Ryd'

There is no English setting, but there is a patch that translates just about all the important stuff if you're savvy, have the right gear, and a copy of the game. Otherwise you could knuckle down and learn to identify the various kana/kanji used in the game.

Fan service does not exist in MH because the women are manlier than the men. Ceanataur armor in MHFU is where it's at. I don't think P3 had any really memorable armor sets for me.

Mostly lots of zoning with some rushdown if you can establish pressure in/close to the corner; how much aggression you can get away with depends on the matchup. Knowing when to back off is important. Covert anti-air hits and Maragi into bigger damage, learn how to set up and make the most of your unblockables. And don't get caught, because you will die.

You throw down with dragons in a fight to the death, wielding a weapon of your choice and assorted supplies that vary depending on how manly you're feeling. That's all there is to know, really.

Made by JP BBS, so probably unofficial. Seems pretty close to the actual list, though it feels a bit early for anything solid. Some characters are probably more or less locked into place, but the ones who saw larger changes seem to have a lot of potential to shuffle around (to me, at least). Except Justice; she seems a little too straightforward now, and I can't really see any drastic shifts coming from her in her current knees-smashed-in state. Testament's hard to gauge. None of the videos I've seen have shown players fully capitalizing on his options now, but given how vastly different his game plan is, it's to be expected. I don't see him being top again due to the hit to his defensive game from the EXE Beast changes and the loss of BL loops for good~great damage from a large number of random attacks, but (seriously trying to be objective here) I can see him moving up as players work with more of what he should be capable of. The potential seems there, but you have to work harder now to make stuff happen, whereas HS Beast was a miracle worker in AC.

I prefer FES for the MC's path; it just feels more fleshed out due to the little things cut from P3P, and it's nice to be able to see scenes played out. Battles also aren't completely free due to the mechanic differences (there's more than just direct party control vs assigning tactics for the AI). Marin Karin and similar aren't a problem once you get access to the pure offense tactics; what remains an issue is that certain skills (MIND CHARGE) will remain on the AI's table, so there's still a chance something may live a bit longer than it should have (which may get you killed). P3P is way too easy; playing on the hardest difficulty, the only things that are remotely challenging are the non-story related content. Mass Destruction, as bad as it is, is still better than that other shit. FemC's social links are the only reason to play P3P imo.

Just do it as fast as you can without canceling your jump before you leave the ground; that's all there really is to it. 5BB can be canceled into just about anything 5B can be canceled into. Whether things will combo or not depends on spacing.

Waiting for +R. That and Tekken and DoA have pretty much taken over my FG life for the time being.

You guys are weird. Also, motherfucking ducks. Kyoku, your Teddie's a lot nastier than the time I saw it on Haz's stream (first ranbat I think). I'm not sure how I feel about that matchup; need more experience for sure, because the 3 that I've played online were godawful by comparison (honestly did not know he could move like that), but it doesn't feel like one of the ones that will eventually reach a point where she has zero safe (or even mildly unsafe) options available to her (Mitsuru, SLabrys...) He's a very weird and annoying character to deal with.

Foxfire Apartments, Tempe? How will I go about meeting up with you guys from there? Never been in that area (to my knowledge, anyway).

I'd rather leave it at someone's place if at all possible. Just not Ray's, 'cause he seems to be a magnet for criminals.

There's nothing else to realistically mix that up with =P Throw a fan, buffer the motion; if they're still there when it comes time to push D, do it.

I might be interested. I'll get back to you in a few hours (looks like you won't be leaving till late, so that's not a problem, right?). If your #s changed in the last...2 years? I'll probably need that as well. Also, a reasonably safe place to leave a car since I don't think anyone wants to drive 25ish miles to pick me up.

Why would Chie be using meteors at point blank ?_?

A PC release will effectively kill the game over here; MB pretty much proved that. The game looks substantially better now than it did pre-patch, and better than Aquapazza, but who has time for those when you've got P4A and a new GG on the horizon? Especially GG.

