I love the first two fighters of Virtua. They revolutionized fighting games (and video games in general) with their approach to 3D models and how edges were. I never spent too much time on the third and fourth posts, but VF 5 warned me when it came out two generations, showing a huge improvement in the technical department.
WITH RevoVirtua Fighter 5 returns to the center of attention. This version will contain a brand new single player mode (World Stage) that was not available in a recent closed beta version. Something I could try was another key feature: Crosssplay. The final version of the VF5 comes to every console and you can fight everyone, regardless of your preference system.
Still an explosion, almost twenty years later
Before I jumped directly into online matches, I had to restore my knowledge of VF 5, because I had not played it since its initial issue in 2006. Arcade and training regimes, including tutorial, were available, so I spent several hours learning LAN and preparing for the real thing.
Although I know that the engine update was made in the previous version of the game (2021 Ultimate Showdown), it was the first time I saw upgrading in action. The use of the Dragon engine, the same used in the Yakuza/Like Dragon series, is well suitable for this game, with a sharp focus on kicks, punches and grab that you see on the screen. Every character model looks better than ever, with high loyalty in its designs and it looks like it is first discovered.
The grounded, realistic gameplay of the VF series is still there. You cannot crush the way out of the battle: you have to give time, learn some key movements of your character and how universal systems work and think before you get into your battle. It is a difficult experience, much heavier than at lower levels in other similar titles such as Tekken 8, but the rewards are also fulfilling.
Hope you are ready
Finding a good tutorial in the fighting game is not as common as it should be. They could explain to you the basic mechanics and what you have to do, but not how. This can be used on a tutorial available in Revo. In the end, I learned most of the offensive and defensive possibilities you have, but I was surprised by the lack of video demonstrations or other explanations of some more advanced techniques.
For example, some Evasion instructions were really difficult and asked for accurate inputs with fine windows. I had to look elsewhere what was to happen, because the game didn't show me what the move looks like.
Thanks to my experience with combat games, I would say that this is an early reminder of the game, that learning experience will be difficult and requires your determination. Nothing new in the genre and VF has always been a very difficult-Master kind of game, but there are certainly other titles that do better work when filling new players. Netherrealm Studios, Mortal Kombat developers, raised the bar in this respect.
Playing against two enemies at the same time
The most important aspect of this closed beta version was the opportunity to test a new feature across platforms and how online matches work. Unfortunately my experience was not the best after fighting with more than 50 battles on PlayStation 5.
Matchmaking worked as expected and paired me with opponents similar levels in just a few seconds. However, as soon as I started to move around the script, I began to notice that Netcode needed a bit of adjustment. Instead of bothering, my opponent made “small Teletransportation jumps”, which made it difficult to respond to their movements. It has not happened all the time, and when most of my matches I have been having a great time, but it was far from an ideal experience, especially compared to other current titles such as Street Fighter 6.
It is worth noting that I do not use Wi-Fi connections. I also played at two different times.
This instability could be caused by a number of things, but I suspect that there has been a problem with the regions. I have not seen many players from my region (South America), so I think I have connected with people from overseas. Although I tune in options to answer me with the best accessible connections, the problem has not been solved. It is something that is likely to be repaired when the game is officially out of and more players from around the world, but you need to remember.
Regardless of my problems with online mode, Virtua Fighter 5 Revo excited me. It could happen for the first time I actually sat down and learned how to handle the character in the VF series. I also wonder how World Stage is a new chapter in the series. Even though we are still looking forward to seeing how another virtua fighter will play, we can definitely prepare with the definitive version of his predecessor.
