Hello and welcome to Wasted Plotential, the show where we discuss the wasted potential
of our favourite plotlines.
Okay, let's talk about a different fighting game for once. Street Fighter V is yet another
in the long line of fighting games to take inspiration from Netherrelam Studios' cinematic
story modes. ...And make a better mode than Netherrealm ever did. The story within, however...
is actually really bad.
Here's the setup: Street Fighter II introduced the main antagonist, M. Bison, and his villainous
organisation, Shadaloo. After a prequel that fleshed out Shadaloo's activities some more,
Street Fighter III jumped forward to after the fall of Shadaloo and Bison's death. If
you're familiar with Resident Evil 4, you get the idea. All we knew for sure was that
Chun-Li played a key role in Bison's defeat. SFIV went back to before III to set up Shadaloo's
fall, which was then followed by V, which was set to depict said fall. We have a good
setup here, and with IV including characters from III earlier in the timeline, we had practically
the entire series' roster available to show up and do stuff. SFV, though, was written
by someone who had probably only ever played IV and didn't do any further research.
Bison begins his final scheme with his new doomsday weapon. Guile, Chun-Li and Cammy
team up to thwart his plan. At the same time, The Illuminati resurrects Charlie Nash, who
has been dead since the Alpha games, since he's one of the best fighters ever and has
unfinished business with Bison. Both groups meets up while attacking Bison's base, and
retreat to Karin Kazuki's estate because she's the one in charge for some reason. Not Interpol,
or the US or British militaries, or the secret shadow group; a rich woman in her 20's with
no connection to any of this. During this time, series poster boy, Ryu, has been training
offscreen after losing to newcomer, Necali. Necali is some ancient warrior/force of nature
type, and Ryu comes back from his pilgrimage with enough power to beat Necali. He then
joins up with the others for the final assault on Bison's base. Cammy finally saves the Dolls
from Bison's brainwashing, Chun-Li saves the young girl she adopts in III, Charlie self-destructs
on Bison but he just shrugs it off while laughing at the player for caring about Charlie, and
then to cap things off, Ryu kills Bison because he has a new, unexplained power. Needless
to say, fans were not impressed.
Here are the major gripes: For being the world's strongest woman, Chun-Li
wins exactly one fight in this game and accomplishes very little overall.
Charlie's resurrection ultimately amounts to nothing. He doesn't even get a moment with
his best friend Guile - the two just wordlessly fight when they see each other.
Ryu has bugger all to do with this plot, but he just comes in with an offscreen power boost
and saves the day at the end. I get why you'd want to use your main character to beat the
final boss; after all, MVCI having Dante and Captain Marvel fight Ultron Sigma at the end
was fucking random. But this wasn't his story. Even saying he's part of the supporting cast
is being generous; he's a cameo at best. It was that of the anti-Shadaloo forces , so
they should have been the ones to take Bison down, not this guy who has nothing to do with
it. Karin should not play such a major role in
this story, and a lot of others are involved for no real reason.
For all his hype, Necali doesn't really affect anything, beyond being the catalyst for Ryu's
training pilgrimage. His role in the story is so minuscule that you could very easily
cut him from the story entirely, and barely anything would have to change.
So, let's reimagine this game with the same basic plot, but with some key changes to alleviate
these issues.
First of all, I'm shortening the length of A Shadow Falls. I think the fact that the
story has two separate raids on Bison's base, and Rashid goes there three times, is really
all the proof you need that this story did not need to be five acts long. So, I'm cutting
it down to three. I'm also removing Karin and the other characters not associated with
Shadaloo at all, with a few exceptions, to keep things on-track. Now, some of you are
going to argue that this would mean leaving out characters like Ryu, Ken, Zangief, Laura,
and Mika from the story mode entirely. I sure hope you didn't already express such concerns
in the comments, because I never said I was cutting story mode down to three acts. Only
A Shadow Falls.
In my version, those extra two acts worth of story are instead devoted to smaller side
stories that give the non-essential cast something to do, without detracting from the main plot.
The first sees Karin host a tournament, which most of these other characters take part in.
The second follows Ryu as he trains and seeks guidance to become stronger and defeat Necali.
