Why on earth are the cutscenes all still images?

[root]

Let's be fair - it's not like the UNS series was known for gameplay. 30FPS Fighting games barely register as games. Not to mention the fact that it's almost impossible to lose a battle.

I picked UNS4 up for the storyline and production values which it showed off in the previous titles. Skip all the anime filler, and get to watch amazing in-engine cutscenes at 4K. Now the story is delivered via still images, with some horrible blurring/particle effects to make them look "less still". It draws away from the entire experience.

In the extremely few scenes that are actually animated, they're pre-rendered.. and look absolutely miserable. If they're at 480p, they're at a higher resolution than they look.

I heard about all the issues with crashing, stutter etc - and I've not seen anything at all like that, but I'm seeing an extremely downgraded game from the previous titles in the series. This feels like a €10 add-on pack for UNS3, rather than a new game. I imagine that with the low production value, a €10 title was what was budgeted for. I mean, I the title is locked to 720p/1080p. I hear people talk about how the graphics engine was updated, but being forced to play at 1/4 the resolution of UNS3 really isn't making me feel like that.

[Hayatemaru]

If you picked up a fighting game solely for the storyline and production value of story mode, you clearly don't understand the concept of a fighting game. Yes, the story of the game was produced like garbage, but that doesn't mean it's just an add-on pack for UNS3.

Not only does the game's pace feel much faster and smoother than previous titles, but there's also new mechanics introduced this time around. Not only did we get Leader Switch, we also have the new 3-round system, elemental effects (Depending on the stage you're in, elemental jutsus can have new properties such as lightning on a puddle of water.), and more.

If you hate the story cutscenes, just skip them and read the manga because the anime isn't much better at conveying the story than the game and contains way more fillers than the game does. People that have crashing issues either had an AMD R9 which caused crashing because of a driver issue that AMD later fixed. This was not an issue on Storm 4's part.

Also, whoever said the resolution was 1/4 that of UNS3 clearly don't understand how this engine handles new resolutions. 720p is at 720p, 1080p is at 1080p. One gripe I do have with this game is the fact that you can only play in 720p or 1080p in the game settings, but you could easily change that in the INI file that it almost makes it not worth complaining about.

I'll say it once more, the point of a fighting game is replay value, and this game certainly has way more replay value than any other game in the UNS series that I've played.

[root]

But.. it's an awful fighting game. It doesn't even run at 60fps. The AI is far, far too easy. It's full of QTE's. The previous titles were amazing story-driven games, with fun little fighting minigames thrown in.

Why would I skip the cutscenes? I want to know how the story ends. I'm just disappointed that they're being delivered in the most boring medium possible for a Video Game, wheras the previous titles had a stellar array of in-engine cutscenes. Even the "in-engine" stuff now is pre-rendered, and at an even lower resolution.

[Hayatemaru]

Originally posted by Time:

But.. it's an awful fighting game. It doesn't even run at 60fps. The AI is far, far too easy. It's full of QTE's. The previous titles were amazing story-driven games, with fun little fighting minigames thrown in.

The 60FPS gripe is a small one at that. Nobody who goes to tournament finals will complain about a game being 30FPS. If it were an awful fighting game, how did it sell so much over the years?
You clearly don't have any knowledge about fighting games. First of all, the AI in nearly EVERY fighting game is easy. Second, the QTEs are only for Story Mode. Again, for the last time, story is NOT what should drive a fighting game. The problem with the previous titles is exactly that! They were way too story-driven! UNS games are NOT 70-hour RPG titles, they're fighting games. Those fun little minigames got very boring very quickly. And again, if you're buying a FIGHTING game for STORY, you shouldn't be buying fighting games. That's like telling someone that you bought Fire Emblem for it's rich, deep combat mechanics.

What matters in a fighting game is that the mechanics are solid, fluid, and rewards the user for having more skill in the game than the previous. All of these are qualities that exist in this game.

