Anyone miss DoA5's Power Blow?

[SaihateDYNAMO]

I get it OP, you're used to DOA5, since you posted a "oh no DOA6 is different than DOA5" thread in General Discussion. I am too, but part of the DOA6 experience is getting used to all the new changes.

i miss the power blow ANIMATIONS, but not the actual move itself. Break blows are a great replacement since it can be either a super cinematic or a Critical Burst. I'm thinking they should have made it so if the game knows you're going to finish someone off with a Break Blow, the animation changes to the DOA5 Power Blow one since that plus the closeup made for a much better finishing move.

I can't really relate to this as I don't understand why people care so much about win poses and costumes. Maybe costumes a little bit, but the intro/outro stuff makes zero sense to me.

There’s more to the gameplay of fighting games than the mechanics. Sometimes a little personality goes a long way. Intros and outros are kinda part of the game itself, you know? A lot of them have nice animation, the character specific ones add at least some form of extra character interaction/development, and they're cool to look at. Having only one of each gets and has already gotten boring. Plus you don't get why recycled/plain/tacky costumes in a series that used to have the exact opposite are an issue either lol?

 

[Darth Lotonic X]

The only thing I miss about PBs is the ability to direct them towards hazards. They were otherwise a mediocre mechanic only useful for lazy people. BBs are far superior.

 

[Derock]

Power Blows, nah, though some can work ala supers. Critical Burst moves, on the other hand, yes. They helped me unleashed some potential combo extensions.

 

[Zeo]

The only thing I miss about PBs is the ability to direct them towards hazards. They were otherwise a mediocre mechanic only useful for lazy people. BBs are far superior.

My opinion is the opposite. Power Blows were strategic chargable moves that could only be used once per match and either as combo enders or hail maries, but only if the user was smart enough to know when to use such a telegraphed move and make it work in his favor.

Break Blows on the other hand, while they have a higher ceiling in terms of potential, they're far more scrub friendly. You can use them multiple times per match, they're almost instant, are sabakis and give frame advantage on block. They're essentially a panic button at the lower levels. Your opponent's health is low and they just throw out the BB and hope it hits. It's really annoying.

I'm not sure which mechanic I like better at this point but I wouldn't go so far as to say BB's are "far superior".

 

[Raansu]

There’s more to the gameplay of fighting games than the mechanics. Sometimes a little personality goes a long way. Intros and outros are kinda part of the game itself, you know? A lot of them have nice animation, the character specific ones add at least some form of extra character interaction/development, and they're cool to look at. Having only one of each gets and has already gotten boring. Plus you don't get why recycled/plain/tacky costumes in a series that used to have the exact opposite are an issue either lol?

I guess? I just don't see how having 3 or 4 different ones changes anything. You'll see them a 100 times and skip them to get to the next match. Seems pointless to me. Also, DoA2U was the only DoA that went nuts on costumes. The older DoA's didn't have those crazy selections. DoA4 had more than average, but it was still way less than 2U.

DoA also doesn't have the budget it had back then. Fighting games don't sell like they used to and TN clearly had very limited time and money to work on this game. I'll give them a pass for focusing on the mechanics over costumes that Koei was likely encouraging to limit anyways so they can DLC the shit out of them. It is what it is.

 

[Darth Lotonic X]

My opinion is the opposite. Power Blows were strategic chargable moves that could only be used once per match and either as combo enders or hail maries, but only if the user was smart enough to know when to use such a telegraphed move and make it work in his favor.

First, you can use PBs every round. Second, they're slow as shit and easily held on reaction. Third, they're only useful after critical bursts on NH(which doesn't happen often) or against heavy characters. Almost every character can do more damage with a PL combo or in most cases a regular juggle.

 

[Ninoasker]

tbh i only liked the animations

 

[Zeo]

First, you can use PBs every round. Second, they're slow as shit and easily held on reaction. Third, they're only useful after critical bursts on NH(which doesn't happen often) or against heavy characters. Almost every character can do more damage with a PL combo or in most cases a regular juggle.

First, you can use PB's every round, but depending on the length of the match you could use BB's once, maybe even twice in a single round. Meaning it's more spammable and noob friendly.

Second, your point here only reinforced the fact that you had to play intelligently to get a PB off. Throwing out a random PB in neutral is going to get you held, but you also had PB cancels, cancels into the sidestep attack or throw, unholdable setups with the PB and other yomi which would scare your opponent into blocking which gives you the frame advantage and in some cases even whiff punish with it. There was far more depth involved with it's use that went beyond "press button, get reward".

