redsilversnake

TB's actually right; Azrael does have to make bigger commitments than most characters in his approach. The problem isn't that he can get in easily, but that it's easier for him to stay in. If I'm correctly remembering the range most Azrael players use Gustaf at, dash>AA isn't actually a wise move against a neutral jump. Hell, it's probably almost as punishable as a whiffed Gustaf. Jin's never been bad, true, but it is indeed easy to screw up on a character like him (in either direction, at that). But that's really part of a more general discussion on ASW not exactly being that good with character balance to begin with, which is best saved for when this version actually comes out.

No, you're making assumptions about my perspective. Admittedly, that is partly my fault for not going into further detail, but you are indeed attributing opinions to me that I haven't expressed. True, he isn't top tier, nor is he overpowered. However, I have gone over a couple of the things he has that are too good. I'd be willing to accept him having the frame-advantageous moves and high damage he has if he had least had a slower 5D and a less braindead 2C. Neither of those moves needs to be the way they are now. A) That wasn't even a justification. B) I did give justifications before. My problem wasn't even that he got buffs, though; it was that he didn't get nerfed at all. Which might've be fine if the top tiers were getting more significant nerfs and the mid characters got better buffs, but that's not the case. ...All that being said, weren't there changes made to Extend after it was showcased at an event? Who knows, maybe the same will happen here and we're all essentially arguing over the equivalent of a loketest.

That he doesn't realize this is why it's best to just ignore Airk. From what I remember, he tends to focus too much on characters in relation to his own, and Tsubaki doesn't exactly rank that highly in this game, which, among other things, makes for a poor discussion point on this topic. Anyway, concerning Azrael, I might as well cite a player (granted, via a different player) better than anyone in this thread, who just so happens to play the character in question: https://twitter.com/jiyunaJP/status/428472849519497216 Note that he still ranks him highly, just puts him as more fair than some of the other strong characters. It's admittedly not the same as an in-depth breakdown, but still.

Again, you're just putting words in my mouth. I'm not saying that he shouldn't have any above-average tools or even that I expect the game to be completely and totally fair (which, for some reason, is always the assumption people seem to make about the opinions of someone who even suggests that a high tier character get nerfed), but that some of his stuff is better than it should be. I'm willing to retract some of the things I said, but the idea that Azrael shouldn't get any nerfs is still a foolish one. Especially when replying under the apparent assumption that who you're talking to thinks there should only be nerfs. Did you miss the part where I only used to play a weak character? And then proceed to not specify which one I currently play? Except, again, that isn't what I said. "This character could do with a few nerfs"≠"This character should be weak." By all means, buff the weak characters. Just don't assume that that'll automatically have them catch up to the better characters if you're also going to buff the latter.

Eh. Not like it matters now, since I actually decided earlier to drop any points against his dash (since, really, I just forgot the options against it), I just didn't think to bring it up in my reply to you. My apologies.

Are you sure? 2A was my go-to move after j.C (I never got around to testing if anyone could mash out of 2B), and it didn't work. And from that description, the 5B I followed up with should also have caught him, but I'm pretty sure I got 5A'd most of the time until I found out you could beat it with j.D or airdash j.C.

Please note the past tense.

If that's the only possibility you can see, you're very narrow-minded. Calling for a character to get certain nerfs in no way equates to desiring a homogenous cast. No, Azrael can BD safe jumps in the corner too. When I played Bullet, that was one the reasons he was such a frustrating character to fight.

If the current changes are any indication, I don't think there should be any concern for her being the next CS1 Rachel. She does lose quite a bit, but it doesn't seem like she's getting hit nearly as hard as Rachel was.

Yes, because he has such terrible normals and Gustaf is just too unsafe if it's blocked. Safe moves or fast overhead, pick one or the other. Having both is just stupid. Translation: I don't want to acknowledge the possibility that my character has some bullshit, so I'll just put words in this guy's mouth. That'll show him. And just as an aside, I don't think that he should only get nerfs. Just that a few of his tools are too good against some of the cast.

