This is still killing me, WHO the hell is the guy in the picture? I know he's used Tony Blair in the past, but this guy /= tony blair.

WHO, WHO I say!?!?!

Lovely review. I've been having to live with two SC4 freaks for quite some time now, but could never quite understand the obsession, because I require games to have a bit more structure than punching about on some pretty-colored platform. From what I can tell though, for SC4 for the Xbox anyway, the obsession is fighting with your custom characters online against other custom characters. I know Yahtzee might have overlooked this, primarily because he tends to dislike that aspect of Xbox gaming. But according to my zombie sources, the thrill of fighting a thinking opponent is what this game is primarily about for a lot of multi-player versus obsessed people.

I have to agree with the point of needlessly cramming 2 franchise's together to cross promote and sucker people in. I do wonder what he'd have to say about Marvel vs. Capcom then.

"lolol, I beat Marvel vs. Capcom on very easy by pressing square the whole time! HINK HINK~! oh wait, let me play the game on moderately easy.

*technical difficulties*

LOLOL this game takes no skills, lolol, I beat it by JUMPING and pressing square this time~!

I'M THE BEEEEST!

HINK! LET'S GO TO THE MALL, DOUG!"

TheZaius:
Oh, c'mon. I don't see why Yahtzee has such beef with fighting games. The main complaint I've heard is that it's easy to lose against a button-mashing newbie. Yeah, that's only the case in the Super Smash Bros. games... and those aren't even necessarily fighting games.

wt kind of retarded....how is smash bros not necessarily a fighting game? how about you get off yahtzee's d*ck and actually use the brain god gave you? of course smash bros is a fighting game and a great one at that, and its more strategic at times than other fighting games. anyone who honestly believes its easy to lose against a button basher on smash bros should face anyone who is semi-decent on it, online or off, and i guarantee you would lose...against me anyway. it would be a cold day in hell before i was ever beaten by someone who hammered the same button haphazardly.

anyhu

im starting to agree with what people are saying about yahtzee not even liking the games any more, ive only seen about 2 or 3 games out of the ones he has reviewed that he likes, and he just bashes every game that is actually popular. and as for this review, he is playing the game by himself, and everyone knows you couldnt just spam throw against a person with half a brain and win. plus his definition of a good game basically alienates sports, simulation and other games, so in my eyes that review is flawed somewhat

finally, somebody else complains about the blunt non-cutting cutlery.

I loved the review, and agree 100% with Yatzhee. Yet, I still bought Soul Calibur 4 a couple of days ago. No ofcourse I didn't buy it for the rediculous single-player mode, nor for the character creation (although I just had to make Afro Ninja, with a very squeeky voice). I bought it for 1 simple reason: to beat the living shit out of my little brother, his friends and my friends without getting the repercussions of doing it in real life. And that's Yathzee's problem: he views games from a single-player perspective. No wonder he would ponder over why anyone would like fighting games: they;re not ment for playing on your own, it's about seeing the face of your friend after you kicked his ass again.

Barciad:
Never got the point of fighting games.....ever.
Good for a quick laugh with a friend, but nothing more.
No depth, no substance, no real distance.
Yahtzee calls a spade a spade, so go sue him them.

No depth, really?

JuJuTheDinosaur:

It's downright despicable to see how much Yahtzee has turned som of you into word - for - word quoting sheep. All these references to "angsty japanese looking teenagers with crazy hair do's and big swords" wouldn't have crossed your mind at all before you started watching Yahtzee's reviews.

Actually people used that for years to describe FF7/FF8 main characters. It's cliche.

Also I agree with him on how fighting games feel like one aspect ripped from a full game and given it's own. At least Shenmue and Smash Brothers Melee/Brawl tried to be a real/full game. Even though I hate the fighting genre I still consider Smash Brothers a great game. To the point where Nintendo's other mario games should get the same treatment and have characters from all their licenses

http://whatnowawd.blogspot.com/2008/06/yahtzee-doesnt-like-video-games.html

At first I thought he could have been wrong, because sometimes Yatzee reviews games with a little bit on how he thought it could have been better...but after seeing this, I'm with Andrew all the way, and Yatzee just does nothing but complain.

When I first watched this, it really pissed me off to no end. Yes I know I wasn't suppost to take a review with a grain of salt ((I still love World ends with you)) but this time he's gone far as to critisize in a genre he doesn't even have a clue about, and that is just down right stupid.

