Street Fighter 5 Rose Breakdown

Street Fighter 5 just dropped its newest DLC fighter, the return of the fortune-teller Rose. In its fifth season, it seems like Capcom has hit its stride in developing characters for a game that's now more than five years old. The lineup of new fighters coming to Street Fighter 5 is already shaping up to be impressive and includes more characters pulled from Street Fighter's less-explored history and even the long-dormant Rival Schools. But with Rose's release, it seems like the fortune teller has learned quite a few new moves to add into her toolbox.

Rose released yesterday for Street Fighter 5 after having a new trailer dropped only days prior. At first, excitement around her return to the series was somewhat lukewarm, as she as historically been considered somewhat of a lackluster character. In a series that's more than three decades old, there are a lot of fighters to choose from and Rose, who hails from the Street Fighter Alpha series, didn't have much to distinguish herself from the other characters in terms of her moveset. It seems clear that Capcom has taken that criticism to heart with Rose's return in Street Fighter 5 though.

In older games, Rose's distinguishing ability was her ability to reflect projectiles. While this was useful, other characters, especially in SF5, have abilities that could supplant or serve the same purpose as her reflect. But after first showing off Rose's abilities for Street Fighter, many of the critics were stunned at the sheer variety of her newfound abilities. Alongside her more classic abilities like the reflect now come the ability to apply buffs and debuffs, empower a teleport ability, and adapting a mechanic from Street Fighter Alpha in a way that feels totally unique in SF5.

Veteran Street Fighter fans are familiar with Rose's basic moveset. The fortune teller features her Soul Spark projectile attack, the close-range Soul Spiral, and all of her other classic moves. The most startling addition to the character is how her V-Skill and V-Trigger abilities work. Her first V-Skill choice allows Rose to apply buffs to herself, one that empowers her damage and one that let's her charge up her V-Trigger gauge. It also allows for the application of debuffs onto enemies, one lowers their attack damage and the other increases the amount of chip and grey damage they receive. The ability to apply these buffs could end up making her one of the strongest characters in Street Fighter 5, if applied correctly.

Rose's second V-Skill brings back what was once a super move for her, Soul Satellite. She can now cast a revolving orb around herself, up to two times, with a simple command. The orbs can both function well as a form of zone control when mixed with her Soul Punish and Soul Spark attacks, and as a great cross-up or combo link. The new form of Soul Satellite is just one way SF5 is bringing in elements from past games. Her first V-trigger empowers Rose with a teleport ability that can be directed and is useful in mix-up and can again lead to some interesting combo set ups.