Lololol well looks like everyone's worst nightmares have come true. It's Karin!

No, really, can't fathom how she's such a popular character. Hopefully she'll play fun because she looks so fucking generic rich spoiled anime girl. Then again, #1 in Japan. Gotta get that ojou/tsundere. This rounds out the set of 4 characters we haven't seen in a while, killing all hope for Alex and others as release candidates. A few takeaways from the Capcom Unity blog:

• Seems to fall more on the footsies side of the scale
• Has a command dash for pressure
• Another anti-zoning V-Skill? Fuuuuuuck yooooooou
• Her V-Trigger seems to change her into rushdown giving her a new rushing special that leads directly into a bunch of different mixup options

Also Capcom announced the Capcom Fighting Network (CFN), a community tool being baked into the online infrastructure of SFV. Seems like it's going to be their eSports hub with features including:

• See where battles are happening all over the world on a "heat map"
• View player profiles and detailed match statistics
• Designate “rivals” throughout the world and monitor their performance
• Register friends and follow your favorite players
• Search and watch replay files
• Send online battle invitations
• Check out the latest patch and tournament news

Wasn't Karin always rushdown?

@fredchuckdave: Yeah, she had rekkas and stuff, but like Alpha 3 is the SF game I have the least experience with so I really don't know.

EDIT: A bit more footsies than rushdown I guess, like Fei. A footsies-based rushdown.

Pretty much, with a bit of a counter game.

yeah, she seems to have a lot of new stuff though, her move list is out there.

Anyway I'm pretty excited for her to come back, she's one of the most fun characters in the series.

Ohohohohoho!

Her face looks weird.

I've played her in some spin off, fighting jam game before I was really into fighters so I was oddly a bit invested in seeing her return. Also I love a good hand at mouth, rich girl laugh.

Yo that track is dope.

I really liked the way she played in Zero 3. The special-move-counters were a really cool idea, but that's about the only thing I enjoy about her character. That English VO, oh fuck...

I really am reading too many of these posts, especially as my interest in fighters is middling at best (I have kind of a basic understand of the way P4A works. I think). I immediately knew what the V-Reversal was during the trailer, and that's something I really have no business knowing. Damn you starvinggamer!

Also, man was that track awesome.

Aesthetically speaking, I always thought she was and still is incredibly boring, but in terms of the way she plays just based off the trailer...she might just be the character who seems furthest up my alley at the moment. I can only hope everyone gets at least one alt costume at laucnh and that hers is less dumb than her default.

That's not Q or Skullomania. Fuck.

Second least interesting reveal just after Vega for me. I hadn't played her in whatever games she was in before but she doesn't seem overly special here. The inputs that @dan_citi posted shows that she is possibly bit more complex than that trailer revealed.

That stage and song was dope as hell though, the stage is easily the best we've seen.

Karin looking dull as expected. That critical art alone was nearly enough to put me to sleep. (Glad to finally see a new stage though.)

Far more interested in the Capcom Fighting Network stuff.

@fredchuckdave: @starvinggamer: Karin's fighting style is more the well-rounded control type akin to Fei Long in my experience. If she's anything like her Alpha version (and, looking at the trailer, that does seem to be the case) she has the rekka-like advancing hits with varying enders, parry moves (like Gouken in SFIV), far jump attacks, stuff like that.

Really liked the way she played in Alpha 3 so I'm really glad she's back.

she looks great. i really like her fighting style, too. i dont get why people are saying that she is boring looking. there are plenty of street fighter characters without crazy outfits.

She's one of the boring ones I didn't want to see again. Cool stage, anyway.

Looking back over the roster, this is the seventh blond character.

It's not that I don't appreciate how this game's roster is differentiating itself from Street Fighter 4, it's just that R. Mika already fills the "Obscure Alpha 3 character" slot.

Karin is incredibly versatile and fun to play in Alpha 3.

I'm happy that Capcom is embracing the Killer Instinct style of introducing characters that all play completely different. I'm still holding out hope that they're going to bring in Juri. Street Fighter IV needs some representation and Feng Shui Engine would make a great V Trigger.

She's more like Sakura's Gary Oak.

