Daigo’s First Impressions on SSFIV AE (1/2)

This is my translation of the Famitsu interview
Click here to read it in the original Japanese
Bracketed notes included concerning translation.

Update: Made some corrections concerning Makoto as well some other smaller details.  Thanks to Arc-rail for pointing out the mistakes.

Super Street Fighter IV Capture Blog
Famitsu

SSFIV AE First Impressions

Hi! I’m the second son of the Toyoizumi Brothers, and the one in charge of our blog. It’s finally December 16th, the launch day of SSFIV AE! So we got pro gamer Daigo Umehara to play a bit of AE and give us his first impressions. The interview will come in two parts! [This was for personal practice so I'm not sure if I'll translate the second part tomorrow.]

Yun is now your main!?

Toyoizumi: You got to play some AE. What are your first impressions?

Umehara: Impressions… Basically that it’s over for projectile characters (laughs). All the non-projectile characters have gotten buffed, whereas I think Deejay is the only projectile character that has really gotten buffed. Sagat has gotten better, but Ryu, Akuma, Guile, Dhalsim, and I suppose Chun, they’ve all gotten nerfed. And grapplers have also gotten buffed. Projectile characters were strongest in Vanilla, but it’s the other way around now in AE. But I plan to use Yun so it’s not a big deal for me. I guess that’s my impression of AE.

Toyoizumi: It seems there are some people that say that Ken is now the best shoto.

Umehara: Well Ken was originally somewhere halfway between a projectile and non-projectile character. And I wonder just how far he can really get against the top tiers. He loses to Zangief, so…

Toyoizumi: Is Zangief really that good in AE?

Umehara: I think he just happens to have good match ups against AE’s best characters. In Vanilla, the top tiers, Sagat and Akuma, happened to be bad match ups for Zangief. But now the best characters, C. Viper, Yun, Yang, etc. are weak against Zangief. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a lot more Zangief players in AE. So I mean if Ken can’t beat Zangief, and he’s really neither here nor there versus the rest of the cast, I don’t really see the point of using him. It’s much better to go with a different character.

Toyoizumi: So you picked Yun?

Umehara: Yeah I’ll probably go with Yun. He’s really good (laughs).

Toyoizumi: Just how good is he?

Umehara: First, Genei Jin is the most powerful super in the game, and you have a lot of opportunities to land it. Furthermore, after Genei Jin, you can immediately go for a tricky front/back mixup. Then there’s his dive kick. It’s really fast and has a good angle. You can basically get in on your opponent whenever you want. And finally I think his Ultra is pretty good, too.

Toyoizumi: You can connect Ultra after EX Lunge Punch (Zesshou Hohou), right?

Umehara: Right. I think his only weakness is his low health. He’s just really solid overall. It’s just that his match up against Zangief seems a little bad. But against the rest of the cast, he’s very solid. You have a large window to cancel far medium punch into Shoulder (Tetsuzan Kou), then hit confirm into Genei Jin.

Toyoizumi: Do you think his meter will only be used for Genei Jin?

Umehara: No, it definitely depends on the situation. For example, you want to use EX Up Kicks (Nishou Kyaku) as an anti-air. And you want to use EX Lunge Punch to combo into Ultra. But his meter fills up before you know it. And in AE, none of the Supers are that powerful, but with Yun, you definitely want to respect that flashing Super meter. That’s what makes him so scary.

Toyoizumi: He built meter very quickly in Third Strike, too.

Umehara: Yeah. That’s a major point for Yun. He can wait until he has meter to really go in on the opponent. So time is in his favor–the more time that passes, the closer he is to getting full meter, and the more the opponent is at a disadvantage. I haven’t really touched Yang so I can’t say for sure, but his Seiei Enbu is not really that powerful of a Super to begin with. I think that’s what really sets the Twins apart.

Toyoizumi: How are your impressions of Yang so far, despite not really having used him?

Umehara: He can Focus Cancel out of EX Up Kicks, and he can chip away[?] with Mantis Slashes, so I think he has an advantage over Yun when it comes to Zangief. I haven’t really looked into it, but it seems Yun doesn’t have any tools besides Shoulder to work with against Zangief. But even then, Zangief can most likely punish it on block. Furthermore, Yun’s dive kicks are almost useless in that matchup. He’ll just end up getting 50/50′d himself, and that’s a bad situation considering the health difference. In any case, it looks like Fei Long, Yun, and Yang are the top tier at the moment.

