Street Fighter V Update Adds Rose, Steve Aoki Gear
With February being the 30th year of Street Fighter II, the legacy fighting game teased the new season of Street Fighter V. Capcom’s gone on record saying that this would be the last injection of content for the game which saw release in 2016. So the Street Fighter V Winter Update might be one of the finals streams we get for the legacy game.
New Characters
During this stream we got our first look at Rose, the next new character slated for release. Rose first burst onto the scene in Street Fighter Alpha back in the 90’s and has been a cult favorite ever since. She’s an Italian Romani who uses Soul energy and Tarot cards to confound her opponents. Also, many of her attacks utilize her trademark magic scarf which extends her reach by a significant amount. Rose has always been one of my personal favorite fighters in the series. And her zoning and defensive abilities should fit very well in the in the game. Her stage, a Venice pier, is one of the most stunning in the game. Capcom provided a full breakdown of her playstyle in the stream as well.
We also got a deep dive into Dan, the first of this season’s new characters. Dan is designed specifically to be a low-tier character. In fact, he was originally made as a joke against Capcom’s rival, SNK’s “Art of Fighting” series. With that said, this iteration of Dan looks very technical making him effective to only the most skilled players. The average SF player will more than likely struggle to find any value in using Dan. Which is kind of the point.
Fashion Collabs
Street Fighter’s also been one of the top video game brands when it comes to fashion. And I don’t mean the in-game costumes, I mean actual clothing. I personally own a number of pieces from their SF x Uniqlo line. And this time they are joining forces with EDM DJ/Producer, Steve Aoki, for the “Dim Mak x Street Fighter” line. Apparently it will include hoodies shirts and even an arcade cabinet. While its not strange to see a clothing collab from SF, it was for sure the most random part of the Update.
System Changes
Even if you are interested in the new characters, there’s a slew of balance changes coming to exsisting characters. However, the biggest change is the addition of the “V-Shift”. This new defensive option allows players to retreat with a Matrix-like effect and counter attack. As of right now, the only option is to use the V-Reversal which has to be done after a block. So while this does relieve pressure, it doesn’t allow you to have many follow-up options. This is a huge change to the game, as many characters lack the ability to get out of even the most basic combos.
It will be interesting to see how the V-Shift is used at the Pro level. As its a really awesome mechanic to look at. So expect some high tension moments to include big brain usage of the V-Shift.
Release Dates
The first wave of content, including Dan and the V-Shift, drop on February 22nd. The Season Pass is available right now and more characters will drop throughout the year. So even though the Winter Update was filled to the brim with information, we can expect even more at Capcom Cup and over the summer.
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Image courtesy of Capcom