itsbigpanda

The gameplay is fluid and the game is a lot more accessible with the indepth guides and tutorials. Somewhat easy entry barrier with a high skill ceiling, which is expected from modern day fighters. Single player seems to be a bit lacking, but who plays fighting games for the story? Soul Calibur is back, baby!

I was afraid of how "simplified" the game would be, however the complexity has just been moved over to the tag mechanic of the game. Yes, there are auto combos, but the actual game play is not as linear as negative reviews make it out to be. Mix-ups are still there and tag mechanics allow for many different combo routes that aren't just 5AAA > 5BBB. The complexity and fundamentals of fighting games are still there. Combining all this with the fast and fluid game with its DIVERSE cast equates to a very entertaining experience. I was also concerned about the DLC pricing. The game itself is cheaper than most games, being at around $50 (which lessened the blow a bit) on release with 20 characters already loaded in. There is an optional $20 "all-in-one" pack that will include the other 20 characters announced for the game. The RWBY characters are free and DLC pack 1 is free during the first two weeks of the game's release. So $70 for everything? I ended up realizing that I had spent over $100 getting into SFV with its season passes so this was nothing new to me. The story is alright. I wish they could've done more with CG art and characterization, but it's really just a fun little fanservice thing to play through. Nothing serious. The soundtrack, as usual with anime games, is outstanding. It brings in popular tracks from the various franchises represented in the game. Finally, the netplay. Netplay seems to be fine. 3+ connections are always to be preferred, however I noticed that if you just let the intros play out all the way, 2 bar or even 1 bar connections will play smoothly as well. So keep that in mind. Overall I would say that it's a great anime fighter that is an awesome gateway to introducing newcomers to fighting games, but it also has complexities that veterans such as myself can enjoy.