trophy/achievement. :/

FFS that J-pop/rock menu theme is catchy. MP3ed since the first day, and I'm still not sick it it

I was speaking idiomatically.