SFV: Champion vs Arcade - an Edition for Hardcore Players

There are two versions of Street Fighter V out there in the wild. One of them is the Champion Edition - with content from four seasons. Another one is the Arcade Edition, and it has a limited number of characters and stages. At the first sight, the choice here is pretty obvious, and you click that Buy button near the Champion Edition. But wait a moment! Is everything that simple? Would you lose something in that full game?

Get ready to learn the positive aspects of choosing the Arcade Edition for hardcore players!

How hardcore are you?

Let’s start with clearing the basics. “Who are those hardcore players you are talking about?”

Those guys who have a huge experience with Street Fighter V might never consider the possibility of returning to the starting point and buying the game once again. Still, they could benefit from such a step.

Hardcore players ususally have big plans for their gaming experience from the very beginning - becoming good on the competitive level, master the game techniques, and just be happy with the personal progress. You can’t know where the journey will take you, but you are ready to go as far as possible.

Even if you just explore a new game, you can feel like a hardcore player - if you are ready to grow in it and probably surprise even yourself with your successes.

The advantages of the Arcade Edition

“Why should I limit the number of available fighters?”

That’s not like you will never get those characters in the basic version of the game - but to do so, you should put quite a lot of effort into the process. SF5 unlockable characters become available thanks to spending Fight Money, an internal currency. You got it by investing your time into the game. It’s both a motivation to play more and a plan of developing your skills.

To be honest, the modes of Street Fighter V don’t have a clear path for mastering the game. Yes, it has the story to grasp the basics of many characters, but that’s actually it. Character episodes are super easy, they are not challenging enough to go beyond the neutral attacks. The Arcade mode gives a nice feeling of completing something, with quite powerful final bosses - but you don’t have to use new characters here. Having all the fighters from the very beginning, you need kind of self-organization to try out new stuff and expand your regular practice.

SFV: Arcade Edition gives you a clear goal - earn enough Fight Money to unlock all Street Fighter characters or those fighting stages. You start with 16 personalities, each with their unique abilities. You milk them to get the max FM and simultaneously, you become better at playing them and learn the game.

Earning Fight Money is not a quick process, but it’s definitely rewarding. For example, you get experience and FM in the Surviving mode for clearing a difficulty level for the first time. After the Easy one with 10 opponents, you are literally forced to proceed to Normal and try to defeat 30 fighters. The boost in skills is needed to achieve that.

Or the Online Fights - victories give Street Fighter cash, and you feel more motivated to practice offline to win online matches.

SFV: Arcade Edition will be a clever choice if you want to progress in the game better. Will you be able to unlock them all?

The Upgrade Kit

“Why does Capcom keep this unlocking possibility? Isn’t this better for the company to sell more Champion Editions?”

Yeah, the development team has interest in selling you the more expensive version of their game. But also, they are interested in you returning to the fighting matches again and again - without a skilled online audience, the whole product would be rather dead.

Taking the path of purchasing the Arcade Edition and then unlocking everything in there is difficult, and at some point the activity for earning FM might become even frustrating. The best part here - you can stop whenever you feel like. Getting AE is not a punishment but a way to bring even more fun into your SF experience. Capcom sells Champion Edition Upgrade Kits, so you can get one and unlock everything you are struggling to purchase with Fight Money.

Actually, that won’t be a step back or something. You will reach your personal up point in the Arcade Edition, and with all the personal achievements will be ready to move forward much faster. You will support the game by your attention, and then you will give some money to the developers.

Champion Edition - for casual fighting joy

This may sound a bit controversial. “Shouldn’t I buy a cheaper version to understand whether I like the game or not?” Yeah, that sounds logical. But if you are so cautious, you better treat yourself with the full game to not miss anything in this experience. Messing around with different fighters and enjoying colorful stages - it’s a joy of a casual fighting games player.

If you feel like you need no extra motivation to progress in the game - buy the Champion Edition as well.

And you know, don’t take advice from this article too seriously. Gaming is great by having lots of ways to enjoy it, and all of them are perfectly correct. Purchasing the Arcade Edition to develop your skills with the feeling of progression while earning Fight Money and unlocking characters - this is only one of the ways to enjoy Street Fighter V. Who knows, maybe it resonates with your gaming nature.