Stories don't make a fighting game worth playing, I mean if I wanted story I would play a Tales of game, or Planescape: Torment. Now before I go on, let me say that I've been playing several fighting games, and I can say that while I am a little good, I'm not a perfect player. This to me is what makes a fighting game.

A wacky, but balanced list of characters
A bitchin soundtrack
Just overal insane gameplay, with killer moves

While I don't like lossing ((Who doesn't?)), there's something about defeating an enemy with a super move that just feels down right satisfying. While I will agree with Yatzee on SC4 selling out ((Darth Vader)), and yeah his review was good for a few chuckles, I was dissapointed in him after his review on this game. The sad thing is, I hate to post negative feedback, even if this is the internet, home of all sorts of negativity.

I'll still watch Yatzees reviews, and chuckle at some of the complex words he uses, but Yatzee...please just stick to what you know, or if reviewing something in a field you don't know, at least try to talk to somebody that does understand it.

PS
Every game in general needs this

So true. Personaly, this just reenforces my belife that I should watch Yatzee more as a comedian then a game reviewer.
What he does here is basicly saying "hey! I don't like fighting games, so now I'm gonna review one and talk shit about it even though it really woulden't matter even if it was gods gift to man, and god and jesus went to my frigin house and gave it to me whille constantly praising it.

As for the argument that fighting games are "just using a part of a full game" dosen't this mean that all games who aren't hybrids of serval genres aren't full games as much as they focus on a single part of a gaming experience. Is Half-life 2 not a full game becuse we never get to man a plane? Are all racing games not full games becuse we can't stepp out of the car? No. They do one thing and they do it good. If you don't like that thing then you'r not gonna like the game.

I still like Yatzee, but I don't really care much for his oppinions on games anymore.

Aku_San:
Say what you want about Yahtzee, at least he has the balls to say what he thinks about a video game, i.e. Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Wait, wait, wait, Super Smash Bros. Brawl was a game?

I hate when people talk about "learning to play the game the right way". Its idiotic, I mean the object of a fighting game is to win. Button mashing most definitely a fighting technique - there are many high level players who are susceptible to it. There is no "right way" to play a fighting game its a win/lose situation. Being "cheap" or "spamming" is not the same as button mashing.

If SC4 is a button mashers wet dream then a so it go. That is a problem with the game engine - not the noobs who pick up the game.

he doesn't mention the multiplayer, which is the real point of fighting games, isn't it?. to see who can memorize the most ravaging series of combos and get in the most throws...

ok, is yahtzee losing his edge?
i've not played this, only seen a little on gametrailers
if theres SOMETHING with this game that i SO expected/hoped jaytzee to totally bomb the hell out of its the SW inclusion, which didn't get covered fully, here's what's missing:

now im not a sw fanboy or anything, but any-1 who has seen the films should be laughing at how the lightsabres interact with the other swords or whatever, WHY WASN'T THIS REDICULED?

Ahhh...
i love yahtzee reviews actually, there are thousand of games i love and he just kills them and i laugh too much but this time i didn't laughed too much (except when he speaks about the story hahahaha)this is the very first time i'll ever disagree with him and i really hope this will be the last one also!

i would like to know if he likes some fighting game ?
for me SC 4,
- is not misspelled... it refers to Excalibur
- a fighting game main attraction usually is to beat others... not the PC...
- if you fight other people, the throw button wont be as effective as you think
- the combat system is easy to learn if you just take 5 minutes to really understand how it works...
- about the character customization... rofl yatzee... ITS OBIVOUS that you should pick a fighting style from inside the game!!!! the idea is to have your own personalized character (with an AWFULL dress ajajaja) and with the fighting style that you liked the most during your gameplay, and with the weapons you mostly use and feel comfortable so you can beat others with the style you played during the whole game...

and well, about everything else i must agree rofl, the story is really ridiculous and one thing i really love about SC4 is the nonsense super ego phrases that every character spells at the beginning/ending of a fight... LOL, thats just too funny and ridiculous.

overall it was a nice review but i just think that yatzee SHOULD NOT review fighting games, he just doesn't even try to enjoy any of them so whats the point... does he even like ONE 3D fighting game ? i'm sure he likes some 2D fighting games, but a 3D game its different...

owensoft:
I hate when people talk about "learning to play the game the right way". Its idiotic, I mean the object of a fighting game is to win. Button mashing most definitely a fighting technique - there are many high level players who are susceptible to it. There is no "right way" to play a fighting game its a win/lose situation. Being "cheap" or "spamming" is not the same as button mashing.