Originally posted by Time:

Why would I skip the cutscenes? I want to know how the story ends. I'm just disappointed that they're being delivered in the most boring medium possible for a Video Game, wheras the previous titles had a stellar array of in-engine cutscenes. Even the "in-engine" stuff now is pre-rendered, and at an even lower resolution.

Originally posted by <<R.A.G.>> - Good Game Design:

If you hate the story cutscenes, just skip them and read the manga because the anime isn't much better at conveying the story than the game and contains way more fillers than the game does.

Originally posted by <<R.A.G.>> - Good Game Design:

read the manga because the anime isn't much better at conveying the story than the game and contains way more fillers than the game does.

Originally posted by <<R.A.G.>> - Good Game Design:

read the manga

You're not a fan of reading comments before replying are you?

And finally I'll say it once more...

STORY IS NOT THE MAIN POINT OF A FIGHTING GAME. THE MAIN POINT IS THE CORE GAMEPLAY AND COMPETITIVE VALUE.

Here are a list of fighting games made popular by their gameplay rather than story:
-Street Fighter (Street Fighter 2 had no story besides it's arcade mode with no plot)
-Tekken
-Soul Calibur (This game's story was purely text-based on a map in Soul Calibur 2, which is arguably the best one. Ironically enough, the ones with plots are people's least favorite.)
-BlazBlue
-Guilty Gear (This one only got a story once XX Accent Core +R was released, but was popular during it's X2 Vanilla days)
-Super Smash Bros. (This one has absolutely no story)
-Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi (Plot was composed of simply fights with one QTE that finishes the fight instantly or changes your player or something else that's small.)
-Dragon Ball XenoVerse (This one also has a poorly executed story)
-Naruto: Clash of Ninja (And this one also had a really poorly executed story mode)

And those are just on the top of my head.
All of the previous games had pre-rendered cutscenes too, so don't even try to complain about that. But again, fighting games aren't driven by story nor should they, so whether or not the cutscenes are a low resolution shouldn't even matter.

[Thomas]

I agree with you about the poor quality of the story mode in this game. They did a MUCH better job in the previous games (except for revolution, of course), and they clearly should have done the same as they did with Storm 3. IMHO, it's a good game, but it's not what they promised us.

[root]

Originally posted by <<R.A.G.>> - Good Game Design:

Here are a list of fighting games made popular by their gameplay rather than story:
-Street Fighter (Street Fighter 2 had no story besides it's arcade mode with no plot)
-Tekken
-Soul Calibur (This game's story was purely text-based on a map in Soul Calibur 2, which is arguably the best one. Ironically enough, the ones with plots are people's least favorite.)
-BlazBlue
-Guilty Gear (This one only got a story once XX Accent Core +R was released, but was popular during it's X2 Vanilla days)
-Super Smash Bros. (This one has absolutely no story)
-Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi (Plot was composed of simply fights with one QTE that finishes the fight instantly or changes your player or something else that's small.)
-Dragon Ball XenoVerse (This one also has a poorly executed story)
-Naruto: Clash of Ninja (And this one also had a really poorly executed story mode)

..but, those are good fighting games! Well, most of them are. Did you not see the quality of the story in UNS3? It was actually gripping. I stopped watching the Anime a good decade ago, and decided to wrap up on the story via the games.

I thought they were brilliant. They skipped the filler, had gorgeous cutscenes, and gorgeous, long sequences which basically acted as a reward for sitting through the fighting sequences - which at best, were just compliments to the art style. They're gorgeous to watch, but not challenging in any way. Y->Y->B->Y->A->LT->B->B->B->B->Y->B etc~ win. Pretty, but far from being €50 worth of meat for a game.

Also, 30FPS is indeed fine for Naruto Games - because they're really, really not fighting games. 60FPS is an absolute staple for any core fighting game. Even Smash Bros. games are targeted to 60FPS, because 30 is absolutely terrible for combo-based twitch gaming. The reason 30 was fine for Naruto however, is again, because the story was the main offering. The fighting sequences were basically just fillers between the story. There is absolutely nothing memorable about the fighting sequences in any Naruto game - barring the aesthetics.

