UltraDavid (https://twitter.com/ultradavid) got the chance to play SFV with Combofiend in long sit down and he is tweeting his impressions of the gameplay:
Ryu:
Bison:
Birdie:
Cammy:
Chun Li:
OMG, this sounds amazing. I can't wait to watch Combofiend, Team Madcatz, EG, etc play this tomorrow.
The pace of #SFV is fantastic, like a Ken-Ken match in 3S. Damage is huge, links easy, stun danger constant, footsies complex, zoning viable
Keep in mind we were playing v Combofiend who knows the game well & plays offense in every game, but he got stuns in like 80% of all rounds
Each character has more than a couple legit tools in the midrange so footsies didn't feel simple or boring
Mixups feel very strong! Each time you block you lose white life so when you get opened up after blocking you can lose tons of real life
Some chars can stun in 2 combos, & throws deal 1/4 stun bar, so stun is never far. So stun danger + white life loss = mixups feel serious
Overheads for the chars there are just single hits, no big combos out of them, but they still feel serious because of the rest of the system
Walk speeds are fine imo. Only slow chars are Bison & Nash but they have other non-walk options that give them plenty of mobility still
Very few things cause hard knockdown & combos seem pretty short at least w these characters, so there are few breaks in play too
Oh btw no crouch techs, pressing jab+short regardless of whether standing, crouching, or hidden in another button results in grab
Links are given buffer leeways of a few frames so they're all doable, even 1f links. SF4 shortcuts are still in
Oh, re: fast pace & constant danger, at least these chars had few real reversals, some had none, & backdash isn't invincible. Good luck heh
Throws are so serious. 25% stun, good damage, very short tech window, no crouch techs, these characters' throws help set up their game well
Here's my #SFV Gdoc testing page, fully filled out except for Cammy which @jchensor can handle if he's interested
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lO2n8cGufRTvQGYcFEAVCUhKJximN0x0wdLCdb4ksuo/preview?sle=true
oh yeah i forgot to mention there's a mechanic called crush counter, each char has a normal that when it counterhits causes huuuge hitstun
allows for combo after, can be tight to time but fishing with that button = big payoff. but the button is unsafe on block so there's risk
Ryu:
Ryu is awesome, he feels like a really good 3S Ryu. Big damage, big stun, good buttons, good fireballs, good uppercuts. He's kinda scary
Parry is nice but can be canceled only into parry, so, can't parry then block/dp/etc, must wait till parry recovers or parry again
Parry recovery is p short though of course. But for example, I did cr lk xx dp & james parried my cr lk & tried to dp, my dp came out first
Bison:
Bison is soooo sick. Huuuge damage, great buttons, very very tricky stomp/devils reverse, good anti-fb vskill, vtrigger gives crazy movement
Birdie:
Birdie might have the game's best buttons right now tbh. Cr mp = god antiair. Giant damage (this is a theme). Vskill is super useful
Cammy:
Cammy has excellent pressure, great stun output, great movement. Divekick is like crazy far & fast tbh
Chun Li:
Chun has good midrange, good pressure. I'm falling asleep. Nash is cool. Go read that gdoc or tune in tomorrow for more. Night y'all
OMG, this sounds amazing. I can't wait to watch Combofiend, Team Madcatz, EG, etc play this tomorrow.