I was like that too, but in the end i think it was better they did that graphical update thing, if they didn't only hardcore fans would care, but with this updated kind of version of the game, VF5US got larger attention from much more people than just hardcore fans.

Exactly It should be clear by now that adding hit sparks did not convert a single Tekken , SF, or Guilty Gear player. All it did was piss off many loyal VF fans.

If VF is going to go the Hit Sparks, fire ball, explosions, whirlwind route then it will either have to go big or go home. Adding these little impotent red and blue, and yellow clouds simply made VF a laughing stock among Tekken fans. VF's hit sparks look so feeble compared to all of the bull$#it that's on screen during a Tekken fight. It was a very poor attempt to Tekkenize VF.

And all of those closet Tekken, SF players who really secretly want VF to look more like Tekken and SF they are part of the problem. The first thing they said when they saw the hit sparks was: "Oh they give you more information" "Oh you barely notice them" That's just bull$#t. If you barely notice them, then why add them. If after playing the game a while you don't notice them, then the hit sparks aren't giving you useful information after all.

For me, they've added a very ugly blemish to the visual aesthetic of VF and I've just stopped playing VF5US and have gone back to VF5FS. I can't stand to even look at the Tekken-wanna-be hit sparks.

If VF5US doesn't add the option to turn the hit sparks off, if they don't add the single player modes to the game. I'll stick with VF5FS. Dodgy netcode + Tekken-Wanna-Be Hit Sparks + Online-only gameplay is not my idea of a VF game.

Yea VF deserves better. Many players picked and remain loyal to VF precisely because its not Tekken or SF and did not look like Tekken or SF.

The reality is in order for VF to take SF or Tekken hardcore fans they would have to change VF so much that it wouldn't be VF any more , and even then the SF and Tekken hardcore fans would only play VF as a temporary diversion.

If the VF franchise doesn't know how to bring VF into a future that respects the Virtua Fighter concept, then it should at least return back to its roots, bring back Quest Mode, the Clean Animations(no hits sparks), Team Battle Mode, and User Profiles for Vs mode and single player mode.

And if you're going to add HItsparks in 2021, then learn something from Sloclap's SIFU, which btw is single player only!!!!! I can't wait

That's what I really want to see. I particularly want VF4 style movement back without the risk of movement counter hit launches. I've been watching a lot of VF4Evo tournaments again and back crouch dash cancel was so integral to movement there and previous VFs and yet you can't do that in FS. Of course there's the throw system too and it's many implications for escaping a situation as well as how the attacker tries to beat those defensive options.

Simplifying the game hasn't even been effective at drawing in more players and in fact they seem to have lost a lot of popularity since the VF4 games in Japan. I'd definitely take hit explosions and wild characters over simplification of the game mechanics and that might actually be more effective at drawing in players.

I'm dead, no lie this patch better do something about net fam, I'm close to be done with rank. Customization please we need more variety fam.

I kinda agree,
VF5 vanilla was still perfect in my opinion.
Final Showdown was my least favourite in the series because it rely too much on wall bounce and juggles compared to the past games.
Playing online on 5US, I see how modern players are more accustomed to just learn long juggle combos and nothing else.
If they hit you with their memorized juggle combos they deal lot of damage, but if you avoid those they are basically harmless, they can't even dodge properly, no perpection of distances, guards and so on (they are missing the best part of VF).

Modern juggle-centric fighting games really ruined everything.

Now with Ultimate Showdown I'm starting to appreciate more the VF5FS system and the juggles, but I wish the series would go back to the more "clean" VF2 fighting system, while experiment more the "next gen" approach of VF3 with the uneven terrain.

Haven’t played in about 2 weeks.. I wanna play.. then I’m reminded.. it’s still FS. I’ll still don’t mind playing that either for my customs

What did US do that Made you appreciate FS? Cause they are the same game.

1.04 Update and still no fixes to the core problems.

Yuck.

the presentation.
Final Showdown was my least favourite in the VF series even for graphic, music and stage design (too much gray for a Sega game).

Ultimate Shodown fix all this and returntn to a more similar desing of VF5 vanilla, this alone change A LOT for me.

Oh I see… It’s appealing now because it’s update slightly after 9 years with a common user interface? This is the exact reason why we will be waiting on forever to get a VF6

Exactly All the new players care about is "where's my launchers"

Get to advantage and then launch

Getting closer to the end of the beginning of July. Kind of excited to see what happens. I'm not putting my expectations high because I know there's more updates to come, but. I hope the netcode gets more stable in this next patch or eventually (sooner rather than later). Sometimes I can play the same player, but our connection (least on my side) changes from nice to unplayable. This can be anywhere from minutes or days in between our matches.

One thing I can say though. Is when the connection is nice, it's buttery smooth and feels absolutely fantastic. And in this game where a lot of it is blow for blow action, it means a lot because when you're reacting to what's happening in those split seconds, with lag you'll lose a lot of (or all) exchanges if the other dude is flow charting wether his previous move landed or not because he's already doing his next move, whereas you're reacting. So you'll always be behind. That can be hard to react to even offline.. But in a good connection in this game, it feels like you can actually react and win exchanges.

It's appealing because it's not a grey-festival like Final Showdown.
I understand that you want more, but beware that VF6 could follow the same path of the other modern fighting games (incomplete roster, unbalaced system, comeback mechanics, season pass everywhere, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together lol)

There is also another reason: 9 years playing other fighting game with their poor mechanics, made me appreciate more even the "worst" VF entry.
It's like day and night.

Where is the fun in this?
Launching and then hit with your prepackaged juggle combo (the only thing they train for hours).

Where is my 1.04 update ?

same here, no update

That’s why I like You MarlyJay.

Or maybe it's just the unpopular truth and we just hit a nerve