Hey PlayStation Nation! The future is here, and Rose, the Soul Powered Savant, makes her destined return to Street Fighter V today. A Street Fighter veteran originating from the Street Fighter Alpha series, Rose is an Italian fortune teller imbued with Soul Power, and is also Menat’s master. Let’s peer into the crystal ball and see what Rose has in store for us in SFV!
As you can see, Rose has undergone quite a transformation since her last appearance. SFV Director Takayuki Nakayama has more on her new design:
“With the appearance of her apprentice, Menat, we strengthened her presence to become more master-like. Rather than giving her a sense where she’s constantly ready for battle, we made her footwork more relaxed, and made her walking animation more elegant. Her new moves are meant to control her opponent, and we kept in mind her style of creating an advantageous situation to counter against the opponent.
“Please pay attention to her scarf, which is infused with her Soul Power. Depending on the strength of the special move she performs, her scarf will change color.”
“Her back throw is her “Soul Drain” from the SFA series. Since it was such a unique move, we decided to bring it back in SFV.”
New moves
Rose returns in SFV with a handful of new moves at her disposal. She’s no stranger to fireballs, having one of her own: the “Soul Spark” projectile. And now, she can even execute this move in mid-air for some new offensive and defensive strategies. Each punch button throws the Soul Spark at a different angle in the air to cover various areas of approach.
Soul Spark goes airborne!
Rose has also mastered a new anti-air move called “Soul Bind.” This move has Rose utilizing her Soul Powered scarf to snatch opponents out of the air. The EX version will throw opponents into a wall, causing a wall bounce and allowing for an extended combo.
That’s one powerful fashion accessory!
Rose also has a new move called “Soul Punish,” which has Rose summoning an orb on different areas of the stage. Depending on the button you press to execute the move, the orb will be summoned to a different location. You can use the orbs offensively by adding extra hits to combos or defensively by absorbing opponent projectiles.The EX version can send opponents airborne for more combo potential!
Use Soul Punish offensively or defensively!
SFV Director Takayuki Nakayama Nakayama also has some background on Rose’s new move:
“The animation of her new move, “Soul Punish” is a recreation of the same movement from the opening of Street Fighter Alpha.”
She summons an orb…
And unleashes it!
Rose’s Critical Art is called “Fate Aura Spark.” With it, she performs a quick combo that launches her foe into the air… only to slam them down on the floor again and unleash a giant blast of Soul Power directly into them.
Rose unleashes all of her Soul Power!
A quick note about this move from the SFV Director:
“You may have also noticed this, but her powerful blast of Aura Spark from her CA, “Fate Aura Spark”, is the same move that she used against M. Bison to finish him off in the ending of Street Fighter Alpha 2.”
Seems like Rose utilizes that same power she used to finish off M. Bison on anyone bold enough to face her in SFV!
Rose’s V-System
Rose’s V-Skills and V-Triggers bring back old favorite moves as well as new ones! Lets start with her brand new moves and V-System.
Rose’s V-Skill I is a new move called “Soul Fortune,” which utilizes one of four potential tarot cards embued with Soul Power that can either strengthen herself or weaken her opponents. Press Down + Medium Punch + Medium Kick to execute “Fortune Shuffle,” which changes the card she has in her hand.
What do the cards say about your opponent’s future?
The white card, “The Magician,” increases Rose’s V-Gauge. Hold down the V-Skill and she will continuously gain V-Meter. The red card, “The Chariot,” will increase Rose’s attack damage, making all her moves stronger while the effect is active.
And for her debuff cards, Rose will throw them straight at her opponent. These cards are a single-hit projectile and will still affect blocking opponents. The green card, “The Tower,” decreases an opponent’s damage while the purple “Death” card increases chip damage and gray life that the foe will lose upon getting hit with other attacks.
The Magician increases V-Meter
The Chariot increases Rose’s damage
The Tower lowers an opponent’s damage output
Death increases chip and grey damage
“Soul Fortune” will give you many different ways to play Rose, utilizing her tarot cards to apply buffs and debuffs and gain the upper hand in a match. We also have some behind the scenes footage of how this new move was created! Check out the video below of some of the motion capture work done to make “Soul Fortune” in SFV:
Speaking of tarot cards, when Rose wins a match, she will toss one of 23 different cards toward the screen, each featuring a different Street Fighter character who is represented in the tarot deck. Take a look at some of the cards that can appear:
Cammy – The Empress
Sagat – Death
Chun-Li – Justice
G – The Fool
Rose’s V-Trigger I is called “Soul Dimension.” Upon activating this V-Trigger, Rose gains the ability to teleport backward away from her opponent or behind them, on the ground or in mid-air. This teleport can cancel most special moves on the ground or in the air and gives you great offensive options to mix-up and trick opponents, as well as extend combos!