Yes, Azrael needs nerfs. Far too many of his moves are safe on block, his dash is too good, 2C is almost braindead in several MUs, 5D is too fast an overhead, and holy shit all these specials that have guardpoint for no reason. He's certainly no Hazama or Litchi, but if you're only defense is, "Those characters don't make any sense, so he shouldn't either," then you're the one who needs to get out.

Small arcades are the obvious example (apparently, due to Nesica and Aime), but I've heard from people there that even the bigger ones are as dependent on random people playing crane machines and other front-room games as they are on their regulars. And even then, mobile games are apparently eating into their business as well. And new Sega Clubs opening may or may not be counterbalanced by Bandai Namco closing a bunch of their own locations. Not really. Thanks to Japan having a great internet infrastructure and online play being free, a lot of Japanese arcade players will also play online quite a bit (to paraphrase one person there, "calling someone a netplayer isn't an insult, because everyone netplays"). Hell, when CP first came out on PS3, BB actually slowed down in some arcades. But yeah, basically, the arcade scene isn't struggling nearly as much as ours, but at the rate it's currently going, it will be.

Pretty much. She's definitely not gonna be overpowering the entire cast by as large a margin, but Gravitrons are still useful, 22B and 214A/B are unchanged, etc. At worst, she'll just be strong rather than the best. Anyway, disappointed at the lack of Azrael nerfs. The muscle idiot could really use some.

The Japanese arcade scene has been on the decline for at least a few years now, and it's apparently been exacerbated recently, so French Bread would just be shooting themselves in the foot if they leave this in arcades unless they develop a new IP or something (since Melty Blood belongs to Type-Moon, who are apparently holding off on that series until the Tsukihime remake comes out).

Tsubaki's 5B is untouched, WTF ArcSys?

It probably didn't get a home release earlier due to a drop in players after it became clear that it was kusoge. I obviously can't say whether or not it picked up enough steam after all the changes, but it does seem to at least get some regular play. It's more legit now, so it probably could be ported in its current state, but since they're co-developing another game at the moment, there probably won't be any news on that front for a while.

Looking at Axl's story again, "the First Man" is actually a mistranslation. It just says, "a single man appears before a troubled Axl."

To expand on certain things in Suzaku's post: According to Millia's page, Venom realizes that a few things are sketchy, so he asks her to investigate the Senate while he does the job they requested. Zato, meanwhile, was apparently imprisoned by the Senate due to being completely apathetic after his revival; the only thoughts that have him actually feel anything are those of Millia, though he doesn't know why, and decides to escape so he can meet her. The question of why Ramletherl is staying in Japan is brought up in Potemkin's page, as well as that he has a bad feeling about his sortie. Bedman is described as existing only to eliminate obstacles, and he won't do anything unnecessary.

There were three before XX, though, and we don't know whether or not Anji is still working for him.

No, I've heard that quote, and that's not a translation error. Dunno what he's been saying about Aigis, but he does refer to protecting "ano ko," which is along the lines of Tokkan's "that kid."

No, they do the same shit with GG. The creator is even on record as not really caring about balance.

GG Mode is based on the original game, and is as Circuitous describes above. That game did have a precursor to FD, I think it just lacks the visual effect and the added pushback, instead only preventing chip damage, but I don't remember if they kept it in Generations. It also doesn't have IB. GGX Mode, as indicated by the name, is based off Guilty Gear X, which lacks bursts and FRCs, but still has RC. It also lets you cancel normals with FD, the input for which is reverted to 1/4/7P+K.

lololno. Extend was them just throwing ideas at the wall and doing whatever. It was a total step down from CS2. And that last sentence is just wrong. CP's problems aren't just "a few matchups and Kokonoe." All you have to do is look at how homogenous most tournament rankings are to get a basic idea of how poorly handled this game's characters are.

Anyone who thinks this game is well balanced is delusional. Top players have noted multiple times that the gap between the top tiers and bottom is huge. Hell, even the gap from top to mid might be more pronounced than in the last two versions. Face it, ASW has no clue what they're doing when it comes to character balance, and it shows in every game. CS2 was the closest they got to good balance, and it still had some glaring issues.

Orie also has both her 6C and a nigh instant overhead, both of which can lead to good damage, though the latter requires Chain Shift for an actual confirm.