We’re back with another episode of Talk and Block as DreamKing and I discuss the hottest topic in all of Street Fighter 6: Akuma.
We’ve seen a decent bit of footage for the coming DLC character (he arrives on May 22) and between what we’ve seen and what we’ve heard from those lucky few who have gotten to actually play him, there’s no doubt he’ll be incredibly powerful. That said, we did spot some things that could, if implemented correctly, make him relatively balanced.
Akuma has a long history of being a natural top tier in the many games he’s appeared in, and it’s not unheard of for him to flat out break a game he’s in thanks to his being so much more effective than everyone else.
The demon is bringing back most of his old tools this time around, but also garnering a few new ones as Capcom has shown off a new wall-bouncing special (Adamant Flame) and given a total overhaul to his teleport (which now has a command grab option attached to it).
It’s easy to highlight the more obvious advantages Akuma has to work with; his walk speed paired with clearly effective normals sets him up with a very strong foundation for fighting in SF6.
Capcom has made some alterations to his fireballs as all grounded versions are tied up into one input. Players can choose to hold the fireball and charge it up to garner more hits, but can also let it go immediately and shoot out the fast-moving projectile across the entire screen (his fireballs have sometimes dissipated in past iterations).
He appears to have no lack of damage output even in the surely suboptimal combos we’ve seen, and his options for engaging opponents are vast thanks to the aforementioned footsie tools as well as his new and improved Demon Raid (traditionally Demon Flip) that allows him to threaten from the air from various angles and distances.
Not only do all of these perks contribute to a powerful character, they work in tandem with one another to equal a good bit more than the sum of their parts. Strong neutral pours into damaging and corner-carrying combos that pour into powerful okizeme set ups, and so on.
With so many conspicuous advantages, it can start to feel like Street Fighter 6 is about to be overtaken by a character who’s gravitational pull will threaten to make the rest of the cast invalid to even try to use. While that could be the case, we do have to note that Street Fighter 6 developers have shown a leveled up appreciation for balance.
Especially compared to the games that came before it, Street Fighter 6 is designed with as many moving parts in mind as possible. Where previous games had tons of examples of overpowered attacks without appropriate answers, SF6 makes clear attempts to have a yin for every yang, so to speak.
This leads some (myself included) to claim that even the initial version of SF6 is more balanced than final versions of previous entries, and while that doesn’t mean it’s perfect, it does give us hope that Akuma might be more balanced than history would suggest.
The fact that he has a tenth less health than anyone else will surely be a big deal amid the game’s already extremely high damage atmosphere. Utility has proven to be worth more than vitality (Akuma has always had relatively lower health) but perhaps this time around it will mean more.
We also notice some intentional nerfs to some of his returning manuevers, indicating that Capcom has thought things through to a certain degree and is trying to make sure that moves don’t serve purposes beyond their intended ones.
DreamKing and I do our best to put everything we can on either side of the “broken vs. balanced” scale as we try to wrap our minds around the coming DLC character, examining everything we can from as many angles as possible.
You’ll find the full discussion in the video below and we’ve included timestamps if you’d prefer to jump around and hear particular parts first. Especially at this early stage, this venture is much more about conversation than having concrete answers, and so we’d love to hear what you think in terms of the topic at hand.
Share your thoughts about Street Fighter 6 Akuma in the comments below, noting where you think he’ll end up on the tier list and why. As always, if you enjoy this content we ask you please “like” the video and subscribe to our YouTube Channel for more.
Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro
02:10 – Why Akuma seems really REALLY strong (Normals)
04:30 – Walk speed
06:10 – Projectiles and Demon Flip
11:02 – Damage output, corner carry, Adamant Flame
16:00 – What is Capcom Doing To Make Akuma Balanced? – Low Health
22:20 – Teleport nerfed
27:21 – Technicality and Adjustments on legacy moves
34:33 – What are the Chances he’s Top Tier upon release?
49:15 – Is Capcom more dialed into balance than ever? Will it significantly impact Akuma?