sf6 is still pretty cool—but the more time passes, the more i feel it has core design issues that desperately need to change. i continue to believe that it could become a vastly more interesting game and among the greatest fighting games of all time with a good few tweaks to its mechanics—until then, however, it suffers far too heavily from linear, flowcharty gameplay that discourages creativity and heavily rewards only a single playstyle.

the problem with meter systems in fighting games is that there is generally going to be a specific optimal way to use that meter; and the more pronounced/important said meter system is to winning, the more linear the game tends to become. when meter is the entire game, at some point it feels less like a fighting game and more like a resource management simulator (and not a particularly interesting one, either). this is also one of the many criticisms i have with guilty gear as a series, and why i feel like it doesn't maintain the depth and lasting power of its colleagues.

another big issue with this game is the roster, which is comprised of a majority of characters that are designed to force highly linear and uninteresting RPS scenarios. throw loops aren't the end of the world, especially if they eventually become more resource-dependent in future patches, but they still feel like an addition that doesn't care for the player's time investment, as too much of your time spent with the game is wasted on shallow guesswork. i do still think the game (usually) does a good job of rewarding the more skilled player—it's far more an issue of fun and gamefeel than it is of balance.

i can only hope the patches address my issues, and also that some classic/beloved street fighter characters return that aren't gimmicky messes. rashid and ed are both great DLC additions, but aki and ed feel a bit undertuned—perhaps the game's power level will scale down to theirs over time.