Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. Review (Realtione etc.)
TLDR: VF5 REVO is one of those fighting games that is plain and simple. Fairly easy to seep into and get the basics fast but takes tons of practice to master the nuance of the systems. Yet, the lack of offline content leaves you with a sour taste and matchmaking is awful at this time with input lags, bugs, high latency and unfunctional filter options.
I’m not an avid VF fan, but I appreciate its place within the fighting genre. This is coming from someone who doesn’t necessarily like 3D games. However, it’s easy to get finessed by VF5 (though I always liked the 4th more). No flashy moves, no bullshit—just pure, intuitive fighting with a reasonably sized roster. It clicks instantly. On paper, you have 3 buttons, but when it comes to executing combos with directions, they can be rough and intense.
I miss the Quest mode from og VF5 release, and I’m still frustrated that SEGA didn’t consider adding more single-player content (tower-like stuff or giving scenarios to each character, you know the drill) and kept scrapping what they previously had. The Ultimate Showdown, which debuted on PS4/PS5 (a remaster of Final Showdown), was essentially free, so I didn’t mind that it was more online-oriented. It had a relatively small but supportive player base. Now, you are paying for slightly enhanced visuals and rollback netcode. AI matches are... They are fine. I used to keep playing the same shit over and over in SF2 so I can't complain as much but times have changed and personally I don't find VF's AI to be that challenging even on 'Very Hard'. It gets old fashioned rather quick.
As of now, VF5 REVO has about 2k players, and I can barely find matches. I know people will trash it and say, “Look at it, it’s dead on arrival” or whatever, but to me, that’s plenty. I honestly don’t understand why it takes so long to find (ranked) matches. When I do find some, even with "best" selected, I get matches with up to 150ms. That’s frustrating, but to begin with I don’t even get enough matches to test the rollback netcode that everyone’s been bragging about. Rooms are a solution, sure, but you’d surely want to have a quickplay (unranked) option.
On top of the lack of single-player content (regarding progression), it also lacks rewards (i.e. costumes). The Tekken pack is not included in the 30th anniversary edition. These are classic SEGA shenanigans. You get used to them. The lack of single-player content is one of the reasons the series has lagged behind others like Tekken, SF, and Guilty Gear, but if you’re a returning player or just want a breath of fresh air, you can still give it a shot. That said, it doesn’t really justify the price tag, especially with these matchmaking issues and barely functional filter options.
In a way, the previous VF titles worked better in arcades. I’m keeping a keen eye on VF6, though. I hope it somehow can go big on the home consoles and now PC.
P.S. I must (re)emphasize that I don’t have any problems with the notion of netcode. It’s just that I don’t get enough matches, and when I do, they’ve been (so far) horrible
—speaking on the behalf of EU.
Edit: I have played about 15 matches and got only one below 100ms (and it was around 70s). That's bullcrap.
There are problems with chain matchmaking. Once you finish a game and go into matchmaking again, it can't match you up unless you back out. There are also times when the game goes to a full black screen when you try to opt out of ongoing matchmaking. It's frustrating, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't leave a sour taste on my evening.
On top of that, I won and lost several matches with over 250ms ping. They are simply unfun, and I rage-refunded the game. As unfortunate as it is, the game is simply not in a good state, and I wished that I spent my money on F1 24 or something. I initially wanted to keep my purchase because it was a $20 game, and on top of that, there was a 20% pre-order discount plus in-game pre-order incentives. But it's just not enough to keep the purchase with a clear conscience, especially when SEGA's regional pricing is quite weak and they seemingly didn't care (enough) about VF5 Revo and trying to utilize this for funding VF6 instead.