Capcom Explain's Ken's Bizarre New Street Fighter V Look

[hermes]

I like that he is more that just Ryu with a red suit. I can see the historical reason why he started that way, but there is no modern reason for it, so I am glad they are making him different.

I am not a fan of the hair, but it is endemic of the graphical style of every character in the game. All the characters have bright plasticky looking hair, specially noticeable with those with long hair (look at Nash, Necalli, Mika and Laura).

 

[LordLundar]

Eh, doesn't bother me really. Since SF2 (the original) they've been working at making Ken more than a Ryu clone. His character background is considerably different and with every title Ken's move set has centered more and more around the Dragon Punch While Ryu fluctuated between the Hurricane Kick and the Hadoken. This is just another step in that process.

 

[Mister K]

I'll just echo what others said about his redesign and say that the only actual problem with Kens new look is hair.

Every other change I like: they made him look and feel different from Ryu. Now he doesn't feel like a Ryu that does 4 hits during Shoryuken and flames it up a bit.

 

[happyninja42]

I hate the hair. It makes him look like an action figure with a bad paint scheme. I mean it looks like it's glowing. It kinda burns my eyes.
I don't mind the change, though, hair aside, and the reason is actually believable.

I dunno, the art style for all of the characters seems relatively over the top and a bit of an eye-sore. I don't see Ken's as being any worse than the rest of the game.

 

[Obbi]

Egh, I still liked his Alpha look best. The thing with SFV character designs is that they look great in action, but look...off in still screenshots. Ken looks fine in-game, and he's probably one of the few that actually don't have real hair problems...

 

[cikame]

I think he looks much better now, it's not a "Bizarre" look, he just didn't want to be boring anymore.
Meanwhile Ryu looks identical and maintains his position of most boring video game character ever, i've seen people saying his bearded topless pre-order costume should be Ryu's default and i agree, it gives him something which the character has needed for awhile.

 

[MerlinCross]

Why do I keep thinking about Dio Brando when looking at that hair?

No I see it too. Kinda want to see Street Fighter X Jojo now. With only two color palettes and the rest dlc only, 5 bucks per 4 per character.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

I didn't really mind that they changed his outfit a lot, but his hair looks like play-doh.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

At least Ken washes his outfit. Ryu needs to world-wander by a laundromat sometime.

But anyway. Bizarre? Nah. It really does suit him, I think, and it does go a long way towards differentiating him from his rival.

 

[Tiamat666]

Somehow don't like the new look of all Street Fighter characters beyond SF2. What's up with the oversized hands and feet, and thighs like tree trunks? They all look like they have allergies or are suffering from extreme steroid abuse. Or like friggin Hobbits.

Street Fighter V: Hobbits on Steroids

 

[wings012]

I'm no SF fan, but I think it's fine for Ken to end up a bit different. My issue is his hair looks like some unholy fusion cake icing and clumped up pasta.

 

[TilMorrow]

This reminds me of the last time Capcom talked about changing an Iconic Character's appearance and keeping the same name rather than just making them a different character. *looks at Devil May Cry*

 

[SoulChaserJ]

How the hell can I like the new Ken when he's wearing lipstick? Look at the screens, he's doing duck lips. I mean seriously, at this point either write them out of the series or leave them alone. Why not mess with ChunLi's thunder thighs or Guile's ridiculous hair? Ryu and Ken were different characters with similar move sets...so what. People that used them knew the differences. This is a change for the sake of change, which is usually never good(see Dante).

 

[VincentX3]

"[The new] Ken looks fine [laughs]"

I died. I can't believe that was their literal first response and that they seriously think that.
It looks like complete trash, even worse than that DMCMCMC&Knuckles redesign of Dante.

Seriously, it just looks like a black dude wearing bananas for hair, it's like they couldn't decide to go all the way with a full redesign and wanted to keep something so people "know" it's Ken.

They could have at least matched up the eyebrows... sigh

 

[Harlemura]

The hair and the colour scheme and the mismatched eyebrows. Yeesh.

Not sure why his hair and eyebrows are totally different colours, either.

They could have at least matched up the eyebrows... sigh

Spoiler: Ken's always had black eyebrows.

I think I read something about it being canon Ken dyes his hair since it's naturally black.

I personally quite like the redesign. Admittedly I didn't grow up with Street Fighter and only got into the series at IV, so I've not grown up knowing Ken to look how he does, but I'm surprised people like his old design so dearly. I mean, he's essentially just a pallet-swapped Ryu, which I never felt works for Ken's flashy fighting and bit of attitude. All Ryu ever does is wonder around and fight people,so the 24/7 gi makes sense, but Ken actually has a life and some actual personality. The long hair he had in Alpha was a good step, showing that he's not quite as disciplined as his clean-cut rival, and I'm glad they're doing something similar with this design.

That said, I wouldn't be heartbroken if they did a 180 and reverted to his old look. I think the changes to his gameplay that are starting to properly set him apart from Ryu are more important.