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[nampad]

I am in the mood for a fighting game on PS4 again. For your information, I am a total scrub and don't have the time to get serious in online competitive.

I want something that I can play with friends, who are mainly also scrubs, when they come over though I appreciate a good single player/campaign mode.
I could see myself dipping my toes into online if the mechanics are easy enough to learn and the community isn't overtly toxic (yeah, I have heard bad things about fighting game communities).

When SFIV released I was super hyped and bought a Madcatz fighting stick for PS3 so if the PS4 game supports it, it would be very welcome.


Contenders:

-Street Fighter V: It's the series everybody knows and has played so me and my friends will know the characters and basic moves like Hadoukens. It's the series I have most experience with so naturally this would be the one to get.
I heard the single player stuff was pretty barebones at release though and many of the known characters are DLC. Also, the gameplay might be more for esport?

-Mortal Kombat: This is also a well known series everyone has played though I was more in the Street Fighter camp back in the days. I enjoyed the story mode in Injustice and this would be a great plus for me. I did not like the gameplay of Injustice that much though and always preferred the SF gameplay over MK.

-Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator-:
I have never played a Guilty Gear and I guess my friends did neither. I have read that this one has training mode to learn how to play fighting games. I also like the look of it.

-King of Fighters XV: I have never really played a King of Fighters game and I guess my friends did neither. I disliked the 3vs3 aspect of the former KoFs. I included this because it was released just recently with a good critical reception.

 

[Sinfamy]

SFV so I can wreck you with Vega.

 

[Spinky]

MKXL (the version with all DLC, it's cheap now) is your best bet. Scrub-friendly, good online if you need it, tons of single-player content, fun with friends because blood and shock value.

It's easily the most accessible FG out of all the ones you mentioned. And in general, along with Injustice I guess.

SFV isn't too bad but if you're worried about single-player content, it has a lot less. Online is also eh.

 

[Inuhanyou]

MKXL

 

[Vice]

For single player MKX and Xrd. Both have good story modes and arcade modes. Xrds main story is more like an anime movie though. Mkx also has a few other singlemplayers modes to occupy time. SFV's story is very barebones, about two hours, and the character stories are all very short(3 or 4 vey easy rounds). Not sure about KoF but Inhave never enjoyed the story/arcade modes in that series.

For online: SFV, MKX or Xrd*. SFV will have the largest playerbase, but the games doesn't do a good job of telling you how to play better. MKX is pretty popular and the netcode has improved since launch, isn't too hard to find matches at any time lf day. May have a player dopoff after Injustice 2 drops.
*Xrd is there only if you're willing to get more involved with finding. Ranked matches for the game aren't very plentiful, in fact they're very scarce, but the game does an excellent job of teaching you how to play and get better. The community is also pretty open.

An alternative pick would be Skullgirls, it's $5 now on the PSN flash sale and definitely worth the price. Nice classic arcade style story mode, very good tutorial and the online pools players from all the Sony platforms so the community isn't too fragmented. The training mode will help you learn about fighting games in general like Xrd's.

 

[AAK]

I want something that I can play with friends, who are mainly also scrubs, when they come over though I appreciate a good single player/campaign mode.
I could see myself dipping my toes into online if the mechanics are easy enough to learn and the community isn't overtly toxic (yeah, I have heard bad things about fighting game communities).

Based on this criteria the answer is easily MKXL. XL patch also made the netcode really good.

 

[joffocakes]

Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator is the best fighting game on PS4. It's one of the most impressive games I've played visually and the training mode is indeed brilliant. It has been on sale on PSN recently I'm sure.

Street Fighter V is my favourite but it's still not worthwhile for solo players. Doesn't do a great job of teaching you how to play (though it does at least have a tutorial). Very satisfying game play though.

I don't personally enjoy Mortal Kombat's game play but it's definitely content rich for solo players. The story mode is entertainingly dreadful and there's a host of other challenges to get stuck into.

 

[JPS Kai]

Dead or Alive's a good pick for beginners. Story mode isn't anything special, but the battle systems are simple enough to pick up and mash through.

 

[RobotHaus]

Dawg, Skullgirls just went on sale. I'm on mobile so someone post the gif.

 

[Melkezadek]

I think MKX is great. Some say it's a step back in story mode, but other than the flop ending, it was good enough for me. The gameplay here is king. I feel everything is tighter and not as floaty as MK9 did. Also more aesthetically pleasing and sounds intense with surround speakers or a sound bar. Game has a wealth of single player content and neat modes like Test Your Luck, where skill really doesn't matter. Very fun out parties.

