CESTUS III

For what's worth we even have ingame the V-Trigger (2?) where he have glowing forehead gem and suddently he's able to do super fast dashes We may also consider that in Alpha while surely agile for his size did'nt even gave the feel of be SO focused on run fast (as let's say Guy or Juni who even had some sort of dash similar to SFV Nash), he was more like great balance of power/weight/speed/agility... a dude roughly same size of Guile (so bigger/heavier than Ryu/Ken standard) that had greater skill/technique and could move in bit more acrobatic way You go into SFV and suddently is probably the fastest character in the cast in terms of top speed he can reach, definitely different vibes "Strong point" of Nash was being a genius fighter so talented that relatively young already invented his own legit martial art (and even teach it to Guile, who became world level too) , with great skills and accuracy (one hand SB, more refined FK) and HUGE sense of justice that gave him great determination (big deal in anime/manga). Match up Nash vs Bison i ever figured it as likely had the former having to make great use of his own skill/technique/instinct/smart/timing/movement etc etc basically shit you do when you boxing sparring with a guy 20kg heavier lol... you know he know to have superior firepower and you have to work to don't let him have the chance to impose that weight on you, force you to trade, or get you in a corner Basically you need to play super smart, keep attention high whole time and don't do mistakes I think as pure martial arts ability Nash had and edge over Bison Absolutely agree, for what's worth i think he's(was) the best american fighter of SF world, even better than both Ken and Cody... even if tbh i consider all them to be kinda close to each other. Maybe Cody have best natural instinct/talent, but he's more like a rough diamond that never truly reached his full potential, while Nash maximized it

I don't have problems with Nash ever been much better than Guile, but as more skilled/technical guy(as you said , ability to throw SB with one hand being good example)... shit he does in SFV clearly show he got "special" powers that he never had, stuff that takes the form of bright azure energy and it's clearly powered (showed in more than one case) by the Secret Society gem on his forehead That stuff is not simply new techniques (that he had no time to learn btw, as he was dead) that the old human Nash could have done, but totally new powers related to SS gifts Even doing big stretch of imagination and accepting (honestly, i don't) the fact that Nash is now simply able to move teleport-speed fast definitely not because he got SS power-up but because we want assume exist a retcon that say he was ever able to do it, we have still even more undeniable facts of their tech helping him We literally see -Kolin charging the gem to cure him after Urien -we see him taking a moment to concentrate to charge the gem and generate enough energy to absorb Psycho Power out of Abel -we seen Bison clearly surprised to see Nash hand glow of that unknown ki as of course normal Nash he fought in the past never had that shit -Nash last kamikaze move it's literally Nash absorbing PP from Bison to such extreme that overloaded the gem, we see his gem getting crazy and his face/head literally start to crack open (showing bright azure light under the skin) just before the big boom All shit i'm saying is here in ASF, if we want deny this stuff EXIST as part of the absolutely canon sory we may have played different games 😄 To be clear this does'nt make Nash a worse character, if that's the problem that get us stuck here despite evidences It just show that SS used him as human weapon and Nash as a soldier with a mission was ok with it, as rightfully could not give 2 shits about martial arts philosophy or challenge Bison in a fair honorable duel, he just wanted complete his mission and kill the bastard They actually developed him well imho

That's straight out false though, we seen clearly that he have bunch of new powerful abilities he never had despite being just come back from death... could block a sonic boom with one hand (vs Guile), move around at such speed that's basically like he's teleporting or his ability to absorb Psycho Power (on Abel and Bison) Most reasonable way of take their "powerful as was when he died" was to point out that they did good job at restore that great fighter from the grave, so once fully recovered (was not 100% at begin, was mentioned) would have not lost anything compared to his past self... but of course on top of that they clearly gave him new powers I don't think the "power level" of SFV Nash was much the issue of why Secret Society failed the mission, timing was. Rashid being too slow is what fucked up the plan (in fact Nash realized it, saying "too late") Actually Nash in his final fight "defeated" Bison, but moons being still active charged him back as new (while Nash at that point spent most of his energies), if Bison did'nt had chance to re-charge is possible Nash "Gill power" attack could have finished him They fucked up, but not on hitman choice or not giving him enough... without stopping cheat machine first, not even Ryu could have done it, Bison had basically the possibility to get defeated multiple times and ever return fresh as if he just woke up, while his opponent will be every time more tired, injuried and without much energies left Maybe somebody with such destructive power to completely destroy him before he can recharge... guess Oro or Akuma could have pulled that feat, i doubt anybody else of characters we know

