Several years after Street Fighter IV revitalized the community’s (and my own) interest in the fighting game genre, Capcom has officially released the next installment in the grondbreaking fighting series. Street Fighter V has been in Beta for quite some time, and that only makes me wonder why the game isn’t as polished as I had hoped. I’ve been met with frequent disconnects online, no penalty for rage quitting, and the overall lack of modes and a strange way to select your characters via online battle are holding this one back for me. Right out of the gate though, SFIV was solid but lacked a lot of content, and it took Capcom several years to get it looking perfect with Ultra. So maybe this game just needs some more time in the incubator to come out pristine! Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright
3DS
Release Date: February 19th, 2016
Purchased at: Amazon (Online – $34)

Oh man, finally! The sequel to the 3DS’ excellent Fire Emblem: Awakening is here, and it comes in two packages! Birthright lets you follow the path of the Hoshido rather than the Nohr. So far from what I’ve played, it seems the Hoshido are more of the “good guys” if you could call them anything. It might be too early to decide, though. Also, I’ve hit a snag in one of the early chapters where it’s actually getting pretty tough to win! I’ll have to keep at it though. Even though I’ve lost, I’m still thinking of ways I want to try again to win, and that’s a definite good sign! Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest
3DS
Release Date: February 19th, 2016
Purchased at: Amazon (Online – $34)

Since the special edition which contained both games in one cartridge sold out instantly, I decided to just pick up both copies separately. Sure, it won’t be as cool as owning that special edition, but it’ll look nice on a shelf right next to Birthright. This game has you follow the Nohr and is supposed to be a lot more difficult when compared to Birthright. Because of that I decided to wait for this one until I beat the other, but almost all outlets are saying you should definitely play both to enjoy the story fully.

Laters,
Jsick