This past weekend, Capcom debuted live gameplay of its upcoming sequel to Street Fighter IV at fighting game tournament Capcom Cup. And not only did we get to see Chun-Li and Ryu in all their martial arts glory, we also got a look at some of Street Fighter V‘s gameplay mechanics.
For starters, the EX meters are a bit different. You’ll notice in the above video that Ryu only has two while Chun-Li has three. This might indicate a balance system. I’m just speculating here, but I did see that Ryu has a block breaking hadouken. This might be a way to keep that from being overused. The Revenge Meter makes a return too. If you’re unfamiliar, that’s used to do signature supers. At the 2:45 mark, you’ll see Ryu pop Chun-Li through a door with his Shinku Hadouken.
Which brings me to my next point. It looks like stages are now multi-tiered and destructible. At the end of the first round, Chun-Li is put through a wall by Ryu. You’ll then notice that the second round begins right in the middle of the original stage and the noodle restaurant. At the end of the bout we all see Chun-Li thrown into the kitchen and a bowl of noodles lands on her head, which remains there for the rest of the bout in comical fashion.
Animations are more fluid. Although the game looks very similar to Street Fighter IV any vet will be able to tell you that the similarities end with the ink paints. I immediately noticed that there’s no slowdown. Secondly, you can see each animation cut into a new one. Whereas before a low medium from Ryu would just look like one quick motion you’ll now notice how smoothly Ryu’s leg gets back under him after his low medium at the 1:58 – 2:00 minute mark. Small details like this make frame counting easier, much like you see in pure 2D fighters like King of Fighters and Guilty Gear. It makes it easier to see what moves might be punishable and which ones are safe.
I also noticed that this game is ridiculously combo friendly. At the 5:43-5:47 mark Chun-Li unleashes a devastating 11-hit combo with ease. Basically, she goes from a jumping fierce, to an unknown link to flash kicks. At the 3:45 mark we see a linked air combo by Ms.Li that’s also shown in the original trailer. However, I’m deeply interested in a punch we see thrown a few times, particularly at 3:49. The punch seems to stagger Chun-Li and leaves her open to combos. The question, is this a Focus Attack, or is this a character-specific counter? I do know that it gives the player a good amount of time to follow up and dish out more damage.
Lastly, it looks like chip damage gives players grey health, that if left unbothered replenishes. You can see this from 7:24 until 7:28. There’s also an audio cue to indicate chip damage.
There are a few unknowns right now like those charge up abilities, and we see Ryu’s gives him electrical abilities by the sparks shown on his hands. We also see Chun-Li’s gives her water properties. What I did glean is that Ryu gets an EX fireball when in this charged state, and Chun-Li unleashes two fireballs. All at the cost of their EX meters.
Series producer Yoshinori Ono also came out onstage after the demo dressed as a series favorite plus a few modifications. It looks like Charlie will be making his return to the Street Fighter Universe.
We’re all excited here at 2D-x and are anxiously awaiting a release date since we already know Street Fighter V will be a PS4 and PC exclusive. Until then, we’ll keep re-watching this match. Be sure to watch the below video all the way through.
