Wild Candy

I argee, mix ups aren't really that important because of the lack of barrier guarding/faultless defense like mechanic that's present in BlazBlue and Guilty Gear. The focus is more on instant blocking, and not getting hit.

Agreed, while a little situational, her Instant Deaths are way to dangerous if left unchecked! If you get knocked down to zero on the fate counter, you better be prepared to eat a Mudoon or Hamaon! Also looking at the big scheme a things, Naoto is probably a better jack of all trades character then a zoner. She can't win matches zoning alone, and her rush down games needs some support from her persona and traps. So I guess I can see why they altered her play style a bit. Also, in the first game. I think the reason they had her damage output below average was because of her Instant Death Mechanic. I think they kinda wanted to make her a little dependent on it, but it didn't work out in the big scheme of things. You know? Well, at least I don't have to worry about learning the SMP Loop anymore. On another note, has the character select artwork changed at all, or are they using the same portraits?

Suppose your right, if Naoto's damage output isn't hit as hard as the other characters, then thats good. Again, if Naoto's going to be a jack of all trades character, she needs better poke properties, like an actual anti air!

Slightly disappointed by the recover added to Naoto's Traps and Snipe Stance. But her new poison lance move sounds interesting. I'm indifferent about the SMP loop removal, considering that it's not extremely practical, and most people know better then to waster their burst before Naoto uses it. Honestly, if they increase her damage output, her pokes priorities, and make her instant deaths more reliable, then I'm okay with the changes. Hopefully they'll adjust the recover for her traps though, because that's what sets her apart from the other characters, and its already hard enough setting them up against fast characters like Chie and Yosuke. Naoto's Zoning game is also balls when compared to other zoners like Yukiko and Aigis. I dunno, to me it'd seem unreasonable to nerf Naoto to much, because she isn't really a character with anything abusable in the original game, and she has quite a few difficult match ups.

This match up gets annoying, but then again, I'm still a horrible novice at P4A. If there's one thing I can say for certain, Mitsuru just gets off on punishing people for fighting back. Stay full screen, and watch out for frame traps. Slightly quoting Guilty Bits with Slayer. It feels like Mitsuru leaves you just enough rope to hang yourself....

Well, the whole actress in Sentai Films explains the whole weird get up... I think Junpei's the only one from Persona 3 who actually wears normal clothing... I might try Yukari after seeing some gameplay footage, but I'll most likely stick to Yukiko and Naoto. Although, it hardly surprises me that Yukari was made a zoner, because her weapon is a bow, which usually launches projectiles, and she had a similar position in the original games as Yukiko. (A healer who was great at one elemental spell, in Yukari's case, Garu skills, and in Yukiko's case, Agi skills.) By the way, does anyone else find it ironic that Yukiko's name means snow, but she uses fire based attacks instead?

Sorry, wasn't thinking. Anyway, I like the idea of a playable Mageret, and a playable Koromaru is awesome! Oh, and don't forget Ken Amada!

Unfortunately, some good options for playable characters from P3 were killed off in the original game.

I know it''d never happen, but I wouldn't mind seeing a playable Rise. (But that's about as likely as a playable Kokonoe!)

Yeah... Kinda undoable... (To bad though, his design is one of my favorites between P3 and P4._

In other words there being bought out by another company. It happens all the time in business. In regards to Naoto and her SMP Loop! As long as they increase her damage output and make her Instant Death Supers more practical, I'd be fine to lose the SMP loop because it's rather difficult and not very practical. I just had the scary thought of Elizabeth being buffed with actual defensive options... And with her Zoning prowess, this would be hell!

Yeah, but they could've auctioned off the rights to ArcSys or something to carry on the Shin Megami Tensei legacy!

I wonder what they'll do with Naoto... They could easily make her stronger, or break her completely! (Again, I'm expecting the SMP Loop to be eliminated.)

They could always add Ken Amada, Koromaru, or an original character like Labrys to fill the remaining slots. I'd be thrilled if they some how revived the protagonist of Persona 3 with Orpheous!

