Hey guys, it’s David here, and we’re back again with week 5 of our SSFIV character feedback blog from the man in Japan with a plan, Mr Ayano-san! (I’ll stick to community managing…) This week we cover the likes of M.Bison, Yun, El Fuerte, Vega, and Blanka. A lot of the Japanese requests match that of those found in the US and Europe, however there are some suggestions to El Fuerte that I hadn’t seen before! Enjoy this week’s blog below!

Good evening fellow gamers, Tomoaki Ayano here.

I was thinking about kicking things off with a humourous comment about welcoming summer, but with Tokyo’s weather fluctuating like crazy, it didn’t seem like the best idea. I have to admit though, watching the sunsets from the Capcom offices is pretty awesome! With any luck I can finish my work early and go home so I don’t have to watch the sunrise from my desk as well…

Continuing with the trend of the past couple of blog entries, I’d like to talk about some of the character balance requests we’ve received from the Japanese fans! Check them out!

M. Bison

I’ d like for the input for Psycho Punisher to be returned back to what it was in Super, and for it to have more invincibility. I ’ d also like to see his crouching HP buffed to serve as better anti-air. As-is it ’ s pretty unusable now – the best we can hope for is a trade.

Ayano: We’ve had a lot of requests for the command input of U2 to be returned back to Super. A lot of people have said that even with a damage increase, with U2 being a charge move there aren’t many ways to effectively use it and there’s no reason to pick it over U1. We’d like to avoid having useless ultras if possible so this is something we’re looking into.

Yun

I’ve been using Yun since AE. In ver.2012 he was nerfed quite a bit, but I feel that the current version of the character is quite balanced. With only 900 health and the inability to Focus Cancel Nisho Kyaku defense can be challenging, but his offensive capabilities more than make up for it. He’s a good character. As such, please don’t needlessly nerf or buff him. If I can ask for one thing though, there’s not much use for his Ultra 2, Sorai Rengeki. It would be nice if it could be adjusted to be a bit more usable. 

Ayano: Increasing his vitality and making U2 more viable have been the biggest requests for Yun. We’d like to balance him without taking away any of his current abilities or play style, so we’ll have to take everything under careful consideration, including the adjustments the other characters get. We had figured Yun for a character we needed to buff quite a bit, but we’ll take a good look at the current battle stats and strategies before making our final adjustments for him.

El Fuerte

Would like to be able to follow up EX Quesadilla Bomb with another attack, or at least have more invincibility on it. As is it’s not really a move worth using meter on. It would be great if we could Focus Cancel Tostada Press. Also, if Press hits a mid-air opponent it would be nice if we could follow up with something like Focus Cancel -> EX Quesadilla Bomb or Guacamole Leg Throw.

Ayano: For Fuerte we’ve received requests to seriously buff, and to seriously nerf him, at the same time. Everyone’s opinions are divided on this unique and dynamic character! We’d like to take into consideration the requests of both the people who use him as well as the people who fight against him. Regarding his moves, we’ve received a lot of feedback on EX Quesadilla Bomb, including startup and ways to use it. We’d like to approach his balancing while keeping the other character’s adjustments in mind. We hope to preserve the unique flavor that makes this character interesting.

Vega

I want Vega to be more like his Super Street Fighter II Turbo version. Rather than combos he should focus on chipping away at his opponents through pokes, and his wall dives.

Regular Moves

I’ d like for his slide to be as fast as it was in SSFIIT. 

Special Moves

Would like for his EX Flying Barcelona Attack to be faster. It doesn ’ t have to cause a hit upon character collision.

Make Scarlet Terror completely invincible, at the cost of doing less damage.

Ayano: The requests we’ve received for Vega are to either keep him as is, or make him a little stronger. But mostly many players have pointed out that his anti-air is a bit weak so they’d like improvements for Scarlet Terror. Since Vega’s ground game is pretty good we’ll have to give careful consideration to how we adjust his anti-air capabilities. 

Blanka

Rolling Attack kinda sucks now! It trades a lot, and what is up with getting thrown out of the startup? It ’ s understandable that the move be punishable on block, but now there are situations where it ’ s punishable on hit too. It ’ s a move that actually works against Blanka. 

I wouldn ’ t mind a slight nerf on his electricity. 

Ayano: We’ve definitely heard the requests to buff Rolling Attack loud and clear. The leading concerns being to make it less easy to counterattack and to give it a bit more priority. In order to better differentiate what happens when the move hits versus when it’s blocked we’ll look into adjustments, also taking other characters balance in mind.

We’ll continue with more character requests next week, thanks for reading