Street Fighter 6: Open Beta II - First Impressions & Thoughts

You can think of Drive Impact similar to Street Fighter IV's Focus Attacks. The major difference is that you have to commit to the animation once you activate it and your opponent can EASILY punish yours with one of their own since you can't cancel out of the animation. The trade off is that a Drive Impact absorbs two hits for free and guarantees a crumple upon hit that allows for a free combo follow-up or a wall splat in the corner (think like Tekken) that allows for even bigger damage opportunities. A part of the meta/mindgame approach to most matches is already pressuring opponents into a corner situation where they have to always fear an incoming Drive Impact to wall splat and open them up to even bigger damage, even when blocked since a Drive Impact has significant pushback on hit. Using a Drive Impact always puts you into a situation where you are bound to be countered with your opponent using one of their own, but you can get around this by waiting for your opponent to "Burn Out" of their Drive gauge.

I'm sure that many players came to the same conclusion that Drive Impact pretty much helps a lot of characters deal with projectile spam as long as it's triggered at a safe enough range/distance for you won't be punished from the length animation/recovery frames on whiff. As long as I had Drive meter, I no longer feared projectiles from any character from roughly mid to close range. 

It should be noted that Drive Impact can be interrupted and broken similarly to Focus Attacks in Street Fighter IV as they are not throw invincible and they can be countered by a well-timed Drive Parry/Perfect Parry or Drive Reversal. Some special moves and Critical Arts have "armor-breaking" properties that players should be aware of too.  

I've seen a lot of players (especially long-time Street Fighter veterans) compare Drive Parry to the parries found in Street Fighter III: Third Strike. I only played that game briefly myself over the years, but I can see the similarities. A Perfect Parry is executed by performing a Drive Parry the moment when an attack is about to hit you, thus allowing for an instant follow-up via a Drive Rush, something that we will get to shortly in the next section below. 

Drive Parry opens the door to a wealth of new defensive means for this new Street Fighter entry. Don't know how to block an incoming cross-up properly? Hit that Drive Parry button. Too late to react to an incoming jump-in? Try a Drive Parry to defend yourself in time. 

It's not perfect, but it's a welcome addition that adds a little more flair to watching high-level matches in this game, especially when you see players who can land Perfect Parries left and right and punish/capitalize on those situations accordingly. You can use them on Critical Arts or any multi-hitting attack, so don't be afraid to experiment with this defensive option. You might be surprised. 

Drive Rush is going to be one of the highly used advanced techniques that we are going to see skilled players use once more players get familiar with the game. On the surface, it reminds a lot of players, myself included, of the Focus Attack Dash Cancels (FADC) from Street Fighter IV, but it's both more and less than that. You don't get just a mere action/animation cancel from this, no. You gain to the ability to sprint across the screen at high speed (no matter what walk speed your character has) and can follow-up with any attack to open them up. Much like any other attack in the game, this attack can be Drive Parried, blocked, or simply thrown out of too. That being said, it's bound to catch any player on the receiving end off-guard by the sheer speed of how fast it comes out, thus narrowing the window of any sort of counterattack or reversal. I'm VERY anxious to see what more players are going to be able to do with this technique once more people have this game in their hands (officially) in the coming months. 

Speaking of reversals, Drive Reversal is essentially just that. It's much like your Alpha Counters from the Street Fighter Alpha series where you perform a counterattack while blocking at the cost of a little bit of your Drive gauge. This is a handy tool to have in your pocket for some unfavorable situations to get opponents off of you on the receiving end of rushdown-heavy offense. 

Simply put, Overdrives are your EX special moves from previous Street Fighter titles just with a different name for this game. You add another corresponding kick or punch button with the input of that attack to add extra damage and properties to those attacks at the cost of your Drive gauge. It took me a while to realize that your Critical Art gauge and Drive gauge were two separate meters and you only needed Drive meter to perform Overdrives and not Critical Art meter at all. This is a much welcome change than in previous titles where you had to keep a watchful eye on your super gauge and always gamble on whether or not to save it for a super move or spend meter on EX attacks. 

