Much to the surprise of fans everywhere, Sega is in the process of reviving the long-running, revolutionary fighting game series Virtua Fighter for the modern day. A new title is in the works, and the developers have already provided a quick glimpse at what it’s going to look like and play like.
With that having been said, not a lot could be pulled from the short gameplay teaser they showed recently, so the developers are sharing more details about the upcoming title via interviews and press events. Sega executive Masayoshi Yokoyama and new Virtua Fighter project producer Riichirou Yamada recently sat down with Famitsu to discuss the latest game, and one of the very interesting topics they touched on was the perception from players that Virtua Fighter is hard to play and the fact that they aim to change that perception with the new game.
Previously, Masayoshi and Yamada provided insight into why it’s taken 18 years for the series to see a proper return with a new entry. The traits that make Virtua Fighter what it is at its core are its innovation and realism, the producer said, and innovating in a space where other fighting games are actively pushing the genre forward is easier said than done.
Thanks to the translation work of our own Nicholas “MajinTenshinhan” Taylor, we learn more about some of the directions and approaches that the team behind the upcoming title is taking to make it impactful.
During the interview, Famitsu asked the developers about immersion and Virtua Fighter’s realism, saying that with the fighting game traditionally being the closest game we see on the market to real martial arts, that that’s one of the reasons high level players strive to master the mind games, reads, and strict inputs.
Opening the door to talk about accessibility here, Yamada had this to say.
“I think that fundamentally, Virtua Fighter is not a difficult game. In Virtua Fighter, the level of research and honed techniques that players have acquired make people think ‘Virtua Fighter is very hard’, but at its base it’s a game with a stick and 3 to 4 buttons which you’re operating, so compared to other fighting games it’s not very complicated at the base level. Also, the end point where you’re doing things with only a single frame as your margin, that’s true in any fighting game,” Yamada explained.
“But I do think that one of the problems is that the steps from the basics to higher levels is difficult to understand,” the producer continued. “‘There are no special moves, so I don’t know where to start’ is something I think a lot of players have probably said. We want to lower the hurdle of how to get into it.”
Famitsu then asked if the developers have any particular ways that they aim to change things up for the modern landscape in the interest of accessibility.
“There’s a lot… But we definitely want to do something about the perception of it being difficult. It has a long history which will inevitably make it feel like the barrier of entry is very high,” Yamada said.
The subject of developers “simplifying” aspects of their modern fighting games to make them more accessible for newcomers is one that tends to be fairly controversial. Longtime players tend to dislike this design philosophy because it can feel like high level tactics are essentially “dumbed down,” making them not as impressive of a feat to pull off, but on the other side of the coin, lowering the barrier of entry definitely helps bring new players in and grow the support for the genre.
From the sounds of it, the team behind the new Virtua Fighter is definitely looking for ways to make new players understand that the series isn’t difficult to jump into, though we don’t quite have specifics on how they aim to do so.
Yamada went on to talk about one of the biggest weaknesses he feels the series has. Said weakness happens to be, put simply, a lack of story.
“Also, Virtua Fighter’s biggest weakness in my opinion probably lies with its characters,” Yamada began. “‘Why are they fighting’ is something that’s barely touched upon within the game. In other fighting games, you have a sort of narrative backbone to the characters which is showcased in some form or other.
“Virtua Fighter was always mainly an arcade game, so that was probably part of [what drew people in], but that is definitely something I want us to insert. And to work hard to express that to the players. Have a story being told, perhaps even through the story mode, would be a fun addition,” Yamada concluded.
The producer reiterated that they are thinking of adding some kind of story mode to the upcoming Virtua Fighter title.