Would you recommend this to someone who's never played a VF game?

[Mitziete]

I watched EVO Japan 2025 and the VF5 combos look so fun to do, is it even possible to get into this game as a new player? like is it all just veterans? or are there lower skill players to play against?

Edit: I got the game, thx for the help everyone 🙂‍↕️

[T//KRL]

I think it's an awesome game for newcomers. It will be pretty hard at first because there are a lot of veterans, but at it's core the game is just 3 buttons and is pretty easy execution-wise. Most combos are pretty lenient when it comes to timing. It doesn't take too long to learn some of your best moves and develop a simple gameplan like "hit them with a quick attack then go for a throw or a combo". From there getting better is super fun for me, as I start to incorporate more advanced stuff and explore the depths of my characters move-set.

Every character has access to good tools on defense that often let you fight back when someone is steamrolling you. When in doubt just try to crouch-punch or sidestep and you can always regain control of the fight if it works. Everything has a counter though. When someone really kicks my ass in this game it's not because they have 1000 hours of secret tech, it's because I was too predictable and they basically countered everything I tried to do.

I'm not sure if there are a lot of new people playing in the low ranks currently, but at some point in the future the game will be releasing on consoles with crossplay and there will definitely be some new players hopping in then!

[joyKiller]

Originally posted by T//KRL:

I'm not sure if there are a lot of new people playing in the low ranks currently, but at some point in the future the game will be releasing on consoles with crossplay and there will definitely be some new players hopping in then!

certainly a good time to get into it before the storm of console veterans get in. Find your character, do command training and the tutorial lessons, play Arcade against CPU to figure out stuff in a low pressure environment. play some ranked. there's always some newcomers around, but many low ranks will be experienced players with 2nd or 3rd characters, i guess.. and last but not least, there's plenty of people to play frienndly room matches with, without the sweating Ranked might bring with it.

As a new player the inagme tutorial will guide through next to everything you need to know fot getting a decent start into the world of VF.


EDIT: also check out SEGAS beginers and chracter guide for getting a sesne of the basics and what character might be for you.
https://virtua-fighter.com/en/guide

[JyoKun]

Come, this game is fun and it's a good start until Virtu Fighter 6's release.

[Mohsin_ramirez]

When I win, I'm happy. When i get my aZZ beat, I'm still happy for the experience. Can't think of another game that makes me feel like this tbh.

[zorbs]

lots of noobs still, don't worry about losing, most people will just have a better grasp of the basics for a bit until you learn more, but once a few things click you will take matches off those people more easily

every game against a new opponent just trying sidestepping, throwing, and mashing a few times in the first round and see how your opponent reacts then keep doing what works until they adapt, then you adapt, and so on, that is vf

[The_Late_Shift]

If your going to play online then no the games matchmaking system and online instability is truly terrible. Offline it is a good VF game.

[DesertRose92]

VF5 FS and later are easy at the start, however very soon you run into a huge wall. If you overcome it the game has a very smooth learning curve again.

Controls and inputs are fairly simply. Three buttons, most move only being as difficult as 43P+K, and you have an input buffer of 10 frames, making frame perfect reactions and combos fairly easy even for beginners.

However if you just mash buttons without really understanding the mechanics you will get frustrated quickly. E.g. a common complain from players of other fighting games is that the block button is useless.
Luckily the mechanics are very binary in VF5 FS+. E.g. if you side step you evade every linear attack, no matter if the hit box hit you or not. If you attack you are invulnerable to all throws.

Learning those mechanics take some time, and you will properly need to consult some online guides and videos to understand them, but afterward you learn more mostly by playing.

[T1g3r]

if Tekken 8 Season 2 is fixed, its probably gonna be better than VF, but we will see... maybe VF 6 will make both franchises better (again) cause competition... VF5:Rev is a nice game for what it is, but also has many flaws (for example, just as Tekken, a cheater problem)...

[joyKiller]

Originally posted by T1g3r:

if Tekken 8 Season 2 is fixed, its probably gonna be better than VF, but we will see... maybe VF 6 will make both franchises better (again) cause competition... VF5:Rev is a nice game for what it is, but also has many flaws (for example, just as Tekken, a cheater problem)...

@Mitziete Don't pay too much attention to VF 5 REVO's suppsoed "cheater problem". t1g3r tends to see cheaters in many fights or opponents where other way more experienced players saw no indication fo cheating.

[T1g3r]

Originally posted by joyKiller:

Originally posted by T1g3r:

if Tekken 8 Season 2 is fixed, its probably gonna be better than VF, but we will see... maybe VF 6 will make both franchises better (again) cause competition... VF5:Rev is a nice game for what it is, but also has many flaws (for example, just as Tekken, a cheater problem)...

@Mitziete Don't pay too much attention to VF 5 REVO's suppsoed "cheater problem". t1g3r tends to see cheaters in many fights or opponents where other way more experienced players saw no indication fo cheating.

right, "more experienced" players LMAO

only cheaters talk down the cheater problem, here and in any other (fighting) games

edit:
game also has rollback issues
unfair/ unbalanced chars
fighting system is bad/ a joke
...
but Shun Di is still kinda fun from time to time

[Shenmue est vie]

Originally posted by DesertRose92:

VF5 FS and later are easy at the start, however very soon you run into a huge wall. If you overcome it the game has a very smooth learning curve again.

Controls and inputs are fairly simply. Three buttons, most move only being as difficult as 43P+K, and you have an input buffer of 10 frames, making frame perfect reactions and combos fairly easy even for beginners.

However if you just mash buttons without really understanding the mechanics you will get frustrated quickly. E.g. a common complain from players of other fighting games is that the block button is useless.
Luckily the mechanics are very binary in VF5 FS+. E.g. if you side step you evade every linear attack, no matter if the hit box hit you or not. If you attack you are invulnerable to all throws.

Learning those mechanics take some time, and you will properly need to consult some online guides and videos to understand them, but afterward you learn more mostly by playing.

Good summary.

The game will get an update very soon so it's the right moment to get into.

[Tortilla916]

Absolutely !

As others have commented, it's only a 3 button fighter so the basics are really easy to pick up,
Punch, Kick, and Guard / Rock-paper-scissors style system.
Guard beats Strikes, Throws beat Guard, Strikes beat Throws.
No meters(except for a certain old drunk) or comeback mechanics to worry about.

The playerbase might not be as big as SF or Tekken but it's far from a dead game, it's pretty consistent each day.
I would check steamdb to see if the player peak is around the time you would usually play.
Although the current playerbase is pretty active daily, they are quite seasoned and not a huge influx of new players coming in. (upcoming console crossplay will help bring in newbies but def expect console veterans to join in too)

You're gonna need some patience finding players in the lower ranks and be ready for a whooping from higher ranks.
But don't let it discourage you, I'm not much of a disciplined player but I'm still able to have a good time online.

The losses will happen but I find in this game especially that the wins are extremely rewarding.

Give it a shot !
If you're looking for something besides Ranked, there's an official discord and a steam chat here where you can look for some people to run some room matches with.

[Tortilla916]

oh yeah I wouldn't worry about cheaters or anything like that
not sure what tiger is going on about

[Scott Clam]

Originally posted by Tortilla916:

oh yeah I wouldn't worry about cheaters or anything like that
not sure what tiger is going on about

Sounds like he's projecting Tekken 8's issues onto VF. Massive cheating problem, poor balancing of characters, game play is a joke... Sounds exactly like playing T8.

[NPC_CO8ALT]

Just a reminder that Cross-Play and more console ports are coming soon, so the low playerbase issue MIGHT be solved in a few months. *fingers crossed*