Go watch the concept matches. Results aren't absolute, but they aren't completely devoid of information, either. The Akihiko team was able to pull off a solid share of the wins, and it wasn't always because he made two good guesses or Yukiko did something really stupid and then guessed a mixup wrong. There were some matches where a character had a really strong showing, but there were a lot of others that were quite close (and not simply because "lol, Yukiko at 60~80% health is one hit away from death"). I'm restating myself, but given her startup/recovery times (seriously, take her into training mode and get a feel for what it's like to whiff fans and whatnot; it's awful), Yukiko has to commit with a zoning option without any kind of guarantee that it'll connect when she throws it out unless she's already established momentum (then you have to wait out the bigger stuff or take a risk). Akihiko can (and does, in the videos) bait her ranged options and punish her cleanly for them, at times getting anywhere from 60-80% of her health. "One good read" is primarily in regards to SB Corkscrew, which is one hell of a good tool for the matchup, and something that forces Yukiko to respect Akihiko on the ground the moment he is at 25 meter and at 3/4 of the stage distance (at max zoom out; this thing is kind of ridiculous); not difficult achievements. It's not his only option though; his movement may not be on Yosuke's level, but he can maneuver around Yukiko's game (again, watch the videos). That he can work his way in without requiring the stars aligning, coupled with the fact that it seriously hurts when he does, make the fight a lot a closer than you seem to give it credit for. It also doesn't hurt that his frame data completely kicks Yukiko's ass. Going back to bad analogies; with Tager vs Nu, Tager had huge numbers, but that was in no way anywhere close to even for him because he had no realistic options for getting where he wanted to be without some big mistakes on Nu's part. Akihiko doesn't need huge mistakes; a simple whiffed fan (among other things) is enough for him to close from various positions at mid screen, and he can force his way in with meter, with an extra cost to make it safe it was blocked. Yes, that cost is steep for much of the game (50 meter for hitting awakening lessens the hit somewhat), but the reward is huge (getting in on Yukiko reduces her safe options to 0). I also think you're selling Akihiko's mixup short. It's not impossible to defend against, but top players still fall for his essentially 5-way game often enough for him to keep running it rather than not bothering and trying for counter hits and frame traps exclusively. It's not as good as Millia's mixup game, but it does earn him a fair share of hits. For more realistic analogies, Slayer/Jam vs Testament in GGAC were not particularly bad matchups for the close range characters; I believe Slayer was even (ultimately; it was said to be Testament's advantage earlier in the game's life) while Jam was 4.5 (not a noteworthy disadvantage). Like Akihiko, both of them had to work around a character that could control much of the screen; and like Akihiko, they had ways around that, with the matchup becoming even more level once they got enough meter for their nastier tools: DoT, BBU, FB Puffball; these were the great equalizers. That they cost meter is irrelevent, they were amazing tools and had to be respected the moment they became available. These characters also operated on the "land 2 hits and win" philosophy; in the case of Slayer, sometimes 1 was enough. Key differences here are that Akihiko is, on the whole, a bit slower than those two (noticeably slower than Jam most of the time; feels close to Slayer's movement speed) and has less range overall; Yukiko's options are generally slower than Testaments, with longer recovery on the majority of them, her average damage is noticeably lower, and she lacks good tools at close range (HS Beast) that the opponent has to respect when she (Yukiko) is not in immediate control. I'm not going to say that the matchup is in Akihiko's favor, but evenish seems about right. Yukiko might have slight advantage (6-4 at the very worst; 5.5 or even seems more correct) due to the neutral game early on (she is much more likely to be able to slip away and start her ranged game than Akihiko is to catch her from the start, so he's almost guaranteed to have to do some work for the win), but the speed at which the fight can be turned around is too great for her to hold a significant advantage here, especially since she has issues regaining momentum if she's completely lost it (again, Slayer/Jam vs Testament). She has the ability to set the initial pace from the start of the match, and if she's able to get him in the corner and work her real game, it can be incredibly painful. Conversely, she has no safe options once he gets in, he has the tools to make that happen, and his ability to convert hits into damage is stronger than hers (even more advantageous coupled with the differences in health). All this makes for an incredibly volatile matchup. That's not theory-fighter; actual play reflects that.

