Street Fighter 6: A master class in game design, part 27

The Street Fighter 6 World Tour was building to a crescendo in the tiny fictional country of Nayshall. You would be battling combatants from all over the world, and try to secure your spot as a legend. The Resistance was hiding in the shadows, waiting for their moment to strike. JP would be in attendance, along with the Royal Family, dignitaries, and NGO leaders. Fight fans, and tourists from around the globe had made the trek to this far off place. Their money was welcome to the locals, however a tremendous amount of dark money had also been flowing into the country. Special interest groups were getting their claws into the nation. Their mysterious leaders would be betting on, and taking a slice of the competition as well.

The Suval’hal Arena was one of the most breathtaking stages ever created for a fighting game. The ancient temple was shaped like a colosseum, with seating around the perimeter. The royal family had a throne, and gallery where they could spectate from. A freshwater moat separated the attendees from the fighters. There were bridges, and a multi-story platform in the center for the pond. This arena had been host to the local tournament for centuries, and was now drawing the attention of the world. The question was whether you would be able to win the competition, and see that JP answered for his crimes.

The Resistance had managed to infiltrate the secret treasure room where the Suval’hal championship belt was stored. They packed the ornate trophy with explosives. It could be activated by pressing the red stone in the center, and then a few seconds later it would explode. Sharp-eyed people would notice the serpent Ouroboros was clearly seen on the face of the belt. It was an ancient symbol that took on many meanings, including the infinite, the soul of the world, and the more common; life, death, rebirth. I had a strong feeling that somebody was going to die at the end of the game, and it wasn’t going to be JP, or the player.

Speaking of JP. He noticed that you were taking a keen interest into the belt. He introduced himself, welcomed you to the competition, and told you to prepare for the ceremony. I had already talked a little bit about JP’s design back in 2022. I believe that the Street Fighter 6 developers were fleshing out the Street Fighter V characters that didn’t make the cut. That seemed to be the case with Manon, Marisa, and Jamie, as they were do-overs of Abel, Hakan, and King Cobra respectively. The idea of a Fighting President was in the planning stages, and I don’t think they were happy with the way G, the President of Earth turned out, so they gave it another go. 

Once you left the trophy room a cinema played out where you got a chance to see the other competitors, including the Cardboard Combatant. The children of Nayshall were dressed in traditional clothing, and performing traditional dances. Among these were Bosch’s sister Yua, and her best friend Kina. The Cardboard Combatant wanted to reach out, and tell her that he was safe, but that would have exposed his true identity. He would have been outed as a member of the Resistance.

You returned back to the locker room underneath the stadium to prepare for the preliminary matches. After winning a few rounds we could see the Cardboard Combatant was also tearing through the competition. In the quarter finals he showed up in the locker room to give you a warning. Whatever had been done to him in order to increase his strength, and speed, was also destroying his mind. He was a rage filled monster, and couldn’t control what he was becoming. He warned you that if he fought you in the finals that he wouldn’t have any idea it was you. Any friendship you had wouldn’t mean a thing. He knew he couldn’t ask you to withdraw from the competition. Whether he won or loss he planned on activating the championship belt, and blowing up JP.

You managed to get through one more time to Bosch. You wouldn’t stop fighting, but you would be there with him through the end. You said your goodbyes, and he left the locker room. You could already see the writing on the wall. The end was never going to be pleasant for your rival. After getting through the semifinals it turned out to be you versus the Cardboard Combatant in the final. He was much harder to beat than at any other part of the game. Yet in the end you would triumph. During the awards ceremony the media was there, broadcasting the events for the world to see. There were also the same group of kids that were there from the opening ceremony. JP took the belt in his hands, and called Yua over to deliver the belt to the winner. He made sure that you could see that he had pressed the red stone before giving it to her. Time was ticking.

If you ran out to Yua to deactivate the bomb then you would have been exposed as a terrorist in front of the world. If you let yourself, and Yua to be blown up then you were a coward, and worse yet JP would go to the media and say that the Resistance was willing to sacrifice children. With only a second to go the Cardboard Combatant ran to Yua, grabbed the belt, and threw it at JP. Sadly it was too late. It exploded closely to Bosch, and the blast incinerated him. JP was safe, and the world had just witnessed a terrorist attack. It was the worst possible series of events that could have happened. That tournament victory felt hollow in the end. Surprisingly the World Tour continued. How would Capcom be able to find life after death? We will dig into it on the next blog entry. I hope to see you back for that. If you are a long time fan of Final Fight, or Street Fighter then I would like to hear your impressions of SF6. If you have never played any game previously then tell me your experiences in the comments section please. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!