Street Fighter 6" Open Beta Report just before the release! Full of new elements and fun for non-fighting game fans!

Capcom held an open beta for "Street Fighter 6," scheduled for release on June 2, 2023, from 4 p.m. on May 19 to 4 p.m. on May 22.

The game will be the latest installment in the series of the same name, which originates from the 2D fighting game "Street Fighter," developed in 1987 and first released for arcades. Here, I participated in the open beta and report my impressions.

Incidentally, I have played all of the numbered titles in the Street Fighter series, but I am not an expert in the series, as I only know the controls and can perform basic command moves and combos. Therefore, I will leave detailed explanations of character performance and advantageous moves to others, and focus on the in-game environment and feel of the controls.

First of all, the hardware used is PlayStation 5. In terms of controllers, fighting games generally offer three choices: the Gamepad, which is a so-called controller; the arcade controller (Ace-Con); and the leverless controller, which has no cross keys or levers and uses buttons to control movement.

Of these, the Akecon has long been considered the standard for playing fighting games. However, the cost of purchasing an Ace-Controller is around 20,000 to 30,000 yen, in addition to the software. This high initial investment may have something to do with the high level of difficulty in playing fighting games these days, so we made the decision to use a controller this time.

However, since the Street Fighter series uses a six-button format, with weak, medium, and strong punches and kicks as the basic buttons, the LR button would be too far away, so we decided to use a HORI pad with six buttons on the front (top) face of the pad. This is still less expensive than the average arcade controller. The button layout is the same as the Ace-Controller and lever-less controllers, so it may be easier to change the layout later on.

Fighting Commander: View at Rakuten Ichiba View at Amazon.co.jp

In addition, eight characters are available in the open beta: Luke, Jamie, Ryu, Chun-Li, Guile, Kimberly, Juli, and Ken.

The game has an online space called "Battle Hub" where players can create avatars, interact, and battle with other players from around the world, in addition to ranked matches. In the open beta, players were able to choose their rank for the ranked matches from four levels based on their skill level.

The battle hub is designed to resemble a video game arcade, and after the game is released, it seems that Capcom's classic arcade games will also be available to play on a daily basis.

During the open beta, the classic belt-scrolling action game "Final Fight," which ran in 1989, seemed to be placed there, and there were reports on social networking sites that people were even more absorbed in the game than in the main game. The Bottle Hub also features a "hub goods store" where you can customize your avatar's equipment, a "DJ booth," a "photo spot," and many other fun elements that go beyond a simple fighting game.

Modern controls seem easy to use, even for those with no fighting game experience!

Matching and other network battles were unstable right from the start of the first day, but after the emergency maintenance, the communication environment was stress-free.

As for the game controls, there are two options available for online matches: "Modern" and "Classic. The Classic mode uses the traditional six-button controls of the Street Fighter series. If you have experience with the Street Fighter series or other fighting games, you should be able to play this game without any problems. The aforementioned pad operation was also quite smooth, including actions that require simultaneous pressing of two buttons.

The modern version features a four-button system with a weak attack, a medium attack, a strong attack, and a special move button. The controls are simple, like those of Nintendo's Smash Bros. series, and I got the impression that a regular controller would work perfectly fine. The game is also equipped with a specific combo assist function that makes it possible for beginners to perform difficult combos (consecutive attacks), making it possible to fight without seeming like an experienced fighter, making it suitable for those with no fighting game experience. However, the button layout and the role of the buttons are different, so players should be careful if they decide to switch to the classic version in the middle of a game. There are also some weaknesses, such as the fact that the damage dealt is set lower than in the classic version and that special moves cannot be performed separately, so it is a win-win situation. However, the system described below may be able to compensate for these weaknesses.

In "Street Fighter 6," a new system called the Drive Gauge exists, which can be used to perform special moves such as "Drive Impact," "Overdrive," "Drive Parry," "Drive Brush," and "Drive Reversal" by pressing a specific button and using the gauge.

Managing the Drive Gauge is important to win!

When a player is hit by a "Drive Impact," he staggers for a certain period of time, which allows him to perform an additional combo.

Personally, I have the impression that "Drive Impact," a striking technique, and "Drive Parry," a defensive technique, are quite powerful systems. It is possible to fight to some extent just by understanding this system, timing your moves well, and pressing the Special Move button as an additional attack.

In addition to using each special move, the Drive Gauge is designed to decrease when guarding against an opponent's attack, etc. If you lose all of your gauge and are hit by an attack, you will be stunned, and it is certain that you will be chased down. In the "Street Fighter" series, the mainstay of the battle style seems to be to guard firmly while looking for a chance to counterattack, but this time, guarding is more risky than in the past series. This is just my opinion, but it is likely to be a game in which the aggressor will have a significant advantage.

This system may be a result of the emphasis placed on making the game "look good" as a competitive title for e-sports tournaments, and it may be that in the e-sports scene, the more flashy the offense is, the easier and more interesting it is even for amateurs to understand. This may be the result of the emphasis on the "look and feel" of the competition title.

In this open beta, I used five characters: Luke, Ken, Ryu, Juri, and Kimberly. Of these, Ryu's feel was the same as in the past series, so we recommend him to users who have played the series before. The game's official website also has a special "Fighter & Control Type Diagnosis" page where you can find the right fighter for you.

(Reporting and writing by Masamichi Saito)