Hiya!

I don’t really put a whole lot of stock on the whole “I need representation in media” thing. What I mean by that is it has to make sense. You just don’t add a Filipino character to something like, say, an anime just because there are a ton of anime fans in the Philippines. It would be cool but I’m not exactly clamoring for it. Even so, whenever something related in media announces they are going to add a Filipino character to something, it does pique my interest.

Capcom did exactly that when they revealed Street Fighter 6 will be getting their first Filipino World Warrior: Yasmine! It’s been a long time coming and, as a huge fan of Street Fighter 6, I was hoping Capcom would do her justice and not just add her in as lip-service. As Yasmine is the first Filipino Street Fighter character, I want her to be more than just good. I want her to be tournament viable. So, did Capcom do just that? Well, I’ve spent more than a few days playing as Yasmine and even getting her to Master rank and I think I have a pretty good idea of how she stands now.

First off, I do have to talk about her overall look. There are aspect about her I like and dislike. I really like how Capcom did her hair or, at the very least, the concept of her hair. Normally, Yasmine’s hair is long and straight but, when she’s about to go into battle and put her game face on, her hair becomes spikey. Kind of reminds me of Goku from Dragon Ball going into Super Saiyan 3. I will be probably be mentioning Goku again later on. Just keep that in mind. I also do like that she’s not tall at all as most Filipinos aren’t all that tall. I do like her skin tone for the most part. It’s not exactly the correct skin color but it does make her look distinct.

The one thing I do have a hang up on is her outfit. I understand dressing Yasmine up in the traditional silat/escrima uniform wouldn’t be unique as she would essentially be wearing a gi. So, what Capcom did was put her in more traditional “tribal” looking Philippine clothing. That’s cool and all but they had to go a little overboard with making sure you know she’s from the Philippines! I do like how the primary color is blue with some red highlights as those colors work together really well and they just so happen to be the primary colors of the Philippine flag.

What I do find a little annoying is Capcom put the “sun” emblem of the Philippine flag on Yasmine’s shoulder sleeves. That’s a little too much “pinoy pride” for me. That’s almost as bad at tattooing your country’s flag on your shoulder. Sorry, Guile fans, but you have to agree that’s kind of over the top, right? I also have to say I’m not a fan of Yasmine’s Outfit 2. It’s just a school uniform! I was expecting a snazzier outfit, Capcom, and not just a school uniform because she goes to school! All things considered, though, I do think Yasmine looks cool overall.

When it comes to her gameplay, it did take me a while to get used to her normals because they’re all stubby as heck! I do think that’s on purpose, though, as she’s meant to be a rushdown character. So, the main gameplay plan is to get in, do as much damage and not let them escape. She does have some good pokes, like her standing medium kick and her standing heavy kick. However, the one normal most Yasmine players will be using is her standing heavy punch as it moves her forward quite a bit, making it a surprisingly good poke. Not only that, it hits 3 times normally, meaning this will bust through most armored attacks and Drive Impact attempts.

Another couple normals worth mentioning are her crouching medium punch and her crouching medium kick. Her crouching medium punch is notable since it’s a good combo starter and, if you hit it during a Drive Rush, you can link a clean hit into either her standing or crouching heavy punches, leading to more damage. Speaking of Drive Rush, this is where her crouching medium kick comes in as it’s a cancellable button, meaning you can Drive Rush in after this connects. While both don’t have good ranges, they can still be great ways to get your combos in.

Before we talk about Yasmine’s special moves, I do have to discuss her unique gimmick: Bayani Mode. Bayani mode will power up only one of her special attacks, Alon, which is the follow up out of her QCF+P special, Daloy ng Tubig. You can get Yasmine to Bayani Mode a couple of ways. One, you just connect with Alon and Bayani Mode will be activated the next time you do Alon. Two, you connect with her QCB+P special, Talim ng Hangin. This is important as Alon’s properties will change depending on which button you use with Daloy ng Tubig and if you have Bayani Mode ready. For example, doing the light version of Daloy ng Tubig without Bayani Mode will have Alon leave Yasmine’s opponent standing but will knock them down if Bayani Mode is active. Your combos routes will change depending on if you have Bayani Mode or not! Thankfully, you don’t have to be too aware about this as Alon takes a long time to execute. So, if you do forget while you’re executing Alon, all you need to do is look up near the lifebar and check if you have the Bayani Mode icon or not and then adjust accordingly.