Netcode & Online Server Performance

I wouldn't be doing this write-up justice if I didn't mention the quality of the online servers too. Due to an unforeseen family emergency, I had the day off (May 19th) so I got to play the game for most of the day since I had already downloaded and installed the game the night prior. The online lobbies were really stable that day and the following Saturday (May 20th). I spent majority of my gameplay time matching up with various players on the local arcade cabinets in the lobbies that I found myself in for Casual/Battle Hub matches. The game had a pretty stable netcode since Capcom has informed players that they are using rollback netcode for this game and it's a vast improvement over from the days of playing Street Fighter IV online to various qualities (from downright abysmal to acceptable) and the absolutely horrid experience of playing Street Fighter V online. I dare say it's as stable of an online experience in terms of netcode as my time playing Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, another fighting game that uses rollback netcode to an amazing degree to allow crossplay between consoles and PC. The open beta had crossplay enabled and there are icons above players' heads in the Battle Hub to show what console that they are on but I never saw anyone other than PC players out of the lobbies that I was in over the weekend. That being said, I think that's amazing news that this game will have crossplay right out of the gate at launch. That's definitely a step in the right direction after a lot of fighting game companies, Capcom included, realized that their old ways of doing online multiplayer for fighting games was completely unacceptable, especially in a tournament setting as how many found out when the entire world was forced to attend tournaments entirely online during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The final day of the open beta, Sunday (May 21st), the servers were flooded to the max and there were slowdowns and lagging left and right. I noticed that multiple countries' servers were blacked out, thus forcing a lot of international players to flood the North American and European servers. It got to the point where you couldn't even move around the Battle Hub without any sort of a massive input delay or the game stuttering and performing as if you were playing underwater. At that point, I turned off the open beta client for a few hours and came back that evening for a few more games. By that point, the lag and performance issues seemed to have stablized for the better and I was able to get some more reasonable quality matches before servers shut down at midnight that evening. Overall, if Capcom can keep up this level of quality from the majority of the weekend at launch, then I think Street Fighter 6 will have the best online component for any of their fighting games to date. The servers flooding is to be expected with such high anticipation for this game, so that's an issue that I'm sure will remedy itself over time once that "new game high" peters out after launch. 

For me personally, I tried out the Modern controls for roughly 2-3 sets online before switching back to Classic controls. I have absolutely nothing against anyone who chooses to use Modern controls but it's not for me, especially when I kept feeling like I didn't have "full" control over my character at any given time. It felt like I was cutting myself off from the character's complete toolset/arsenal. Modern controls remind me thoroughly of the Story Mode controls and hotkeys found in Tekken 7 where you had four special moves mapped to the face buttons on your controller and could use them at any given time without having to worry about inputting the motions normally. In this game, it's slightly different, allowing players to use both special moves and Critical Arts with a single button press along with having some auto-combos to assist with counterattacks. 

RYU

If you're new to fighting games or just new to Street Fighter period, you can't go wrong with starting off with Ryu. He's always a character who is tailor-made to understand the most of the game's mechanics and hammer down the core fundamentals of the game with this character. Mastering this fighter is beneficial to players of all skill levels as things that Ryu does are skills and lessons that you can take to other learning and mastering the rest of the cast in this game. 

Ryu seems like a solid option in this game with solid zoning game with his projectiles and he's not bad at footsies either, so he's a good choice to learn those fundamentals. 

• His Mule Kick (from his Vs. game appearances) makes a return here in some of his BnB (bread and butter) and blockstrings. He gets an easy wall bounce off a successful hit confirm that leads into big damage. 

• Design-wise, I think it's cool that he's looking more like his former master, Gouken, in this entry.

• His "Denjin Mode" install super returns in this entry as well that allows him to execute "enhanced" special modes with different properties, opening the door for even more big damage combos.