Going back to that full screen blockstring into unblockable that I posted a while back; it does work if you set it up like the ]B[ crossup; removed the fan and flipped the Agi releases so that it looks like this: 3D ]B[ 6B 5C 2C 236[A+B] ]A[ 2D ]B[ dash 2A+B The gaps in pressure are a bit larger than I'd like without the fan in place, but seeing as the opponent is under persona+Agi at around half screen, intimidation is still a factor. One thing I learned the painful way (when running it with the fan): this setup is not outside of Mitsuru's Droit range. If you want to run this against her, you either need to be psychic with Agi pops until she learns to respect it, or jump and use j2D (pretty sure it's 2D) to drop the persona; if you opt for a jump, make note that you will need a microdash earlier in the set up (probably when throwing the fan after the initial 3D) to make up for j2D's shorter range, otherwise you lose the reversed persona 236B follow up that gives you another unblockable setup. The only problem here is that the jump heavily telegraphs the setup after it's been attempted once, and you may be in range for Mitsuru's DP/Bufudyne (forgot to test, my apologies). Alternatively, you could run the modified setup and hope she doesn't get itchy with Droit in the middle of it. On the other hand, you'll have no trouble blocking it if you use the ]B[ off of SB Agi to cover the 2D setup, so you just have to deal with Mitsuru in your face...fun. I've found my mindset with Yukiko is becoming a bit like MMO assassins; I'm starting to want to play conservatively and build up resources until I get an opening that I get massive damage off of (read: combo into double~triple unblockable setups; possibly quad with Fire Break+SB Agi corner setups) and see if I can't end it all in one fell swoop. I wonder how feasible that is... Probably not as much as I'd like thanks to having to watch for reversals and whatnot.

Something else to note for Synthesis; there really is no single way to play Yukiko. You can be more aggressive (kind of high-risk), or you can play it safe and put more emphasis on zoning/being lame. Generally speaking a mix between the two is good because it makes you hard to predict if you balance things right, and Yukiko already has a hard time opening up patient/safe players in neutral without being predictable on top of everything else. While she has a scary pressure game (primarily in the corner), it really isn't absolute; holes will appear, and it's important to learn to recognize when you may lose control of a situation. Yukiko is very momentum-based; her close range game is pretty bad compared to just about everyone else if she doesn't have other things set up to cover her or intimidate the opponent, so if you have a hunch that things may go sour, it's almost never a bad idea to back out and go back to zoning before anything unfortunate happens. In some matchups, the smarter thing to do is be on a perma-lame status and let your opponent kill himself trying to get to you. You've generally been on the aggressive side in other games, so you might find yourself needing to curb those tendences with Yukiko; going in too often can get you in trouble, and Yukiko's defenses are pretty lackluster on the whole.