Third, this point is completely inaccurate, power launcher combos were optimal under normal circumstances, Power Blows were optimal in the case of special environment hazards however, most of which required the PB in order to trigger, more often than not resulting in more damage than you'd get from a "basic" power launcher combo.

tl;dr, BB's are a scrub's best friend, you had to actually be good to use PBs.

 

[nobi23]

First, you can use PB's every round, but depending on the length of the match you could use BB's once, maybe even twice in a single round. Meaning it's more spammable and noob friendly.

Second, your point here only reinforced the fact that you had to play intelligently to get a PB off. Throwing out a random PB in neutral is going to get you held, but you also had PB cancels, cancels into the sidestep attack or throw, unholdable setups with the PB and other yomi which would scare your opponent into blocking which gives you the frame advantage and in some cases even whiff punish with it. There was far more depth involved with it's use that went beyond "press button, get reward".

Third, this point is completely inaccurate, power launcher combos were optimal under normal circumstances, Power Blows were optimal in the case of special environment hazards however, most of which required the PB in order to trigger, more often than not resulting in more damage than you'd get from a "basic" power launcher combo.

tl;dr, BB's are a scrub's best friend, you had to actually be good to use PBs.

But like always, the scrubs who rely on such crutches for so long will get destroyed as they climb up to higher ranks and drop the game. At least at the lower levels though, it gives them slight window to think that they're good and enjoy the game a little bit LOL

 

[Raansu]

tl;dr, BB's are a scrub's best friend, you had to actually be good to use PBs.

Not even really sure how you can say that...PB Cancels you rarely saw in tournament play because...well....they were kinda pointless. Dudes either going to stay away from you or read the blatantly obvious cancel and throw you. No one was using them cold and everyone was only using them after a CB. PB/PL were not that great of a mechanic.

 

[Darth Lotonic X]

Second, your point here only reinforced the fact that you had to play intelligently to get a PB off. Throwing out a random PB in neutral is going to get you held, but you also had PB cancels, cancels into the sidestep attack or throw, unholdable setups with the PB and other yomi which would scare your opponent into blocking which gives you the frame advantage and in some cases even whiff punish with it. There was far more depth involved with it's use that went beyond "press button, get reward".

Half of this shit is fake news. You should be able to react to the release of a power blow. The animation is completely different and it's still slow as shit.

Also, I'm not debating ease of use. If you're getting hit by raw BBs, that's your problem.

Edit: quoting on mobile is garbage.

 

[Zeo]

Not even really sure how you can say that...PB Cancels you rarely saw in tournament play because...well....they were kinda pointless. Dudes either going to stay away from you or read the blatantly obvious cancel and throw you. No one was using them cold and everyone was only using them after a CB. PB/PL were not that great of a mechanic.

I'm not saying they were the best strategy, but they had their uses and did occasionally see use even at the highest level. The mechanic not being spammable or OP doesn't make it pointless.

It just added another layer of mind games to the gameplay, which is more or less what DOA is centered around. PL's on the other hand, I'll give you, were pretty pointless. Just there to pad out the content for 5U's release.

Half of this shit is fake news. You should be able to react to the release of a power blow. The animation is completely different and it's still slow as shit.

Also, I'm not debating ease of use. If you're getting hit by raw BBs, that's your problem.

Edit: quoting on mobile is garbage.

Ease of use is one of the factors that plays into comparing a game mechanic. Power Blows were less scrub friendly but also provided depth, that could be a plus depending on where you stand. If you don't want to debate that then I guess we're done here as that was my main point against you.

Good on you arbitrarily evaluating my skill level though. You can try to raw BB on me if you want and see how that goes for you.

 

[Darth Lotonic X]

I see you have conveniently ignored the part where I said that this so called depth is not a real thing for someone with decent reactions.

 

[Zeo]

I see you conveniently ignored the top half of my post. Just because I didn't respond to you specifically doesn't mean I didn't touch on the subject.

This is getting toxic. Let's agree to disagree.

 

[d3v]

Lol at using "spammable" as a negative argument against something.

The fact that PBs were limited in use is one of the reasons they're objectively inferior to BBs.

They end up being a gimmicky comeback mechanic that doesn't do anything much to affect the match up. PB only somewhat comes into play once per match, when somebody has lost half their life, and might not even be used because who the eff really wants to play the stun game.

Good meter mechanics change match ups just by the threat of them being available. Complaining about not being able to do things just because someone has meter stocked is complaining about meter doing its job.

