Month: May 2017

Following his official reveal yesterday, Michael Martin of Yahoo! Esports has taken it upon himself to analyze the Young Commander’s trailer, as he questions whether or not Ed will comfortably fit into the overall competitive meta of Street Fighter V’s Second Season.

After providing a brief recap of his origins, as well as some of the recent leaks surrounding him, Martin begins picking apart the trailer, praising his default outfit, though he notes he resembles one of the Dolls. Drawing comparisons to his Bison and Balrog inspirations, Martin says that his V-Reversal–Kill Step–looks similar in animation to Kolin’s, but could prove much more effective, since he goes fullscreen to more easily avoid being thrown out of it or punished afterwards. Martin mentions Ed has a cross-up attack–unlike his trainer–as well as the similarities between his V-Skill, Psycho Snatcher, and Scorpion’s Bloody Spear from the Mortal Kombat series.

In closing Martin declares that, “from a gameplay perspective, Ed might be the most unique character we’ve seen in Street Fighter V,” due to the elimination of motions from his moveset, with the exception of his Critical Art.

So initial reactions might peg this as making him easy mode for players, but I’m not so sure about that. Remember, you have to consider button presses and holding buttons while trying to play offense, defense or the neutral game. I’m incredibly happy he continues this trend of all-new unique characters. This is a pretty big departure for Street Fighter archetypes. I adore Kolin, and somehow she’s made me reassess how I see and think about the game, and I feel like I’m better for it. I just feel like Ed brings something unique to the table, and I really like that this Character Pass in Season Two is focusing on that. Ed shows me that Capcom wants to think outside the gameplay box, and I like that a lot, with these Season Two characters, and that’s what I want more than anything. These next three characters, I’m more curious about than ever, just because I want to see what unique properties they bring to Street Fighter V.

You can catch Martin’s full thoughts in the video below, and can also see VesperArcade’s Ed analysis here. Don’t forget that Ed will be playable as part of the second CFN beta test, which can be pre-downloaded on the PlayStation Store right now, so you’ll be ready when it goes live on Thursday.

Source: Yahoo! Esports