[Hayatemaru]

Originally posted by Time:

Originally posted by <<R.A.G.>> - Good Game Design:

Here are a list of fighting games made popular by their gameplay rather than story:
-Street Fighter (Street Fighter 2 had no story besides it's arcade mode with no plot)
-Tekken
-Soul Calibur (This game's story was purely text-based on a map in Soul Calibur 2, which is arguably the best one. Ironically enough, the ones with plots are people's least favorite.)
-BlazBlue
-Guilty Gear (This one only got a story once XX Accent Core +R was released, but was popular during it's X2 Vanilla days)
-Super Smash Bros. (This one has absolutely no story)
-Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi (Plot was composed of simply fights with one QTE that finishes the fight instantly or changes your player or something else that's small.)
-Dragon Ball XenoVerse (This one also has a poorly executed story)
-Naruto: Clash of Ninja (And this one also had a really poorly executed story mode)

..but, those are good fighting games! Well, most of them are. Did you not see the quality of the story in UNS3? It was actually gripping. I stopped watching the Anime a good decade ago, and decided to wrap up on the story via the games.

I thought they were brilliant. They skipped the filler, had gorgeous cutscenes, and gorgeous, long sequences which basically acted as a reward for sitting through the fighting sequences - which at best, were just compliments to the art style. They're gorgeous to watch, but not challenging in any way. Y->Y->B->Y->A->LT->B->B->B->B->Y->B etc~ win. Pretty, but far from being €50 worth of meat for a game.

Also, 30FPS is indeed fine for Naruto Games - because they're really, really not fighting games. 60FPS is an absolute staple for any core fighting game. Even Smash Bros. games are targeted to 60FPS, because 30 is absolutely terrible for combo-based twitch gaming. The reason 30 was fine for Naruto however, is again, because the story was the main offering. The fighting sequences were basically just fillers between the story. There is absolutely nothing memorable about the fighting sequences in any Naruto game - barring the aesthetics.

You should stop talking about what you don't know about. Most of those games are at EVO and the ones that aren't have become fan favorites. Those ARE good fighting games. I'm not going to repeat myself because you clearly DON'T know what makes a fighting game good. If you wanted a story-centric game, just play something like Rise of the Tomb Raider. Storm games ARE fighting games hence why every website online lists it as a FIGHTING game and why reviews talk about FIGHTING MECHANICS.

And again, last time I'll say this as well, QTE ONLY EXIST IN STORY MODE, NOT THE REAL GAMEPLAY. You can't beat people like me by mashing B, you need strategy. 30FPS is NOT terrible for combo-based fighting games. In fact, the only reason we use 60fps is the same reason movies only use 24fps. It's because that's just how it started.

The storm games NEVER catered to story until storm 3. And in fact, Storm 3 was the ONLY storm game to advertise that the story mode was good. Storm 1 advertised next gen gameplay with 3D, storm 2 advertised how they expanded on it, storm generations advertised how the game was rebuilt on a new, more competitive and faster paced engine, storm 3 advertised boss battles being back, storm revolution advertised the new online and gameplay mechanics, and storm 4 advertised faster and more exhilarating combat.
Story mode is one mode in this game compared to free battle, practice, survival modes, tournament modes, league modes, and more.
Also don't give me that crap that the game isn't a real fighter because it's 3D because Pokken is less technical than this game and it's at EVO.

Stop deluding yourself on the main focus on this game because it's no less of a fighting game than Pokken and persona 4 ultimax which are both considered competitive fighting games.