Yeah but i don't know how it apply for what i'm saying Gouken disprect Akuma because he's a piece of shit and all the moral thing about SnH, to not mention sending him on coma/whatever, killing their Master, trying to ruin Ryu's life Akuma disprect Bison because he's a cheater (wich Akuma associate with weakness/cowardice), doubt he care much he's piece of shit too I'm not saying Akuma is in the position of judge anybody's morals, just that cheater shit is the reason of him see Bison as scum, simple straightforward fact That's about the opposite of what Akuma character is tbh Require to get power from others is an admission of weakness (you are'nt enough by yourself) and the negation of everything he believe lol It's been hinted that Necalli is'nt even human, so you're basically blaming a snake because he does snake shit His human look come fron having eat/absorbed the warrior prophet that's true but in line with what Akuma path is, does'nt bring him closer to Bison ideals aside on where they stand the piece of shit scale They will keep being very distinct characters with opposite approach, the difference will just be that people will be more inclined to recognize Akuma as simply evil rather than neutral-with-moral-code-that-make-him-kill-people

Of course Gill/Urien/SFVNash are cheaters too, they're artificial enhanced Bison, Gill, Urien, Nash, Necro and anybody else that got the boost. We can add also weapon users and these that get external help like Mika, Akira or Juni&Juli(Team version) Anything that is'nt the natural character body and ki is cheating away from the fair fist fight But even accepting some kind of manga/anime combat philosophy where some stuff is somehow still fair game and whatever a character declare his fighting style can be sold as "martial art" (HnK or Baki are good example of all above stuff not making much outrage), you have next level cheater stuff wich is have artificial shit breaking the very core dynamic of "two fighters clash, who fight better win" Bison in ASF is next level cheating, he lose the fight but the machine charge him back to a position of advantage, that's worse than anything above because it change the result of the fight itself Similar level of cheater bullshit is Gill using Resurrection when he lose Elena healing does it in fair way, she's 100% natural, the technique is surely based on her own ki and she can only do it when she did'nt lost yet As much i dislike Akuma he's not a cheater, everything he use in a fight is his body and his own ki... SnH is corrupted ki but is still his energy, never used any artificial device to increase it or get extra dose of it in case of need You may call it shortcut because indeed allowed him to get stronger quickly, but still it can be compared to a different way of training Difference between Akuma and Bison is like if to go faster in a foot race, the former started training in an atypical method that allow him to run faster, the latter got bunch of scientist to build him high-tech rollerblades... smarter for sure, but is not run anymore (wich is likely the ideological reason of why Akuma consider Bison scum) Only way Akuma would be a cheater too (even if an involuntary one) can be if Capcom chose to change the current canon and retcon the nature of SnH, making that embrace it create a connection with some sort of external demonic entity that gift the fighter extra power... but reality is at the moment does'nt seem the case Good way to understandd the nature of SnH, "Kage" is NOT a demon Ryu visualize it as some sort of demon but Kage is still just a part of Ryu... by "his" own definition, "i'm the strongest part of you" SnH is just result of human inner conflict, does'nt need supernatural external help to develop I think on athletical level they're about even and possibly the best in whole cast, as they're literally designed to incarnate ultimate superhuman olympic athletes concept... that and the fact that Secret Society did 99 things on them before and after birth to obtain what they consider the highest peak an human can reach Of course, not the best at every single specific athletical feat, as we have extreme characters that focused/specialized on this or that particular direction... but overall? As overall score of power/speed/agility etc they probably rank first I can see characters like Oro or Akuma being able of even greater shit, but there his their enormous ki allowing them to do so, not classic "athleticism" Outside that i think on ki and maybe skill pov, i think that Gill > Urien and that Urien has been intentionally designed to be a toned-down, weaker and more human version of his brother, both on gameplay and canon wise There's bunch of stuff that makes me think so, but that would take another post By the way for what's worth Urien is one of my fav SF characters and Gill is'nt, but still i stick to what i see/know and not to what i wish

Tbh i'm ok with the one they picked, the half face covered allo capcom to spam them, they could still have done like 5 different standard faces imho, to increase the illusion of them being unique I liked the design you say (red berets one right?) but being completely maskless make it harder use them in great number without be too blatant on duplication of the models, like fight an army of twins/clones 😄 Him as low level official works, they could have done also there like 5 face variations and use them as the leaders of small groups of the usual troops All that and again, PLEASE give them fucking weapons. Even "legit" SF characters use weapons, lmao at shit tier soldiers having to fight fair with punches and kicks For punks in Final Fight made bit more sense because urban gang context (lot of them used weapons though), shadaloo guys are an army If i could change shada-soldiers, that's what i would do: - color scheme: fuck the bright azure, make them darker, more like a shade somewhere between blue and gray - design: keep Bison-inspired steel protections they already have, just give them also something for the torso to sell they will not crumble at first body shot, simple black sleveless bulletproof jacket would do the trick. Also put a firearm weapon on them, be a gun on the hip or a rifle on the back -weapons: my biggest issue, give them a melee weapon that may justify even bother fight them... if knife feel "too violent" to developers (but good guy Cody does it lol) at least give them a fucking baton. Then give them a special move where they use the firearm, just like Fevrier does or with similar dynamic of when Falke use the stick as a rifle. Could have made even the fight themselves bit more fun, giving them long range specials Yes, i agree the skull ones were good, they could have used them much more On general they had bunch of concepts they never used that could have been nice in ASF, war on shadaloo could have been waaay more interesting and could have got more unique fights that could have gave some more spotlight to characters that did'nt had much This not counting the robots we see in Bison stage, could have been used too Plus my biggest regret, they could have this to try stop Zangief, even have Shadaloo logo on the chest lol Not that Gief did'nt had awesome treatment in ASF, i was surprised by how good he got it in SFV (even up to imply Gief>Shadaking Rog), but still would have been awesome Godzilla-MechaGodzilla scrap LOL

