How Street Fighter 6's Lackluster Avatar Creator Falls Short of Fans' Expectations

Street Fighter 6 has enjoyed a strong start since its recent release, with the game's new features - World Tour, Battle Hub, and Avatar Creator - proving particularly popular. While World Tour and Battle Hub have been the main draw, the Avatar Creator has also played a significant role in attracting players to the game. Allowing players to create their own characters adds an extra layer of engagement to the game, and Street Fighter 6 has implemented this feature impressively. Despite being the first game in the series to feature an Avatar Creator, it offers a decent range of customization options for players to create their ideal fighter. However, some have criticized the fact that this feature is limited to World Tour and Battle Hub, with no option to use it in Fighting Ground mode.

A Separate Avatar Creator Could've Made SF6 More Entertaining

Casual players who prefer the classic Street Fighter modes such as 1v1 battles and arcade mode may feel left out as they are unable to use their avatars from SF6's World Tour and Battle Hub. This is particularly disappointing for those who have spent time and effort creating their ultimate fighters. A separate Avatar Creator for Fighting Ground would have been a great addition, allowing players to create unique and fully developed characters specifically for this mode. Similar to character creators in other fighting games, such as WWE 2K23 and EA's UFC 4, players could customize not only the appearance but also the fighting ability and movesets of their avatar. With numerous special moves to learn and stats to modify in Street Fighter 6, a new Avatar Creator for Fighting Ground would provide players with an even greater level of creativity and personalization. The existing World Tour already has six attributes that can be modified through leveling up and gear selection, including vitality, punch strength, kick strength, throw strength, unique attack strength, and defense, offering even more customization options.

With an expanded Avatar Creator, players have the freedom to craft unique characters with their own personalized designs and fighting styles. These avatars can inherit a variety of moves from Street Fighter 6's diverse cast, including iconic fighters like Dhalsim, Luke, and Marisa. Unlike the World Tour mode, which requires players to level up and become students of legendary fighters, the new Avatar Creator provides a mix-and-match approach. Players can choose any combination of moves or special abilities, along with the right attributes, appearance, and clothing to create the ultimate warrior.

An Avatar Creator in World Tour and Battle Hub May Never Happen

Although it may seem like a good idea to have a separate Avatar Creator for Street Fighter 6, it could potentially hinder the progress of creating a cohesive World Tour and Battle Hub. If players are given more creative freedom with the Avatar Creator, they may opt to create already powerful fighters with diverse movesets rather than experiencing the story-based World Tour and having to grind for levels, moves, and gear. It's important to consider the impact that a separate Avatar Creator could have on the overall gaming experience.

Having a new Avatar Creator feature in Street Fighter 6 may divert attention away from the iconic Street Fighter characters that have made the series so popular. This could potentially render canon characters irrelevant, as some players may prefer to control their own created characters instead. Therefore, it might be better for Street Fighter 6 to focus on addressing the flaws in World Tour and Battle Hub rather than adding a separate Avatar Creator. Capcom could consider adding different files for each character in World Tour, enabling players to select their preferred fighter for the story or Battle Hub fights. Street Fighter 6 is currently available on PC, PS5, PS4, and Xbox Series X|S.