Status Sir_Laguna Nov 30, 2025
I finished reading the novel Street Fighter: Where Strength Lies. This is an interesting book, but ultimately disappointing.
I've always been a huge fan of the Street Fighter series and I love having opportunities to learn more about its lore, so a novel was something I couldn't say no to. It's supposed to revolve around the events of SF4 …
I finished reading the novel Street Fighter: Where Strength Lies. This is an interesting book, but ultimately disappointing.
I've always been a huge fan of the Street Fighter series and I love having opportunities to learn more about its lore, so a novel was something I couldn't say no to. It's supposed to revolve around the events of SF4 and Ryu's transformation into Evil Ryu... but the narrative centers entirely on fights between different characters, which severely limits what could be done in terms of plot.
In reality, only three (well, four) of the fights actually focus on Evil Ryu, and the writer is so focused on describing the combat moves that everything else feels underdeveloped. There are times when this way of telling the story brings out interesting aspects of the characters' personalities (I learned a lot about Sagat that I really didn't expect), but it's something that could have been explored more fully.
The fights between Chun-Li and Elena, Honda and Guile, Hakan and Dhalsim, and Dudley and Balrog are just filler. In some cases, you learn interesting things about these fighters' styles, but again, it falls short.
While I can't deny that I enjoyed finally learning how Ryu transformed into his villainous version, why Sagat left Shadaloo, and what happened to Gouken, the book overall was sadly boring. Focusing on describing the fights is interesting and something a better writer (or translator) could take full advantage of, but until I find that book, I'll enjoy it more in more visual media... like a video game, for example.