I've been getting back into SFV lately too. Easy to get into. I was disappointed with Akuma at first because of his design, but I've grown to embrace the "i don't give a fuck about my hair, get it out of my face, put it in a frontknot" haircut. Note that it does not have a wealth of content. At least when you compare it to other fighters out there now. However, the gameplay is really solid and most characters are actually really fun to play.

 

[fernoca]

Depends on what you are also willing to spend.

Skullgirls is amazing and is currently $5 at the PS Store.

Mortal Kombat XL has a ton of content and is currently under $40 at most places. Is also faster than Injustice.

King of Fighters XIV has 50 characters and allows for 1v1 in versus matches, but 3v3 is still the main thing, if you don't like that. Price varies from $40 to $60.

Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 is at the Store too for $25 and there's Dead or Alive 5 which is free to start. If you like it you could either buy characters you like or buy the full game at $40 (at most) . Then, there's a ton of DLC costumes.

Those are also what my friends enjoy playing when they come over, on PS4 at least. One even bought Skullgirls yesterday on sale yesterday and he never buys fighters, but liked playing it on my PS4 and Vita.

 

[Jimnymebob]

Guilty Gear is my favourite out of those, but it's my favourite fg series in general. It has a lot of singleplayer stuff, including arcade mode, plus it's story is basically a 5 or so hour long anime movie with no player input. It's a bit odd how it does it, but it saves the game from having to resort to the fighting game story trope of two characters meet somewhere, and either hate each other, want a friendly spar, or annoy each other, you do a single round fight, and the story continues. Of course, GG Rev is like the latest game in a series that's been going for almost 20 years, and aside from a quick recap of the original Xrd, it drops you straight into the story. There is a comprehensive encyclopaedia you can flick through though.

Gameplay wise it's fast paced and really flashy. If you're playing with people who enjoyed things like UMVC3 for how much crazy stuff was happening, they'd enjoy this. It is quite a technical game though, although learning fundamentals and having a good grasp on them is more important than the advanced things in my opinion.

 

[purdobol]

Tekken 7 is on the horizon. And it looks dope.
From what is released already MKXL and Guilty Gear are great picks.

 

[abstract alien]

If you don't want to get serious, just grab Mortal Kombat. Plus, it's fun in training mode. I played more training mode than actually fighting people.

 

[Tizoc]

Dawg, Skullgirls just went on sale. I'm on mobile so someone post the gif.

I gotchu fam

If you don't want to get serious, just grab Mortal Kombat. Plus, it's fun in training mode. I played more training mode than actually fighting people.

Ummm you can do that in any foghting game that has a training mode

 

[PantsuJo]

I gotchu fam

Ummm you can do that in any foghting game that has a training mode

Skullgirls awesome game.

Fucking awesome, in fact.

 

[Lt.Chips]

Wait a little for Tekken 7

 

[abstract alien]

Ummm you can do that in any foghting game that has a training mode

I honestly feel like I have more fun in Mortal Kombat's training mode than I do in something like Street Fighter V (which I feel is the far superior fighting game). Something about the look of the combos and the button timings just makes training mode fun. You always feel like you can squeeze another attack into an mk combo, so it becomes a dexterity puzzle. I don't really feel the same way in Street Fighter, which I take much more seriously.

 

[Qvoth]

sf5 is a safe bet
gg xrd rev 2 is out this year so might as well wait for that instead if you're interested

 

[Artdayne]

For Honor.

 

[gelf]

If you want single player don't bother with SFV, wait and see if they add more modes like I am. Outside of that the rest are all decent options.

 

[nampad]

Dawg, Skullgirls just went on sale. I'm on mobile so someone post the gif.

Thanks for reminding me to get Skullgirls. I wanted to support them for the PS3 stick drivers and the Vita version. Not going to buy it for full price though.

Depends on what you are also willing to spend.

Skullgirls is amazing and is currently $5 at the PS Store.

Mortal Kombat XL has a ton of content and is currently under $40 at most places. Is also faster than Injustice.

King of Fighters XIV has 50 characters and allows for 1v1 in versus matches, but 3v3 is still the main thing, if you don't like that. Price varies from $40 to $60.

Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 is at the Store too for $25 and there's Dead or Alive 5 which is free to start. If you like it you could either buy characters you like or buy the full game at $40 (at most) . Then, there's a ton of DLC costumes.