Rose performs a disappearing act
and reappears somewhere else!
V-Skill II is the fan favorite “Soul Satellite” from Street Fighter IV. Just like before, Rose will summon a ball of energy that will orbit around her for a short period of time. She can have two orbs out at once, but can only summon one at a time. Since the move is a V-Skill, you can use it freely during a fight… just beware of its slow summon animation. You can use this move offensively to keep the pressure on opponents, or defensively, having the orbs absorb single projectile hits.
Fan favorite Ultra II from SFIV returns!
Returning from the Street Fighter Alpha games, “Soul Illusion” is Rose’s V-Trigger II. When activated, Rose will create a mirror image of herself that mimics her, allowing all of her moves and special moves to hit twice and combo more easily. It also powers up her projectiles for added damage!
Hitting twice is very nice!
Just like in SFA, this V-Trigger makes Rose a combo beast and can allow you to combo moves that wouldn’t connect otherwise. And if you use the same normal move twice in the same combo, you’ll launch your opponent into the air, leading up to an extended combo!
With new moves combined with some of her classic tricks, Rose is prepared to face any future in SFV!
Rose’s new costumes
For her return to SFV, Rose brought a sweet wardrobe with some old and new costumes. Check out these amazing outfits as well as some behind-the-scenes concept art and info on each costume from SFV Director Takayuki Nakayama!
Default Costume
“This is a recreation of her costume from the Alpha series. Previously in SFIV, the way her scarf was wrapped differed from the original due to difficulties with actually recreating this with a 3D model. However, this time we were able to get the scarf close to her original design. The Art Director worked tenaciously to accomplish this and multiple attempts were made.”
Story Costume
“We recreated the dress that she wore in past titles during her victory pose. The design of her scarf was made to match her dress.”
Battle Costume
“We had a concept of an adventurer or a person in training for this costume. Maybe it’s an outfit from a time when she was younger.”
Nostalgia Costume
“You might ask, why is this her Nostalgia costume when her Alpha series costume is set to her default? The answer for that lies with the title, Capcom Fighting Evolution. This was a title from 2004, which Rose and Demitri from the Darkstalkers series appeared in. This is her appearance when she gets hit by Demitri’s famous Midnight Bliss, and when we discussed costume design ideas, I immediately said, ‘Yes! That’s the Best!’”
Summer Costume
“This is her vacationing in Costa Smeralda off the coast of Sardinia. It’s a very elegant swimsuit that fits her perfectly.
Rose focuses her Soul Power to her scarf when fighting. This scarf is coordinated to match her swimsuit, but just because the material is different, doesn’t mean there will be different effects. I sense a willingness to face the truth.”
Rose vs. Rose: gameplay
Now that we’ve dug into her mechanics, how about seeing it all in action? Check out this exclusive footage of Rose in SFV:
New stage: Marina of Fortune
Along with Rose’s release comes her stage called “Marina of Fortune.” This is a revamped version of the same stage from Street Fighter Alpha 2 and is located in Italy. In the background you can see a giant ship as well as smaller gondolas floating in the water.
This stage is available now in the PlayStation Store or earned in-game for 70,000 Fight Money! You can also get “Marina of Fortune” as a part of the SFV Season 5 Premium pass:
Spring Sale promotion
In addition to Rose’s release, SFV is currently on sale as part of the PlayStation Spring Sale! Get your hands on all versions of SFV and SFV: Champion Edition at a discount!
Free Trial
With Rose’s release, we wanted to give all of you a chance to try out Street Fighter V: Champion Edition with a Free Trial! From April 18 through April 28, everyone can play all characters from Seasons 1-4!
We want to thank you all for supporting SFV over the past 5 years! Rose is available now as part of the Season 5 Premium Pass and Character Pass, or can be purchased separately in the PlayStation Store or in-game for 100,000 FM.
We hope you enjoy Rose and the new “Marina of Fortune” stage. And stay tuned for more news on Season 5 soon, as we still have Oro, Akira, and a mysterious fifth character to be revealed at a later date.