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Two Fighting Game Beginners Take on the Challenge! A Hilarious Street Fighter 6 Debut
Moving smoothly thanks to Modern Controls! A chaotic weekend ranked match struggle

Two Fighting Game Beginners Take on the Challenge! A Hilarious Street Fighter 6 Debut

A Sudden Fighting Game Debut! A Great Find in the Steam Sale

During a weekend when I was spending a lot of time at home and vaguely thinking about starting something new, I casually opened Steam and discovered that 'Street Fighter 6' was half price (2,495 yen!) in a sale until May 5th.

I always felt an arbitrary hurdle with fighting games, thinking 'command inputs look difficult' or 'it's a bit late to start now,' but at this price, it felt like a good opportunity to just try it out.

I immediately texted a gamer friend I often go out to eat with. They replied instantly with 'I'm in!', so we bought it together on a whim. It's refreshing and exciting to explore a new game while having fun at home for a change!

No Arcade Stick Needed!? Modern Controls Are Too Comfortable

I used to believe that you couldn't play fighting games without a large controller like the ones in arcades (an arcade stick). I even have bitter memories of almost peeling the skin off my thumb trying to execute special moves with a regular D-pad in the past...

But Street Fighter 6 has a god-tier system for beginners called 'Modern Controls'! I connect a PS5 controller to my PC, and just by pressing the special move button, I can easily pull off flashy moves.

With this, my fingers don't hurt, and my mind doesn't go blank from trying to input commands. I can focus entirely on the mind games of 'when to attack' and 'how to dodge,' so I don't get tired at all even after playing for hours. It's truly the best!

Off to Ranked Matches! Comparing Our Battle Records

It was scary to fight unknown veterans right away, so we first completed the tutorial and did about 40 basic practice matches in a custom room together. After that, we nervously jumped into ranked matches!

Things went smoothly up to Gold, but as the higher ranks came into view, the number of matches we couldn't win gradually increased... Here, let's take a quick look back at our battle records until we reached Platinum.

Player / RankTo GoldTo Platinum
Modern Lily (Me)80 matches (52 wins)215 matches (127 wins)
Modern Luke (Friend)83 matches (58 wins)147 matches (100 wins)

Looking at the numbers, it's obvious. My friend's journey to Platinum was overwhelmingly faster! Even though we started at the same time, why was there such a difference? In the next section, I'll self-analyze our respective playstyles.

The Charm of My Partner 'Modern Lily' and the Wall I Hit

The character I chose, 'Lily,' is a cute fighter whose charm lies in her destructive single strikes. Up to Gold, I was winning effortlessly with just a super simple tactic of using assist combos and 'jumping in to attack a downed opponent!'

However, the road to Platinum wasn't that easy. As my rank went up, my monotonous movements were quickly read, and my jump-ins were easily shot down day after day...

So, what I desperately practiced was 'anti-air.' When the opponent jumps in, intercept them with good timing. Once I became conscious of this, my win rate finally stabilized. It was a long journey of 215 matches, but the sense of accomplishment when I reached my goal was exceptional!

The Overwhelming Stability Shown by My Friend's 'Modern Luke'

On the other hand, the 'Luke' my friend used is a standard character where fundamental skills directly translate to strength. My friend was playing on a keyboard and had reliably mastered several combos at an early stage.

While I was hitting a wall with my one-pattern attacks, my friend had established a solid playstyle of firmly exploiting the opponent's openings to rack up damage. The speed of reaching Platinum in 147 matches makes total sense.

Even watching from the side, the compatibility between Modern Controls, which have few input errors, and the keyboard seemed really good. Seeing my friend steadily get stronger in a rank tier where the difference in player skill clearly shows was a great stimulus for me too.

Highly Satisfied with Just the Base Game! A New Weekend Joy

In this sale, the base game was half price and a great deal, but DLCs like additional characters weren't discounted that much. But for those starting now, there's absolutely no need to worry!

You can use 18 unique characters right from the start with just the base game, so you won't feel a lack of volume at all. We are still fully occupied just learning how to control the initial characters. We're having a blast playing and chatting every day.

If anyone is thinking, 'I'm interested in fighting games but hesitating...', I highly recommend just buying the base game first. It's more than enough to actually play it and think about DLCs only after you feel, 'I want to try other characters too!'

The Best Way to Spend a Weekend: Laughing and Improving

We started 'Street Fighter 6' on a whim triggered by a half-price sale. Thanks to Modern Controls, it was a game that exceeded expectations, allowing even beginners to immediately enjoy heated mind games. I plan to continue honing my skills little by little with my friend while eating delicious food!

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