Free Step Dodge

Free cancelling gives most people unfair advantages. It allows you to be psuedo rewarded for landing the start of most strings on block. Any string that can be free cancelled and has a low amount of recovery frames mid string allows you to mix up with using the followup, or using a 7F unbreakable throw.

I like Free Cancelling.... game would be pretty boring if you were stuck prebaked strings like in Mortal Kombat.

You can also free cancel the first, second, etc attack of a string, depending on how long it is. You can then use that pressure to create a situation where you can free cancel a string, then start another string, and they're put into a situation where reading the free cancel or holding are their two best options. This puts them at a pretty huge disadvantage.

Stuck *with*

WUKs are another ridiculous system mechanic. WUKs are invincible until they have active hitboxes, meaning you can't stuff them, they don't have many recovery frames, so some characters can't whiff punish them properly, and they have a lot of reach. Mixing it up with side tech, back tech, and side roll to WUK makes oki very hard for an opponent to control.

You can still maintain momentum, it's just more difficult and somewhat less rewarding than I feel it should be. This is simply an opinion, though.

I agree entirely - it's a necessary mechanic. I just think that the way every mechanic interacts makes it a somewhat illegitimate fighter. It's part of what makes DoA its own game, though, and it's still a fun game. Just not one I would recommend competitively.

Stun and the hold system would have to be rethought entirely for this game to be as solid as, say, VF is.

Well not really.... Yeah if you try to play DoA right and attempt to punish then yeah its messed up.... which is why people rarely throw punish.

Free Cancelling is almost as big a risk as it for the person doing as it is for the person whom its being done to.

It creates in interesting mind game where the chances of either player scoring a counter hit is extremely high. Which is favourabe if you play a character like Phase 4.