That was likely a Gill trolljob, he knew he was going to be the Emperor so he let his brother win the President fight, likely to let Urien win something too (wich made Urien even more angry lol)... the hate it's not mutual We also know a loss to Chun Li, but tbh for the little we know seems he treated their fight as some sort of little game for his own amusement, not sure how much we can consider it serious fight (while Chun was motivated af, fighting to free Li Fen)... as usual SF lore drop many hints but rarely show straight things About how Urien scale next to the cast, comparing him to SFV Bosses In SFV Gill seem way less inclined at do the fake-loss gimmick of Sf3 days (though he joke about it in quote vs Gief) and he's able to defeat Urien (and G) without much effort, outcome feels so one-sided that Urien is left on his ass crying about being impossible for him to defeat Gill I think he would have at least decent chance against Bison if he did'nt had Black Moons cheat trick, for one round motivated Nash managed to get upper hand over Bison before BM completely recharged him But idk, Bison may be too smart for somebody so pride-driven, Urien feels classic kind of guy that would fall in a trap lol Would surely think he (Urien) have greater power than Sagat, but unsure how a fight would go as japan does big deal about morals etc and new post-shadaloo Sagat started to "walk the right path", while Urien still have head full of shit... can see Capcom giving it to Sagat just to make a moral point, but if redemption gimmick is'nt involved and it's villain vs villain i say sure af money on Urien Guess he wrecks SF4 Seth. Not clear to me how much SFV tranny Seth improved compared to his SF4 self- though. But considering is Seth 2.0 would not be THAT surprised to see new model being overrated trash again. For what's worth he does'nt win any story scrap in V, just have mental meltdown in the middle of his fights Think he likely fuck up G. We seen G beating bunch of middle-tier people, but end up with ass on the ground as soon he faced higher level with Gill and Rose

Random thought, but just to add, Urien is indeed supposed to be very powerful character (i have kinda specific idea how much, but would trigger debate lol) and beside show how much Rashid is willing to risk to help others, dimostrated a lot how good character he is with the simple action he did: does'nt try to challenge Urien or confront him like a fighter would do, he focus with whole body on stop Urien's arm and try to reason with him like a normal person would do, like "c'mon dude, he's down you already won" Btw what crack me up of that scene is Urien knowing Rashid is some kind of rich af arabian prince (even having with him his own bodyguard/servant) and still he's like "don't touch me commoner" and thinks would be ok just wreck him and his butler even if they just "hired" them lol And Kolin being like "Lord Urien please don't kill these people" and him being like "eh whatever" in ASF they did Urien better with a single scene than many other characters(poor Necalli) that had much more screen time... and his Story Mode was pretty good portrait too I don't have problems with light heart anime nonsense here and there neither, my problem was that SFV seem unable to realize where should be better don't be like that Like i'm fine if for some reason we need pink ninjas and bizzarre robots chasing each others in silly way, but maybe the fucking Final Boss room is'nt the place to do it Like again why the fuck Shadaloo army was made of bright azure comical douchebags, instead offer some thratening vibes It's like they tried make it like Metal Slug enemy army (who still wear a more serious color scheme btw), but it does it worse and SF is'nt supposed to have same vibes where the satyrical touch is used with much more finesse to make fun of war nonsense In comparision SF just come of as stupid tbh

