Agreed. If they're going to do something like this, then they might as well take a step forward and take holds (or at least holds out of stun) out of the game altogether.
I dunno, less holds is always a good thing.
Personally, I wouldn't mind the DOA4 counter system
in its entirety if only to make just a slight adjust to the active counter frames. Simply make the counter active for only 5 frames max. 1-2 = hicounter. 3-4 = counter. 5 = normal
5 active frames to the counter, then up to 45 for recovery. No need to mess with the damage like DOA5 did, just make it more of a punishment to miss a counter or counter completely incorrectly (escaping a high-combo-string by mashing out a low counter should in no way be an advantageous endeavor, contrary to DOA4) . This would also work with the 3 point system making counters overall more understandable.
Maybe DOA6 or an updated DOA5 will make the jump to a more precise countering mechanic with a
distinct frame disadvantage for countering incorrectly. Maybe DOA6 or an updated DOA5 will have 6 point holds, though that may be further off in the distance than a tighter active counter window.
By the way, I agree on the idea of "minimizing holds" in terms of not seeing them a jillion times in one match, especially the ones that miss. I just wouldn't remove holds altogether however, cause that would pretty much destroy the rock/paper/scissors Triangle aspect that DOA is known for. Holds need to have an equal amount of screen time as throws and attacks (if not an equal amount of screen time, an increased amount of damage for a reduced amount of screentime [balanced]), so they shouldn't be nerfed to become beyond useless. There's no reason a hold shouldn't deal a lot of damage, but there is reason enough to make the hold window actually "technical" like many other fighter's advanced-defense mechanic, such as Parrying in Street Fighter, Low-Parrying in Tekken, and even the fancy parries in Soul Calibur are all decently "technical" in that you have a very small window to do it, and if you mess it up you pay the price.