Back in February, Capcom officially announced Street Fighter 6 with a short but sweet teaser trailer. At yesterday’s Playstation State of Play event, we got a much deeper look at the game, which uses the RE engine of Resident Evil Village. The game will also feature commentary, fan-favorite characters and an open-world story mode.
The last of these, according to Capcom’s Andy Wong on the Playstation blog, “pushes the boundaries of what a fighting game is and allows players to leave their own legacy with their player avatar.”
Judging by the trailer, the story mode will involve training your fighter at various points in a city to fight in tournaments, but that’s reading between the lines a little.
It wouldn’t be a Street Fighter game without a roster of new and familiar faces, of course. So far, we've seen Ryu, Chun-Li and Luke — a DLC character from Street Fighter V, who's supposed to have a big future ahead of him in the series.
In terms of new faces, the trailer also introduces us to Jamie, whom Wong says “will add his own flair to the game with his unpredictable move set – based on drunken boxing – that incorporates breakdancing and chugging a ki-unleashing drink.”
Then there are the enhanced visuals, made possible with the same game engine used in Resident Evil Village and Devil May Cry 5. “With the RE Engine, you’ll notice enhanced visuals in every aspect of the game,” writes Wong.
“Beads of sweat will roll down across skin, muscles will tense up when used, and cherry blossom petals will flitter and twirl in line with a character’s movement.”
You can get an idea of exactly what that looks like in the trailer below:
What you don’t get from that trailer is another intriguing feature: real-time commentary with optional subtitles. Capcom is apparently working with well-known FGC (fighting game community) commentators and “other recognizable faces” to provide in-match commentary, starting with Vicious and Aru.
While this is partly there to add excitement, it will also provide gameplay explanations, with the noble aim of helping newcomers learn from their mistakes and improve as they go along.
That’s not the only nod to helping fighting-game neophytes. While the classic six-button layout will be available to veterans, Capcom is also introducing “Modern Control Type,” which lets users pull off special moves by simply combining a dedicated button with a directional input.
“With the Modern Control Type, your character will perform some of their flashiest (and best) attacks with just a few button presses,” Wong writes. “Modern Control Type is optional, but we highly recommend new players give it a try!”
Despite its trailer debuting at a Sony event, Street Fighter 6 is not a PlayStation exclusive. As well as appearing on both PS4 and PS5, Street Fighter 6 will be available on Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X and PC when it launches in 2023.
