After the disappointing SF5, I had low expectations for the next one.
It is clear that Capcom is trying to fix the reputation they gained with SF5, which was released completely empty of modes and had a Freemium DLC system where only the most dedicated players could benefit. Street Fighter 6 is packed with modes!
From the first moment, the game is divided into 3 parts:
* The Fighting Ground is the classic Fighting Game where you will see an arcade/story mode with a little story for each character, Challenge modes, Training modes, Survival modes, online ranked/unranked modes, and all related features.
* The World Tour is an RPG mode, where you create a character and follow a story while upgrading and learning moves from the classic characters. It's like a simpler version of the Yakuza game series, where you have 1 or 2 areas in the city and run around for activities, encountering gang battles along the way. It's not as serious and doesn't take itself too seriously, but it's clear that they put a lot of work into it and you will spend a lot of time here.
* The Battle Hub is literally a digital store with Arcades, where you take your character from the World Tour and can meet and fight other players, either their Avatars or in regular SF6, or even play classic Capcom arcades like Street Fighter 2 and Final Fight. There is something for everyone!
If you are a beginner, the game encourages you to play in modern mode, which is set as the default everywhere, where many combos and moves are automated and simplified.
Apart from that, the former Defense Bar that in the past only prevented excessive defense with a stun as punishment, is now used for all the Advanced tricks you could do with the super bar. Specifically, you use it to perform Parrys, Pushbacks, Focus strikes, Combo extenders, and Ex moves (with different names), and if it runs out, the character cannot perform these tricks for a while, takes cheap damage, and can be stunned by specific attacks. The Super bar now only performs Super moves at 3 different levels. It's nice that the Advanced tricks no longer sacrifice your super moves.
The graphics are fantastic, and it's enjoyable to see that they no longer take the Woke culture seriously. There are even jiggle physics in the buttocks.
The problem that SF6 has is the same problem that all Fighting Games of our era have, and that is the endless DLC they plan to release and sell separately. Thanks to the many modes, the game can keep you busy for endless hours with its 18 characters, but if you want to have the complete package and let's assume that the game will reach 40+ characters by the end of its lifespan, expect to pay up to 3 times its value.