I've never played any of the VFs (I'm a SF and Tekken guy), but this game looks awesome, not to mention the rave reviews it got from EGM. I'll be picking this one up ASAP.

Yeah, I'm definitely a Tekken guy. I recently became a Soul Calibur guy. I had Virtua Fighter 2 for Saturn, but I was no fanatic. I rented Virtua Fighter 3tb and it didn't hold my interest for even an hour. Virtua Fighter 4 has me hooked though. I can definitely understand all the analogies reviews have made to a chess match. Most of the fights that take place are incredible just to watch. When I get to higher levels of the kumite, the fights look like something out of a classic HK kung fu movie. I think I can say that this is better than Tekken Tag - although I'll miss Tekken Bowl. And Soul Calibur II and Tekken 4 are months and months away. So, for now, pick up VF4. Give it a whirl, you may become a VF fanboy. If not, you could dump this off when Soul Calibur II or Tekken 4 comes along. But I doubt you'll regret the time you put into this one in the meantime.

I am not really heavy into the fighting genre. I have Tekken 3 for the PS1, have played MK in the arcades, but never considered myself into the genre heavily. I do love the original Bushido Blade for the PS1 though.

All that being said, I went and bought a copy of VF4 and am highly impressed.

The game mechanics are easy to learn. The gameplay is quite deep. Learning the techniques and timing is a challenge. Definitely not a button masher, at least if you want to get anywhere.

Fortunately the training mode is really comprehensive, it will show demos of each move for a selected character. In addition, it will show, in real time what buttons you are actually pushing and the timings of each. This is in addition to being able to set up your opponents behavior so you can learn different things. There is even a "goal" mode that will walk you through different sets of skills like throws, reversals, etc. Very, very nice.

The AI mode is horribly addictive. You create your own AI character and train it. You train it by beating it up with particular techniques in "sparring mode" or you can show it replays of matches you have fought (while telling it what is "good" and "bad"). You can even train it on the fly by throwing it into a fighting match and telling it "good" or "bad" at opportune moments during the match. After training you can throw it into fighting matches in "arcade" or "kumite" modes and train/coach it during the matches. It is awesome to watch your character evolve and get better with your coaching.

This is the first game I bought for myself that I got new and paid full retail price for. I think I got a really good deal. Lots o' gameplay and depth.

wow, this game is really killing my thumb!
The Kumite mode is really fun. I've only managed to get to 6th rank. My biggest problem is executing the throw (P+G), so what is the easiest way to throw? In order to hit both buttons, I have to lift up my fingers which leads me susceptible to being attacked.

You got some slow thumbs.... You can always customize those hotkeys. I think by default, L1 is the hotkey for P+G. Maybe its R1 -- I'm not sure as I dont have the game in front of me right now. Don't trouble your poor thumbs, your lazy little index fingers have nothing better to do than press the triggers every now and then.

Cornfed is correct, L1 is the default for P+G.

That was driving me nuts trying to press more than one button at a time until I looked at the controller setup. All your combinations are mapped to the L1, L2, R1, R2 buttons.

I am glad that I have been too busy to play in the last day, my left thumb was going to get a nasty blister.

What characters are people playing?

I am playing/learning Aoi....mainly cause I love Aikijujutsu/Aikido stuff.

I just bought this game today. Played around a bit in Vs. mode against my cousin, so I've barely scratched the surface. I just know that I'm going to spend lots of time with this deep fighter, so I'm going to spend all of my free time tomorrow finishing up FFX and HSG3 so that I can get my feet wet with VF4. Isn't it great being a PS2 owner?

definitely a great fighting game, i really want to pick a quality arcade stick to play this game and upcoming SC2 and Tekken4...

Cool Thanks. The instructions didn't mention anything about mapping L1,L2 etc and I did not check the options menu.