Those are also what my friends enjoy playing when they come over, on PS4 at least. One even bought Skullgirls yesterday on sale yesterday and he never buys fighters, but liked playing it on my PS4 and Vita.

I am in Europe. Right now we got a sale on Street Fighter V for the base game and the 2015 character pack. Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator- is available for 15 bucks.

Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator is the best fighting game on PS4. It's one of the most impressive games I've played visually and the training mode is indeed brilliant. It has been on sale on PSN recently I'm sure.

Street Fighter V is my favourite but it's still not worthwhile for solo players. Doesn't do a great job of teaching you how to play (though it does at least have a tutorial). Very satisfying game play though.

I don't personally enjoy Mortal Kombat's game play but it's definitely content rich for solo players. The story mode is entertainingly dreadful and there's a host of other challenges to get stuck into.

Guilty Gear is my favourite out of those, but it's my favourite fg series in general. It has a lot of singleplayer stuff, including arcade mode, plus it's story is basically a 5 or so hour long anime movie with no player input. It's a bit odd how it does it, but it saves the game from having to resort to the fighting game story trope of two characters meet somewhere, and either hate each other, want a friendly spar, or annoy each other, you do a single round fight, and the story continues. Of course, GG Rev is like the latest game in a series that's been going for almost 20 years, and aside from a quick recap of the original Xrd, it drops you straight into the story. There is a comprehensive encyclopaedia you can flick through though.

Gameplay wise it's fast paced and really flashy. If you're playing with people who enjoyed things like UMVC3 for how much crazy stuff was happening, they'd enjoy this. It is quite a technical game though, although learning fundamentals and having a good grasp on them is more important than the advanced things in my opinion.

Did not know that Guilty Gear also has a good story mode. With the sale, it sounds like a good value proposition.

 

[thuway]

Ignore the haters, Street Fighter V is quite possibly the best traditional fighting game today. It's accessible for new players with movesets that most people are familiar with and a combo system that actually doesn't require insane 1-frame links.

Secondary fighters, however, if you are more of a hardcore guy, include King of Fighters XIV, Guilty Gear Xrd, Dragonball Xenoverse 2, and Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure.

 

[Devil]

I'd personally recommend you SFV but I just can't because of your preferences. You should get MKX, which is hard to say for me since I dislike its gameplay so much. SFV is great in many aspects, but the SP is nothing to buy the game for.

 

[Skilletor]

MKXL would be the best game to buy for a casual player. Probably pretty cheap by now as well.

 

[Tyaren]

I am in the mood for a fighting game on PS4 again. For your information, I am a total scrub and don't have the time to get serious in online competitive.

I want something that I can play with friends, who are mainly also scrubs, when they come over though I appreciate a good single player/campaign mode.
I could see myself dipping my toes into online if the mechanics are easy enough to learn and the community isn't overtly toxic (yeah, I have heard bad things about fighting game communities).

Why not DOA5 Last Round? It's easy to get into but has that depth if you want to dive deeper into that. It's fun and you and your friends can have a laugh at the oversexualized (but imo harmeless) features of the female cast. (If you or you friends are offended by that you can turn jiggle completely off and choose plenty modest costumes.) The game is filled to the brim with content, especially single player content.

 

[letmetrythisname]

DOA5 is great and has a lot of content. I just bought Injustice on the flash sale and it's alright. You could also just wait for Tekken 7.

 

[GuileBootCamp]

If you were happy with the single player content in vanilla SFIV, you'll probably be fine with what SFV has, but maybe a little underwhelmed. It already has arguably more than vanilla SFIV had, though, and arcade mode is coming, and possibly some more stuff, too.

If you and your group prefers SF's gameplay, then SFV should be a lot of fun. SFV shines the most in local Vs. and battle lounges online. Its mechanics are fairly simple to learn and understand, too, even in comparison to SFIV.

I can't really give MKXL the recommendation, because the gameplay is still very much Mortal Kombat, and MKXL is not likely to make you prefer its gameplay over SF.

Revelator is an amazingly good game, but despite great tutorial options, I think it's probably the most scrub-unfriendly fighter on the current gen of consoles, just because of how complex its gameplay is, with many many subsystems. It's also probably the highest execution fighter on the current gen. The gaps between a low level, mid level, and high level player are huge.

KoF is usually a solid bet, but I honestly haven't put enough time into XIV to offer a strong recommendation for or against.

 

[Mokubba]

Street Fighter V is pretty good.