The story goes like this: Bison is preparing to enact his final scheme, just as his current
body is breaking down. F.A.N.G. has created a new one for him: Necali. This body would
be an incredibly powerful tool for Bison, but it either gains sentience or is inhabited
by an ancient warrior spirit, causing it to go berserk and flee the facility. Shadaloo
agents are dispatched to track it down, which Ryu will fight later. It defeats Ryu when
the two meet, and Ryu sets off to meet with various characters and train to become strong
enough to defeat this mad beast.
He meets with the likes of Dhalsim, Ken, Sagat, Gouken, and he probably encounters Akuma as
well. Through various discussion and battles (some of these could be made playable fights
later on as DLC), Ryu is able to strengthen his body and spirit, eventually destroying
Necali at the end, which will play a small role at the end of the main campaign. Giving
Ryu a final boss here allows the main story to have someone else fight the final boss
without it feeling weird.
While this is happening, Karin hosts her tournament, partly to give R. Mika a chance to show off
what she can do. The tournament attracts the likes of Ibuki, Zangief, Ken, and Laura. Ed
is also competing to test his skills at either his own or Balrog's insistence. This story
crosses over with the main plot about halfway through, when Chun-Li and Guile go to the
tournament venue. They confront Balrog backstage during a match between Ed and Laura. The fight
spills out into the ring, where one of them deals with Ed in the main story, while the
other is fought by the incensed Laura in this story. After they get their intel, they leave
the and tournament continues. During this story, Laura has a match with Ken, with Sean
at ringside. Sean is entranced by Ken's moves and this is the point where he vows to become
his apprentice, with hints that when he is next playable, his style will mix Ken's Hadou
with Laura's Matsuda style.
As for the main plot, we still have the Illuminati's group being formed, but Charlie's memories
are incomplete. He remembers Guile, but his memories surrounding him leave him with feelings
of apprehension and a sense of betrayal. Incorrectly assuming that Guile betrayed him, Charlie
remains distant towards his former friend, who is desperate to reconnect with him and
find out how he's alive again. When the two groups meet up somewhere other than the Shadaloo
base, Guile helps Charlie fight off some of Bison's goons. The fight brings back Charlie's
memories of fighting alongside Guile and the two become friends again.
Cammy's story with the Dolls is mostly the same, but Juri doesn't do everything for her.
This is her story, so she should be the one to resolve things. The only other change I
would make would be adding in one more character, at the very least in a non-playable role similar
to Abel in the real game: T. Hawk. Hawk is the lover of Julia, who was brainwashed into
the Doll, Juli. He was also apparently friends with another Doll, Noembelu. In my take, he
smuggles his way onto the heroes' transport a some point, or is recruited by Kolin, and
joins them in their assault on Shadaloo. He helps Cammy fight the Dolls, and is able to
get through to Julia, though only after receiving a notable wound from her. This wound could
then be used as an excuse to retire the character, assuming Capcom doesn't want to use him anymore.
More importantly, he finally gets some closure to his arc, showing how far he is willing
to go to save the love of his live.
Rashid is a fun new character whose role in the story is fine, but I would make some changes.
He is trying to find his friend, who is a mole inside Shadaloo. Rashid finally finds
out, when he confronts F.A.N.G, that she has already been killed, reduced to dust in a
shockingly dark moment right near the start of the story. Rashid flies into a rage and
kicks F.A.N.G.'s arse. In my version, she actually lives until the raid on the base,
continuing to feed information to Rashid with some fun banter to showcase their relationship.
The raid is what tips F.A.N.G. off that there is a traitor and he begins to pursue her through
the base. Rashid, unfortunately, arrives just after she has been killed. All together, this
would hopefully make her death have more impact than is derived from the early death and lack
of characterisation or development she has in the real game. Rashid then kicks F.A.N.G.'s
arse, as in the real game, but if the player uses his super, his expression is changed
from his usual cocky smirk to an expression of sadness and rage. Infamous: Second Son
did this for one boss fight, so the same should be done here, so as not to damage the tone
of the scene. Oh, and, uh, one more thing? We would actually learn this woman's fucking
name! For how often he talks about her, how much his story revolves around her and how
much he cares about her, Rashid never once calls her by name, only "my friend." Fuck
off. Fuck. Off.
