I’m saying this because the first half of this new trailer is a breakdown of SFxT‘s core mechanics. From the looks of it, Capcom is doing a fine job of blending the disparate gameplay styles of Street Fighter and Tekken. Here, you have explanations for basic tagging, switch cancels, launchers, basic juggles, and the supposed centerpiece of the game, the Cross Assault. That last item has both your characters enter the screen and you control them alternately instead of simultaneously as opposed to Marvel VS Capcom‘s Duo Team Attack, which I’ve noticed has the exact same input to initiate. And remember those tag-based supers we saw in the prototype gameplay footage from last year’s SDCC? They’ve been fully integrated into the game as Cross Arts.
Of course, this being from Gamescom and all, this trailer wouldn’t be complete without a character reveal or two. This time around, we have Hugo and Ibuki for the SF side, Â and Raven and Kuma representing Tekken. Hugo, originally seen in Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact, naturally serves as Poison’s official tag partner and looks to provide a slower, harder hitting contrast to Poison’s somewhat speedier play style. Â Raven comes in as Yoshimitsu’s, so no surprise there. Kuma and Ibuki, however, don’t seem to have theirs yet, so feel free to speculate. For Kuma, I’m going with either Paul or Heihachi, should either one be confirmed. Ibuki’s could either be Sakura or Makoto, the latter being a more obvious choice given their implied rivalry in SF III: Third Strike.
Other characters have been hinted or downright shown in previous trailers, and all I’m waiting them for  is their confirmation. Examples? Cody and Guy appeared at the end of this CG trailer from the San Diego Comic Con, and if Hugo’s confirmation is any indication, we’ll be seeing these guys as a team pretty soon. Asuka Kazama has been hinted at during the E3 trailer, and my guess is she’ll most likely be Jin’s partner. “But we have no idea if Jin’s even going to be in the game!” Relax, I’m just going on a hunch here. Besides, he got mentioned in the first cinematic trailer and it supposedly has something to do with Ryu.
With all that said, Street Fighter X Tekken (that’s “cross” for those of you who still pronounce it as  “x”) will be cross assaulting its way onto Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Playstation Vita in early 2012.