If SC4 is a button mashers wet dream then a so it go. That is a problem with the game engine - not the noobs who pick up the game.

Button mashing alone won't really let you win at a fighting game. Sometimes timing is key ((Which is almost impossable)), proper use of countering and special moves are important as well, and sometimes it's good to know some of the characters moves, that way you can pradict the style someone is using.

I wasn't mad because Yatzee wasn't playing a fighter right, heck I'm not sure if I play one right at times. What drove me off is that he was criticsizing on aspects that don't matter in a fighter game, like character looking weird, or a fighting game with a story...fighting games were never really ment to have any stories.

Like what Engwallwithpinksocks said, he's more of a comedian than a pro game reviewer...sadly some people may take him seriously.

owensoft:
I hate when people talk about "learning to play the game the right way". Its idiotic, I mean the object of a fighting game is to win. Button mashing most definitely a fighting technique - there are many high level players who are susceptible to it. There is no "right way" to play a fighting game its a win/lose situation. Being "cheap" or "spamming" is not the same as button mashing.

If SC4 is a button mashers wet dream then a so it go. That is a problem with the game engine - not the noobs who pick up the game.

Button mashing is a side effect from making the game easy to play. If the game is not aiming for the hard-core fighting crowed then buttonmasing is always gonna be an alternativ becuse there always have to be some sort of way for beginners to win. Also, one could argue that if you'r truly good at the game then button mashing is a piece of cake to overcome.

But most importently, Why haven't there been an uprising over Yatzee using WoW as a "complet" game? He reviewed Age of Conan not long ago too, so I'm sad to see that all the conspieracy nuts haven't jumped on this already.

Well done for recycling part of your Age of Conan review. Probably saved at least half an hour with that one.
Still funny though.

Odjin:
Post is somewhere in this thread... no will to search ( too many posts ). I stick to it: [Wall of ill-considered text]

There's so much wrong with this post I REALLY don't know where to start. But hey, why what the hell, I'll give it a shot.
High priority moves are typically longer ranged attacks that often have a long cooldown. The most important factor is the amount of hitbox exposed versus the speed of execution and range of the attack itself. Pokes are quick but weak attacks you use to preempt an enemy's attack, (IE, he's being retarded and wading in right next to you with totally transparent intentions to throw you,) and also to determine where his attentions are centered.
What you suggested, spamming random, rapid pokes, nets you a high priority attack to the face and a mouthful of loose teeth. Spamming high priority moves is even worse, because you end up vulnerable for precious seconds at a time. Any joe blow can wade in and hand you your ass. A good player could set you up for a nice meaty combo via crossup, parry... or, really, ANYTHING.
And yeah, shiny twenty hit combos ARE just for show. But they sure work on people who don't know what they're doing or how to counter things, because they're too busy thinking everything has to be so RANDOM.
Seriously. Just STOP. You don't "get" fighting games and never will. At least Yahzee admitted that. Hell, *I* probably committed a couple factual errors in there.
And, because this hasn't been posted yet, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS5peqApgUA . Possibly the most dramatic end to a tournament match ever. ESSAYS could (and have) be written about those eight seconds.

Panayjon:

Ken from SF has always been top tier for instance, but why are there tiers of characters? Shouldn't a good game be balanced? Rather than having a whole slew of characters that are great and others that comparatively suck?

It a flaw of having asymmetrical balance. There are just too many variables (a good portion unintentional) that make one character good or bad, or good vs other character in specific. Lets use a symmetrical game as an example to illustrate my point.
Chess is a game where both players have the exact same pieces, and have the same amount of control of the board from the start. The only difference between both players is that one of the players goes first. Now, imagine that there are 20 sets of pieces different from the default, and all of them have there own pieces different from each other (each pawn being different from the other, and each royal being different). Lets just say that it would phenomenally harder to balance.

I bet Yatzee would realy liked this game if ther was fighting style whit dual wield guns, that shoot shuriken and lighning.