I'm playing Jacky since I'm a Bruce Lee fan and like Jeet Kwon Do

Wow, this game is still holding my attention Slowly progressing with learning all of Kage's moves... I'm not really a fan of any specific martial arts style, but I like his ninja outfit They just need a chick with a ninja outfit

Now I just need some friends that play videogames so I can beat them instead of the CPU

Oh 2 questions... right now I'm 4th kyu in the Kumite mode. At what point do I start getting new clothing items?

Also, how do the rankings go 10-1st kyu, the 1st dan, 2nd dan, 3rd dan, ... ?

GREAT game. Hopefully it will achieve the financial success that it deserves.

You probably have acquired a few clothing options by now. You'll know you've won something at the conclusion of a match because during your victory pose, a small treasure chest will show up in the lower left hand corner of the screen. Go into your Data Files-->Edit File, and from there, you can customize your character's look with any different colors/items you've won.

As far as the rankings go, that's my understanding. I think the only way to go higher than first dan is by beating another player at your same skill level, according to the manual. I don't know this to be the case, as I'm trying to rank up all the characters to at least that level before continuing to play on with my favorites.

Here's a ranking system FAQ at the game faqs page.

Once you hit 1st dan, it looks like you have to win 5 matches against 1st dan opponents or higher to advance.

I'm at 1st dan with Lei Fei. I thought I was doing good (24-3), and then I read the Lei Fei is kind of the easy button masher character. Oh well, I'm getting the hang of it with him, so I'll stick with him.

I have played a fair number of matches (30 or so!? and am up to
level kyu, and the only thing I have gotten are 1 new color and wrist bands with spikes. If there are over 400 items in the game to aquire with the various characters, how far do I need to get to start to see some of them?

I've actually gotten a few new colors with Kage, but I think that's it. Purple, green, now a dark red.

I think my record is like 40-30 or something like that... I'm not terribly good and some characters like Jeffry and Akira give me all sorts of trouble.

Brian

Yeah, I'm a first Dan and my record is like 80-36. I'm using Vanessa, she's fun to play as, I don't really care about my rank, I just don't like loosing to Jacky (grrrrrr filthy bastard). I've got a few items, few colors and different hair style.

todd

Just got Lei-Fei up to 3rd Dan. Going from 2nd Dan to 3rd Dan for some reason was much much easier than going from 1st Dan to 2nd Dan. The real kicker in kumite is the possibility of getting demoted.

I'll be able to stop playing this game sometime. Really I will.

Currently 31-7 and a 1st Dan with Sarah.

Am I the only one whose left thumb kills after playing this game?

I finally had some free time today to spend some quality time with this game. I haven't tried Kumite yet since I suck, so I've been honing my skills in training to see which fighter fits me best. I tried using Aoi because I personally think using Aikido to reverse your opponents' moves is kick ass, but I never got all the way through Arcade yet. I'm thinking about using Kage..

I am a newbie to VF, and VF4 specifically. I am trying to play Aoi, but it is really, really, really rough for me to make any headway. Is anybody else having this problem?

Aoi is hard to play. There are characters who can play effectively using more PPK and PPP variations, and jab counters who are easier for beginners to pick up. Aoi's reversals are potent, but they can be difficult to execute.

I imagine that Aoi can be a highly effective fighter once you take the time to master her. Since I'm making a transition from being a Tekken guy to a VF guy, I'll probably try out some of the more beginner-friendly fighters at first.

Ugh. The monotony is starting to set in at 1st Dan. I went 11-11 in my last session. If my opponent is any kyu, easy win. If my opponent is any dan, I get my butt kicked. I only saw one 1st dan opponent. Lots of 5's and 8's and I don't stand a chance against them.

What's annoying is that there's a pattern against the dans: I get the first win, the computer wins the next 3. It's the same thing over and over and over. I think I took a 2nd round a couple of times, but for the most part, it's 1 and 3 every time.

I'm not sure if this will hold my interest or if I'll just go back to SSX Tricky.