Just bought Ultra Street Fighter 4.. wow I'm steamed.

I'm not a terrible gamer by any means, but why is this game so difficult? I have played other fighters such as MK and DOA5 and I did alright imo. then i finally tried SF4..When I first played Arcade mode on Medium, I was having a hard time so I went to Easy.. then Very Easy.

I think is been awhile since I've fought a boss that was actually hard(Rival and Seth), so my initial reaction was to think "Wow, why do I suck this bad?!" Later on, the more I practiced (hours and hours and on my 3rd day)..

This made me soo much more pessimistic about the game b/c:

1. "What the hell is the block button even for??!! Im still getting hit from all sides!!!!"

2. "WTF. I CANT MOVE."

3. "STOP SHORYUKENING. IM DOING THE HADIUKEN COMMAND. WTF, DO HADOUKEN AND STOP PUNCHING THE AIR....!!!!!"

4. -Blames Fightstick for being inaccurate with the directions-

5. The fact that I got owned on Easy Mode's final boss made me question my own worth. Lol

6. Jumping Online and managing to fight someone else with 0BP and still lose made me question my own worth even more.

Has any1 else reacted like this? to SF4? to any competitive-based game?

I have a feeling it will take a couple months for me to even get the proper feel or have a half-decent main fighter to use.

Ugh. Share thoughts? Just wanted to vent a bit. -_-

There is no block button... You hold back to block. Anyhow, the game is five years ond and people still learn new things about it every day, just takes practice. That being said, playing the AI doesn't really help, try playing online and see how you do. It has generally good matchmaking that will pair you with other new players.

@MethodManFTW: yeah, i know about the hold back to block, lol. i love this game still! Training mode and getting the feel of my main character is doing me wonders right now I guess I just didnt know how to properly train for this game. :P At first, Training mode felt useless to me bc I was so overhwelmed and dint know where to begin, ahah.

Just work at it. You may be struggling right now, but give it some time and you'll be beating it on Very Hard without losing a single round.

Never ever set the difficulty to easy or very easy because it is less satisfying when you win. Fighting games in general take lot of time to be good at. You said that you put 3 days in the game and you already set it to very easy difficulty..... that isn't much time at all. Why rush to beat the game on very easy difficulty on day 3? Put it on medium, keep practicing and it will be more satisfying when you beat it. I was never great at fighting games in 3 days.

Major tip with fighting games. Don't play them against the computer, but someone who is the same (or slightly higher) level than you. Or better yet, a group of people at around the same level.

It's more fun that way and you learn the game naturally. For example (based on Capcom vs SNK), I had a stint where I could not beat my friend because he kept rolling, which allowed him to phase through my attacks. And soon I picked up the same strategy. Eventually we broke the abuse of that mechanic by figuring out we could trick the opponent into rolling, and then attacking as they came out of it.

Training mode is your best friend now. It will be your companion for a long time. You'll be training there, mastering your fight stick and the fighting engine there. Set it so you see your inputs. This way you'll see where you went wrong. Most times I would press the button before the motion was complete. I'd end up doing a srk before the ultra went off. Also there is a couple of things here you can look at that will help your game.

This tutorial taught me tons about the game.

It'll cover everything from the basics to the in depth combos. Its not completely up to date with Ultra but it will go a long way towards helping you with the basics and how the engine works.

@bunchanumbers: Thanks for the link!

The tutorial went a long way towards improving my game. I started the game back in SF4 and was pretty bad. My game didn't actually take off until I got serious and bought a fight stick and watched this tutorial. Now I understand the majority of the game and how it works. But its like @MethodManFTW said. I'm discovering new things about the game all the time.

@bunchanumbers: Im on Chapter 5 right now, and am still watching. Gona try and dedicate myself to this one game. Ive been looking for a real competitive game to use the competitive side in me. Thanks again!

@nightlord415: Almost every bit of advice someone here will give you is covered in the tutorial. Outside of the tutorial the only real advice I can give you is to not be afraid to watch replays. I watch them whenever I can. Watch the higher ranking matches A and B fighters. They can show you what is possible with the fighters. With proper timing I found that I can do 25+ hit combos with E Honda. And giant combos with Chun Li by watching replays. Pick the main you wanna be then look for high ranking matches with that fighter.

Also don't be afraid to try out the Trials. Now the bigger combos at the end of the trials aren't the most practical. But they will help show you whats possible with the engine.

Oh it'll take a very long time to get good. But I love this game with a passion. It has so much depth and so mcuh to learn. I've been playing since the original SF4 and I still suck tbh. I went from a scrub spamming Shoryuken with ken 5 years ago to a Guile/Makoto player that tries to think 3 steps ahead, learns the matchups, and uses every tool in the game that benefits me and my character. I still stick in just the 500pp range. But this is a very hardcore community and this is such a later version of the SF4 series that only people who KNOW how to play are still playing. You shouldnt feel bad at all, but it will take time. Hope you have fun!

Also, who is your main character? I can probably recommend some pro players for you to watch on youtube so you can learn from the best.

SF is one of the hardest fighting game franchises ever. Try playing BlazeBlue though lol prefer that game. Hardcore 2D fighters pride themselves on the fact the game requires skill which to be honest is partly bull shit. SF4, KOF, Guilty Gear, and Tekken are all very technical fighting games that require precise execution and knowing frames inside out. In my opinion it is not so much the skill, but the developers decision to design their games this way. If you design any game where you will only have 1ms to press a button of course it is going to be hard. That primarily is problem with SF4 many beginners will immediately face. You think your character is doing A, but instead it does B. SF has always been notoriously known for being tooooo precise with inputs and it takes time getting used to it. Every time you slip up on execution, you are asking for punishment.

The characters in story modes all the have random exploits and cheese moves. Once you identify them, the story mode will be a cake walk. If you are just getting into SF now, I'd bounce and wait for the next popular fighting game franchise reboot. A fighting game that anyone could pick up at anytime is something like Soul Calibur, MK, DOA, or yes Tekken (they don't milk as much). SF, KOF, BlazBlu are not fighting games that you can just jump right into. It'll take weeks of game play hours to reach a competent competitive lvl of mastery.

It is a game that demands dedication. Not just to one character, but to many characters. You'll need to learn the physical range of their attacks so you can avoid them. Attack range and safe areas are a big thing with the game. Also the game punishes you when you jump. Almost every character has devastating anti air moves and there is no protection for your attacks, so just trying to jump in with a drop kick will almost always be punished. MIssing a SRK can be catastrophic. But man, its so satisfying when that combo you've been working on works in a online match. Or when you outmaneuver your opponent and win a match you could have swore you would lose. Its even more satisfying when you beat a opponent who is ranked higher than you. So while yes the game is challenging and some will say it difficult, it does reward you for your dedication. Its a great game.