‘Street Fighter V’ Adding Ken To The Roster

You just about can’t have a Street Fighter game unless Ken is in it, and Capcom brought word out of San Diego Comic-Con that Ken will, in fact, be playable in Street Fighter V — but he won’t quite be the same Ken you’re used to.

To further differentiate himself from eternal rival and sparring partner Ryu, who has strikingly similar moves, he’ll play a bit differently than before — and look a bit differently, as you may have noticed from the header image.

Ken is known to be a character that controls range with fireballs (among other tools), but Polygon describes him as having a playstyle that is a little more up close and personal. That doesn’t mean you won’t have long-range options, the PlayStation Blog notes.

One of Ken’s V-Triggers, a brand new mechanic that temporarily gives characters different properties, will be Heat Rush. This infuses his special moves with the power of flame, which increases the number of hits and the range of his specials. His other V-Skill, Quick Step, gives Ken a run that allows him to close the gap much more quickly than most characters, although you’ll have to work to keep yourself safe as you close the distance.

Rather than just tease you with all of the juicy details in text form, why not have a look at the character yourself?

As players familiar with the character may notice in the trailer, it appears that developer Capcom is giving Ken a new move or two in Street Fighter V. One appears to be a long-range, gap-closing dive kick.

It’s not clear whether Capcom will allow Ken to be playable during the short-term Street Fighter V beta later this month, as it’s unclear how far along in development the character is currently at. That said, what we’ve seen of him through the trailer — and screenshots — gives this writer hope that Capcom will be breathing much-needed new life into the character.

What do you think, readers? How’s Ken’s new design? How different do you think he’ll ultimately be from other “Shoto” characters when we get the final product in our hands?

P.S.: Seriously, Capcom. Give us Akuma. Please!

[Image credit: Capcom PR]