[ZEbani]

I couldn't agree more with R.A.G
a never ending obsession is if the game can run at 60 fps,if not burn that ♥♥♥♥♥!!!!
story mode is not the first point that should be focused for not only fighting games but also games like DMC. It is important I agree but it may not be not the strongest feature.
Mechanics is what matters and playability..
However, you know what ? you can ask for a refund. Just do it , Life is too short for complaining about small issues like this. Why bother??
if they don't accept your refund offer ,let me know I WILL PAY YOU,so you can stop playing and you don't need to feel miserable again.
And no I am not a fan boy, it s just sad to see people complaining this much over a game

[Doddery]

because cc2 was more lazy than usual for the last storm

[Hayatemaru]

Originally posted by Doddery:

because cc2 was more lazy than usual for the last storm

Because adding new combat features practically used in games like Marvel VS Capcom is lazy?

[Borjalyokox]

Because CC2 was lazy.

Proof:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlrQ_OhEpBY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0shAhxU1uSQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQu7HaieNLs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2wW3mSbwtY


I can just imagine them releasing an expansion with a story mode update:

''No more still images! Enjoy the story mode even more than before! With cinematics that should be in the main game but we thought we could take even more money from you!''

Also... to all that people saying a fighting game should be focused on it's ''competitive'' part.

Is any storm game competitive? if it is please tell my why, because it isn't, at least they could focus on the story mode as they've been doing before.

[Hayatemaru]

Originally posted by Borjalyokox:

Also... to all that people saying a fighting game should be focused on it's ''competitive'' part.

Is any storm game competitive? if it is please tell my why, because it isn't, at least they could focus on the story mode as they've been doing before.

Just because YOU see it as non-competitive doesn't mean it's not competitive. Super Smash Bros. N64 was mocked for not being competitive, then Melee was. The only reason why it was seen as competitive by hardcore fighting game fans is because they got to EVO by donating to breast cancer and requesting the game.

As you can see, SSBM is competitive and even has tournaments in 2016 still going. Let me ask you this... how does a game go from a "party game" to a "competitive tournament fighter" by just donating to breast cancer? It doesn't. The game was competitive unintentionally because Sakurai wanted it to be a party game, but people found exploits that could make it more competitive. This game is no different, you can exploit the dash cancelling like they would wave dashing, you could exploit dodge-dashing, charged chakra dash stagger RPS, and so much more. Hell, someone once dodge-shuriken'd me, switched and countered. He knew that it would bait a dash and he got a counter on me, and happened to use a strike back support. If that's not viable for competitive play, you should really rethink what you know about fighting games.

[Hawke]

@OP The last chapter includes a 3D cut-scene with QTEs and playable flashbacks like in NSUNS3. Much shiny.
@<<R.A.G.>> Agreed.

After playing several Storm games I'd say that the story mode is more like tutorial (except for Revolution), the challenging part is MP.

[Demgonadhits]

CC2 was really lazy this time around with the story mode. I think they delayed this game for the lackluster adventure mode because of how short and empty the story mode was. Storm 4 was dissappointing game in my opinion but it takes more than 2hrs to realize that and I can't return it anymore.

[Demgonadhits]

Originally posted by Borjalyokox:

Because CC2 was lazy.

Proof:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlrQ_OhEpBY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0shAhxU1uSQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQu7HaieNLs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2wW3mSbwtY


I can just imagine them releasing an expansion with a story mode update:

''No more still images! Enjoy the story mode even more than before! With cinematics that should be in the main game but we thought we could take even more money from you!''

Also... to all that people saying a fighting game should be focused on it's ''competitive'' part.

Is any storm game competitive? if it is please tell my why, because it isn't, at least they could focus on the story mode as they've been doing before.

Wow...They really dropped the ball on the story mode.

[NotJace]

Originally posted by Borjalyokox:

Because CC2 was lazy.

Proof:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlrQ_OhEpBY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0shAhxU1uSQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQu7HaieNLs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2wW3mSbwtY


I can just imagine them releasing an expansion with a story mode update:

''No more still images! Enjoy the story mode even more than before! With cinematics that should be in the main game but we thought we could take even more money from you!''

Also... to all that people saying a fighting game should be focused on it's ''competitive'' part.

Is any storm game competitive? if it is please tell my why, because it isn't, at least they could focus on the story mode as they've been doing before.

Oh boy aHAHAHAHAAH