The only reason I left Gouken out, he was my main after all, was while it was his first appearance as a playable character, I never really considered him new. Abel is inspired by Fedor, but he’s French and listed a Judoka. Still a solid SF character but the classic SF characters use a martial art their country is known for. If Abel used Savate, or used Sambo while being from Russia, he’d be a classic SF character.
Kolin could have fit in the classic archetype if Capcom dropped the “unknown” and tied her to Russia or one of several from Soviet states. Systema is a Russian martial art, she has russian accent, she dresses like a she is from Russia but they don’t say it. Not sure what is up with Capcom and this “unknown” BS.
I think Abel’s true nationality is a bit a gray area as France is just a place where he passed time, more or less as Cammy in UK
For that reason i pointed out they played on Gief calling him “comrade” and interacting with him in both sf4/v… tbh i just think as they already got russian Gief and they could keep same flag colors (red blue white) they just gone for France, wich had no other reps in sf4
For the style it was listed as
“Mixed martial arts based on Judo (柔道を基本とした総合格闘?)”
Wich more or less fit what Combat Sambo is + of course Abel’s design being directy based on Combat Sambo uniform (not Judo’s, not MMA’s)
I will have preferred they just write Russia/Sambo for sure (it will also have saved time in these discussions lol), but i’m still ok with it as it’s clear where the core of the concept point at
While i agree with Capcom being full of crap not listing anymore nationalities, preferring to play “unknown” card to avoid internet controversy (lol, will be the LAST of theyr problems), i’m not SO focused on the offiicial data of the chars to the point of let some side info, likely not even directly made by who created the concept, let ruin my perception of a concept
Kolin is hinted to be from former soviet state, Ukraine(Kiev) while at it
Also here the concept to me is good, even if they are douchebag with the datas lol
Keep in mind some data just has been straight wrong for years, see example SF2 weights wich have been fixed decades after in SFV days lol
To me Kolin (soviet char using ice+systema) or Abel (straight based on a russian combat sambo champion) are SF design as you can get, then it’s true SF data are often not perfect
But if a capcom guy who created the char was directly asked Abel’s specific fight style and birthplace and he reply “Sambo/Russia” it will be welcome, but to me does’nt affect much my perception of the concept as was already clear where it was pointing at
Like if they add Necalli being from mexican (former aztec) area or Rashid from UAE… i like these concept, regarless of theyr (capcom) retardness at list datas lol
The exception with Sean is he is influenced by Ken, As of Sagat I considered him something extraordinary practitioner of Muay Thai and so is Dhalsim with Yoga that both of them trancended their style by either manipulation or incorporating other practices to discover and develop new techniques that wasn’t generally part of those practices just like Zeku and Gouken is. So an ordinary practioner isn’t capable of those techniques because those were beyond and not generic, making them extraordinary… as for Laura I don’t think she in those levels yet.
I flat disagree on this. Sean has gotten zero training from Ken. His influence is literally seeing Ken pull off some moves. His mother and father’s sides of the family are martial artists. His grandfather is essentially the Helio Gracie of the SF universe and his uncle is a capoeira master. Any knowledge of ki manipulation would come from him. Crimson Viper is the only SF fighter that doesn’t use ki. Even Dan does.
I think all of the new SFV characters are pretty good for a reason or another. The weakest as far as my taste goes is Necalli but that’s mostly down to how bad he’s been used in the story, otherwise he’s very cool visually too.
I will only tolerate getting Rufus in any game if it means not having to deal with Yun being OP again. Capcom struggles to balance that character in numbered titles.
This, in this world, it seems that if you use any degree of martial arts, there’s some ki involved. She has enough combat training to make what probably was akin to a James Bond Ironman suit, into a buffer to replace her lack of external martial arts ki powers.
I imagine that her deal is this; she has skill and competence, but for what ever reason, unlike Guile, she can’t crossover into fully into a world of ki use. Maybe she learned how to fight, but, being a spy, she put more focus and faith in her tools of the trade and cunning, but has neglected extensive training.
I highly doubt Viper has any sort of ki (mastery). She’s a goddamn special agent, not a martial artist. If you take away all her gadgets she will nowhere near as dangerous, since she can’t jet kick you or electrocute you with her gloves. I doubt whatever training she went through in the CIA or whoever she works for would be enough to go against an actual skilled Street Fighter. Even Dan could give her a run for the money if he uses a Haoh Gadoken on her
You believe an agent the CIA intended to have infiltrate an organization that kidnaps martial artists and is run by a martial arts robot wouldn’t be highly trained in martial arts?
Didn’t Seth say that Rufus’ ridiculous mass is the only reason for the strength behind his attacks? I can’t find the exact quote. Seems there’s no complete collection of quotes from SF4/SSF4
I found a collection of the rival match speeches, what they say when they get first hit, reach full super bar, activate ultra. That’s cool because I like those:
Probably not as highly as practically everybody else in the Street Fighter universe. I mean Ryu literally lives and breathes fighting, and only lost to Viper in the TTB OVA because he got outgimmick’d by her. Same with Cammy
This is why I also like Hakkan as a character design thing in terms of oil craft. It’s also effective.
I mean influence not training, same as Sakura having Ryu influence in personal training that might have accidentally replicate pattern giving devotion and passion while constantly doing it for a lot of times if not mentored an accident is a consideration. Dan was also from a shoto dojo right. If those electric attacks were from a family blood line, gene or pass on tradition for the likes of Laura that would be a consideration unless she got a training with Blanka or someone that used electricity. Or even
tried to replicate something rep3atedly with passion.
One of Abel early design was a feminine judo boy, that’s certainly where the judo part comes from. As for the French part, France is the all time second best nation for Judo, could even argue that in male heavyweight category, France is the first judo nation (with the likes of David Douillet, Teddy Rinner). It adds a second layer to the character.
Since I cant write more at the moment, I really dislike the amount of hard to interact grounded projectiles in this game.
Juri having hers still feela fine because it works similar to her old one. But then you have Birdie’s can which just dominates space like no other projectile and FANG’s puddles dling weird anime mix ups.
I get the want and need to explore that design space. It is near my top 15 things I really dislike about this game though.
