Honestly, bound -> close hit being the best option 90% of the time has heavily contributed to the game being comparatively boring, and several characters feeling more samey than they did prior. It should be more situational.
That's not true for all characters, for a lot of them bound into close hit is not optimal for dmg so you're better off doing regular combos. Tina, Bass, Honoka, Nyo, Lisa, and Mai are a few examples