Nash/Charlie
Charlie/Nash is the most radically changed character so far. He’s graduated from Guile clone to, well, whatever the hell this is.
First of all, none of his special moves are charge-based. Everything is executed either with a quarter circle toward or quarter circle back. All of his specials have forward momentum, including his Sonic Boom, which gain an offensive follow-up with his V-Trigger. Only one special acts like Guile’s anti-air Flash Kick, and even then it requires a specific button press to pull it off.
What he does retain from his Guile clone days is his variable normals. Forward + Light Kick (Short) will perform an advancing knee, Forward + Medium Kick (Forward) will execute his spinning Sobat kick, and Forward + Hard Kick (Roundhouse) will bust out an advancing ranged kick. Forward + Hard Punch (Fierce) will perform his spinning back hand. What’s new is Forward + Medium Punch (Strong), which now gives Charlie/Nash an overhead in the form of a swinging arm attack.
His V-Skill, Bullet Clear, acts as a projectile absorption move, where his V-Trigger puts him into an even more advantageous rushdown mode, with various teleport set-ups. The one oddity of the V-Trigger, however, is that it is not a timed mode. Once you execute a V-Trigger teleport, the V-Gauge needs to be refilled to teleport again. Perhaps this is a sign Charlie/Nash may be able to fill his V-Gauge quicker than the rest of the cast?
Even if not, most of these design changes try to make Charlie/Nash play like something other than a Guile clone, which makes me think that Guile is an obvious shoe-in for the cast.
V-Gauge Blocks: 2
Special Moves
Sonic Boom: Down, Down + Forward, Foward + Punch
Charlie/Nash’s projectile. With V-Trigger, you can follow up with a sort of teleport move that places him in an offensive position.
Sonic Scythe: Down, Down + Back, Back + Kick
Light Kick (Short) and Medium Kick (Forward) versions of this move will perform a sort of forward moving slash kick. The hitbox appears to be forward and down. The Hard Kick (Roundhouse) version of Sonic Scythe will perform a mini-Flash Kick. Putting the hitbox into a position where the move becomes an anti-air. It doesn’t reach far, but it seemed good enough to anti-air most attacks coming in.
Moonsault Slash: Down, Down + Forward, Forward + Kick
To put it bluntly, this is Adon’s Jaguar Kick. Charlie/Nash flips forward and does an axe kick, with the hitbox vertically landing around the high mid-range. Traveling distance, speed, and recovery depend on the type of kick button you use.
Tragedy Assault: Forward, Down, Down + Forward, Forward + Punch
Charlie/Nash leaps across the screen, grabs the opponent, and slams them into the ground. This move is technically not a command grab, since it won’t land if the opponent is blocking (and leaves him wide open for getting punished). In it’s current form, I’d use it sparingly.
Judgement Saber — Down, Down + Back, Back, Down, Down + Back, Back + Punch
Charlie/Nash’s Critical Art
Bullet Clear — Medium Punch (Strong) + Medium Kick (Forward)
Charlie/Nash can absorb a projectile or deflect a normal attack (I’m not absolutely sure if this counts as a parry).
Sonic Move – Hide — Forward + Hard Punch (Fierce) + Hard Kick (Roundhouse)
Charlie/Nash is the only character, as of this build, whose V-Trigger that does not activate a timed mode that features a speed or damage boost, but is rather tied to three different possible move options, which are all teleports. Every time you activate one of these teleports, the V-Gauge empties and must be refilled again if you want to perform another teleport. Sounds weird, but I believe the idea is that Charlie/Nash will be able to fill the V-Gauge meter up very quickly.
This version of his V-Trigger will teleport Charlie/Nash behind the opponent.
Sonic Move – Blitz Air — Back + Hard Punch (Fierce) + Hard Kick (Roundhouse)
This version of his V-Trigger will teleport Charlie/Nash behind the opponent in the air.
Sonic Move – Steel Air — Down + Hard Punch (Fierce) + Hard Kick (Roundhouse)
This version of his V-Trigger will teleport Charlie/Nash in front of opponent in the air.
Sonic Move – Avoid — Forward + All three punches
Charlie/Nash’s V-Reversal.
M. Bison/Vega/Dictator
I predict a lot of crying in the M. Bison forums of Shoryuken.com.
If it wasn’t for Nash/Charlie’s makeover, I would’ve said M. Bison received the most startling changes out of the cast so far. The most obvious? He has the slowest walk speed in the game. And I haven’t even seen the rest of the cast. For a Street Fighter IV comparison, I’m talking Makoto walk speed here.
Why is this shocking? It’s because M. Bison is the original speed intensive, rushdown character. A large part of his game up to this point has been mobility. Now he walks like a tank stuck in first gear.
