Hiya!

Against public opinion, I’ve always been more of a fan of charge type characters. I’ve always found them to be just a smidge more intuitive than controlling characters who use the more traditional motions. I also find charge motions easier to execute, even though you need to do a little more fidgiting and pre-planning while fighting and while performing combos. I’m not super excellent at them so I can’t really do things like Guile’s corner trap sonic booms but I’m good enough to complete his trials with relatively no issues.

This is why I was partial with trying out Oro when Capcom decided to make him one of the final DLC characters for Street Fighter V. However, what I got was this weird hybrid of a charge motion character who mostly excels at his motion special attacks.

The first thing I have to comment on is how Oro’s design comes across on Street Fighter V. I’ve never been partial to his overall design. I find him just a little too freaky looking to be all that appealing to look at. What I do like is his overall character personality. I like how he generally only fights using one hand during his matches because he’s just that strong. In Street Fighter III, he had it affixed behind his back to keep his power levels on par with his opponents. He still doesn’t use both hands but, this time around, instead of tying one behind his back, Oro uses his non-fighting hand to carry around his pet turtle. It’s a cute character defining moment.

Oro has some good normal attack buttons. Rather, they come off as specialized for him and him alone. His standing medium kick does father than expected and forces stand. His crouching medium punch, although not cancellable to any special moves, is a really good long-range poke. His crouching heavy punch also has good range and works as a decent anti-air. Oro’s back medium kick has him move forward a bit with a kick, making it a way to close in while maintaining a backwards charge. He also has a really active forward medium kick but, surprisingly, doesn’t work as an overhead.

However, Oro’s best normals have to be his ability to double jump from any direction as well as his standing medium punch. The double jump makes Oro’s air movement so much more unpredictable and can get him out of really sticky corner situations or bait out an anti-air. The crown jewel has to be his standing medium punch as it launches the opponent in the air and is cancellable! This allows Oro to put his opponent in the air for a juggle combo, which would most likely be his Jinchuu Watari flying kicks. You can cycle through these two moves a couple of times to get some really great corner carry!

This does lead to Oro’s special moves. While he feels like a Guile-like charge character, he doesn’t come off as one. Rather, they’re more supplemental to his other motion movement special moves. Jinchuu Watari, the aforementioned flying kicks, is a great way to move forward quickly with relative safety. His Tsuranekeashi, the weird axe kick special attack, is a great combo finisher and the light version is a fine looking poke. Oro’s Nioh Riki is a command grab you can block and combo into making it, in my mind, not really a command grab.

His two charging moves, Nichirin Sho, his projectile, and Oni Yanma, a leaping uppercut, work a whole lot like Guile as one his a projectile to control space and the other is his special anti-air. However, they don’t seem to have the awesome properties that Guile has. The Nichirin Sho cannot link into his normals unless under special circumstances and the Oni Yanma can work as a combo ender but you’re better off using his other specials for that.

Oro’s V-Skills and V-Triggers come off as mixed. His V-Skill 1, the Onibi, is a bouncing mult-hit projectile. This is great for covering different arcs, allowing Oro to move in safely or pressure the opponent. His V-Skill 2, Mimomushi, has Oro do a quick hop forward and can do either an overhead punch or a kick. Both V-Skills are underwhelming as they come off as very situational. Using Onibi to maintain control after knocking down the opponent while Mimomushi can be used to mix up the opponent during a combo. No one seems to outdo the other.

For Oro’s V-Trigger, one does outclass the other. His V-Trigger 1, Manrikitan, gives Oro access to a more powerful version of Nioh Riki. It can be comboed into from any of his special moves, making this a good way to add a few points of damage after an already damaging combo. It can also be done in the air, enabling the old hermit to perform an anti-air and send the opponent crashing down into the ground. However, this is outdone by his V-Trigger 2, Tengu Stone. This V-Trigger summons several object that hit the opponent whenever Oro does an attack. This is one of those moves that greatly enables Oro to do more hard hitting combos! Activated at the right time, this move can quickly drain an opponent’s life bar, despite the amount of damage scaling it does!

I don’t exactly see Oro as a weak character. His normals are actually much better than expected and his V-Trigger 2 is a great comeback mechanic. It’s his special moves and V-Skills which make him come off as not all that dynamic. He feels like a jack-of-all-trades but never really excelling at either full offense or defense. He comes off as a little too technical so I can see someone like Nemo or Sako, who play with a more methodical approach, to use him well. Oro is a solid character but definitely an acquired taste.

Byee!

Have you tried out Oro? What did you think of him? Let me know in the comments section below!