Generally speaking, you're getting more damage by them eating the Agi than you would if they just blocked Yukiko's full screen game, which is, admittedly, not a difficult feat. 3D isn't so much about mixup (you really don't have any at that range; if the persona's in the air, block high; once it's on the ground, block low; everyone picks up on this really fast) as it is about maintaining momentum; being sandwiched between you and your persona, and sometimes not being able to see what your persona's doing, creates the chance to get extra hits that can convert into bigger damage than usual (reversed 236B is amazing). Against people who're playing extra safe when you're at that distance, there really isn't a whole lot you can do to open them up; Yukiko isn't that ridiculous of a character. Let them try to come to you while working around your game, capitalize on any mistakes. How do you punish blocking? Try throwing, I suppose. Yukiko running in from full screen isn't particularly scary; her better options require setting things up in advance, which you aren't getting if you're running from that distance. Her mixup at neutral (which is essentially the situation being created here) is pretty basic; very limited high/low mixup (AOA is easy to react to, 2D takes forever if not set in advance, no other ground overheads), no special throws. Unless they're sitting under Agi the entire time you're dashing at them, you don't have any particularly good options to open them up; if they are sitting there without you popping it, you can use it for a crossup, but that seems like a very unlikely situation. More importantly, what characters make you want to go to them at full screen? SLabrys is the only one that really comes to mind. For pretty much everyone else, you can let them come to you while working around being wedged between you and your persona, while you're free to dance around and make their life hell. Depends on how you're spaced. You can try jumping back and coming down with jA if they roll, jB if they don't. If you have an Agi set, rolling isn't a problem if you pop it meaty. If you're setting up an unblockable, you have a bit of a conundrum since an Agi isn't enough to cover the full delay between wakeup and 2D hitting; you can have a gap when they get up or before 2D hits. I prefer the former, as it's safer for the unblockable (by the time you have to commit with a low, they're firmly locked down), letting you freely block/punish wakeup reversals or rolls. You probably won't get much more than a standard combo here. If you're spaced further out, you have different options, again, depending on the spacing. Maragi can work; either detonate D early where their roll will leave them, or sometimes just throwing out C will tag them due to its slower startup (also works really well with people who like to roll at the gaps in Yukiko's blockstrings). You can also drop 2D so that it'll catch a roll; nice fatal counter with a 5BB SB Agi into whatever for a pickup. Yukiko's airtight pressure ends at 5AA. Depending on the opponent, going any further can mean a free reversal, but 5B, 5C, and 2C can be used to create space if you don't expect to/can't be punished for it. What you do from there depends on your opponent. Agi cuts off the pressure, but keeps you safe. 5D can create a lot of space, but can be stuffed/rolled if the opponent's looking for it. 2D is not safe at all. Fire Boost/Break is always an option if you don't have anything else you need to be doing. Maragi is a bit riskier depending on the situation, but an interesting option; as previously mentioned, C will tag attempts to roll through whatever you might've tried to end a blockstring with, whereas D is may catch some maneuvers by surprise (loses to roll though); mixing them up and manual detonations are recommended. For everything else, peruse the various threads and watch more videos; it's a bit unreasonable to ask for a complete breakdown of everything the character can do. Also, fix your character ADD already. And spend more time in training mode =p

Akihiko. Also, only Chie's 5A is 5 frames; her 2A is 7. Akihiko has 5f on both, but they have no range due to being jabs. Edit: Yu's 5A is also apparently 5f. Lots of characters. For 2A, I believe Akihiko is the exclusive member of the 5f club. Unless there's someone I missed.

5C is slower than 5B by 4 frames. In theory, that string would have enough of a window to throw out a Parry and catch 5C. You'd have to be psychic for that, though, and I don't think I've seen a Yukiko do that.

I think the most interesting part of that video is the fact that they kept the whole "projectiles keep moving during superflash" thing from GG (was this in BB?); zoning characters could do some pretty hilarious stuff with this if the right situation arose. I hadn't noticed it in P4A until now. Sadly, I don't think there are too many (if any) practical applications at the ranges that Yukiko needs it most. I think some testing is in order.

Another little tip in case this isn't widely known: Yukiko's realistic airtight blockstring options end at 5AA; technically 5AA 2A+B, but that's hardly optimal since the only thing she can do from there is special cancel unless she wants to burn a chunk of meter. Given Akihiko's range, this doesn't mean a whole lot since Yukiko can safely pressure at a distance that you can't really retaliate from (this is a large part of what makes her pressure scary for a lot of characters once she gains solid momentum, not just Akihiko). However, if Yukiko is close enough and likes to use unsafe blockstrings (anything that goes beyond 5AA, lol), you can IB the second A and DP her before 5B can come out. At certain ranges, the IB isn't necessary, but I'm not sure if Akihiko can connect at that range. You can also do this between 5B and 5C if she's close enough, though I think most Yukiko players are moving more in favor of 5AA 5B 2C for safety purposes, as 5B 2C is tighter than 5B 5C. If you have meter to burn, a reversal super is also an option, and something like Maziodyne lets you punish from any range. Back to the initial point, safe Yukiko players will jc 5AA into whatever they feel like doing to possibly maintain momentum or create space, and there really isn't a whole lot anyone can do about this, so it's up to you to figure out what kind of player you're dealing with. If it's the overly aggressive kind, you have an option to put her in her place for treading on your turf (close quarters combat). Get ready to be frustrated if you find a decent Yukiko. I won't deny that she's an incredibly annoying character for most to fight; not necessarily the most threatening in most situations, but she can cause a lot of aggravation if you're the impatient type.

