Also (double post as it doesn't deserve being in the threadmark):
1 day to implement and test too? :p
I don't really need to test much. The game is simply not balanced around any of the new mechanics. I've already been through most character's move lists. I know what needs to be added and adjusted.
It's been my experience that Japanese DOA players have a very different outlook on the game compared to players in the US (and EU). Methinks Shimbori, or whoever the battle director is, has been listening to the same JP players that I've encountered in the past (the ones that work for Team Ninja) and balancing based on that. Which is basically the worst thing they can do since they don't understand the risk/reward system of the game, especially when new mechanics are added to it.
For example, I would buff SSA so you can at least have the DOA5 (Vanilla) options back with the same evasiveness of the DOA6 step and none of this "throw until the 27th frame" nonsense. I would then make sure every character had at least one mid tracking attack that was either safe (leading to a short stun on CH), unsafe but has a string follow-up (leading to a moderate stun on CH), or is unsafe with no follow-up (launches or deep stun on CH). In addition, I would look at longer strings and see where they may need a tracking option somewhere in the middle of the string so they aren't completely useless in the face of the new SS.
At that point the only people who can complain about SSA are the ones who don't know how to play their own characters. You shouldn't be able to just spam attack strings and free cancels with minimal consequences. People complained about the SSA because they didn't bother to learn their character's tracking moves. They just wanted to play DOA5 with new supers and bound moves.
based on your first sentence, fuck no to your second
Yea break blows and holds I've found were great implementations of meter, and blow cancelling is an amazingly designed to work with the risk reward system DOA has always had in place with holds. It also made supers far more interesting than any other 3D fighter thats implemented them.
The more ive played the game the more I've gotten used to SSA. I think more tracking moves shouldve been implemented, but my buddy told me "Think of SSA as a DP" and ever since then its been working better for me.
I don't like this change as its band-aiding it by abusing the meter that imo has been designed quite well. We now lose a lot of what I liked about its implementation.
On the other hand, I play NiCO, and less SSA against me is a huge buff.
SSA is not a DP at all. We'll ignore DPs as anti-air attacks and assume your friend means it as an interrupt. That means you're guessing when to use a SSA, in which case you're using it wrong. There are some situations in which I'll make a read and use a SSA, but 90% of the time I'm reacting to a linear string. There's no guess involved other than guessing the opponent won't free cancel to punish a potential step, which isn't even an option for some strings.
When it comes to holds, I would not simply lock them behind meter and call it a day. They're far too integrated into how DOA plays to make such a drastic change without changing any other DOA systems. The biggest issue with holds are the high damage and long active window. Reduce the damage and lower the window from 18 frames (WTF?!) down to somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 frames and that fixes a lot of problems. I'd also add a Tekken-style throw break for any non-punishment throws so you can actually play defense without having to risk anything. Unbreakable throws are far too strong in DOA as they are the main reason you can't play defense without having guess or take some silly risk.
All that said, ideally holds would do Break Hold damage (or no damage) when used during a stun, or the damage would be based on the attack you hold. It doesn't make any sense that I can toss out a jab that does 7 points of damage, and you can hi-counter it for 60 points of damage (and in some cases much more).
In addition to the changes I mentioned in my above reply, I would give all holds a standing animation (no more ducking high attacks with low holds), and limit the number of times you can hold during a stun (unless the change goes through so they do little to no damage). Maybe have something like a SF Guard Gauge where the more times you hold during a stun the lower that gauge gets, and it slowly builds back up.