Due to technical difficulties, IGN was unable to release DrDogg's breakdown of a fan favorite character introduced in Dead or Alive 4: Kokoro. Kokoro is a Ba Ji Quan user modeled after Virtua Fighter's Akira in concept. She is the half-sister of Dead or Alive's DOATEC president, Helena Douglass. Does Kokoro stack up well in the new engine, or is she in for some troubled times? Bryan has provided the full article until IGN Pro League has resolved it's issues:
Bryan Dawson said:Kokoro was a newcomer in Dead or Alive 4 that had a few nice strings but was never really considered to be on the same level as many of the ninja characters. Now, she enters Dead or Alive 5 with all of her powers at the ready. She is formidable, safer than most characters, and with a little luck, can actually hit a Critical Burst in three successful attacks (from our experience so far only Leifang can Burst in less than four hits).
While Kokoro is looking fairly solid in DOA5, she has some great tools and some moderately limited tools. However, this creates a nice balance that gives Kokoro a fighting chance against almost any character in the game. Some of you may have seen Kokoro’s new stance (Heichu) that she can cancel into during many of her combo strings. This stance leads into three different attacks: a low punch, a mid punch and a high punch. All three punches stun on normal hit, while the mid punch is a guard break that leaves her with a slight advantage to continue pushing her offense. The high punch is a stun that doesn’t allow the opponent to counter immediately, although the delay isn’t long enough to score a guaranteed attack.
The downside of this new stance is that while everything sounds great on paper, it really isn’t particularly useful in practice. Although Kokoro can cancel multiple strings into the stance for a good variety of attacks, all of the attacks from these strings are linear and all three attacks from the stance are linear. This means that an opponent can side step at any point and avoid every single option Kokoro has available during the Heichu stance, including not using the stance at all and finishing the original combo string. You may think you can cancel into a throw (which beats out a side step), but there’s enough delay on the stance cancel to allow an opposing player to avoid or interrupt a throw attempt. Essentially, the new stance has some uses when it hits, but when an attack leading into the stance is blocked, Heichu doesn’t have much of a purpose.
If you watched the Kokoro exhibition video from E3, you may have seen a combo that featured two sit-down stuns, one coming from a sidestepping shoulder attack. Unfortunately, the shoulder attack is gone now, but Kokoro is a still a sit-down stun machine. For those who have not been keeping up with the latest changes to the DOA5 system mechanics, a sit-down stun does not allow the opponent to use a counter hold.
Kokoro has two attacks that are both safe when blocked and place the opponent in a sit-down stun on normal hit and counter hit. In addition, both attacks cover significant distance and can be used to punish an opponent for missing an attack (whiffing). Even if the opponent slow escapes (shakes) out of the sit-down stuns as fast as possible, Kokoro can still connect a launching attack or a Critical Burst before the opponent can retaliate.
Speaking of her Critical Burst, Kokoro’s is a sabaki attack. This means that it parries all high punches during the animation of the attack. A Critical Burst is mainly used in the middle of a combo, but this is still a good defensive tool to have. As we mentioned earlier, most characters cannot reach a Critical Burst stun until at least the fourth hit of a combo. In fact, so far out of the characters we’ve looked into, only Leifang can initiate a Critical Burst in less than four hits. Kokoro’s old guard break attack from DOA4 (her shoulder) gives her enough advantage at a full charge (when blocked) to get a guaranteed follow-up attack. You can use this opportunity to score one of her sit-down stuns (which is a two hit combo), then transition directly into her Critical Burst to get the super stun in three hits. It isn’t likely to see an opponent block a fully charged guard break, but at least it’s an option.
For those DOA4 players who couldn’t stand Kokoro’s double low kick combo strings, we have some good news for you. On normal hit, the double low kicks no longer stun. Both kicks and the optional mid punch are easily evaded by a side step as well. Not only that, if you get hit by the first low kick, you can still side step the second one. These attacks are only a threat if they connect on counter hit, at which point they stun the opponent. This is also one of the strings that can be canceled into Kokoro’s new stance, but because all of the attacks from the stance are linear, a side step will evade them as well.
Overall, Kokoro looks very good in Dead or Alive 5. She will definitely be giving people a run for their money, but she’s been balanced enough to make it a fair fight. She lost her tools that many may have referred to as “cheap”, but gained many new tools that are deadly in the right hands. Hopefully we’ll see at least at few Kokoro players this weekend at the “I’m a Fighter” World Championship: Round 2 on doa.ign.com.
Thats good 2 know, I can't stand it when dumbass fanboys go all crazy when they see a game looks SLIGHTY better on that system than the other. Everbody says 360 is better......2 tell u the true, 360 is just as awsome as the PS3,