Street Fighter V bows out with a big ‘Definitive Update’

One month after announcing Street Fighter 6, Capcom have waved goodbye to Street Fighter V with a big patch they’re caling the ‘Definitive Update’. It sets what I guess is the final meta, overhauling balance by tweaking characters and even giving some whole new moves. It also spruces the place up a bit with new graphical filters and music.

Capcom say the update, now live, is “closing out this era of Street Fighter”. So they’ve gone back for one last bash at balance, toning down some of the most powerful and helping out some of the weaker.

“A few highlights include improving Ryu’s mid to long-range capabilities, more versatile combo routes and conversions for Juri, and new moves for Menat and M. Bison,” they say. I trust what they say becomes goodness me the patch brings a lot of changes to get your head around.

the balance change notes are 79 pages long, so, pretty extensive. Along with getting technical with numbers (eg “Changed frame advantage on block from +2F to +4F.”), the notes offer written assessments of characters’ performance along with their strengths and weaknesses, explaining why changes are happening. I always appreciate that in patch notes. Nice one, Capcom.

The patch also adds two new optional screens filters for offline play, a kinda-hard-to-look-at-pixel style and a bright, poppy Cel-Shaded look. New tracksuit colors are in for all characters, though you need to pay Fight Money. And the CAP-JAMS music remixes initially released on YouTube are now available as in-game battle tunes.

Plus they’re selling another load of cosmetics to mark the Capcom Pro Tour 2022. This might be the final big update, but the violence isn’t over.

For now, Capcom are being cagey about SF6 for now. It has Ryu, it has Luke, and they say they’ll talk more about the game this summer.