CHUN-LI

Chun-Li is obviously the character that I spent the most time playing with during this open beta as I mained this character exclusively throughout the weekend since she was my main fighter for the duration of Street Fighter IV and it's add-ons/updates. I played her VERY briefly during the cup of coffee that was my time with Street Fighter V, so yeah, I have a lot of thoughts on her in this game.

• Her Lvl 2 Crit Art has a launcher at the end that's jump cancellable (think like Makoto's Ultra 2 in SF4) and you can do follow-ups after the launcher by holding up to go airborne, MvC style. Another Chun I fought did that, hit the air HP bnb, air Legs, AND air Kikosho (Yes that's a super now) to finish. My goddamn jaw was on the floor. 

• Auto-cross up (3HK) is unsafe as hell in this one. It's a knee instead of a flipping kick now and most characters can just duck it. Hit confirm frames seemed wonky as hell on it. It's still good for scrubs who don't know better though. 

• Jumping HPx2 only hits air to air now so you can't use it for jump-ins like in SF4. Air stomps (2MK x3) can be cancelled into air Legs so that's even more shit she can do in the air, but her jump is still slow and floaty - meaning it's easy for players to react to and anti-air. 

• Standing 4/6MP x Hazanshu still links like SF4 BUT most characters can jab punish/pressure between the links if they are mashing. Hazanshu xx lvl 3 Crit Art works though.

• Her standing HK long range poke from SF4 is gone. New st. HK jumps over sweeps and lows up close like Rose's st. close MK in SF4. 

• Low profile cr. MP is locked behind her new stance, the Serenity Stance. I still don't understand why as this new Serenity stance only has like 2-3 moves worth using, her sweep out of it that's combo'able and her launcher that leads into air juggles. Serenity stance has TONS of recovery frames and you can't block while in it. Reminds me of Ivy's overhead whip stance from Soul Calibur series from those restrictions.

•  Standing LK is a standing LOW in this game like Super Skrull's in UMvC3. It also links into other moves too so that's interesting.

• 3HP is a goddamn overhead they gave her. Stand MK actually has good coverage for anti-airs in this game. Cr. HK has so many recovery frames and completely unrelatable as an anti-air in this as I've seen it trade more than beat jump-ins outright like in 4. Seems slower than everyone else's sweeps too as I get punished on block every single time. I remember it being like that in SF4 but nowhere as bad where other sweeps are beating it out. You almost have to be at max range of its hitbox/active frames to make the most of it now. 

• (Cont) Up kicks (from Alpha series and Vs games) are her SRK (read: anti-air) in this and your only "get off" me move. EX Bird Kick is a totally different move in this as it just wall carries or serves as a combo ender. EX Hazanshu has a ground bounce for juggle follow-ups but the timing is insane. EX Legs has an extension (KK) for even more damage for the cost of no meter which is insane to me. 

• The MK Target combos from 4 are gone completely. 4/6MP are her go-to pokes that let you store charge while standing. 

• Her only charge input moves in this entry are Kikoken and Spinning Bird Kick. Everything else, even Crit Arts are Hadoken/Tatsu motions

JAMIE

Jamie feels like Capcom took what they learned from translating Lei Wulong into Street Fighter X Tekken and applying it to this brand new character who brings the drunken master fighting style into this series for the first time. 

On the surface, I'll admit that I thought he was going to play like Yun and Yang from both Third Strike and Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, but while he does have some similarities to the infamous twins, he has his own unique tricks to bring to the table. A lot of his gameplan revolves around sneaking a drink from his bottle at the end of his attacks that improves his damage output and unlocks new moves altogether once he's fully drunk. 

• His drunken install/transformation reminds me of V's from Street Fighter V that gives him a ton more options for his lethal close-range offense and more damage potential to boot. 

• Much like Ken, he takes full advantage of the Drive Rush cancels to make openings and close the gap on opponents to make up for his lackluster movement options. He's a character that you definitely don't want to deal with up close and personal as that's where his strengths and highest damaging options shine the most.

