The Street Fighter 6 Year 4 Character Pass kicked off with newcomer Yasmine, a Filipino fighter who is all about going on the attack and pressuring her opponent. What makes her feel especially solid for this is her unique Bayani Mode mechanic. It’s an incredibly easy to implement state that can trigger with some of her most common moves and rewards a player by allowing them to deal more damage and worry less about consequences of taking that risk of trying to keep up combos and assaults. As a result, she feels very different and like someone anyone can take a chance on learning and trying.
So to start, it can feel like Capcom decided to go all-in and encourage near constant attacks with the moveset for Yasmine, even before getting into how Bayani Mode can help her out. As Capcom pointed out, her moveset is filled with a lot of actions that involve constantly going on the assault and attacking her opponent. Even without getting into that state’s bonuses, some of the attacks are paired with innate bonuses that make it easier for someone to keep up the attack without worrying as much about what happens if they’re blocked or countered. Lipad ng Agila is helpful, since you could use it as a typical attack or to deal with an aerial assault. Mukha ng Langit is a good example, as it gives us a chance to get in closer, then turn to either Kulog or Ulan to attack. Since you can adjust the angle with inputs for the follow-ups, it adds a little mystery to it. Kidlat na Hiwa, Tatlong Hiwa, and Walis na Pabagsak all can be canceled to go into her specials. And Hiwang Pababa gets around an enemy’s crouching blocks.
But again, the big deal here is Bayani Mode. It can change up her attacks and, in the process, make it easier to apply pressure to an opponent. The thing about it is that Capcom designed Yasmine in Street Fighter 6 in such a way that launching into it feels natural. Even when playing around with the character for a few matches to get a feel for how she worked, I found I naturally started performing Daloy ng Tubig, due to 236P being such a common input, and starting it up with Alon via 6P. Likewise, her level 1 Super Art Hiwa ng Kalangitan is another simple 236236K input that doesn’t eat up too much of the Drive Gauge and again kicks off the mode again. It can make her Special Moves and her feel more, well, special.
I also appreciated how two of Yasmine’s Super Arts in Street Fighter 6 tie in to Bayani Mode, increasing its versatility. With the Level 1 option, it’s another way to launch into it. However, with Nakatagong Lakas, the level 2 Super Art, it’s a means of keeping the mode active even after using one of Yasmine’s specials. Which especially works well considering Linya ng Liwanag can only be used with 4KK in a combo with that. It feels like it encourages playing around with combo construction.
I will say that once I realized when would trigger Bayani, I did find myself falling into a trap in which I’d try to get Yasmine into that state more than I should have in Street Fighter 6. Especially since the Daloy ng Tubig and Alon combo involves such fighting game staple commands and Alon itself changes depending on the strength of the punch. Becoming over-reliant on one strategy is a hazard, but the rest of her kit does encourage close-range assaults and different means of getting in front of or behind opponents. The more time I spent using her, I did find I eventually stopped focusing on one approach.
Yasmine feels mechanically interesting in Street Fighter 6 because of the easy-to-launch Bayani Mode. Her moveset as a whole is pretty accommodating to players of all skill levels and feels dedicated to keeping up an attack, preparing combos, and ensuring your foe is under pressure. But having her signature mode tied to one of her easiest to pull off specials and her Level 1 Super both make building around that ability feel natural and enticing.
Street Fighter 6 is available for the Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, and the Yasmine DLC is available now.