Street Fighter V: Vega’s back and as beautiful as ever

The official Street Fighter V Youtube Channel recently released the reveal trailer for Vega, the series’ resident narcissistic high-flyer.

To those not familiar with Street Fighter’s Spanish Ninja, Vega has been a series mainstay since Street Fighter II. And throughout his numerous appearances in the franchise, his play style and feel has changed very little. His trademark flambouyant demeanor also seems to be kept well intact. And that new poofy open-chest pirate shirt does wonders in adding more pizzazz to his already interesting, if not mildly fruity, personality.

Vega’s Crimson Terror, which seems like an improved Rolling Crystal Flash, ends with this knockdown.

As seen in the video, while Vega’s quickness and agility remain the same, he seems to have a couple of new moves. Most obvious is the change in the Rolling Crystal Flash, now known as the Crimson Terror, which ends with a downward kick (and it seems to be a hard knockdown) instead of the long reaching stab of the claw.

Vega can dodge and counter attack with the Matador Turn V-Skill.

His V-Skill, the Matador Turn, allows him dodge an oncoming attack, from which he can then counter with an attack of his own. But what’s really interesting is his V-Trigger, Bloody Kiss, where Vega throws a rose that homes in on the enemy character. Once the rose hits the opponent, Vega then lunges forward with a pair of brutal slashes. This can be used either as a tempo-breaker for an aggressive opponent, or as a way to extend combos.

Bloody Kiss, Vega’s V-Trigger, has a homing rose that can be effectively used as anti-air or as part of a combo.

The most exciting change though, as reported in Capcom Unity, is that Vega now has two stances/styles of play (ala Gen in Street Fighter IV), with claw and without claw. According to Capcom Community Manager and SFV Associate Producer Peter “Combofiend” Rosas, the player now has the option to sheath Vega’s claws, by executing Switching Claw, in exchange for some brand new moves and attack property changes. He also noted that knowing how to play both styles is very crucial as Vega can no longer pick up his claw once it gets knocked off.

Hours after the reveal, the Japanese site Gamer posted more details about changes in Vega’s playstyle. While clawless, Vega can use the Ground Izuna Drop, a command grab wherein he performs his trademark ground slam without having to launch first into his Flying Barcelona Attack.

There was also speculation that Vega will no longer be a charge character in SFV born out of a tweet from the official Street Fighter twitter. Rosas, however, clarified that they were merely testing out the possibility. “It’s not final by any means. If it’s a good fit, it may stay. If it’s too strong, it could go,” he commented.

Capcom has revealed 9 characters so far. As reported by Rosas on a post at the Playstation Blog, Street Fighter V: Vega and 15 other characters will be available when the game hits the shelves on March 2016.