I got the game yesterday. After playing it for nearly 6 hours here are my early impressions:
-Story mode is surprisingly disappointing, especially since SC III had interactive cutscenes and everything. I, however, find this a bit good. I like to play through the single player mode with every character and unlock his/her ending (or whatever the case may be). When a game has 30+ characters like SC IV it becomes a chore. So it plays to have a brief single player campaign. Plus, if you play with all characters the campaign becomes longer in a way.
It definitely beats the hell out of MK Armageddon's endings. SC IV's story may be brief, but at least we are treated to a good cutscenes, unlike MK's which was basically scrolling text.
-I haven't played through all the modes yet, but I feel SC IV is more balanced than III. I recall the difficulty in III going like this...
Easy-easy-normal-normal-OMG THIS GUY'S A BITCH TO BEAT!!!-normal-easy-A challenge.
Its still a button masher, but I feel it allows for creative chains and combos.
-The character creation mode...ROCKS! I confess I've been playing this more than the game itself. The menu system is a bit confusing, but once you figure out creation characters is a breeze. Its weird, though. The mode was available in III, but I couldn't get into it. Now in IV, I can't get enough of it. I made around 10 characters last night.
I honestly wish the option to trade characters with friends was available. III proved that people LOVE to show off their characters. It would have been awesome to play as someone's disturbing creation.
-Destroying a character's armor...is my new guilty pleasure. *Blushes
I honestly go through the training mode and see what happens to each character when their armor is lost. Ivy is, sadly, a lost opportunity
. But messing with Hilde is GREAT!
With the main characters only a few pieces of armor are shattered. With customized characters, go, you can go all the way. So yes, you can create a hot female character for the sole purpose of stripping her.
God, I am being perverted right now, but mark my words. Some developer out there will go all the way and make a fighting game in which the sole purpose is to strip your opponent. And I suspect that game will be...Dead or Alive 5 XD .
-Yoda's a cool character, though I agree that his height can be a problem. Fighting as him you need to jump in other to fight the other character. Fighting him means you need to do low attacks.
He's still a fun character, and hopefully the download to unlock Vader happens soon.
Overall, I am liking SC IV A LOT more than SC III. There's definitely a lot of polish in its main areas. The graphics are just beautiful and the character selection is amazing, clones and all.
I will play some more and updated my impressions. I still need to unlock The apprentice and other characters.