Street Fighter X Tekken patch: Ryu nerfed, gems staying put

Street Fighter X Tekken has received a new balancing patch from Capcom, although the developer hasn't revealed much about what the update does besides making Ryu weaker. Capcom has also discussed the thorny issue of gems in the game.

Speaking with Siliconera, Street Fighter X Tekken producer Tomoaki Ayano explained Ryu's rebalance, "We nerfed Ryu’s Hurricane Kick a bit by reducing the hit box and reduced the number of frames of advantage it has."

Ryu isn't alone however, but Ayano wouldn't be drawn into the changes too much, "Every character is getting some kind of gameplay fix or rebalance like Rolento’s standing jab."

Ayano also discussed updates to Street Fighter X Tekken's gem system, "In terms of gems, we’re rebalancing the auto-throw and auto-block gems. These were gems initially intended for beginners, but as it turns out they are really good for experienced players as well."

"We’re going to increase the amount of [super] meter they take, "Ayano continued ,"as well as the number of gem slots they take. In addition to that, the auto-block gem used to only drain your meter if you blocked incorrectly. Now it will drain your meter even if you block normally. Basically, you won’t have any super meter for the entire battle if you select this."

When asked about the controversy surrounding the gem system, Ayano replied, "We think gems are an integral part of what we envisioned Street Fighter X Tekken could be."

"We want to balance gems to be as fair as possible for all players out there," Ayano concluded, "but there are players in tournaments that play without gems. If that’s what they want to do, they’re free to do that, but from Capcom’s perspective we want players to use gems as much as possible."