Once again, Capcom had another surprise up their sleeve at the end of one of their Pro Tour tournaments for Street Fighter V. Last night at CEO 2016, I expected a launch trailer for the cinematic story mode, the biggest and long awaited addition yet to the game, but we got a Balrog trailer instead, which is better. Turns out that Balrog is joining Ibuki as new characters to play on the June update that is actually coming out this Friday, July 1st (so technically not June). The trailer can be seen below where we see the classic boxer in action alongside a new version of his Street Fighter II stage just like Guile's.
The biggest changes I noticed in this new iteration of Balrog besides the badass outfit he's rocking is that his anti-air headbutt is now his V-Reversal instead of a regular special move. His turn punches also seem to be his V-Skill, called KKB, where he twirls that can avoid projectiles and other moves. His V-Trigger, the Crazy Rush, is where Balrog can chain his special dash punches. I'm curious if you have to keep the charge motion going when executing these too, but we'll find out this week. His Gigaton Blow super is reminiscent of Spencer's Bionic Arm from Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and I wonder who influenced this to happen.
Also teased at the end of the Balrog trailer was both Juri and Urien, the two remaining DLC characters yet to be released, but will be playable in the cinematic story mode. The CEO crowd went crazy seeing these two in action with Juri keeping her style from the Street Fighter IV series intact and Urien bringing back 3rd Strike flashbacks with aegis reflectors.
Along with Ibuki, Balrog and the cinematic story mode, premium stages and costumes can be bought by in-game fight money (still hard to get these days unless you're pretty good at survival mode) or real money. A new beach stage was announced today for purchase this Friday along with Karin's summer outfit for $3.99 each. Improved matchmaking and wait times between matches are also slated to be in this week's update as well.
There's lots to look forward to at the end of the week for Street Fighter V fans. I'm sure WSO Sessions and Capcom Pro Talk will showcase some Balrog tomorrow before he's released on Friday. I'll be back to check in on the game, mainly the cinematic story mode and see if the online play was really improved next week.
Along with Ibuki, Balrog and the cinematic story mode, premium stages and costumes can be bought by in-game fight money (still hard to get these days unless you're pretty good at survival mode) or real money. A new beach stage was announced today for purchase this Friday along with Karin's summer outfit for $3.99 each. Improved matchmaking and wait times between matches are also slated to be in this week's update as well.
There's lots to look forward to at the end of the week for Street Fighter V fans. I'm sure WSO Sessions and Capcom Pro Talk will showcase some Balrog tomorrow before he's released on Friday. I'll be back to check in on the game, mainly the cinematic story mode and see if the online play was really improved next week. 