And i don't disagree with that, i'm just pointing that in current canon they chosen to have him destroyed to add further drama to the moment, and the whole idea of Ed/NS representing the shattered pieces of that evil is brilliant way to handle it, goes beyond Ed being just a younger/edgy new version of him... would say Ed literally incarnating the aftermath make to Bison's legacy a better favor than any instant "mwhaahawa i'm back" gimmick that will make people only more annoyed by Bison spam I also loved the idea of Psycho Power having a negative impact on the world without need directly Bison, feels like say that the problem with a nuclear bomb is not only the missile and the destructive BOOM that comes with it, but the radiations afterwards This not only important for Bison because it further add the damage he did, but show how Psycho Power can represent a great threat beyond direct fighting itself, a field where we already seen Bison getting defeated more than once... at this point is clear Bison's image is being threated more like G (who still have to do shit, and already lost twice... and still seem to currently represent world's greatest danger) than Akuma's Half OT, from Rose's story and i have the feel that (theory) -The artificial creation of an excess of Psycho Power cause an imbalance on earth's natural energies, and that's causing the planet(Gaia) to react against humanity like our body would try to defeat a virus (wich can parallel easily with modern/trendy theme of earth pollution) -The great danger represented by G may take the form of a Great Flood (like the biblical one, wich exist in many cultures) that would whipe out/reset civilization and left very few (if any) humans alive. Rose say "As if gigantic glacer fell into the ocean" -> rising oceans -> Great Flood G power takes the form of magma, so if they want stick to it maybe Gaia's purge will be eruptions causing rising of temperature -> ice melting -> ocean rise -I doubt G will directly trigger it or even have the power to do so, more like he will try oppose anybody that will try to stop these events to happen. I think his ki absolute tuning with the planet energies took over his mind making him crazy and fanatic, but not "evil" wich is an human concept Or maybe opposite disaster and Rose describe it as glacier related to describe a new ice age, similar results even if Great Flood for many reasons makes more sense to me Yeah we agree on these About point 3, aside me not liking ASF story whole structure and events, i think there was also a simple straightforward technical problem about how has been represented... essentially Bison defeat/destruction looked like ass Not that on general capcom did that epic effort at do spectacular cutscene fights, but let's just compare how they handledRyu vs Necalli and Bison (latter being more important/bigger fight according to the script) Ryu-Necalli -> cool af, Ryu goes DBZ, break his SnH related limits and finish Necalli with a completely new(ingame canon) ultimate technique that does shiny big bang Ryu-Bison -> Bison throw one last silly attack, Ryu strainght tanks it with no much effort, replies with a kinda normal looking hadouken (a shinku hadouken if we want be generous) and that's it Now, was very cool that afterward scene have him die standing like ultimate Chad Raoh (HnK), exploding due inner incompatible light/energy like Straizo (JoJo)... but still, his defeat coreography looked like shit I get they did'nt wanted spam twice the Mu no Ken punch he just did on Nec, but they could have tried something to hype up shit. Maybe go Shin SHoryuken route, never fail to look awesome lol Yeah as said i would prefer the latter option i gave, maybe wait more in terms of seasons DLC but pick a physical Bison again, that take places AFTER all important SF6 events, whatever they will be Mostly because even if we have already plenty of material to build a "Ghost Bison" kind of shit, these spiritual level characters are ass and their interaction with living one "real" ones generate confusion, see people still believing that SnH fart Kage (lol) have a physical body Just take looong pause in terms of seasons, wait SF6 events done their run, then show Renfield/Fang doing his scifi shit to bring him back to physical world... but in a weakened state, not ready to do anything big in SF7 beyond plan and recover/try to surpass his past self Yeah, SFA did some silly things too (Sakura, Dan, SFA3 Blanka and Karin comes to mind), but there was more a sense of split wich characters are extremely serious from wich are there to bring fun SF4 has been the first where everything felt infested by "let's get silly, is fun" mindset, and despite i'm usually an Ono defender, it's safe bet point at him for that Tbh aside some parody stuff SF2 was mostly serious This. Let's be real, the soldiers that were supposed to bring terror to the world were specifically designed to be COMICAL instead threatening (design, colors, behaviour), and fought -bad- with punches and kicks instead try use all that immense arsenal of weapons/vehicles they have If we compare the vibes to SFA Nash getting shot in the back by fucking chopter gatling, contrast should give an idea of where SFV end up

But tbh whole Rashid gimmick is being middle-tier char with the heart in the right place who jump in to do his part, barely even show a "fighter"/martial artist side, behave more like some sort of not too serious adventurer Even when he win his most important fight where for a moment they change him into a serious fighter type, it was an unnatural/rare mood for him, as was the reaction of hear Fang telling that he killed his friend Personally i liked him, probably because i never considered him "shonen hero" kind of guy, but more like side character that help how he can... probably most "human" char Like, he's not the guy that will beat the Boss, but he will still risk his ass doing useful stuff I liked the scene where he try to stop Urien from further beat up/kill Nash, gave the impression he knew he was really outmatched but still did a move

Save one between Better Noembelu (native american one) on the left, can replace T.Hawk as NA char and i will be ok with it, plus Elena can cover tribal girl already and have more interessing style for SF with her Capoeira The rest of dolls

