Street Fighter 6 gets a crucial component of fighting games right: personality

polygon.com:

Capcom appears to be making all the right moves for Street Fighter 6. On top of a solid one-on-one fighting game, Capcom has built a lightweight RPG, a deep set of training tools catering to newcomers and veterans alike, and a proper arcade mode. It’s a far cry from the barebones, esports-focused launch state of Capcom’s last flagship fighting game effort, Street Fighter 5.

I recently dabbled with Street Fighter6’s various modes, including the fun, Yakuza-like open-world exploration of World Tour, where players can take their custom character to the streets of Metro City and fight virtually any inhabitant there. It’s not as slick nor as pretty as Street Fighter 6’s other modes, but it is the most newcomer-friendly place to start; World Tour teaches players the most basic of fighting game basics before sending them off on a meet-and-greet adventure with the Street Fighter cast. It’s also where players can make their ideal fighter, or their weirdest — Capcom offers immense anatomical liberties with character creation in SF6.

The mode I spent the most time in, and the one I can’t stop thinking about, was Street Fighter 6’s Fighting Ground, playing against Polygon executive editor Chelsea Stark in casual 1v1 fights. We had the chance to experiment with the SF6 roster — 18 fighters at launch — and it feels almost impossible to pick a favorite.

Nearly every character in the Street Fighter 6 roster is alluring, whether that’s a classic character like Ryu or Chun-Li, who feel immediately familiar and newly refined, or fresh faces like Marisa (a hulking Italian kickboxer) and JP (a vascular dandy who might as well be a wizard). Those latter characters ooze personality: Marisa rivals Zangief both in size and pride, yet she