Virtua Fighter Crossroads isn't just a fighting game revival, it's a "sandbox RPG" that channels Watchmen and Detroit: Become Human

It's been 20 years since the last new Virtua Fighter game. In those decades, the fighting game genre has supposedly died and risen from the proverbial ashes multiple times over, but Sega's once-mighty series has remained dormant even as the likes of Street Fighter and Tekken continue to reassert themselves. I think it's safe to say that Virtual Fighter Crossroads – a narrative-driven action-adventure game from the Yakuza developers – is not the comeback the fighting game community had expected.

In a behind-closed-doors presentation led by producer Riichiro Yamada, I start to get a sense of what Crossroads is all about. I'm not convinced that RGG Studio's take on the fighting series will deliver on what the genre's most dedicated fans will want, since the traditional versus mode that usually powers these games seems to be a sideshow here. But for me, a casual fighting game fan who loves the lore and likes diving into a robust story mode? Virtua Fighter Crossroads is offering one hell of a pitch. And, incredibly, it's a pitch inspired by both Watchmen and Detroit: Become Human.

Expanding the niche

"In Japan, fighting games are a pretty small niche, honestly," Yamada explains via translator. When he presented his pitch for a Virtua Fighter revival, then, "there were a lot of people who were kind of against it." But Yamada, a veteran of the Yakuza series, had something very different in mind: an "open sandbox RPG" that blends Virtua Fighter's old-school fighting game mechanics with the robust narrative that RGG is known for.

I don't see much gameplay beyond what's in the extended story trailer, but it sounds like fans of RGG's previous games will be right at home here – it's just that you can expect a more intricate fighting system true to the Virtua Fighter legacy as opposed to the more straightforward brawling we get in the Yakuza games.

VIRTUA FIGHTER CROSSROADS | Cielo Story Trailer - YouTube

Watch On

That sounds especially appropriate for the story of Cielo, which plays out similarly to a "kung-fu movie," Yamada says, but he's not the only central figure in the plot. The other protagonists will each give us "different tone and story feel," with one offering a "very dark and gritty" plot and another taking us to a noir-influenced detective story.

Yamada promises that "there's gonna be a lot of side content," ranging from "side quests with the legendary old cast" to a wide array of minigames. Those minigames are something else you'd typically expect from the Yakuza series, but Yamada suggests we shouldn't expect the same sorts of goofy, eclectic side activities that Kiryu usually gets up to, since when building the optional content the team "wanted to really ground it in this world" for Crossroads.

In fact, creating a grounded sense of reality was a particularly strong point of emphasis for crossroads, and here Yamada cites an unexpected reference as one of his "big inspirations": Watchmen. Yamada says that what he "really felt and loved about Watchmen was how the world – even if they're dressed as superheroes – it feels so believable." He wanted to take a similar approach to creating a believable world in Crossroads.

Meeting at the Crossroads

One key difference from the Yakuza series, Yamada explains, is that "player choice really matters." The story will play out differently depending on the decisions you make along the way, which Yamada believes will make the game feel "completely new" compared to RGG's previous titles.

For his part, Yamada – who served as a game design assistant on the JRPG-inspired Yakuza: Like a Dragon – "doesn't really like JRPGs." He reveals that detail with a laugh, worrying that "some people might be very angry" and immediately insisting he "didn't say that." It seems part of the issue is the linear narrative that JRPGs typically present.

Virtua Fighter Crossroads, instead, shares more in common with games that Yamada "personally really liked, like Detroit: Become Human, and stuff like that, where you really change the story. Depending on how you play, it becomes a whole different game."

How do these choices actually play out in Crossroads? Unfortunately, that's another area where Sega's currently a bit secretive. However, Yamada does say that he wants players "to play multiple times to get a multitude of different experiences, rather than just one time." Hopefully that means these choices are more than smoke and mirrors, and the differences between playthroughs actually feel meaningful.

Without actually getting to put my hands on Virtua Fighter Crossroads, I don't yet know how well RGG Studio's signature narrative and Virtua Fighter's signature combat will meld together in practice. But Yamada's pitch is a compelling one. Plenty of fighting games have had robust story modes in the past, but this looks much more like a full action-adventure game that simply happens to have fighting game combat at its core, and the major emphasis on player choice might just be the thing that ties it all together.

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