Don't know why make it old school player thing, i'm born in '83 and have incurable nostalgia for SF2, i still don't close my mind to new stuff I HATED it being done in antagonistic way as SF3 was denying the chance of get classic chars, but i doubt we risk that shit again, pretty sure SF6 will be filled by familiar faces too... if anything teaser gave me vibes will play hard on old guard vs new blood contrast, wich feels why SF3 should have done back in the days Alex at least visually was indeed better character design than Luke, but that's a problem of SF as a whole, not of Luke... SF seem simply no more able to design shit as good as past ones, not even best SFV new designs are on par with best SFA, SF3 and even SF4 best stuff If i must pick the design crap that's SFV Alex (to use more fair ground) i take Luke 10/10, and that's me who consider original Alex one of best chara designs of SF3 But story wise? Alex was handled like shit (not bad as many many others, but still) Whole SF3 arc has been treated like shit, they gave him an ambiguous W over Gill hinting situation was sketchy as if they had to continue story to explain it, then SF just gone beyond SF3 and all Alex is left with an half ass "W" that may very well be usual Gill's trolling Rashid is not a protagonist (a good character btw), any "Hero of SFV" talk some did back to ASF was delusional, Rashid is pretty much quintessence of supporting side character with lot screen time. Damn Rashid was'nt even the protagonist of his mini-sub group and clearly the weakest of it (unless we want count Hazam, who MAY be weaker than Rashid... or not lol) and everybody in that russian pub room -Urien/Kolin/Juri/Nash- would moop the ground with his ass, with little effort while at it Luke as protagonist at least have the chance to be a fresh new page... of course, they can very well fuck his story too, as nobody beat Capcom at create great characters and completely waste their potential, it's basically a lifestyle for them But at least bother to wait and see before claim he failed already as character, and even after that realize the problem maybe is'nt the new character itself being bad, but SF having pathetic storytelling sense and poor self awareness (best lore though) On other side speaking about Ed, Ed in SFV was handled wrong (like COMPLETELY wrong) starting from the fact he even have wrong timeline design,as we should have got him with his hoodie/tracksuit costume as default together with young asshole attitude he have, while NS uniform Ed should have been at best an alt because canon wise it should have been a thing of the future and supported by a change of attitude (way more serious/sinister as Bison influence is taking over) I understand and agree Kiki's urban clothes designs were too flat shitty to be use as standard, but still was objectively wrong choice give us Ed in his NS version They should just have focused on give him actually good and detailed young/urban clothes version of him (something closer to Luke's Battle Alt) able to stand as his standard look Other reason is of course they wanted that hard him and Falke have that visual connection because japan sometimes just feel the need of this kind of shit (guess is also the reason lore is infested by these silly Dolls, who despite being mostly bland and repetitive designs somehow have an audience due waifu power) But still they can fix him in 6, and reality is Ed is a solution to a problem that Capcom itself caused with their refusal to left their comfort zone, they should just have made SFV about Necalli or G as final villain (in my opinion there was room even for both, if capcom could handle different paths at same time) and make Bison a side figure that plan shit in a corner as he was in SF4 or as Gill is in SFV If was like that nobody would be too pissed at Bison even in SF6 vanilla cast, only reaction i remember when was announced in SFV was people -me included- saying his V redesign while soft was cool af But they made Bison the final boss once more, they made him lose once more and they even made big deal about his destruction... now, we know he's not dead dead, but still have him quickly return would make everything even more a farce than how already was Plus of course, basically nobody wants Bison anywhere close to Boss position for years Guess we will get the NeoShadaloo arc where fully influenced Ed will need to get punch-to-the face exorcism, after wich PP will somehow (Soul Power?) be expelled from his body (and from Falke/Knife/Gorilla too) then you will have Fang there somehow using it to resurrect Bison In all of this i hope Ed is'nt even final boss, because while not Bison-Bison would still be too fucking much Shadaloo/PP related, and just as stronk japan bullshit that another side where SF would need to get wider perspective I think G is the perfect Boss for SF6 (unless we get NEW better candidate) as for once shows the threat come from a new (and original/interesting) direction Smartest path they can take for the actual Bison DLC charater (because i refuse to think he will be on vanilla cast) is either use Bison in his spirit form that lives in NS members heads or -better- in VERY late seasons have Fang doing experiments to have Bison in a new physical body stepping out of some silly scifi incubator tank to do his "mwhahahawa" before SF6 is over, but that's it Reality is if done right (big IF) Ed arc may easily be more interesting than Bison's return Change of attitude (time jump+PP problems), SF6 redesign (wich will go surely into more serious direction) and moveset that reflect he learned to use better his powers... a fixed Ed may end up better character than you give him credit for, the potential is there Now, i get i'm saying "hey Buddha can be cool too, good change for a while" to the Pope, but still

In his defense Blanka come from Hokuto no Ken's Madara... ...and Tiger Mask's Gorilla-Man Dude never had much chances to be a cutie LOL

As hilarious would be, fuck Garuda too, would be just more stronk japan Would give me "it takes stronk japan to beat stronk japan" Baki style circle jerk philosophy Apex of SF food chain already is filled with stronk japan, i think at the moment a good guess on who are the Top 5 may have 4 out 5 lol Oro, Akuma, Gouken (?), Gill (?), Ryu (?) @YagamiFire idea of Gill being the one giving Akuma an ass beating would be already something less Baki and a little step to return in that old SF feel of world being big place full of powerful fighters Had hopes for Necalli when trailer vs Ryu was showing him "eating" Ryu's SnH, could have been perfect candidate to pull a Garuda on Akuma... then they did nothing with it. Or better, they used Necalli to show how stronk Akuma is Another could have been G, dude had new big villain hype going with him (plus empty promises by Capcom), but reality is they did nothing with him except make him play fool guy gimmick and getting his ass beaten by Gill and Rose lol