Looks to be more like Fei Long's stand-in

I agree. Juri was by far the most interesting character introduced in SF4 (both in looks and playstyle) as far as I'm concerned.

Street Fighter is a half step away from anime. Boring = no bouncing tits or freeze frame panty shots in your face. That generalization may not apply to everyone, but there's definitely people who want that out of their fighting game characters. What Capcom has done to Chun in SFV is kinda gross imo.

As for Karin's moveset, I'm kind of disappointed to see her rekkas be one QCF, then directional inputs. That's too much free pressure. Not that three QCF motions in succession is the pinnacle of execution, but I think having an execution barrier is a good thing for fighting games. It's fine to have a Divekick here or a Rising Thunder there, but I don't want that to become the status quo.

@hippie_genocide: @dougcl:

It has nothing to do with her outfit. (I personally dislike the overly sexualised and impossible/extremely impractical outfits as well.)

My problems with Karin are that her entire character is an overused (even back then) "ojousama" archetype and that some her moves aren't all that interesting. I usually love it when fighting games incorporate real fighting styles and especially soft fighting styles and aikido-like throws but some of her moves are pretty nonsensical and don't look powerful.

Now don't get me wrong. I don't hate Karin at all. She's nowhere near the worst character Street Fighter character and I would even take her over some of the characters which have been announced already. (Looking at you, Birdie.)
I also think it's kind of a bummer that all the characters they are putting in the vanilla SFV which haven't been in an SF game for a while are Alpha characters. I understand that this game probably takes place before SFIII but that didn't stop them from including SFIII characters in SFIV either.

@hassun:

i agree that the oujousama thing is pretty tired, but i think that in that trailer at least, she didnt seem to do too many lame moves, though that could be the art style, which i think makes every hit feel pretty hard. i think her rekka thing has like, Bajiquan influence in it which is pretty cool. i think that since she's likely older in this game, they toned down some of the lame princess-y stuff. the laugh is too crucial to ditch though.

@hippie_genocide:

hey man, Abel's Change of Direction had the same sort of inputs. QCF to start and then i think just buttons after that. i dont think that this is indicative of a lack of execution in the game. i bet that this will still have a pretty serious skill barrier like previous games once its out and people are really picking it apart.

You can't balance the strength of an attack around QCF motions. The frame data is what will ultimately dictate whether it's "free" pressure or not.

This is all great. SFV looks great, all the characters look great, I'm havin a great time over here.

Abel's COD isn't a true rekka in my mind, more of a continuation of an attack. Like, "Oh that hit? Here's two more." And its mad punishable if not hit-confirmed into. Whereas rekkas can be staggered for frame trap potential, and generally more useful as a footsy tool. So @starvinggamer is right, it will come down to frame data in the end.

totally. im excited for the next public beta period, whenever that ends up being.

This is just how Karin played in Alpha 3, she didn't have to input any additional quarter circles past the initial punch. I don't think you have to worry about her having free pressure anyway, she only gets access to her rekka when in V-trigger and you can V-reversal out of them. I'm going to guess it is more of a mind game tool in SFV, as she can either continue the string, go low with the kick, or backdash to bait reversals.

They would be hard pressed to make it any better as a pressure tool than Feilong's in SFIV anyway. Three qc inputs or no that thing has always been stupid good.

This roster feels fresh to me. Genuinely curious who remains.

@dougcl: Yeah I love some good (non-muay thai) knee and elbow work.

Regarding the laugh, they really REALLY shouldn't have put it on the character select screen.

@l1ghtn1n: I don't dislike it so much that I would skip over footage of it, don't worry. Especially if it's Nuki playing.

@geraltitude: Not a lot of spots left, that's for sure. My remaining guesses are the Ken Bogard leak for the new characters so that would mean Laura (Brazilian female fighter) and Zen (Asian male end boss character) then for the two returning classic characters I'm guessing one of them is Boxer because it's unlikely that there won't be a boxing character in the game and Dudley is extremely unlikely for multiple reasons. This just leaves the possibility of Laura being a boxer, in which case they could give that spot to someone else from SFII. Maybe E. Honda? The other I'm less certain of but I'm leaning towards Sagat or Dhalsim because holy shit where are the goddamn zoners in this game!?