The real scrubby thing is complaining about meter doing its job (the same way complaining about not being able to jump in, or mash buttons against someone with an invulnerable EX DP in Street Fighter will get you called a scrub).

 

[Strangerinmytub]

First, you can use PB's every round, but depending on the length of the match you could use BB's once, maybe even twice in a single round. Meaning it's more spammable and noob friendly.

Second, your point here only reinforced the fact that you had to play intelligently to get a PB off. Throwing out a random PB in neutral is going to get you held, but you also had PB cancels, cancels into the sidestep attack or throw, unholdable setups with the PB and other yomi which would scare your opponent into blocking which gives you the frame advantage and in some cases even whiff punish with it. There was far more depth involved with it's use that went beyond "press button, get reward".

Third, this point is completely inaccurate, power launcher combos were optimal under normal circumstances, Power Blows were optimal in the case of special environment hazards however, most of which required the PB in order to trigger, more often than not resulting in more damage than you'd get from a "basic" power launcher combo.

tl;dr, BB's are a scrub's best friend, you had to actually be good to use PBs.

Powerblows were only useful for guaranteed damage after critical bursts or for cheesing people when it was laggy, it was just a gimmicky tool that didn't really have any practical use. Don't know how you can think that system was better than the meter/BB system because:

1. There is now a tradeoff players have to make between using break holds or saving up for a break blow. This means there are meaningful choices players have to make and that there isn't a single choice that is objectively better in every situation.
2. With the BB itself, players have to make another meaningful choice. Do I go for the guaranteed cutscene damage or do I cancel into a launcher. Does the opponent have meter for a break hold? Can I bait them into using it for a free throw? Another meaningful choice that has far more depth than "they are stunned so I'm gonna press PB" or "I'll just throw out a power blow and hope the other guy has staplers for hands."
3. You don't have to get your ass beat for 2/3 of the round to get access to a useful tool. PB only unlocking when your health is critical is just punishing people for beating their opponent. Comeback tools should exist but you shouldn't handicap players because they are BEATING their opponent.
4. BB has interesting properties in the fact that it can deflect highs/mids but is also beaten by sidestep attacks. This means that while they are actually a viable option out of neutral (unlike PB which was super telegraphed with a useless sidestep cancel that literally nobody fell for. People would just stand 10 feet away from each other and spam PB->SS until they actually wanted to start fighting again), there are also clear weaknesses and ways to counterplay it. Dunno why you think it is a scrub move because sidestep spamming is so common at low levels that throwing out a BB from neutral is just a great way to waste your meter.
5. I have no idea where you got this concept of you "have to be good to use Powerblows". If you look at any DOA5 tournaments you almost never see anyone use PB after a critical burst, and I don't think any competitively viable player considered throwing out a PB from neutral as a viable strat. Like, where are these PB cancel into sidestep plays you keep going on about? What kind of pipedream are you experiencing where XCaliburbladez is getting destroyed by Rikuto's 9000 IQ play of Powerblow cancelling into another power blow cancel into a sidestep kick?

 

[NightAntilli]

In the beginning I had the tendency to set up and extend stuns for power blows, but that was more being accustomed to DOA5. Honestly the game doesn't need power blows. To be fair, it doesn't need a meter either, but hey, at least they're trying new things to bring the series in a better direction.

 

[Zeo]

@Strangerinmytub I didn't say I preferred Power Blows to Break Blows, I said I wasn't sure which one I preferred, they both have their pros and cons.

I'm going to say you had some pretty solid point on power blows. Most prominently, their status as a comeback mechanic. I never thought of them that way and comeback mechanics are something that should never exist period. Break Blows can be used in a scrubby fashion. But at a detriment to the user for wasting meter. They can regain it, but it returns at a slower rate when you're taking damage, as it should be.

I'm still not sure which I prefer, but objectively the BB is probably a better mechanic. I'm going to withdraw here.

 

[d3v]

In the beginning I had the tendency to set up and extend stuns for power blows, but that was more being accustomed to DOA5. Honestly the game doesn't need power blows. To be fair, it doesn't need a meter either, but hey, at least they're trying new things to bring the series in a better direction.

I'd been going for stun-launch combos late in DOA5's life, so there was very little adjustment for me. All I needed was to figure out the best juggle with a ground bounce to give me the option for a BB.

 

[DR2K]

one powerblow probably has more animation frames and work put into it than all the BBS combined in DOA6 tho.