Topic: Fighting EX Layer OT

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I’ve actually never played any of the previous games (Street Fighter EX series or Fighting Layer), and I’m pretty new to fighting games in general, but I decided to pick this game up anyway. It just looks so cool! Having played it for several hours, the thin package kinda makes me wish I’d waited for some reviews, but I don't regret my purchase and think it's a decent game nonetheless (price-gouging and launch-day DLC aside).

Here are my initial impressions:

• Cool characters and impressive graphics...definitely makes the most of the Unreal Engine 4! Coupled with snappy sound-effects and showers of flying sparks, you can almost feel the impact of each hit. The backgrounds can be a little lifeless, however...you won't find any bystanders cheering you on here!
• Character count is low, with only 12 characters for the $40 "light" edition, or 1 extra character for the $60 "standard" edition (otherwise sold separately for $9). The roster covers all the bases, but still...that's a low number, especially considering that not everyone from the previous games is represented, and none of the characters are from Fighting Layer! Even worse, each fighter only has TWO color schemes by default, with more colors sold as launch-day DLC for another $10...boooo! At least give us more colors to pick from! Honestly...how long does it take to make a pallette swap?! (Update: the game is getting 2 free characters by the end of summer 2018)!
• Having a low amount of characters and releasing at $40 seems okay, but then there’s also the lack of arcade mode or story mode. Even the $60 version doesn't feature these modes (you only get one more character and 10 additional "Gougi decks"...see further down this list). I knew about this going in, and I didn’t think it would be an issue, but now I really lament the omission, especially since I’m unfamiliar with the characters. As with the additional characters, the dev said they'd possibly add these in the future depending on how well the game sells. (UPDATE : free arcade mode added, but it doesn't even have any endings! Booo!)
• Online matches have been easy to get into (USA West Coast anyway) and the community is preeetty darn good already, which makes it a slaughtering ground for noobs like me and another reason I wish there were more single-player modes. Netcode seems solid, and you can modify your match search settings to only allow certain connection speeds, geographic regions, and ranks.
• Lacks any way to create an identity online. By that I mean you can't set a title, profile background or victory quote. You just have your username, record, and whatever color you choose for a character.
• Another BIG omission is the lack of a Replay mode. Like...you can’t view your previous fights! You’ll have to use the PS4’s record feature, I guess, which is very inconvenient. BOOOOOOO!!!
• For single-player, there’s a few different training modes. First, the basic practice mode, which seems to have all the expected features (i.e. recording the dummy). Then there's a challenge mode where you perform trick combos for each character. I suck at combos and couldn’t get very far (dang crouching normals into dragon punch). Lastly, there's “Kumite” mode, found buried in the practice mode options, which is similar to SFV’s Survival mode except it's endless, only takes place in the practice stage, and lacks any purchasable boosts (just a health recharge between rounds). One annoying thing about these training modes is that if you get challenged to an online match, when the match is over, you can't resume where you left off and are kicked back to the main menu! BOOOOO!!!!
• In addition to traditional special move input, you can opt for a “progressive” move input instead (like some of the characters in Street Fighter V have, i.e. Ed and Falke) where you just press and release a single direction and button at the same time. They each their own merits, but I ended up just sticking with the traditional input.
• I'm not an expert on combos, but it seems like the combo system here is more forgiving (timing-wise) and easier to pick up than in, say, Mortal Kombat X. This game has a unique, flexible chain system that lets you link normals in a L>M>H succession. For example, you can chain a medium normal into another medium normal or a heavy normal, but NOT into a light normal. This is especially effective if you run into your opponents, since all characters literally slide when you stop running, which cancels out the knockback of your normals when you start hitting your opponent. Definitely encourages a rushdown approach, as many characters also have a running slide attack or other running normals that start active frames from 1/4 to 1/2 of the screen!
• Then there's Super Canceling, where you can cancel one super into another (up to 3 times if you have a maxed out meter, or more with certain Gougi abilities). Nothing new to the series, I understand, but definitely a different feel than your typical Street Fighter V match.
• Unless I missed something, there's no way to break out of a combo (unless you have the "Illusion" Gougi ability and have taken 300 damage) which can be frustrating when you're watching your character get railed by a chain of 3 Super Combos in a row.
• Fights are best of 5 instead of 3, but don't feel much longer than a best of 3 match in any other game. It does however create more strategy in how you use your Super Meter, which carries from round to round.
• Then there’s the Gougi system...six miscellaneous abilities that activate during the fight (like extra speed, a meter bonus, dash invisibility, or being able to break a combo), once you meet prerequisites (like throwing the opponent 2 times or dashing for 6 seconds, etc). I thought we’d be able to mix and match the abilities into custom decks (like the gems in Street Fighter x Tekken), but no...you just choose from preset decks. And it should be noted that you only have 5 decks in the $40 version and can only get the other 10 decks by spending $2.50 for each, $22 for a set of 10, or getting the $60 version in the first place. Also, you CANNOT earn more decks in-game, you have to buy them with real money...the only saving grace for the $40 version being that they have 2 extra "free" decks that rotate out daily. So far, these extra abilities don't seem unbalanced, but maybe that's because people don't know how to use them proficiently yet. I see more experienced players raving about them on dedicated fight-site Shoryuken.
• It's extremely easy to get the platinum trophy in this game (and you don't need the $60 edition to get it either). Like...you don't even actually need to win any matches online, just play them. Also, the Gougi deck "Supernova" makes the character-based mastery trophies a cinch in Training Mode...in some instances, you can literally take a character you've never played before, hit the dummy with a short combo into a super, and get the mastery trophy just seconds later. So if you're looking to trophies to help push you to do better, or want the game to encourage you to master characters you otherwise wouldn't play, or if you want a platinum trophy you can brag about...this won't cut it.
• Should also note that there's one particularly annoying trophy for collectively dealing 500,000 damage in training mode that takes about 4 hours if you spam super combos with the "Supernova" Gougi damage modifier (or an untold amount of hours naturally). That's almost how long it takes to get all the other trophies in the game! They shoulda had more trophies relating to ranking up or playing more online matches, especially considering that this is online-only and such a niche title that it could always use more players!
• Lastly, I'll just say that the 2 GB game size is amazing...in a world of 40-60 GB games, it's nice to have something that I'll always have the HD space for.

Anyway, overall I’d give the game a 6/10 so far, from my noob/casual player perspective. It’s a solid game that is completely devoid of extras, and perhaps more of an "investment" than a full game at the moment...in many ways, it's fairly comparable to SFV was at launch, content-wise (minus the fact that you NEED real world money here to use more color swaps and Gougi decks). That aside, it’s still worth a serious look from fighting fans that don’t mind the complete lack of single-player content and just want to compete online with a new, more combo-centric game.