Chun-Li, of course, leads the main trio against Shadaloo and is later placed in charge of
the joint operation by Kolin. Naturally, she gets to win more than a single fight in this
version, and she isn't the hotheaded idiot that needs to be held back and protected by
Guile and Cammy the whole time. In the finale, Chun-Li, Guile and Charlie go on ahead, while
the others engage Bison's forces, as in the real game. Chun-Li still saves Li-Fen, but
she also gets to do more, because the world's strongest woman, the one pre-established player
in Shadaloo's downfall, and a central character with a personal beef with Bison, should probably
get to be important in the story about Bison's death. Chun-Li fights F.A.N.G. to save Li-Fen,
while Guile and Charlie engage Bison. By this point, Bison has learned of Necali's destruction,
but he has a new body that, while not nearly as powerful as Necali, is certainly strong
enough to deal with these two losers.
Bison, controlled by the player, defeats Guile to show off his power. Charlie then battles
Bison and does a good job, but it's really not enough. He expends the energy in the jewel
used to revive him in one ultimate attack. Charlie does not explode, or even die immediately;
there is enough energy to keep him going for a little while, but not nearly enough to fight
again, and he now has mere minutes to live. However, the damage dealt to Bison's body
is enough to bring him down in power level to the point where a sufficiently powerful
fighter could likely take him down. Enter: Chun-Li, the world's strongest woman. She
shows Bison why she is nicknamed "Thunder Thighs" and deals enough damage to break Bison's
body down and end his threat for good.
Charlie lives long enough to witness Bison's end, receiving the satisfaction of finally
being able to play a part in the dictator's downfall, finally. Before he dies in his friend's
arm, Charlie leaves some parting words to Guile, capped off with him revealing Guile's
first name. The games have never given us this, only the movie and cartoon. I don't
know what this name would be, but it would not be William, as in those other mediums.
For this moment to have impact, Guile's name needs to be something the fans have never
heard before to make it a real revelation. Chun-Li helps Guile takes Charlie's body away,
so they actually have a body to bury this time.
The epilogue would showcase the Dolls at a support group, where Juni is looking better
than she was in SFIV, Julia and T. Hawk are together again, and oh yes, Marz doesn't die
pointlessly to kill F.A.N.G, only to have him survive anyway. She either lives, or at
least successfully takes someone with her. Chun-Li is then seen visiting her father's
grave to tell him that Bison's machinations have been stopped, and then returning home
with Li-Fen. Guile visit's Charlie's grave and thanks him for everything he taught him,
vowing to put it to good use against threats like Bison in the future. He leaves Charlie's
dogtags at his grave and departs, last being seen with his new team, getting ready to face
whatever threat comes next.
As you can see, with these changes, Street Fighter V could have had a much more emotionally-resonant
story and avoided the infuriating concessions the team must have felt they had to make.
The plot focuses on who needs to get the focus, instead of cramming everyone into the same
story, regardless of if they fit or not. Ryu gets to have his big moment without stealing
the spotlight from the real stars of the story. Necali can't be easily cut without changing
the story, as he can in the real game. Karin's role is as large as is suitable for her character,
rather than essentially being the leader of the heroes. Charlie's revival has meaning
and feels like a necessary component in this final battle with Shadaloo, instead of a pointless
diversion. And Chun-Li gets to prove why she remains a major figure in both the series'
storyline, and in fighting games, in general.
I'll give the story mode one thing, though: at the very least, everyone gets to be played
as at least once. And a result of this is that Bison is presented as an actual threat
by allowing the player to defeat such high-tier fighters as Chun-Li, Charlie and Necali as
him. We've never had a Netherrealm game do that. And people say this mode is worse than
Netherrealm's output. Yeah, keep telling yourself that and I'm sure it'll be true some day.
If you liked this video, the check out DIGI Valentine's Who Dat? and Who Dat Again? series.
The episodes on Street fighter really helped to showcase just how bad the story of Street
Fighter V is, from the perspective of a longtime fan, so check him out.