Originally appearing in 1992’s Street Fighter Alpha 2, Kage was essentially Ryu when he had succumbed to the Satsui no Hadou, transformed into an almost unstoppable killing machine. Conquering this inner darkness became a major part of Ryu’s character throughout the series, and he seemingly succeeded in doing so in Street Fighter 5’s own story mode. However, it seems that Kage has managed to take on his own form separate from Ryu, sporting a much more demonic design with horns and fangs. His reveal trailer shows off his brutal gameplay style, which some longtime fans have noted seems to combine Evil Ryu’s original style with that of Oni’s, a bonus boss character from Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition. Funnily enough, his return has been long hinted at since some of the game’s earliest trailers from 2015.
Though there’s no official confirmation, it’s probably safe to assume that Kage will be the first of a new set of playable characters for the title. Each season wrapped up with six new fighters in total so we can probably expect to see them be announced next year.
Unfortunately, this new character may not be enough to save Capcom from the current backlash it’s receiving for its decision to include in-game ads that pop-up in-between loading screens to promote DLC and Capcom’s own event, the Capcom Pro Tour. Characters can even now have Pro Tour logos slapped on their clothing. It’s almost like the game can’t go a year without stirring up controversy, much like it did two years ago when Capcom had to remove a Buddhism-inspired stage due to it having Islamic music accompanying it.
Street Fighter 5 is available right now on PC and PS4.
