This is an addendum to my Street Fighter 6 review, which on retrospect was written entirely too early. Having spent a lot more time with this game and having beaten each character's story in arcade mode (and abandoned World Tour), I have some more thoughts about this video game, and now you've gotta listen to them.

I was pretty forgiving of World Tour's faults, citing its physical comedy (hitting cops in the back of the skull with Rising Uppercut) and fun character interactions. That charity only goes so far, however, and for me it dried up around chapter 10. I have probably 18 hours in World Tour alone and knowing that I am only 2/3 of the way through a mode who's only redeeming quality is short fits of comedy does not inspire me to sink another 6-8 hours just to see some credits.

It's not that a Street Fighter RPG is a bad idea on paper, but the execution here is all wrong. Most chapters break down into laborious runs between distant objective markers to talk to total non-characters, all while getting jumped by random goons in a way that feels more inconvenient than engaging. Even the more story significant characters present as these dry, dusty-ass create-a-character NPCs. You've got a roster full of genuinely interesting fighters to pick from, but characters like Zangief and Cammy are relegated to the role of "master," having zero agency in the larger narrative and ultimately being wasted for it. At a certain point, you don't even fight them directly to become their students, they just agree unconditionally to train you. But hey, you gotta run around and buy them gifts, give Cammy a metric ton of room temperature beer so you can max out your bond and get her Street Fighter 2 costume...

Or you can cave and buy it with REAL MONEY! You run past an incalculable amount of storefronts in Metro City and only like, one of them is actually open to sell clothing, and the only outfit parts you can find in there are dockers and buttoned up shirts. It takes about five chapters before it updates and they add maybe five more pairs of pants. Travel to other parts of the world like Rome or Japan and you'll be able to buy more unique items themed around these locations, but even then you'll sometimes find you have the option between two pieces of clothing. All of my issues with World Tour aside, had this mode provided more options to customize my character, I might actually feel inclined to stick with it. A carrot on a stick, sure, but at least it'd provide some sort of incentive. Unfortunately, Capcom would really just prefer it if you cracked open your wallet, because all you're getting otherwise is scraps. At a certain point, I just wish they stripped out World Tour entirely and sank all that energy into making more cutscenes for arcade mode. Just build out each character's story and cut this dead weight.

The true heart of Street Fighter 6 is playing it like a proper-ass Street Fighter anyway, and the small number of times I was able to coerce friends into playing with me was a blast, even if most of these sessions amounted to me getting utterly savaged. However, trying to coordinate private lobbies does have the unintended drawback of highlighting how poor Street Fighter 6's menus are. They're overly designed and full of superfluous options, and I really shouldn't have to spend five minutes trying to figure out where the hell a private lobby invite lives. I am over here fumbling through these menus in black and white, just knocking shit over in a panic - there's got to be a better way!

Playing online does highlight how good Street Fighter 6 can be, and were it the case that World Tour didn't exist to drag down the overall experience, I'd have no problem leaving up a 4.5/5, or maybe even bump it to a perfect 5. And, who knows, maybe one day it will be. This is a live service, after all, and I don't think any single part of this game is immune to change. So, that said, I know I'm coming at this from a pretty negative angle, but I'm trying to look at this as a whole, and where I fall currently - on June 20th, in the Year of our Jericho 23 - is that Street Fighter 6 is an incredible fighting game bogged down by a hideous in-game economy, dreadful single player campaign, and other assorted issues that while minor in isolation add up to be frustrating.

Yeah, World Tour is kinda mid, but you can also hit cops in the spine with a spinning bird kick. What am I gonna do, give this a three? C'mon.

I am so exceptionally unskilled at fighting games that I've never in my life been able to clear a single CPU match in Street Fighter 2 on normal difficulty. I am not made for these kinds of games, but much like shoot-em-ups, I keep trying. I don't talk to very many people and, though I'd like to, I play games with fewer still. The extremely small group I've discussed playing Street Fighter 6 with have all said similar things about their own skill level, but thanks to "modern controls," we all have a Street Fighter we can finally enjoy. Not that a simplified control scheme has benefitted me so tremendously that I don't start hyperventilating whenever I see someone play as Zangief (people saying he needs to be buffed scare me because they understand this game in ways I never can), but it is nice to have a Street Fighter I can comfortably play with others at my own skill level and feel somewhat competent about it. And hey, actually being able to finish literally anyone's story mode is invaluable to me.

I still hesitate to call this "the best one" since a lot of 3's feel and aesthetics nudge it out for me, even if I am categorically worse at that game. A lot of the music is kinda flat for me, and I'm not really digging the character creator, at least not as a tool for making convincing human beings. If you desire a fighter that resembles a podracer pilot then hell yeah, you've never been more equipped to see through your sick fantasies and I am genuinely happy for you. I want to play as a cute kickboxing girl who wears cute clothes, and it took me three hours before I found a good looking top and I had to travel to freaking Mexico and get beat up by a literal child to get it. Outfits also fit horribly on everyone. Everything is too baggy, and I'm sure it's to account for the uh, wide variety of body shapes people will be rolling with. Necessary compromises, but I can't help but feel like some of the custom character features are a bit lacking.

None of this is enough to totally pull me out of World Tour, of course. Interacting with the Street Fighters™ is a lot of fun, and no doubt you've already seen dozens of silly text message exchanges floating around out there already, assuming you aren't already teaching Ryu how to use a phone or striking out with Juri at this very moment. The matchmaking lobby - which also uses your custom character - has some real PlayStation Home vibes and I'm way into that, too. Remember to greet your friends with a tomahawk buster directly to their face, as is customary in Metro City.

Speaking of, I appreciate how significant Metro City and Final Fight's lore is to the story. You can also play Final Fight in the game, but why the hell would I do that? Final Fight sucks! I like everything that's in Final Fight, but I hate playing it, so hey, I'm getting the exact amount of Final Fight that I want in my diet. Mike Haggar is rich in protein.

God, why did I write that. Take that out. Remove it from the review.

I don't have any complex thoughts on arcade mode, in the usual sense of me finding it very difficult to articulate my opinions on what does and doesn't work about fighting games. There's no shortage of writers on this site who have both the eloquence and knowledge to run circles around anything I could possibly type up here, but suffice it to say I find it very good and I've had a blast testing out each character and seeing who gels with me. I was adamantly in the anti-Juri camp for years. Hated her design, I think feet are disgusting. Put some shoes on that Juri. But playing as her in arcade mode and a few online matches and being called a dumb bitch loser by her in World Tour has turned me around. I am now pro-Juri and I pray I do not regret this change of position. Cammy is my favorite character series-wide and I've found her to be just as enjoyable to play as she always has been, and Kimberly has been a lot of fun too.

I still don't think I've narrowed down my "main" just yet, and even though I feel confident in my opinion of Street Fighter 6 at this point in time, I'm going to be playing a lot more of it. One of those rare games where I can see myself coming back to it throughout the year and for which there won't be a true end point, so much as I eventually taper off and find that I'm not picking it up anymore. Nevertheless, leaving a review now as I have put a significant amount of time into this and feel unwavering in my assessment that they made a damn good Street Fighter.

Edit (6/16/23): I've been playing more of this and I regret leaving such an early review. I've removed the score and will be making an additional log when I complete it that adds on top of my thoughts here.