@Dacid: Yukiko doesn't score fatal counters easily at all (AOA included, with that 33f startup). The only FC she can really plan on is 5C for punishing certain things like DPs and other moves that have really bad recovery. 2D can be used to tag rolls, but that requires a good read on her part, and you get some room to maneuver if she guesses wrong. 5D...there's really no reason for anyone to eat this FC. If you do, you screwed up badly and deserve the 5k+ she'll probably get off it. With 2A+2D unblockables, block high and let 2A open you up. It's only a few hundred damage difference, but she's not breaking 2k damage (pre-awakening) off those without wasting meter on a super at the end (read: not worth it unless it's going to kill, or the reset for similar damage she'll get in the corner will finish the job). A lesser used setup is sweep+2D; this one's more dangerous if done properly (damage can get to 3k+ regardless of which hit opens you up, coupled with Fire Break setups that can come off it, she can reach 7-8k+ total damage for a complete string of setups), but is harder to utilize as it can only be followed up when synch'd with the last hit of 2D, and even then, only midscreen unless Yukiko's willing to sacrifice her burst (not worth it unless it will close out a match), OMC it + cough up another 25SP to convert it into a proper combo, or take a less optimal and damaging setup by going staight into Agi xx Agidyne. I don't think I've ever seen another Yukiko play with this one, so it probably isn't something you need to worry too much about. On a related note, most of Yukiko's damage comes off her resets. If done right (high/lows: following an air throw or set up with Agi for oki; Fire Break: varies), there really isn't a whole lot you can do about them. Properly executed high/lows, you're pretty much boned since Yukiko doesn't have to commit until you're blocking the Agi that goes off before 2D comes down; if she's on point, she can punish the vast majority of escape attempts except for stupidly good things like Teddie's DP. Fire Break unblockables are trickier, as the more damaging ones are meant to catch techs. If Maragi's coming (generally the most damaging option in most situations), don't tech at all; it'll get added on to the combo previous and you'll take minimal damage while being able to escape. If she sets SB Agi, you're boned and not getting away without taking damage unless you have Maziodyne available, burn it on wakeup, and OMC it; this one can be especially dangerous, as she can chain two unblockable combos together off a single use in the corner. Any other use is generally suboptimal due to being easier to escape or dealing significantly less damage (shenanigans with Agi/Agidyne in blockstrings, day 0 C Maragidyne>Fire Break>D Maragidyne crap, etc.), but still inherently dangerous simply because of the unblockable nature of the move and Yukiko's potential for stringing unblockables together. Edit: EX Corkscrew's invul is from 1-18. I haven't been kidding around when I've been talking about how good that tool is. I think the match Robawtninja was talking about was in the second video at 6:50. Akihiko does what looks like Kill Rush xx Hook xx EX Duck (Yukiko uses Dia) xx Hook xx Parry (catches Dia) xx D Weave. There's a yellow flash at 6:52 that looks like a successful Parry iirc, and the Weave looks a little late to have gotten out of Dia's range in time.

Which vid? If it's the concept match vids, that's a 3 part set. Just wanted to address this. Yukiko has damage; it's just a lot more situational that most characters, requiring them to eat something they really shouldn't have (FC 5C/5D/2D), Maragi, or getting CH while midair. Maragi and CH 2B (anti-air) can lead to around 3.5~4k damage at certain ranges, or it can lead to a slightly smaller combo (usually around or just under 3k) to set up unblockables for another 3-4k depending on the setup used. Her FCs can lead to around 4-5k+ if Yukiko is able to properly pick up off them. Not that you should be hitting buttons at random at any range when you're not able to hit Yukiko or her persona, but you'll want to be careful with reckless jump ins and watch the situation before you commit to a slide or duck. Outside of that, you're right, getting clipped by her zoning doesn't really hurt. Edit: 2A (or any stray hit she can pick up off of) while in awakening will lead to around 3k damage for 50sp + unblockable followup. Yukiko can also throw away her burst for higher damage off any hit she can follow up from, but given how bad her defensive options are, that's not something you should really worry about her doing unless it's going to close out a match.