Yasmine has an incredibly good anti-air special in her Lipad ng Agila, which is done with a DP+K motion. It actually hits further out than you would expect. The Overdrive version of this move is also fully invincible, making this a really good “get out of jail” move against pressure. She also has a command jump called Mukha ng Langit, which is executed with a QCF+K motion. From this, she has 2 follow-up attacks. The first one, which is done simply by pressing any kick button, is called Kulog. The second one is called Ulan, which is done by pressing any punch button. The tricky thing about these moves is Kulog, the kick follow-up, hits in front, while Ulan, the punch follow-up is a cross-up. The problem is both Kulog and Ulan kinda suck! They can both be hard to control because Yasmine can change her jump arc when the button is pressed. The mixup isn’t really that useful as her opponent can just Drive Parry to cover both scenarios. Also, even if you do hit with it, the scaling is horrendous, which is going to be a theme for Yasmine.

Her final special move is called Pangil sa Likuran. Executed by pressing D, D+ P, this has Yasmine toss out a boomerang projectile upwards which then flies backwards after a time. This is, well, a really bad move and a really good move. It’s bad because it comes out very slow. It’s so slow that a decent player can react to the startup animation with a Drive Rush to get in on Yasmine and, since the projectile disappears if Yasmine is hit, you just end up eating a lot of damage for tossing this out carelessly. On the other hand, Pangil sa Likuran is good because you can set this up while your opponent is knocked down, forcing them to stay grounded and forcing them to be more defensive as they try to either block or avoid the projectile flying back at them. This can give Yasmine a way to get in, which is important because of her rushdown nature. I do hate the input, though! I wish Capcom would have given it a more traditional input like QCB+K instead of the more awkward D, D+P. Hopefully, they change it in the next balance update?

When it comes to her Super Arts, Yasmine’s do feel totally functional. Her Level 1 Super Art, Hiwa ng Kalangitan, is an invincible attack, comes out pretty fast and works as a good anti-air. It doesn’t have that much range, though. Her Level 2 Super Art, Nakatagong Lakas, is an install which puts her in Bayani Mode for a limited amount of time and also gives her access to a hidden special attack, Linya ng Liwanag, which is done by pressing B+2K. Having her in Bayani Mode for a limited time is pretty good as long as you know her Bayani Mode combo routes. The Linya ng Liwanag is also really good as, not only does this have Yasmine rush forward, making this a good neutral skip, it can also hit from behind, making this one of the rare grounded cross-up attacks in Street Fighter 6! Finally, Yasmine’s Level 3/Critical Art, Pamumukadkad ng Sampaguita, is, of course, a super damaging attack. However, I have a habit of trying to close out every match with this because of the animation! I just love how, especially when she has it as a Critical Art, she essentially channels her inner Goku and just starts flying around the screen before crashing into her opponent with a big ball of energy. Why she has this ability is beyond me… but it’s super cool!

With all of that, how is Yasmine as a character? Well, she’s pretty fun to play. Her combo routes are a lot of fun to execute because they are generally very simple but still look cool. She’s pretty beginner friendly but can be a little hard to grasp for total newbies because of her reliance on single hit confirms at times and keeping track if they have Bayani Mode or not.

As fun as she is, Yasmine comes off as a mid-tier character for a couple of reasons. The first one would be her stubby normals. You really have to work hard at getting close to your opponent when you’re playing Yasmine. While she does have some ways to sneak in, like her Mukha ng Langit command jump and her Talim ng Hangin special, they’re all pretty risky and you’ll have a better chance by inching your way in on the ground. However, without a really good long range poke to keep your opponent in check, this can be a pain. The other reason as to why I feel Yasmine is a mid-tier character is, despite the fact she can do some really long combos, she doesn’t seem to do a lot of damage! Maybe that’s an outcome of her overall damage scaling or just how much damage her special do in general. Whatever the reason, it feels like you have to work extra hard to get more damage on your opponent than a lot of the current roster.

While I don’t predict seeing her being in the competitive scene, I do think Yasmine is a worthy addition to Street Fighter 6’s roster just because she is a whole lot of fun to play. She may not be top tier but, in this case anyway, Capcom made it so you can just enjoy what she can do.

Byee!

What do you think of Yasmine? Where would your rank her on your own personal Street Fighter 6 tier list? Let me know in the comments section below!