Yay, a reference to his Painkiller review. But wait! Wouldn't that make it a shooter and not a beat'em up? :D

Cervantes hase a gun to you know.

.Zafo.:
Cervantes hase a gun to you know.

Then the rest are morons. Never bring a knife to a gunfight. Including a lightsaber. I don't care if you are Darth Vader, if you get COMPOTENT guys against you, like the Clone Troopers, you die. Even Aayla Secura did....mmm...Aayla...

2 di weerrrrllll

Hey I play pro at the arcade and there nothing breaks a stand off like randomly pressing the buttons and making monkey sounds just piss a pro off. its the 8th of the 7 fighting game strategies. well its more of a anti-strategy

Im a little disappointed in his reviews for fighting games. Its like the glaring obvious faults of the game are ignored so Yahtzee can bash the genre as a whole. Instead of saying that some of the characters are partial clones or that this game doesnt make any large leaps from the previous, Yahtzee complains that throwing moves are overpowered when they are not. In brawl he complains about button mashing which is completely false whilst declining to mention that the game has possibly the worst online ever created.
Hope for a better review next time.

To those who are being idiotic about lightsabers getting toned down, shut up! So what they don't chop of your arm on contact! Do you really think if nightmare smacked you with a giant sword your arm would stay attached? And as for "lightsabers would cut normal swords in half" you do realise half the weapons are magical in some sort of bulshitty way? In some shows all technology either blows up or fails when anything magic even comes close to them. Its not ment to be taken seriously. soul calibur is a bit of fun!

grate episode i totally agree.

btv somone dosent like you: http://www.purepwnage.com/episodes/s2/5/

This what I though fighting games always were, just part of a bigger theme. When they finally develop a in depth fighting game where everything doesn't look generic and button masjings a must then I would spare them a second glance.

As far as the appeal of fighting games, they are like a game of Chess or Checkers of something like that, only more violent. Unless you're playing against me since I am a notorious poor loser. In which case, fighting games do not seem violent at all. But the judge told me not to play Chess anymore, so I digress.

The problem with fighting games is that you have to be into them, I mean really into them like you find fighting games more appealing than a nice scrotal cuddle to be any good at them and to learn the nuance of play. Fighting games have a learning curve that is like running head first into a slab of concrete and then throwing your body off a cliff. Few have the inclination to work at it enough to actually be any good. Hence why most people just randomly mash buttons on the controller or learn one move and only one move that proves effect, i.e. the throw button, and use that constantly in every single fight.

Now, it could be a balance issue that one move can be so effective that learning other moves is not enticing. It doesn't help that fighting games have these simply moronic and unintuitive "combos" where hitting up, then down, then up again, then down again then the jump button makes your character breathe a enormous fireball on his opponent. I don't know if anyone has bother to figure out the rational for how these seemingly random button presses could have anything to do with the resultant action, but I am sure that it would be moon logic. No, that's an insult to moon logic. Even moon logic isn't that stupid. At least I never heard of anyone who tried to do that with the possible exception of video game web comic writers, the tards.

Incidentally, Mortal Combat vs the DC Universe looks stupid. I predict there will be a lot of copies gathering dust on shelves in gamers' homes within six months, you easily plucked chickens.

Which brings me to my next point, Don't think Yahtzee hate fighting games fans because he doesn't understand the genre. He hates everybody, so stop being such twits.

Huh. Thought this weeks reveiw was gonna be Braid since yahtzee is so into the whole "games are art" thing. But I guess he wont reveiw it since it's dlc.

One thing that confuses me about fighting games is the amount of moves you can do with SC being the biggest perpetrator of this. There are quite literally 20 different attack combinations you could do starting with each attack button and probably with guard as well. What logical sane person is going to spend time learning all....potentially 60-80 moves for ONE character just so they can start having fun? Even if they do they will probably still be defeated by the random button masher at some point anyway. I was told by someone that your not supposed to remember all the moves just pick out a few you like and use them but then what's the point of having all the other moves then if only a few are worth using? Fighting games are only meant for this VERY small group of gamers who imo play because when they eventually learn all these moves and can beat anyone in it they can pet their ego......even though by the time they do this everyone would have moved on to Half-Life 4 or something and nobody gives a crud about SC4. Fighting games are a self defeating genre.