The problem is that to make things interesting they could have worked of give ultimate villains different balance on how and why are dangerous Like put more effort on show how straight physical abilities, martial art skill, raw ki firepower, ability to control that ki or have a particular/special power are all different elements and that a Final Boss does'nt need necessary to excel at all these, because in that away you can have an asymmetric dynamic instead just have shonen power level new bosses having to 1up the previous one or pay the price of not being considered credible threat Hokuto no Ken somehow managed to do it and still build a shone style rise of opponents level Think about it, stuff like Souther secret giving him edge over Raoh and many more examples the series offered... they definitely had "power levels", but an HnK Master facing another Master was never truly 100% predictable outcome, maybe some W were, but the price in blood was'nt Like, if done right we should be left think that example in shit like Akuma vs Bison vs Gill vs Oro vs Gouken everybody should have a decent chance at kill one of the others if they can play right on their own strenghts and on opponents weakness Each of these characters seems to be compatible with have areas were they excel over others, and weaker traits too Would throw there even Necalli and Seth if they were written completely differently, and Gen if was'nt sick Of course Capcom threw us a bone in the form of Akuma getting a draw with Oro and Gouken's technique (even if suspect current Akuma would murder Gouken), but as general rule let them write all these in some bizzarre what if Boss level Tourament and aside Oro (but still in a forced life or dead one, they would rather kill Oro) you will get Akuma's fist too much stronk Akuma's tryhard dark ki too much great Akuma's technique too much technical Akuma's power too powerful! (and stronk) Only case where i truly appreciated straight Boss >Boss, were Bison>Sagat because it was hype see the previous King working as #2/bodyguard, and because we had to move on into a much greater scale world (something i still want) Other was Bison>Seth just because fuck Seth... but that mean rare time we got a SF new boss, it sucked and was fake Boss

I mentioned it, in the improvement group "Cody - very good even if have design problems" The concept itself is cool and the idea to make him new major making Metro City as some sort of family company is pure genius, specially because put also th jail time in perspective too lol I think it have some character design problems on technical level, like patterns and color scheme choice generating bit of confusion or at least not being much done in the classic SF way, dude have bunch of parts that visually don't link with each other much nor play on repetition -warning, boring design analysis- Hard to explain as it goes bit more technical on how you build a character design that follow a scheme, but short version is when you take single elements seems like they designed him without usual "harmony" and link between parts Easy examples could be that instead black they could have gave him brown shoes to link with gilet brown leather parts, or creating metal parts (belt buckle and watch case) they could have picked either gold or steel (probably latter better as is more neutral and even link with knife) for both, instead done one steel one golden Also have bunch of visually close but different colors with gilet purple-blue and pants blue is kinda strange choice, wich get worse reaching shoes that add one more dark close-but-different color Also very thin subtle lines patterns shirt choice seems bit unusual next to SF classic way of favor bigger more clean elements that are easier to read, exaple the idea of have a shirt with azure and "white" pattern is nice if done to call back mind previous prisoner uniform and on general Cody colors (likely), but would have truly done that job with thicker, same width azure & white vertical lines, wich could have been still compatible with a business shirt Instead they gave it same pattern of pants with different colors, wich is'nt how they usually use the repetition Again is not easy to explain if one does'nt start from a design scheme/patterns perspective, specially if the design itself is perceived as "cool" and so it get people's approvation despite being "wrong" (if we want use this word) on technical/design level... and get even harder when you have to explain people on other hand, something UGLY af as SFV Birdie actually got a pretty solid fundamentals design People are inclined to defend what they perceive as "good/cool" and attack what they dislike and see as ugly, even if technically solid and was the intentional point of it SF is filled by designs that are either overrated or underrated based on people's perception rather than design quality itself (wich can easily lead to the argument of SF being a product and so people-who-pay perception is most important thing, but this is another story lol) I don't care about it being "sensible" tbh, i find original SF2 Cammy (and even more dark green one of SF2tAM) to be awesome on so many levels, but i'm just jumping out from Cody's analysis above, so i will stick to "awesome on many levels" (some of wich have been fucked up in SFV's apparently soft but actually huge redesign) lol Not saying it was'nt thirsty fanservice too (as vast majority of FG girls), but i have no problems with it and btwmost important was thirsty fanservice done right, without sacrify character design in any way (somewhere as we speak SC Ivy is crying) AND had the merit to be designed around Chun Li's design to work as complementary figure next to her... fun thing decades after SF4 Juri, wich i consider one of the very best designs of post-SF3 era SF, i think had to thanks same method as feels strongly designed to fit as third figure next to Chun and Cammy, managing to become instant iconic next to characters that have decades of history Not a fan of either, but the concept SF4 Seth with clothes we never got was good. These cyborgs ever been in SFimagery since SF2tAM days (and maybe before, would have to check release of some SF2 mangas), and the idea of one evolving above others and developing personality could have been even great if handled correctly. They could have picked the elegant concept and built his image around his obsession of wanting hard to be human, maybe building up a stage heavy based on art, culture and other shit to show how he's crazy and delusional on deny his own nature Instead they made him express his reject of be seen/considered as a lab freak piece of shit cyborg, by fighting like a naked piece of shit cyborg in a shitty crumbling scifi lab But that's lead us to how SF handle characters(specially new ones), and if SF cast could read this post we woud get dozen of #metoo lmao

