Street Fighter 6 review; 5 months after launch

Street fighter 6 hasn't actually changed from launch, at least not the way Mortal Kombat already has. The game released to praise from both casual and competitive players. Fast forward 5 months later, the game is still going strong with the second DLC character (AKI) releasing a few weeks ago.

Player Count

According to Steam Charts, Street Fighter averages almost 11,000 players for the past month, peaking daily at around 20,000. It's clear that there is still player retention on both sides, casual and hardcore.

Gameplay

The gameplay of Street Fighter 6 is the most expansive the series has ever been and it clearly shows. Coming back to this game after a break feels refreshing where you make progress. This is all thanks to the World Tour mode and the general unlocks to get from completing matches and stages.

There seems to always be something to work towards. Whether it'd be over 100 pieces of artwork to unlock or alternative character costumes, the game is pretty generous in giving you things to grind.

Speaking on character balancing, the game is surprisingly quite when it comes to large scale balancing patches. There have only been a few changes, mainly the to the new DLC characters Rashid and AKI. Other then that, the base roster has been largely untouched save for a few bug fixes.

"Story"

In case you are unaware of hoe Street Fighter games portray their story mode, it'd done through cutscenes or slide shows.

The story mode is actually pretty fun in terms of gameplay. It's a simple 12/5 stage battle that plays cutscenes before and after all stages are complete. The thing is though, that's for every character. So essentially, you are getting 20 characters worth of story to complete (including the 2 DLC characters added since launch).

Even if it's not as grand as Mortal Kombat 1's new story mode with fancy cutscenes and action set pieces. If you interested in specific characters and their motivation, like Luke for example, you are going to have a good time.

Rewards

The game had a pretty solid reward system with over 100 pieces of both fan-made and official art work to collect. There are also 100s of player cards to showcase your favorite character or funny quips. Every character as can be progressed with "kudos" and instantly unlock a player card once the required kudos have been met. For example, Chun-Li has a player card that showcases and artwork of her and the phrase "Hair Buns or Bust."

Overall

The game is a solid fighter and an excellent testament to the quality of the game and it's modes. I'd recommend picking this game up on sale if this may be your first fighting game. If you are even slightly accustomed to fighting games, it's worth the full price.