Street Fighter V

Capcom had some of the most high-profile games at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, including new content for its highly anticipated fighter, Street Fighter V. Fellow editor Kim Wallace and I visited a private demo which included the game’s two newest combatants – Karin and Rashid, and we put the two through their paces.

The arrival of Karin Kanzuki is the big news for the show, as she is one of the most popular characters in the series, according to polls Capcom put to its player base. In fact, Karin topped the popularity list in Japan, and came in 7th overall around the world. Having appeared only in Street Fighter Alpha 3, her return should be a welcome entry for fans. 

I’m no Street Fighter expert, but even I could recognize Karin’s broad utility and fun play options. In my matches, Karin appeared to be relatively well-rounded, but with a particular focus on quick approaches to distant enemies using her dash moves. Her V-Skill allows her to build up towards a big V-Trigger, but also has strong utililty on its own, allowing her to hit with a palm strike that also doubles as a defensive option by dissipating incoming projectiles. 

While previously announced, TGS also gave us our first chance to try out Rashid, a Middle Eastern character that oozes style and offers some devastating attack options. Rashid’s big gimmick is all about harnessing the wind, so a lot of his attacks focus on blasting enemies with spinning vortexes and blasts of air. He has two separate V-Skills, which sets him apart from other fighters in the line-up, and his V-Trigger power is particularly impressive, summoning a massive tornado onto the screen. Not only does the twister damage opponents, but Rashid can leap through it to gain speed and whip around behind his foe. 

Kim and I played each character several times, and found both the characters and our mutual skills to be pretty evenly matched. It was my first time having extended play with the new game, and I quite like the new Variable system, as it helps to further distinguish the characters from one another. Using V-Skills and taking damage build your V-Gauge, and when full, the V-Trigger can turn the tide of a fight. V-reversals use less of the gauge, but offer critical counter opportunities. I’d be lying if I said that I had a full handle on using the V system after half an hour of play, but I recognize its potential.

In addition to new characters, Capcom further detailed the reasons behind its approach to downloadable content for Street Fighter V, which moves away from the model of constant new disc releases, and aims to keep the fan community more united. After purchasing Street Fighter V, that’s the only disc you’ll need for the foreseeable future, as all subsequent balance changes and updates will be patched directly into the game. Dedicated players also earn “fight money” by simply playing the game, and that in-game currency in turn allows the purchase of new characters as they release, along with other as-yet unidentified content. If you haven’t played much recently, you can still get the new content, but you’ll pay real money to get it. This system (first detailed back in July) is smart for several reasons, but most importantly because players who opt in to Street Fighter V will all be playing in the same pool. It also lets players choose the specific content pieces they’d like to enjoy without having to buy a whole new installment. 

As detailed yesterday, the Street Fighter’s Network is also adding new tools to allow players to track the way they are playing the game, including match stats, rival settings, and even international heat maps for where the game is actively being played.

Taken together, Street Fighter V is shaping up to be a great fighter, but also a strong ongoing platform for Capcom to utilize as it moves the franchise into the future. In the end, the real test will be once all the fighters are in place, and the devoted fan community takes a crack at the full game, at which point we’ll find out if Street Fighter V can pull longtime advocates of the older entries forward.