 

[JusDoIt]

Get SFV. It'll be as fun to play with your friends when they come over as the old Street Fighter games were. It doesn't have much in the way of single player modes, but it'll take you about 5 or 6 hours to get through all of the story content.

 

[Vazra]

Get DOA5 Core Fighters and see if you like it.

From those I would go with MKXL

 

[Crayon]

Sfv has enough people on that You can get matched with novices. Plus it's easy to play. But alone, it's really boring.

 

[meerak]

SFV doesn't have a lot of single player content, but, as a scrub I appreciate the simplicity of the game (definitely not for pros/esports only) and there is a good player base of many different levels, and lots of community support (tutorials, etc). My friends, who are a 100x as scrubby, treat it basically like SFII.

Imo, guilty gear is too hard for true scrubs, so unless you love the visuals it will be hard to get into I think.

As for MK that can be hilarious to play with friends but personally just not a fan of the feel.

You should be able get a SFV season 1 bundle for a good price at this point, has been lots of sales.

 

[gelf]

If you were happy with the single player content in vanilla SFIV, you'll probably be fine with what SFV has, but maybe a little underwhelmed. It already has arguably more than vanilla SFIV had, though, and arcade mode is coming, and possibly some more stuff, too.

I disagree with this. Playing through arcade mode with every character in IV provides more then that short story mode in V so I'm waiting to see that added before I consider buying.

 

[Punished_Snake]

SFV, it's the most fun game to play, but you have to learn, you should know what meaties is, frame traps, when to press a button and match ups to enjoy the game. SFV is like a turn based game, you should know when it's your turn and when it isn't.

 

[GuileBootCamp]

I disagree with this. Playing through arcade mode with every character in IV provides more then that short story mode in V so I'm waiting to see that added before I consider buying.

Cinematic Story mode on normal and hard (both give fight money) plus each individual character story is roughly the same time sink as arcade mode in SFIV with all characters. Both are done and over with pretty fast. Granted, I sped through SFIV arcade mode in a few hours, just because I wanted all the characters unlocked ASAP for local Vs.

I'm not saying it's great or complete, and I'm completely in agreement that it needs arcade mode. SFIV has more to come back to as well, just because of the difficulty levels. A 2016 fighting game should probably offer more than a 2009 fighting game by default, too.

I personally had more fun with SFV's goofy story mode than I did grinding through arcade mode in SFIV to unlock characters, though.

 

[MoxManiac]

There's nothing inherent about SF5's gameplay that makes it "esports". It's more of how they prioritized competitive play and online play over single player content.

 

[petran79]

Get Blazblue instead of Guilty Gear. More characters, larger and more engaging story mode , tutorials and gallery.

 

[oneida]

Cinematic Story mode on normal and hard (both give fight money) plus each individual character story is roughly the same time sink as arcade mode in SFIV with all characters. Both are done and over with pretty fast. Granted, I sped through SFIV arcade mode in a few hours, just because I wanted all the characters unlocked ASAP for local Vs.

I'm not saying it's great or complete, and I'm completely in agreement that it needs arcade mode. SFIV has more to come back to as well, just because of the difficulty levels. A 2016 fighting game should probably offer more than a 2009 fighting game by default, too.

I personally had more fun with SFV's goofy story mode than I did grinding through arcade mode in SFIV to unlock characters, though.

GBC you ever take 4EVO quest mode for a spin? I remember you ordered it a while back.

 

[pretty done]

SFV, it's the most fun game to play, but you have to learn, you should know what meaties is, frame traps, when to press a button and match ups to enjoy the game.

This is why you should get Mortal Kombat OP

No need to sit in training mode studying up on a fucking video game. Plus MK has single player content.

 

[ScOULaris]

Don't get SF5. It's just far too shoddy, incomplete, and microtransaction-ridden for me to recommend it, and that's coming from a lifelong Street Fighter fan.

MKXL is the best overall package with best-in-class singleplayer content, great online play, and approachable gameplay.

But I would HIGHLY recommend picking up Skullgirls 2nd Encore today during the flash sale. For $5 you get both the PS4 and Vita versions of one of the best fighting games to come out in years. Everything about it is fantastic whether you're playing it online or offline.

I also love Guilty Gear, but the online community is a little sparse so you'll oftentimes be waiting quite a while in between matches.

 

[GuileBootCamp]

GBC you ever take 4EVO quest mode for a spin? I remember you ordered it a while back.

