Favorite Fighting Game newcomers this gen (and why)

[jett]

I also want to mention Rashid although I don't play him. A super cool character that is for sure going to become a SF mainstay. And his pose game is on fleek.

I'm a big believer that strong key poses are key to delivering a memorable fighting game character, and Rashid is just such a great example of it.

Plus his theme is a genuine BANGER

 

[hikarutilmitt]

I like your choices. I'd only remove Jack-O from there, because there can never be anyone greater than Baiken and I've had a bunch of rival matches with her. To add to that:

1) Katalina - Just a gorgerous design and solid moveset, but unfortunately I haven't played GBVS enough to give her and Narmaya enough time.
2) Kum Haehyun - Because a huge monk who is actually a mech piloted by a petite girl is such a Guilty Gear idea that you've gotta love this character.
3) Mian - I love her traditional outfit and she has a very different flow to her attacks.

Unfortunately none of the newcomers in SC6 or SS caught my eye, but there's enough brilliant characters in those already.

If it comes down to a single choice though, Rashid takes it. Such a fantastic character.

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Didn't say she was better, just a good newcomer this gen. ;)

 

[Garlador]

Off the top of my head...

I loved the Kombat kids from MKX.

MK has tried to move beyond the main cast before and always struggled, but I felt like this crew walked the balancing act of being the next generation of MK heroes that were both in the shadow of legendary parents and heroes while also forging their own identities and standing apart as unique. Even the "weakest" addition of Jacqui got a full revamp for MK11 and became a legit contender. I really hope Kung Jin and Takeda can sneak into MK11 at some point, because it would be a shame to finally have some new faces finally resonate only to get lost against a backdrop of nostalgic picks instead.

I'll also toss in this one...

We got a legit great Power Rangers game, everyone! Like, LEGIT GREAT. Not only that, arguably the best Pink Ranger of all time (no pun intended) pops up and she's my favorite character to play as. Never in a thousand years would I have expected Jen from Time Force to be an incredibly fun fighter in an incredibly fun Power Rangers fighting game. But the rest of the roster is no slouch either - from Zeo Gold to Quantum Ranger to Dai Shi, Battle for the Grid is my biggest happy surprise in the fighting game landscape this gen and I'll scream that at the top of my lungs to every fighting game fan in earshot.

 

[Gotchaforce]

Rashid in SFV. He's my main and fun to watch. For a slower game he's fast paced.

Terry in Smash. He hits like a truck and can punish most my friends shit.

Starfire in Injustice 2. Same. I could compete with my friends with her.

 

[Deleted member 59109]

Ridley. He's my favorite character in Smash Bros by far, and it would be hard to go back to a game without him

 

[Astral]

I didn't know Lucia from SFV had fans. She looks so generic to me. My pick would probably be Josie from Tekken 7. I don't even use her but I just really like her design.

 

[Dog]

Cassie Cage for sure, cocky and funny with unique enough moves to feel fun and different from her parents.

 

[Wise]

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[BackwardCap]

Granblue Fantasy Versus: Beelzebub

His playstyle, design, theme song, and voice over are all a 10/10

 

[shadowman16]

G from SFV. He's the newbie I just love to use in that game, looks a bit goofy but has a really cool playstyle, awesome theme and some interesting history behind the character (I just wish Capcom would expand on him more). By far the most fun I've had with a non legacy character this gen.

 

[Starwing]

Kazumi from Tekken 7. She got me to play Tekken for the first time as I fell in love with her design when I first saw it, especially with the red and gold accents adorning her semi-tradional style outfit. What got me to main her was her fighting moves with her tiger, especially when she uses her "tiger uppercut" attack.

 

[DaciaJC]

Shugoki (For Honor)

By now you probably think "Well this guy has a type" and yes you're damn right I have. I love big buttons and I cannot lie.
Shugoki is For Honor's resident big boy and with it comes all the stuff that I love about them. Big buttons, big damage, satisfying, meaty hits and of course, you guessed it, SUPER ARMOR. Add to that a command grab that can heal him and you never feel like you're completely out of the fight. Shugoki also just has some really fun animations for such a big, menacing looking dude. Immediately fell in love with him when I first played him.

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I'm a Warden/Warmonger main, but whenever I want to relax a bit or play more laid-back, Shugoki is my go-to character. He has a simple moveset yet is still a major thread in 4v4s, and he has an awesome design all around.

 

[lucebuce]

One of the best newcomers ever in MK. She's just great and her banter is always the best.

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Yep!
*dabs*

 

[yungronny]

 

[Alek]

Rashid, fun to play with a cool design. Very unique character too.

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

was not expecting Aegislash in the OP but I can't disagree.

 

[stn]

Apart from all the ones mentioned, I'll also throw in Kotal Kahn (MKX and MK11). I dig his look and story.

 

[lucebuce]

- new, licensed fighters are ok

- Guests muddy the pond a bit but I'd say I'll allow them even if they already appeared in another game. Like Akuma is obviously an old character in Street Fighter but he's new to Tekken.

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oh shit, then I know who my pick is.

 

[btags]

Killer Instinct nailed it.

HISAKO - Japanese ghost gal, creepy and with a great counter-heavy playstyle that felt so different for the game.

KAN-RA - zoning grappler mummy. 'nuff said.

AGANOS - so many great mechanics, from being able to change the size of the arena to using parts of him self as a resource. Great character design too.