This Not saying that i WANT it to happen, just that i think will happen I think the problem with Akuma is that Capcom thinks that this glorified sprite edit is their most badass villain, and they keep down cooler villains to suck his stronk japanese dick They could have him "just" as a very dangerous old son of bitch, who's not the world's ultimate fighter able to fuck up everybody, but VERY dangerous to Ryu specifically because he knows all Ansatsuken tricks better than him and strikes ever to maim and kill Think about somebody that know very well the offensive/defensive patterns, have moves to counter hado/shoryu/tatsu shit and ever try to put a finger on your eye or kick balls lol But no, we had to have 1-punch-island-destroyer and while at it they find excuses to have him beat up other bosses to make clear you may think new villain is badass, but you're not allowed to think he's better than Stronk Japan Akuma Sadly i doubt it's going to happen, we're locked in a Yujiro Hanma bullshit Closest would be the scissor-rock-paper story gimmick they did in SFEX with Garuda>Akuma>Bison>Garuda situation, but even there they made it more about a pokemon bad match up due nature of their energies rather than Akuma getting straight overwhelmed by a superior or at least more powerful fighter

Yeah, that's true KoF have different approach when it comes to redesigns and i think on general it give them indeed a lower % of "very bad" ones next to SFV(using it as the first SF that put lot effort on redesigns) KoF ever had that endless wave of small changes that give the feel that nothing truly change (it does, but you have less shock), SF showed to be more like static af for a while then drop big changes (with various results) I mean, they can still take something glorious as Tizoc was and turn it into dinosaur crap, but it's rare outcome... overall they tend to hit slighty above or slighty below the previous incarnation of the char Would also add that to be fair they often struggle too when it comes to beat the original, but definitely redesigns are'nt their main chara design weakness May have saved Ryu from NeoGaf/Eventhubs people, but SF6 teaser at this point is a thing

SF3 Alex was one of best design of his game (would say Alex, Dudley, Yun and Ibuki) though, SFV one is possibly THE worst redesign of the game. No easy feat Guile one as simple he was, still used to be one of the most iconic characters and had pretty definited imagery and colors, they throw all that away to drop on him a generic look that feels like an alt costume (would have been good at that) rather than a redesign... kinda betray the original design spirit, rather than a tough af old dog ready to fuck up people on the battlefield with bullets flying above his head, seems a pissed guy that just left office to throw hands Think tactical SF4 one (or similar CPT SFV one) is more the natural evolution of original design Poison is just bit a mess. Aside change of hair (prefer previous, but no big deal) they added bunch of stuff (black parts), without improving anything much but making the figure just more confuse. On other side was just effective, took SF3 look and improved it without moving much away from it. I have to admit though that change of weapon in SFV has been huge improvement I agree that IF they wanted redesign Cammy (not something i asked for) they should have gone for a drastic change Problem is one we got is SF2 Cammy without some characteristic elements (face scar, Delta Red triangle, camo legs) that helped enrich her image and color scheme, while in return we got only bunch black belts that yes, help bit the color scheme (they link with boots), but ultimately don't compensate much what she lost leaving her with lost of flat surfaces Guess to link with black they could still have added the belts (maybe just torso ones) to original SF2 Cammy, but not removing what was there Also SF4 had the good idea of give her that dark green that remind lot SF2tAM and made interesting contrast with her skin, SFV fucked it up with shitty very saturated bright green that stand there as one more proof somebody in SFV team is color blind Well, did'nt mentioned her because she's not a redesign, but if we are at it she's possibly the weakest new design (if we ignore Kage as everybody should lol) When not even be a waifu leave a mark, that's next level weak (on her defense we may say she was designed to be functional to Ed design, but still) But would say she's bit an exception, as i think large majority of SFV newcomers were within various shades from good to very very good... specially if we count that Falke is'nt a BAD design (some redesigns are way worse), she's just a weak af design that end up being extremely forgettable despite trying hard on sexy nazi stripper waifu gimmicks lol If we go on newcomers design (not story, that in some cases was weak af) SFV ratio is indeed positive Very good: Zeku, Menat, Necalli, Kolin Good: Rashid, G, Luke Decent: Laura, Fang, Ed Weak: Falke Kage: Peter the brazilian cop, Kage Imho does'nt reach the highest level of chara design touched by some SF4 newcomers (underrated work for many reasons), but it gave us LOT of new characters with average good quality Female Seth is female Seth, hard to rate as redesign mostly because it's basically a new design Would say that concept/anime SF4 Seth (one with clothes) > SFV Seth > SF4 ingame shitty naked Seth, but on reality would be kinda pointless, are just straight different things I could have done without and give that slot to some other returning char, but that's me lol Yeah, if you see i recognized they did neutral but good job with Karin/Sakura, as they were forced to change them due time jump and somehow made decent job Being totally honest i feel if target was reach the original designs they did'nt fully made it, but they got close enough to make me think was unfair drop them on downgrade On Sakura color scheme i agree and she even have a color (#3) that clearly use the old scheme, but they intentionally dodged it as standard color option, guess reason being change the color scheme better help show the character entered a different phase of her life... and unlike for Guile, i think they may have done a good choice in her case because make more clear have nothing to do with her old schoolgirl uniform What surprised me is that they did gone as bold with Karin (both as lines, theme and colors) who as concept could have gone much more far from her original self, but guess since she was played as heavy fanservice/hype card, they did'nt wanted move too far from what her fans waited for decades Her not having bit more mature new style made even more awkward see her declare herself the GI-joe leader of SF vets (and them accepting it, but that's the legitimacy a GI-joe style SF adventure deserve), but guess her fans passed every second of these moments jizzing on their screens, so i guess at least somebody got his happy ending Did'nt found neither great but at least they did'nt fallen too far from the target, so as said keept them on neutral job ones wich by itself has been a bit an achievement

