Hiya!

We are right in the middle of Street Fighter 6‘s Season 4 and we already know who the next character it’s going to be. Capcom already revealed the Season 4 lineup a good while ago so, after Yasmine (who I do like but I consider pretty much a mid-tier character), we knew Arjun was next in line. In all honesty, among all of the characters who are lined up for Street Fighter 6’s Season 4, I was the least interested in Arjun. I just didn’t find him all that interesting. So, I was really hoping Capcom would make him look interesting when they revealed his gameplay trailer.

Well, now that they did, I will say, although I’m still not totally sold on him, there were some aspects which do make him feel unique. Things like his delayed pillar attack and his main gameplay gimmick of mainly doing gray health damage do make him stand out. Although we did get a glimpse of what Arjun will play like and Capcom did give a few details on his moveset, there’s still a lot up in the air with him. Still, I’m holding out judgement on Arjun until he becomes playable next month.

There is one particular aspect I do think Capcom really didn’t mention, which may be important to a lot of Street Fighter players. That would be what kind of motions Arjun will use for his special moves. I’m betting most are predicting he’ll be one who use the traditional motion inputs, such as those quarter-circle motions and whatnot. I’m not one of them, though. When I was watching the trailer, I have the sneaking suspicion that Arjay will be one of the rare Street Fighter 6 characters who will use charge motions or, at the very least, he’ll be a hybrid charge character, much like how Chun-Li and E. Honda play in Street Fighter 6.

One of the reasons why I believe Capcom actually designed Arjun to be a charge character is because of his storyline reason for his fighting style. Arjun uses “breathing techniques” to execute his special moves. Arjun essentially has to suck in the energy into his lungs before doing the move. Having to “inhale” in order to perform a special attack does feel analogous “charging” up, doesn’t it? He has to first store it into his body before expelling it much like charging up a special attack in a fighting game.

Another reason, and this might be a silly reason for most, is we’re due for another charge character. If you look at all of the characters Capcom has added to Street Fighter 6, only a small portion of them have charge moves. In fact, the last “charge character” to make it in the roster would be M. Bison. That was in Season 2 and that was a good while back! I do get a lot of today’s players don’t like charge characters but there are still a small percentage of players, including myself, who do prefer playing with charge motions. Capcom has to still think about players like us.

Now, I don’t think they would be stupid to make Tifa a charge character as she’s too popular. Like I said, people who like playing charge characters are a minority. So, they wouldn’t dare make Tifa a charge character just because of that. The other Season 4 character, Bosch, is very unlikely to use charge motions as, storyline-wise, he was trained by Luke, who is not a charge character. Also, none of his fellow rebels in his story seem to use charge attacks. So, that just leaves Arjun to get saddled with becoming a charge character.

If you have an aversion towards charge characters, don’t worry too much as, based on the gameplay trailer, I believe Capcom only made a couple of his special attacks utilize charge motions. These would be his Cruel Shoulder, the big flying shoulder tackle, and the Divine Pillar, the one where he blows air into the ground to release a pillar on a spot on the stage. I have been playing charge characters for a while and I did notice some of the telltale clues regarding how these specific special attacks come off as charge moves.

When Arjun do these moves, he kind of has to stay still for a moment. This is especially evident when Arjun flies in with the heavy version of the Cruel Shoulder early in the trailer and later as well when Marisa jumps in and lands on the Breathing Ring Arjun set up. You can clearly see Arjun backing up to charge up the heavy Cruel Shoulder. While I’m pretty confident when it comes to the Cruel Shoulder being a charge attack, I’m not as sure regarding the Divine Pillar. It does look like Arjun is using low attacks before cancelling into the Divine Pillar, meaning the motion is holding down for a moment before pushing up with an attack button. However, since I can’t really be sure those were low attacks as I don’t really know what Arjun’s normals look like, these are just educated guesses. They did look like lows to me but don’t quote me on that.

Like I said, though, those are the only moves I believe will be charge motions. There are clear signs his other special attacks are going to be regular motion specials. In fact, like M. Bison, I don’t really think will play like a charge character. Most players will be focused on using his other special attacks and throw out the charge moves once in a while. He’ll be more like a regular Street Fighter 6 character who just so happens to have a few charge moves connected to his arsenal.

If I am correct and Arjun will have a mix of regular and charge motions, I will be a very happy camper. I know charge characters are all that popular but I still prefer playing them. So, I really do hope I’m correct and Capcom developed Arjun to have a few charge motions. Call it an educated wish, so to speak.

Byee!

What are your expectations for Arjun? Do you think he’ll have some charge character tendencies like I’m predicting? Let me know in the comments section below!