Mortal Kombat had some great new characers, from Cassie Cage (and her iconic selfie fatality), Kung-Jin (first gay character in Mortal Kombat), Geras (the sands of time mechanics are great), and to a lesser extent the other Kombat kids and Kotal Khan (ultimate jobber), but a lot of them got robbed of becoming truly great additions with MK11 dropping so many of them, or relegating them in the story again. D'Vorah is probably the major standout, since she absolutely tore threw the case in her first game.

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All of these. I never played as them because I am terrible with them but their mechanics are fun as hell and really unique.

 

[Charismagik]

Menat from sf5 hands down. Like her design and play style

 

[zoodoo]

Kazumi from Tekken 7. She got me to play Tekken for the first time as I fell in love with her design when I first saw it, especially with the red and gold accents adorning her semi-tradional style outfit. What got me to main her was her fighting moves with her tiger, especially when she uses her "tiger uppercut" attack.

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I really like her design

 

[RecRoulette]

Great character, fun to play, badass theme. G has it all. LIGHT IT UP.

Runners-up: Cassie Cage (MKX), Sylvie Paula Paula (KoF14), Ruby Rose (BBTag)

 

[Beth Cyra]

Yang Xiao Long - BBTag

Easily the single best guest character ever and I absolutely adore how she plays and the way she goes into I Burn. The only thing that would make it better is if she has her best outfit Huntress Yang and not her terrible season 1 outfit.

 

[JumbiePrime]

G is cool as the other side of the pillow . Definitely wins for me . Hate fighting him though

 

[Kewlmyc]

Technically counts, but Terry in Smash Bros Ultimate is easily my favorite character in the game. Hero is also a fun shenanigans character.

 

[Soonri]

For Tekken 7 its Geese Howard but SPECIFICALLY in Season 3.
In previous seasons he was a do everything character, but in Season 3 he's been reworked to be a defensive tank that can do HUGE damage with meter/counter hits.
Essentially a variation of an existing character (Bryan Fury) but in 2D form.

 

[Jakisthe]

I mostly love "complicated nonsense" characters, with bonus points for "design elegance even with that" and "non-fighting game genre mechanics brought over".

Jack-O; Guilty Gear Xrd Sign
Min-Min; Smash
Steve; Smash
Aganos; KI
Cinder; KI

 

[Sarevok]

Feel the rage of the Red Lanterns!
He also has a cat.

 

[Quacktion]

Awesome and instantly iconic design inspired by Kung Fu Hustle, very fun moveset with expressive animations, playstyle centred around a unique poison gimmick, very enjoyable personality that comes out fully in the General Story Mode, a great music theme, this mans got it all.... except a high position on the tierlists. I hope he returns in future Capcom games and is done justice.

 

[lucebuce]

Awesome and instantly iconic design inspired by Kung Fu Hustle, very fun moveset with expressive animations, playstyle centred around a unique poison gimmick, very enjoyable personality that comes out fully in the General Story Mode, a great music theme, this mans got it all.... except a high position on the tierlists. I hope he returns in future Capcom games and is done justice.

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[Deleted member 5621]

Mild shock to anyone looking at my avatar I'm sure.
Pokken DX only had one true newcomer before the DLC (though it also brought 4 previously arcade exclusive characters to console) and that was the obligatory "marketing tie in to the current gen" rep.
And for once this approach was actually what I wanted, my wonderful lanky ghost owl popping arrows on the Pokken stage.
Of course it'd all be for naught if they weren't any fun to play, fortunately Namco did good ensuring that this wasn't some basic arrow pinging as they went all in on fancy looking shots, scatters, magnemite sniping (no. really) and tied it together with talon shredding and launching goodness.
A very strong all rounder character.

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Gah, I really need to play Pokken one day. Decidueye is such a cool design.

 

[Aniki]

Kazumi from Tekken 7. She got me to play Tekken for the first time as I fell in love with her design when I first saw it, especially with the red and gold accents adorning her semi-tradional style outfit. What got me to main her was her fighting moves with her tiger, especially when she uses her "tiger uppercut" attack.

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Oh yes is awesome.

 

[Quacktion]

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FANG GANG TILL THE DAY I DIE...g

 

[Virtua Sanus]

Only picking one character per game. I found someone to love in basically every game, but when it comes to the older IP I usually still stick with the ones I am most familiar with. Anything not listed here (like Injustice 2) I have most likely not played.

Killer Instinct: Arbiter
Street Fighter V: Ed
The King of Fighters XIV: Alice
Soul Calibur VI: Geralt
Mortal Kombat 11: Robocop
Tekken 7: Josie
Dragon Ball FighterZ: Tien
Samurai Shodown: Darli Dagger
Them's Fightin' Herds: Velvet
Power Rangers Battle for the Grid: Trini
Guilty Gear Xrd: Kum Haehyun

Kind of hard to go into details about why I love these characters so much, but I have discovered how varied my playstyles can be depending on the format of the game. Some cases like Arbiter and Robocop though a lot of it comes down to me just loving how accurate they are to their source material.

 

[Sea lion]

All of Street Fighters new characters.
Its amazing how they can still create such simple yet iconic designs that blend well with designs from decades ago. It has the best designs of any game imo.

Leroy from Tekken. Nothing more can be said. They hit the epitome of cool.