That may be the worst of the changes, but I still have some bad news to report. Although his standing Medium Kick (Forward) is the same as it has been in previous games, which is to say it comes out quick, has a lot of reach, and some good hit box properties — they’ve taken away his standing Hard Kick (Roundhouse). In previous games, M.Bison’s standing Hard Kick (Roundhouse) was like a clone of his standing Medium Kick (Forward), it just hit a bit higher and made for a great anti-air option. In Street Fighter V, the move has been turned into a short knee. It was difficult to tell if it was viable as an anti-air during the play test, but my instincts tell me it isn’t.
His jumping Medium Punch (Strong) has also changed. Ever since Super Street Fighter II Turbo, it has been a two-hit juggling move. It actually became one of this character’s strongest anti-air options in other games, since he moved so quickly, M. Bison players could react to someone jumping by executing this move and juggling the opponent into a high damaging super-move. This move is completely gone and replaced by a one-hit nothing of a normal.
His Psycho Crusher is also, obviously, missing. It appears in his Critical Art, but it’s otherwise no longer a tool for the normal portions of his game. Manual teleport is also gone.
So why make all of these changes? My theory is that the designers want to force M.Bison players into a specific play rhythm, where they spend the first half playing passive, building the V-Gauge. They then spend the second half threatening to activate V-Trigger and go apeshit. M.Bison’s V-Trigger, like Ryu’s, creates a massive leap in his damage and speed game. His dash becomes one of the best in the game (so far), allowing M.Bison to teleport through attacks insanely fast.
Unlike Ryu, M. Bison has an extra block of V-Gauge to fill. Combining playing passive, which may mean also using V-Reversals, on top of having a larger V-Gauge to fill gives M.Bison a slightly more difficult path to activating V-Trigger.
Yet it isn’t as if M. Bison can’t move around the screen without that godlike V-Trigger dash. I was mixing normal dashes with smart use of Head Stomp/Devil’s Reverse and Double Knee Presses, and I was still able to put together a workable rushdown offensive. I just couldn’t count on using M. Bison’s normal walk to step back and forth when I was in the middle of a mid-range poke game. His gameplay design doesn’t seem to allow for a solid middle ground. I either had to rushdown, or turtle in the corner trying to build V-Gauge.
V-Gauge Blocks: 3
Special Moves
Psycho Blast: Charge back, Forward + Punch
This is like a weaker version of Street Fighter Alpha series M. Bison’s projectile special. The normal version of this move will see M.Bison throw out a point-blank wave of Psycho power in front of him. The EX version of this move will produce a projectile.
Double Knee Press: Charge back, Forward + Kick
The old, reliable favorite of M. Bison players everywhere. It comes out fast, has good recovery, and great hitbox priority. The building block of every M.Bison rushdown block string.
Psycho Inferno: Charge down, Up + Punch
I believe this is intended to be his anti-air special. M. Bison unleashes a bunch of Psycho Power around his body, from the ground upward.
Head Press: Charge down, Up + Kick
Aka Head Stomp. Still a reliable tool for terrorizing projectile heavy characters.
Somersault Skull Diver: After Head Press, hit any Punch
One of M. Bison’s potential follow-ups after a Head Press. If after a successful Head Press the M. Bison player wants to put on some offensive pressure, they can push him toward the opponent and execute this move as an aerial attack. Still acts the same way it always has.
Devil’s Reverse: Before Head Press hits, hit any Punch
Devil’s Reverse was acting a bit strange during this playtest. It seemed like I had to commit to the Devil’s Reverse input way before the Head Press jump arch had reached its peak. I’m use to the move allowing me a lot more leeway when deciding if I want to swap from Head Stomp to Devil’s Reverse.
Ultimate Psycho Crusher: Down, Down + Forward, Forward, Down, Down + Forward, Forward + Punch
M. Bison’s critical art. The only appearance of Psycho Crusher in the game.
Psycho Burst: Forward + all three Punch buttons (while blocking)
M. Bison’s V-Reversal. It shoves the opponent off with a sphere of Psycho Power.
Psycho Reflect: Medium Punch (Strong) + Medium Kick (Forward)
Acts like a projectile absorption, but I could swear it is also supposed to reflect it as well (hence the name). I didn’t get to see that part of the move work, so don’t hold me to that.
Psycho Power: Hard Punch (Fierce) + Hard Kick (Roundhouse)
As with Ryu’s V-Trigger, you absolutely want to get to activating M. Bison’s V-Trigger as soon as possible. All special moves gain increased damage output and some gain armor properties. Although M. Bison is still cursed with the Makoto walk speed, he gains one of the craziest dashes in the game, which acts like a teleport. Doing a block string into cross-up teleport to the other side of the opponent, then to teleport back to the other side to mind-game them into a throw, is satisfying as hell.