LUKE

Much like Ryu, Luke is another go-to character for beginners to learn the fundamentals of this game. At least in this game he looks like a much cooler fighter with a vastly improved design in comparison to his appearance at the end of Street Fighter V's shelf life. Luke tends to lean more favorably with close-ranged offense like Ken, but his fundamentals are just as strong and options are just as plentiful and flexible as Ryu's. 

I felt this is this the poster boy who was essentially made for beginners looking to master the new Modern control layout. 

• Luke's projectiles (Flash Knuckle) can be charged for stronger effects and higher damage. 

• He has much easier corner-carry potential than most of the playable cast in this open beta. 

GUILE

Back in Street Fighter IV, I downright loathed hated fighting this dude as I honestly didn't have any patience to play the match by his rules. In Street Fighter 6, this match feels a little more "fair". Guile feels largely unchanged to his gameplan to every match as he's still the champion of locking players down with projectiles and holding his ground/position. Maybe it's my maturity in my older years, but I have a lot more patience in this fight this time around. Guile seems like he's going to be another solid fighter to round off this game's base roster at launch. It's hard to mess this character up and he's still got some strong tools to keep players on their toes. 

• Like previously mentioned, this match feels like a MUCH fairer match-up than in SF4 at least coming as a Chun main. 

• He still demands respect in terms of zoning though. He's another character that's hard to get in on once he's got full control of zoning by filling the screen with projectiles. 

• His install from SF5 is just as scary here too with rapid fire booms coming into play. 

JURI

I think this is one of the strongest outings for Juri to date in Street Fighter 6, even though I didn't see much of this character from the limited amount of time that I played Street Fighter V. To be honest, I don't even remember if she was released via DLC by the time I hung it up on the game before I jumped back in briefly for when Menat was added since I'm a Rose fan too. Back in Street Fighter IV, I had roughly two friends/sparring buddies who mained this character and I think they would really appreciate her changes and buffs in this game. She feels like a much stronger character overall from her footsies game with a wealth of useful pokes and normal moves while her special moves are the icing on the cake.

Like other rushdown-heavy characters, she can make the most off of Drive Rush cancels to fly across the screen at high speed to open opponents up on a whim despite the fact she already has great movement speed and aerial mobility. I'm anxious to see where this character stands once the retail edition of the game arrives at launch among the rest of the cast. 

• Crazy good normals and pokes in comparison to SF4. 

• All of her punch input normals are kicks now so that will be a little jarring to players unfamilar to her fighting style. 

• I'm actually afraid of her Feng Shui Engine activations now. 

• Her Fireballs can be stocked like in previous games to allow her to extend her combos at the cost of these stocks. 

• She's got an air throw now!

Overall, I think Street Fighter 6 is in a good place with it's arrival set on June 2, 2023. This open beta did what exactly what it should have and put more good will on the game and faith into Capcom for the direction of this game from both the casual and hardcore player base. The demo got casual players excited for the World Tour Mode and this open beta got the hardcore players excited for the competitive multiplayer scene for this game. Both player bases can agree on excellent quality of the online component with rollback netcode (for the most part). The game feels familiar but at the same time, it has enough newness going for it that it feels fresh too, even with the returning cast members. Street Fighter 6 feels like the makeover and proper evolution into this current generation of gaming that this series has desperately needed. Street Fighter V soured a lot of fans' faith in this series from how Capcom mismanaged that game throughout its shelf life before turning things around towards the end for the better. With Street Fighter 6, it's looking like Capcom is going to have a hit on their hands and that's a good thing. I hate to admit it, but it's like how a lot of gamers keep pointing back to the successes of Monster Hunter: World, Devil May Cry 5, Mega Man 11, along with the Resident Evil remakes and sequels doing extremely well for that company makes it feel like Capcom is firing off on all cylinders again like days of old.