Free Step Dodge

Yeah, Continuum Shift was far easier when it comes to combo challenges and combos weren't as ridiculous as they were post Chronophantasma. That's why I'm sort of glad BBTag went back to a more simple type of gameplay, but also kept things that made the gameplay complicated still on a higher level.

It was ? :O

But the actual optimal combos were still hard right ?

Not all of them. Some required pretty good execution though. There were characters whose advanced combos/gameplay required you to have 12 fingers or four hands(Carl and Arakune).

Yeah... Arakune... definitely not pad friendly.

So Carl was alil different back then ? Because now he controls nirvanna exclusively using the Drive Button.

You had to control Nirvana in every game using the drive button. The fact that you have to manage "two characters" to play the game is pretty hard, plus, muscle memory imo is needed to perform optimal combos with him, also, you have to know what to do to keep opponents mixing up and opening them up (ex: sandwitching their character between Carl and Nirvana), for short, he is and always was an advanced char.