The Evolution of Flow in Street Fighter 4 to Street Fighter 5

Fighting game is a unique genre in term of flow. The flow of the game is highly dependent on the gap between the player’s ability to play the game. A player with a high skill level will most likely not find any form of ‘flow’ in the game playing against his grandmother who’s never played any game in her life. Playing against the artificial intelligence in the game do have a certain flow in it, but most fighting game is designed for player versus player.

So now that we’ve stated that flow works between the player, fighting games nowadays have created some sort of flow for themselves, built within the game as a game mechanic. In Street Fighter 4, players who had lost half of their health are allowed to perform an Ultra move, a powerful move which can turn the game around with just one clean hit. This creates a bridge which separates the more ‘chill’ first half and the much more intense second half of the game, as the player who dealt half health damage must now ‘respect’ the idea that the game can be turned around anytime. The problem with that is the uncomfortable feeling of uniformed flow. The player can almost know what to expect when the game reach a certain period – It’s like knowing that a jump-scare is around the corner and you are just waiting for it to happen.

Jump forward 8 years later, Capcom announced Street Fighter 4’s successor, Street Fighter 5. In the sequel (and I use that term very loosely), the Ultra bar has been removed completely, and they’ve added new mechanic such as the V-Trigger, V-Reversal, and a three level super bar. The V abilities, while working similarly as the previous game (being able to fill up as you lose roughly half your health) does not have to filled to full to be able to use. Players can now spend their resources anytime, making the game more random. The flow of the game is now more random – the best way to describe this is that now the jump-scare may happen anytime.

The super moves (or Critical Art) can also be spent earlier for EX skills, which once again randomize the game. This system exists in the predecessor, but it was overshadowed by the Ultra mechanics. Overall, Capcom knew what the players were feeling about the flow of their game, and chose to take a bold step forward on changing what worked for 8 years with something new – something that is generally appreciated by their fans. 

Star Control 2

I can almost guarantee that if I was old enough to play and understand this game back in 1992, I would not leave my house for days or weeks. I believe back in the days, content and depth were not paid as much attention as it was compared to games nowadays. I remember going back to play a number of 90s games and they were mostly focused towards one mechanic and the game is built upon that. Simplicity was the key back then, and it was not a bad thing necessarily – but it certainly made games like Star Control 2 stood out among its peer.

The worlds existing in the game is vibrant and lively. Sure, they aren’t detailed with extreme uniqueness, but each time the player makes a trip to a different world it feels like an adventure. Failing to make the right choice can sometimes result in the permanent death of a race – something that can make you either chuckle or feel terrible for letting that happen.

There are a lot of ‘untold’ story with how the game present its character. It tells a huge depth of story without explaining it directly. Their world building is their way of narrating the story – something that was tastefully and magnificently done with the game. The game pulls you in with its world – it makes you want to participate and explore its vast content by continuously introducing new characters, race, and worlds.

Unfortunately, I was only able to put in a very short amount of hours in the game. If I had known of this game’s existence 10 years ago or so, I can almost confidently say that I would be an even more introverted kid.