First off, I'm glad you guys liked the OT! ERA's message board stuff fusses with my PC a lot, so it's actually rejected my attempts to mod it a few times (I had more of the moveset links in, And all Juicebox's tech videos but that edit was lost to time...), but it's been great to bring back the old OT for new interest.
I played some solid hours of Online on PS4 last night. Player Match lobbies are definitely NOT dead. I have to say this game still has my favorite overall Lobby system.
- No constant disconnects like DBZ Fighters.
- Getting into the lobby presents a great UI that allows players to move in an out of rotations easily.
- Looking up players connections and info on a person-by-person basis is super fast.
- Selecting things like "Tourney" and "Series" play right without having to reconnect or anything is fantastic.
The only thing I hate is that there's no host migration. So the entire room can break if the host decides to leave.
Though even if the host leaves, you get to finish your match, rather than the game stopping abruptly.
But that's a somewhat minor issue, considering all the other strengths.
And unlike my days of MVC3 or the worse of DBFighters, I didn't feel like I had to learn a whole new game online, compared to my local VS play. I felt some patchy spots where the game felt a bit stutter-y, but overall, the connections were smooth, and I had a bunch of back-and-forth sets that really let me get used to Najd in solid play. Dash in command throw with her brings back Shermie and oldschool Vice feelings. Lights into Rekka are pretty easy to land, do good damage, and get that knockdown. Her crossup is very solid on far jump set-ups (haven't gotten used to it on hops), Hop D is a solid quick overhead, and her first Rekka on block isn't as unsafe as I first thought it was. I love her "Virtue of Deceit" Projectile DM, it makes screen-covering jumps and staggered air dives much harder to land on her, and it's great to tag on damage after Rekkas, too.
Heidern and Mary were more of a known quantity, but they're still full of scummy, awesome tricks!
Heidern Slash is dopey. "STAY THERE WHILE I HAVE MY WAY WITH YOU!" It's such an abusive thing on wake-up, and it's awesome to use as a shield while you spam Cross Cutters. I will always love STORM BRINGAAA. You can still take damage in a round, and use it to net yourself a "PERFECT!" too. Assault Saber is better than I gave it credit for, IF you can make your opponent fear pressing buttons. It'll never work on people who jab all the time, but he's a great character for instilling fear in players. And his CDM Gae Bolg, still has the stupid properties of Neck-Rolling, and I love that.
Mary's M.Breaker is basically the return of Clark's old Shining Wizard, and I'm actually in love. Weak Version very quickly punishes ducking opponents, Strong I believe is to catch those who backdash / are standing at a distance, and the EX version is just FAST to start, and is nice as a sudden mixup once you've popped MAX. Canceling Mary's Straight Slicer Slide into M. Splash Rose DM is a great punish to near-full screen aerial projectiles, and even on block, it's a solid way to close distance, as the hit from the DM on block is less punishable than I'd expect, and much less punishable than naked Slicer.
Good stuff man, yeah there are a lot of interesting changes going on across the board like the speed adjustments on various movement options such as runs, jumps, back dashes, rolls etc. They also seem to be toning down low invincible normals. And then there is the adjustment of giving a lot of characters safe jumps after normal throws. They also seem to be encouraging more raw DM/SDM/CDM usage overall.
Also, I'm happy to report that our girl Zarina has ended up mostly buffed. The only nerf worth mentioning is the recovery on her godly fwd+B (which I honestly thought they would destroy) but it just seems to be -2 now instead of 0 on block.
Hein seems to be buffed a lot. He has improved normals, specials and combos (with better damage). Also, I hope those people who complained that SNK made him to replace Oswald can finally realize that they are both completely different, especially in terms of gameplay.
Oh and Xanadu has a legit invincible meterless DP now.
Thanks. I kinda lament the weakening of low invincible normals a bit, but it seems like they still exist, or the property is still in a characters toolset on another move, so it's well done overall. I'm definitely happy that so many characters who aren't as strong as an Iori, now have DP invuln on par with his. As many times as we've seen " OOooooah *2 Hits of DP*~ ASOBI WA...*EXDM Rampage* " clinch tourney matches, it's definitely something quite strong to have in your toolset. SHORYU~METSU for everyone!
I'm so glad Zarina's still pretty solid. Capcpom and, to a lesser extent ASW always make me fear that the abusable tools I enjoy are going to be straight ripped out of a game. SNK generally knows how to keep them, but just reign them in. The kind of changes that Antonov, Sylvie, Hein, and Bandeiras have received since release really feels like the game has gotten something more akin to a UM / Super / Turbo edition, rather than just simple patches.
Good job on Mary SNK, great to have her back.
It really is, I've had great fun introducing people to the power of Real Counter once again, lol. Real Counter isn't as super-dodgey as it used to be (I suppose the EX version probably is?), but it's so satisfying to punish jump-ins, wakeups, and even far-moving long normals with it.
Also, XIII Terry's Crackshoot is back
That's awesome to see make a return. I also love how Mary's Anti-air Spin Fall slam enemies into a nasty hard knockdown.
Terry can cross up really easy now. They made a lot of mid tier characters viable with this patch.
I love patches that make one feel as if they're actually trying to get ALL the characters to a playable viability state. And considering the cast size of this game, that's a crazy tall order.