Street Fighter V Gameplay and Announcement Trailers Arrive – Short Analysis

With the sudden impact of a wake-up dragon punch, Street Fighter V has been announced! Just yesterday morning, Capcom posted and then quickly deleted a short teaser for Street Fighter V. And today, Capcom followed up with a roundhouse to the nerdguts with a gameplay trailer:

Along with it came a trailer featuring some of the gameplay footage from the teaser that serves mostly as a heartfelt love letter to the fighting game community:

For the reputation the Street Fighter series has of struggling with inclusivity (so much so that a veteran has written a primer for newcomers), it’s a little strange that Capcom has announced that Street Fighter V will be exclusive to PS4 and PC. Not to mention their announcement that Ultra Street Fighter IV will also be coming to PS4. However, this can certainly be seen as a welcome appreciation for die-hard PlayStation gamers that have been drawing the short straw with next-gen consoles when it comes to fighting games thus far. At least, until this announcement.

Straight from the press release:

“Partnering with Capcom to deliver one of the most popular video game franchises of all time as a console exclusive to our PlayStation family is a huge undertaking and an honor we take incredibly seriously,” said Adam Boyes, VP of Publisher & Developer Relations at Sony Computer Entertainment America. “We can’t wait to show Street Fighter and PlayStation fans what we have in store for them.”

It’s clear from the gameplay trailer Street Fighter V will be sticking with it’s 2.5D visuals and mechanics. As with each installment of Street Fighter though, a new mechanic is introduced to help raise the stakes. Street Fighter III had the parry mechanic, for instance, which allowed you to completely block a move without taking chip damage from specials if timed perfectly. Current gen’s Street Fighter IV introduced focus attacks, allowing you to time an attack that absorbs one hit of damage just before delivering a crippling blow. Judging from this trailer, it’s purely my speculation that Street Fighter V will have a mechanic similar to Street Fighter Alpha 3’s “guard power gauge” which meant you had a meter for how much you were able to block and if that meter depleted, your guard would break leaving you vulnerable. Let’s take a look at the visual similarities:

Ken breaking E. Honda's guard in Street Fighter Alpha 3
Ken breaking E. Honda’s guard in Street Fighter Alpha 3
Ryu seemingly breaking Chun Li's guard in Street Fighter V
Ryu seemingly breaking Chun Li’s guard in Street Fighter V

I am not alone in this speculation. But a more obvious mechanic being introduced to the new installment is stage transitions. You can catch this happening in the gameplay trailer right here. We won’t know anything for sure until a week from now on December 13th when we’ll be able to see the games first demonstration during the Capcom Cup. You can watch this on twitch on the CapcomFighters channel.

What are you hoping to see in Street Fighter V? New mechanics? Old ones? How do you feel about it’s exclusivity on PS4 and PC? How many pairs of pants did you have to change whilst watching that trailer? Comment below!