I do not have the demo to make a real judgement but here are my thoughts on what's a problem in DOA.
-Guardbreak: you should not be able to hold out from this stun.It should give a slight frame advantage to the attacker forcing the defender to make a choice.Guardbreak seems better in DOA5 because they only occur with charged move if am right, allowing the defender to hold thanks to knowledge of strings.
-Pushback.
i think doa needs pusback ,adding a layer to whiff punishment.
-Dash:
I'd like to see some faster dash in DOA,forward dash being slightly faster.I think about ryu or ken in SFthird strike, their dash allow to go in and out of range.This could work well with added pusback, i think about soulcaliburV(it's a shame they nerfed it though ...)
-Throw:
i don't understand why this is the most viable option in term of guaranteed punishment behind almost every strings.7 startup frame and unbreakable!?This seems to be a wrestling game.
In VF throw are as fast if i remember well but you need to be really close to land it.And when it's guaranteed the opponent stiil has the opportunity to buffer a break.If you don't know which move is punishable with a throw you'll probably get hit,rewarding knowledge and read.
If the range needed to throw is reduced and the dash buffed we should be able to read a throw soon enough or apply mindgame with throw/middle.
For example.guard break ,dash,throw or middle?it think he will throw.then i strike or use a ducking strike as 4K of hayabusa or 66H to go through the middle.
Or I don't want to take too much risk :guard, throw break.
This would need a decent window to break on reaction or the ability to buffer it from guard.
Throw is supposed to be a tool to open guard or the entire mechanic of grappler and i don't find the grappler fun enough atm.
-Holds :
Hold and stuns are the identity of DOA and at the same the most problematic mechanic.
Holds are spammable,do too much damage and are pure yomi(in stun).
The startup window should be around 4 as Master said ,the active window should be lower and the recovery should be higher.I would even nerf it more ,almost no damgae for it.I take the risk to attack with three different strings cancelled to get a high launcher and the opponent can do as much damages by spamming it before an attack or during stun!?This is a defensive tool.
Stun is as a juggle and hold a way to stop it without cost and does damages.Total bullshit for me.
Rikuto said that you should not be able to hold out from stun.I agree on that but that is too excessive for me even though this is a good idea.
The damage done by a hold should be recoverable and fast actually.Encouraging to take back the offensive to really benefit the hold.By holding you already minimize damages,as said above this is a DEFENSIVE TOOL.
Do this to normal holds and keep experts hold as they are considering thier limitations.I don't know if they are as "expert" as they're supposed to be though...
To prevent that cheapness they added excessive high damage on high counter throws.Balancing a cheap tool with a cheap tool
.
I am not against keeping it for counter throw out of stun though.As Jann leee's 236H or gen fu's 66H.
Just frame hold is good rewarding good reads on guarded strings.
And if i hit middle for a high hold it should stun rewarding a good choice.
-wake up kicks:
Simply get rid of high one and stun.Make them easier to see or remove the invicibily on it.slight advantage if it hits and disadvantage if guarded.
stuns:i still have to think about it.
-sidesteps:
can't argue on that,because i don't have the demo,heard they are too shy,and i don't know how many moves track right now
-String cancel: I love it
perfect for mixups.
Conclusion DOA needs at least one drastic change and it will be repercuted on each other mechanic.They'd better not be shy or this will be DOA4 all over again in september.