Not yet. The order ended up getting delayed (I even bought it from a seller in my same state to get it faster) and I got sucked into SFV pretty hard after the S2 changes dropped, then took a break from fighters in general for about a week. I do have the game now, though, and it's still been on my mind to check it out. I should have some time this weekend.

 

[sinkfla87]

MKXL
KOFXIV
SFV

In that order and ranked by fun. And if you wanna prepare for Injustice 2, the first game is on sale for 5 bucks on PSN. Online isn't very populated but I have found about 4 other ppl I've played with today alone.

SFV is definitely the most accessible out of all these games to new players but as others have stated, it's low on single player content. There are however trials to help you learn combos, etc. While I'm okay with SFV I personally don't find the game to be nearly as fun as any of the other fighting games listed.

 

[farisr]

Now by "scrub-friends" do you mean have some basic knowledge of Street FIghter and other fighting games, or do you mean absolutely casual, they'd have to look up and take a while learning how to do a hadouken?

If it's the latter, then based off your post I'd recommend MKXL. It has more offline content and is definitely a better "party" game for casuals to pick up, play and enjoy the flashy moves without having much prior knowledge.

If it's the former, where they at least have basic knowledge/skill of Street Fighter (and can do basic hadoukens or shoryukens and what not), then I'd recommend SFV. At this point in time, there is a decent amount of offline content readily available, and I vastly prefer SF gameplay over MK (which it sounds like you do too).

But yeah, MKXL packs so much content though, even when compared to Street Fighter V Deluxe Edition 2017, and can be gotten for less than half its price (or $7 more than base Street Fighter V).

 

[Synth]

Mortal Kombat would be my suggestion for the single player stuff. I'm not even much of a Mortal Kombat person, but happily bought MK9 and MKX purely to play through the single-player stuff, and don't feel any more short-changed by it than any other single player campaign in other genres.

However, I would probably recommend Street Fighter V for playing with friends, especially if you have friends that'll already be familiar with some of the cast. I tend to find that everyone generally tends to have a much better time if they at least have some basic familiarity with the game, and if they're only ever playing when you get together, it's difficult for that familiarity to build in a new game.

Street Fighter V... and a combo system that actually doesn't require insane 1-frame links.

Honestly... I almost think that's only really a notable factor in comparison to other Street Fighter games, as not only are many fighters less execution heavy than Street Fighter (especially 3D fighters), but these sort of considerations don't tend to factor in at the lower levels of play anyway, even if you pick something like Guilty Gear.

 

[Brandon F]

Contenders:

-Mortal Kombat: This is also a well known series everyone has played though I was more in the Street Fighter camp back in the days. I enjoyed the story mode in Injustice and this would be a great plus for me. I did not like the gameplay of Injustice that much though and always preferred the SF gameplay over MK.

I'd ignore MKX then, as I also really dislike the stiff feel of Injustice and MKX is really no different. You also get a terrible story that lacks the endearing lore craziness of MK9, and the unlocks are dished out so slowly that it kind of soured me on even bothering. Plenty of people disagree though and it is semi-regularly on sale, but given your comment above, don't expect to love it.

In its place, I would seriously consider DOA5LR, as it is the most accessible and flashy of the bunch if you want some fun pick up games with casual friends. Very simple mechanics with plenty of underlying systems to dig into, but the core offense/defense/counter system is just so easy for anyone to have fun with. Even button mashing will lead to some crowd-pleasing acrobatics. The story mode is zany and goofy as well, and even unlocking costumes in the various modes is enjoyable(and with over 1000 in the game, you will be seeing a lot of visual variety on the characters, even if you don't pay a cent to own any of them). Highly underrated.

Oh and Tekken 7 should be coming very soon. Very likely that will be the fighting game that fits your criteria perfectly.

 

[Izuna]

I personally thought that new Guilty Gear was dope.

Street Fighter V isn't for casuals, it's a horrible game. You have to get really good with fundamentals otherwise the better players will give you no chance, and from what I hear, there's a lopsided ratio of better players.

GG also has a nice simple mode that you can play a bit and a good tutorial mode that'll teach you how to play.

 

[Producer]

SFV isnt for casuals, lemme recommend GG right quick

Lol

 

[momshotdad]

MKX Komplete

 

[Rabid Dwarf 76]

Guilty Gear Xrd: Revalater is my personal favorite on PS4. It's perfect for what described above. The tutorial and training modes are god tier!
BlazBlue: Central Fiction would be my second recommendation.