I think Junpei will be one of those heavy rushdown characters like Bang and Valkenhayn, who deals extreme amounts of damage with high priority normals, but he'll lack defensive options without meter.

Let's make Naoto a little stronger to! The only thing she really has going for her is those SMP loops! (Which will probably be taken out in the next game...)

Yukiko's damage output isn't something to write home about, but I think she makes up for it by being able to keep up to the momentum thanks to her great Oki and Mix Up game. Her supers are pretty damaging to, and she's capable of creating unblockable setups thanks to her Fire Break special and her Maragidyne specials.

Welcome, Glass Sword. You've actually come at a good time. Considering the imminent release of +R that could here anytime now, you've come at a time where the Guilty Gear forums have started to pick up a bit. Anyway, I obviously use Dizzy to. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll try and answer them to the best of my ability! Hope you like the forums!

Okay thanks for the advice guys. (I'll be honest, I thought this thread was barren! Lolz!) Anyway, I've done a little bit of practicing, and here some things that are making sense to me, and things i need to work on. I think I FINALLY understand how important Pumpkin is in Rachel's Zoning Game. Once you have it out, the mere threat of it is enough to stop the foe in their tracks. Finally, using the pumpkin as a safeguard, it's relatively easy to set up 2 Lightning Rods and George while your wind meter charges up. If the opponent tries to rush, punish in one of the following ways. A. Wind the Pumpkin in there face and then rush them, or B. Block, and wind George by you to bail you out and get a free Mix Up/Combo depending if George's attack hits or is blocked. On the rushdown side, I feel like i've gotten most of her combos down. Particularly variants of her Corner Carry. 5B > 6D > 6C > J.C > 5B > 3C > Frog Oki Along with her simple Oki set up to regain wind. 2A > 5B > 3C > Frog Oki set up. I feel like I really shine in the corner, my two favorite combos being (2A) 5B > 5C > 5D > 5CC > Summon George > 3C > Geoge Hits > 236A > Dash > 5B/4B > 5CC > Dash > 3C > Sword Iris > 3C > Summon George or Pumpkin for Oki. 5B > 5C > 3D > 3C > Baden Baden Lily > 8D Super Jump > J.2C[LV3] > Summon George > 236A > George Hits > 5B/4B > 5CC > Dash > 3C > Sword Iris > 3C > George/Pumpkin Oki Where I need work is getting used to Rachel's mix ups. (I'm really used to Makoto, whose mix up options are fairly non-existent) So often I need work on starting from 5B and then mixing up from there with either 2B or IOH J.A Next, I also need to work on Anti-Airing foes, and doing Rachel's famous Anti-Air Combo 6A > 5B > J.C > 2D > jump cancel > J.2C (LV2) > 236B > J.C > J.C > Sword Iris Last but not least, Zoning with mobile characters like Bang, Tao, and Hazama, who make it hard for you to make room to summon, and won't sit still enough to catch em in your traps. I think that sums up my progress so far.

Robo-Ky's just kind of a glitchy character. I mean, wasn't his theme all messed up in Accent Core, like it wouldn't play, and sound effect volume became magnified?

Personally, I think BlazBlue is easier to understand, but Guilty Gear is easier to get better at. But that's just me.

I can't help but notice, in this match up. Tiny Lobelia and Sword Iris are your best friends... Anything else will probably get you punished by those annoying steins. There's also the constant threat of Mu's ridiculous Origins DP when ever you manage to break in somehow... Probably not one of the better matches for Rachel.

This is why if I need a better challenge then the Very Hard Difficulty offers, I just find random matches online. CPU's just get cheap and fight dirty on the hell difficulty.

Guess your right. Once ABA begins the Rape, it doesn't stop easily, that's for sure. And I guess it shouldn't be to hard for an experienced ABA player to get in without being knocked down, and it gives more of a fighting chance to characters with a weak defense like Millia and Dizzy. I guess I get it now.