Toyoizumi: Fei Long is still good?

Umehara: Definitely. He may have lost invincibility on roundhouse Chicken Wing, but his normals got slightly buffed, and his Rekkas are as solid as ever. On top of that, he has a command grab and strong combo capabilities. His only bad match ups in SSF4 were Chun Li, E. Honda, and Boxer… I think? But those three have all been nerfed, so he’s now relatively stronger. Come to think of it, out of the non-new AE characters, Fei Long is probably the strongest. C. Viper is also very good, but I wonder if she can compare to Yun and Yang.

Toyoizumi: In SSF4, Cammy and Boxer were considered fairly high up. What about in AE?

Umehara: Boxer still seems to be in the upper tier, but he’s been nerfed, so he’s not top tier. Cammy didn’t really have any good pressure tools besides tiger knee Cannon Strikes, so it’s going to tough for her now. Then there’s T.Hawk and Hakan… If you ask me, it’s basically hopeless for them (laughs). T. Hawk is definitely an annoying opponent, but I think that’s about it. He’s gotten buffed, but that doesn’t mean much considering how weak he was to begin with.

Toyoizumi: And what about Akuma? He was one of the top tiers in Vanilla.

Umehara: Hmm.. I think Ken is now a better shoto than Akuma. I think both Ryu and Akuma are in the upper tier, but they’ll have a hard time against Yun, Yang, and Fei Long. So that’s why I don’t think I’ll be using Ryu. It’s fine if you have a few bad match ups, but when it’s against most of the cast… Also, Makoto seems to be a lot stronger than I thought she’d be. I like how good her crouching light kick is, especially canceling into Hayate. Her Ultra 2 (Abare Tosanami) has gotten buffed so you can’t throw fireballs. And when you can’t zone her out, she’s in the advantage. With Makoto, it feels you’re playing a like a solid upper tier character, whereas with Yun and Yang it almost feels like you’re cheating (laughs). Makoto is more “genuinely” good.

Toyoizumi: Wow so Yun and Yang are that good?

Umehara: Haha, yeah it’s almost like… “Wow, really? Is it OK for them to make them this good?”

Toyoizumi: Ono did say in an interview that he wanted a super tier character like Vanilla’s Sagat. I guess Yun and Yang are it?

Umehara: I’m going to main Yun so it’s all good for me (laughs).

Toyoizumi: OK, now how about your console character, Guile? It seems that the startup time of his air throw has been nerfed…

Umehara: It’s unfortunate that it got nerfed. It’s one of his signature moves. I can understand nerfing Flash Kick and Spinning Back Knuckle, but the air throw? It’s almost like they’re saying, “Guile? I guess you can use him… if you really want…[?]” But he can still hold his own, and I think he’ll be upper-mid tier. It was hard for him before to deal with E. Honda’s jump-ins, but since that’s also been nerfed, it should now be a little easier for Guile. But for me, I’ll probably use him a little bit as an alternate.

Toyoizumi: It seems that once Yun and Yang get in on Guile, it’s over for him.

Umehara: Right. It’s just a bad match up for him, so that’s about it for Guile.

Toyoizumi: It seems that it’s always been Ryu for you… Why Yun?

Umehara: I’ve always liked Yun, but he wasn’t really in a lot of other games. I wasn’t really into Street Fighter 3, so I never really considered learning him. And he might as well not have been in CvS2 at all (laughs). But he’s really good in AE, so I finally thought I’d really give it a go. But I might not if Zangief really ends up being top tier.

Toyoizumi: Do you not like using Zangief?

Umehara: Personally, I think he’s a bit boring. He’s good, sure, but as for gameplay, he basically has to stay patient forever until he somehow scores a knockdown, then start doing mixups. That’s it. I think I’d get bored of it pretty quickly.

Toyoizumi: So it seems you like characters with a lot of versatility. Like Yun, who has a lot of ways of getting at the opponent.

Umehara: Yeah, he has a ton. It’s a good thing that he has low health, considering how good he is. People might figure out how to play against him eventually, but I think Genei Jin’s potential will still overcome that. I’m sure we can get more damage out of it than what the current max combo does.

