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YOSHINORI ONO SFIV PRODUCER  

This is a real indepth interview from Gamasutra with Yoshinori Ono on Street Fighter IV.

One thing that seems to always come up in these interviews is Street Fighter III and how "complicated" the game play system is. The thing is, after spending a month or two with SFIV myself, I actually think the Focus Attack system is far more complicated than the parry system in SF3.

If you watch some of the newer videos coming out, a lot of top players are making good use of it but the actual inputs for a focus attack dash cancel among other things are much more complicated than just tapping forward or down for a parry. I think a lot of casuals and journalists do not realize this yet and the game is still being presented as a "simpler street fighter, a rewind to Street Fighter II".

I think once the game is out on console and people start playing others online who have had time with the game they will see this. 

Of course you can play the game SFII style, but to do real damage in this game you must utilize the focus attack dash cancel system. We'll see how it plays out.

Comments

[bradido]

I totally agree FA is way more complicated. I don't get taking our parries but keeping kara throws and adding a new mechanic that relies on being used in concert with dash cancels and jump cancels. Novice players are going to be in for a big surprise against competitive opponents if they expect a more simple SF.

I think if you don't like parries you are :
1. Theory playing and think you can "just parry anything"
2. You and/or your opponents are predictable/unadaptive players

[haunts]

Yeah I mean I have my own issues with parries as well, like being able to parry in the air I think encourages jumping and SF3 can be a real jumpy game. Even still, it's not a complicated game mechanic.

I forgot about kara-throws. You're right, that in itself is more complicated than a parry. Beyond that, I'm reading about kara-cancelling normal moves into ex moves (!) so the ex moves has properties of the normal moves. Some characters like Ken seem benefit from this. I'm not sure if these kara-cancels were intentionally put into the game, but it doesnt matter, they are still there.

So you read some more on SRK and people are talking about canceling the Ultra from a Focus Attack and only a handful of people even know how to do it. The game has only been around for about 2 months now so I can only imagine how complicated things will get down the line.