Including previously unplayable ones that we had the chance to see, and leaving out who's almost the same Bit or lot worse Akuma Alex Abigail (due shit proportions) Juri (specially thinking SF4 Juri was one of best things SF did in decades) Ibuki Guile Poison Cammy (more bland version of what she was) More or less neutral R.Mika Vega Birdie (know lot hate it, still not THAT worse, make sense for new concept. Problem is people think "cooler" = "better") Sakura and Karin (equal as previous one, but does good job show time passing) Evil Ryu, because lmao at calling it Kage (similar crap level as SF4 one) Improvement Urien (overkill here, new design is very good + still include old one) Dhalsim Balrog (truly great upgrade, may be one who gained most) M.Bison Ken (broke "Ryu clone" effect, represent well him take a western approach) Zeku Sagat (also if i like classic too) Honda Cody (very good even if have design problems) Oro Not easy to rate/would take analysis Seth Nash Lucia PS: Agree on problems on 3D models, but i still blame on art direction if something that end up on final product suck

And that's one more assumption on what i'm saying, Zeku is a very good character design one of the best new ones in SFV Would say Zeku and Menat are probably the best new character designs in V But i like many others tbh Despite what people say SF4 was pretty strong at it too SF don't suffer THAT much on do new designs, they struggle bit more at redesigns Find their position kinda specular opposite of KoF one, who's usually classy at renew old designs but recently have a problem of high % of sucking dicks when it comes to create new faces

You sound defensive as if i would disagree, i recognize SF character design is on decline too I can offer you many more SFV names beside Akuma if you want lol Both series (and some others i may add) got weaker, to different levels both in redesigns and new characters

Shun'ei looks like crap to me, but is part of a whole path that started decades ago with Kyo/Iori and progressed chapter after chapter Kyo original design was pretty good FG design to me though, and while i never been much fan of Yagami's was still solid Then each level they doubled in that "non fighter" direction K looked even more skinny and x10 more tryhard edgy Ash makes Benimaru look like an alpha male neanderthal Shun'ei is Shun'ei I don't like it, as i'm a fan of Fatal Fury style SNK, but at the end that's clearly the way they chosen to quit being Capcom younger brother and -successfully- build their own visual identity Essentially does'nt matter if i find it crap (i do), because he's designed for a different audience... if they find it cool, then SNK nailed it Same thing of shit taste people that wanted gritty Street Fighter and SF6 lol

Yeah that's ever been what i thought will be the heaviest punishment Ryu will inflict him Not only will defeat him, but spare his life denying him that ultimate life or death battle he dream for, showing he threw away his soul/humanity for nothing Being killed by Ryu would be still a moral victory for him, but be spared will cripple his soul forever Would even allow have him becoming much weaker as result, wich can still make SF world move beyond Akuma the stronkest bullshit without make him disappear (wich sadly will not happen) Agree on the predictable father thing, but would not dive in much as that ever lead to endless debate here lol Expect to happen =/= WANT to happen, but seem hard to explain lol

As somebody who is Ryu fan but hates the whole Aluma bullshit, i wish we can close it as soon as possible We will ever trapped into "Akuma stronk the stronkest" bullshit till he's finally defeated by Ryu Same way Baki is crippled by Yujiro Hanma infesting that universe, no boss will ever be allowed to shine till we get rid off this fucking glorified sprite edit As positive side Akuma does'nt carry much plot, so you can have a SF chapter where a bunch of heroes tackle on new Boss, while on the side Ryu finish his business with him on top of a volcano or some shit Only way to make Akuma somebody that carry a SF story on his own as enemy would be change his current lone beast path, wich can even be cool if handled correctly* But Akuma and cool are not compatible, so i doubt lmao *Akuma getting "followers"... NOT much as Ansatsuken disciples(fuck that), but fierce fighters with their own style/design/background that recognize Akuma's "alpha" status and embrace same kind of martial path... so you can have bunch of "good" fighters involved to stop them. from corrupting martial arts world or some shit Only way i can imagine to have multiple different characters involved in anything Akuma-related