Toyoizumi: Both his Super and Ultra are good, so I’m sure he’ll get better with more research. If Evo’11 is AE, do you think you’ll use Yun?

Umehara: Yes. Yun and… probably another character to use against Zangief. Maybe Guile… or Sagat, even though I haven’t really used him.

Toyoizumi: Does Sagat beat Zangief in AE?

Umehara: I think so. EX Green Hand doesn’t knockdown even on hit, so it seems like it’s going to be a tough match against Sagat. Mixups after knocking down with Green Hand has been one of Zangief’s main strategies, so it’s a major nerf to have him be at just a little frame advantage on hit. They haven’t made him more powerful, and even if his SPD range has been increased, it doesn’t make a difference in a match up against Sagat. In any case, if I use an alternate, it would be a balanced character who can also beat Zangief.

Toyoizumi: How about Dhalsim against Zangief? It seems to be in Dhalsim’s favor as well.

Umehara: I think so, too. But it’s too scary to think that once Zangief gets in, it’s basically over.

Toyoizumi: Yeah that’s definitely true. And Sagat obviously has higher health.

Umehara: Dhalsim’s damage output was upped in Super, but that’s gone back down. I think Dhalsim players aren’t going to like the adjustments. His standing [back] light kick has gotten a tiny bit slower, too, so I think that’s going to make a huge difference.

Toyoizumi: Where do you think Sagat stands in the rankings?

Umehara: Lower high tier, I think. Zangief is a powerhouse, so it’s a huge boost if he can beat Zangief. But I don’t know how he’ll fare against Yun and Yang yet.

Toyoizumi: So you think Zangief is in competition with Yun and Yang for top tier?

Umehara: Yeah. I think there will be a lot of Yun and Yang players. [translator's note: I had trouble translating this next part] There are characters that, because they have powerful combos, don’t have good anti airs, or don’t have invincible moves, so they rely heavily on rushdown. But both Yun and Yang have a good, balanced set of tools.

Toyoizumi: Among the characters from Street Fighter 3, it looks like Yun and Yang are the only ones to have non-EX moves with invincibility. Dudley’s Jet Upper and Ibuki’s uppercut both require EX for invincibility, and Makoto’s Fukiage doesn’t even hit opponents on the ground.

Umehara: Now that you mention it, yeah. Even though neither of the twins are Shoryuken characters. I’m guessing they did that because all of the new characters thus far have been very weak. But even then, I think they overdid it (laughs). Ah, but I think Boxer might beat Yun and Yang.

Toyoizumi: How so?

Umehara: Neither of them have a good answer for Boxer’s Dash Straight, and his crouching roundhouse is just too good. Then there’s EX Dash Straight, which can take care of dive kicks… so I think he’ll be pretty decent against them. And he’s not bad against Fei Long and C. Viper either, so he seems pretty solid.

Toyoizumi: But Boxer has a hard time against Zangief.

Umehara: I think it’s much better this time around, though. And he can take care of Zangief’s jump-ins [?].

Toyoizumi: So it looks like the top tiers are: Yun, Yang, Fei Long. Then Zangief and Boxer after?

Umehara: Yeah. And C. Viper, too. She was already pretty good in Super, and they haven’t touched her too much. Deejay’s been buffed, but in the end, I don’t think he can cut it. Maybe if he was just a little faster… [walking speed?]

Toyoizumi: So out of Super’s new characters, is Makoto the only one you think is good?

Umehara: I think all of them have gotten better, and considering that projectile characters have gotten nerfed, I think it might be fun to mess around with Makoto and Hakan now.

Toyoizumi: What about Juri?

Umehara: I don’t think Juri will make it very far… (laughs).

Toyoizumi: Ibuki was thought to be very good when Super first came out. What about her?

Umehara: Hmm… she’s gotten weaker so I don’t know. Just the fact that her damage has been nerfed makes things tough. And she’ll have a hard time against Yun and Yang. Yeah… It looks like we’re already getting a picture of how AE is going to play (laughs). Yun, Yang, Fei Long, C. Viper are going to be in the top, and everyone else will be working to beat one of those [A little shaky on translating the last line].

The second part expected to come December 17th!
[This was for personal practice; not sure if I'll translate the second part tomorrow.]