Disclaimer: The quirks that I will list are things that I have endured both online and offline. DOA5U is not my first DOA, it's not my first fighting game, and I do not need to take Ritalin or Adderall (LOL), also if I need therapy I would call the useless therapist that I already have who charges too much. This is a casual mostly serious topic about concerns I have about the game that keep me from getting the most enjoyment I can out of the game. I am interested either clarification if I have a clear misunderstanding of the game mechanics or confirmation to know that it isn't just me and the people I play with. I don't speak or type DOA/fighting-game lingo on a daily basis so bear with me, and please no drama.
1.) Wakeup kick stun type inconsistency: The type of stun that one goes into after being on the receiving end of a successful wakeup kick is random at times. During these times the game doesn't seem to care what you are doing when you get hit with one, you could make a hold attempt failure, be dashing backwards/forwards, or attacking and the wakeup will cause near split second stun that doesn't open an opportunity for setups, and at other times you could be a neutral or guarding and the wakeup kick will cause a deep stun that allows your opponent to get nasty mixups off on you. This really irks when an instance occurs when you notice that your wakeup kicks don't make a stun worth anything while all of your opponent's wakeup kicks cause deep stuns regardless of the scenario.
2.) Inconsistent blocking using directional input (and rarely the H button): It's listed in every manual of every DOA game that blocking is performed by either pressing H and H+2, or holding 4/6 and 1/3 to blocks highs/mids and lows respectively. But blocking in DOA past DOA Ultimate on the original Xbox using directional input is hit or miss while mostly being on point. I have seen replays in the media section where players are clearly backing away holding 4/6 in situations where doing anything other than backing away would be ill-advised only for the block function to fail and they eat a high or mid attack as a result. This has happened to me many times online, versus the AI, and offline. The overwhelming vast majority of the time blocking works but randomly it doesn't work, this includes blocking using H but block failure in that manner seems to be extremely rare. Cue the quirk about inconsistency in wakeup kick stuns mentioned in #1 and you have a mess on your hands when you're backing away from a downed opponent in a tricky oki scenario and get barely clipped by mid wakeup kick that should have been blocked but instead caused a deep stun. This brings me to my next quirk.
3.) Block failure while free stepping: Now while free stepping backward holding 4 and 6 one may block mid attacks generally. But occasionally while free stepping a block failure will occur and you will eat a high/mid then probably utter an expletive, and of course I am not talking about unblockables. You may blurt out more than one expletive if the attack you ate was a mid wakeup kick that inexplicably caused a deep stun despite that you didn't make a failed hold attempt or throw out a wild attack.
4.) Inconsistency in performing blocking while free stepping or otherwise backing away: The game can't seem to make up it's mind if it wants you to perform a block while free stepping or walking backward holding 4 or 6 while an opponent is out of range throwing out wild attacks. One match you can back away while your opponent flails with no problem, the next match your character performs the blocking animation fucking up your attempt to back away. If you want to use spacing/turtling tactics to confound your opponent, not knowing whether or not your character will back away or just stand there blocking really makes it harder than it has to be, especially for people who are trying to get into taking the game more seriously.
5.) Inconsistent ducking: With past DOA games I had a problem with ducking as those games would have me free stepping toward to foreground or duck when holding 2 at random so I've gotten used to using H+2 to duck. However ducking has randomly failed me at times versus Jann Lee's 236 or running K, Pai's running K, and standing throws and offensive holds in general. I remember having the hardest time completing the tutorial because of duck failure against throws and offensive holds in missions that required me to do so. And many times I would see my character clearly performing a ducking animation and still get nailed with an unblockable high attack, standing throw, or standing offensive hold.
6.) Swapping sides on wakeup: When your character is downed and your opponent is aggressively moving toward your character's body, they will occassionally swap sides on wakeup. If you or your opponent are throwing out wild attacks over a downed body, upon wakeup the downed character will somehow suddenly switch from the left side to the right side and vice versa and the attacks will track regardless of whether they have tracking properties or not. An equally annoying quirk are wakeup kicks somehow gaining godlike 360 degree tracking properties when they are performed after these mysterious side swaps. One thing I noticed about this particular oki scenario is that block failure seems to happen here more than anywhere else, and this involves using both directional input and H holding blocking. When this happens to me and fucks me up I just throw the round because I don't care to play through game mandated bullshit while having to defend against a player who just got away with murder with assistance. I for the life of me can't understand why someone would make the boneheaded decision to add an unwarranted mechanic like this that doesn't serve to do anything other than enrage players.
I have heard it explained theoretically that it takes x number of frames to block, duck, or what have you, but it makes no sense to be able to block/duck on reaction one minute and not the next. I mean how mentally retarded do the main game designers have to be to fail to understand and address the importance of being able to block on reaction on a fighting game of all game types? It's definitely better than DOA4's random hold failures where a person performs the correct hold with the correct timing to crush an attack only for them to get hit by the attack and see their character instantaneously perform a second hold without them pushing anything, but there are still too many inconsistencies that seem to want to create a barrier for entry for newer players and they personally keep me from having the confidence to take the game more seriously.
1.) Wakeup kick stun type inconsistency: The type of stun that one goes into after being on the receiving end of a successful wakeup kick is random at times. During these times the game doesn't seem to care what you are doing when you get hit with one, you could make a hold attempt failure, be dashing backwards/forwards, or attacking and the wakeup will cause near split second stun that doesn't open an opportunity for setups, and at other times you could be a neutral or guarding and the wakeup kick will cause a deep stun that allows your opponent to get nasty mixups off on you. This really irks when an instance occurs when you notice that your wakeup kicks don't make a stun worth anything while all of your opponent's wakeup kicks cause deep stuns regardless of the scenario.
2.) Inconsistent blocking using directional input (and rarely the H button): It's listed in every manual of every DOA game that blocking is performed by either pressing H and H+2, or holding 4/6 and 1/3 to blocks highs/mids and lows respectively. But blocking in DOA past DOA Ultimate on the original Xbox using directional input is hit or miss while mostly being on point. I have seen replays in the media section where players are clearly backing away holding 4/6 in situations where doing anything other than backing away would be ill-advised only for the block function to fail and they eat a high or mid attack as a result. This has happened to me many times online, versus the AI, and offline. The overwhelming vast majority of the time blocking works but randomly it doesn't work, this includes blocking using H but block failure in that manner seems to be extremely rare. Cue the quirk about inconsistency in wakeup kick stuns mentioned in #1 and you have a mess on your hands when you're backing away from a downed opponent in a tricky oki scenario and get barely clipped by mid wakeup kick that should have been blocked but instead caused a deep stun. This brings me to my next quirk.
3.) Block failure while free stepping: Now while free stepping backward holding 4 and 6 one may block mid attacks generally. But occasionally while free stepping a block failure will occur and you will eat a high/mid then probably utter an expletive, and of course I am not talking about unblockables. You may blurt out more than one expletive if the attack you ate was a mid wakeup kick that inexplicably caused a deep stun despite that you didn't make a failed hold attempt or throw out a wild attack.
4.) Inconsistency in performing blocking while free stepping or otherwise backing away: The game can't seem to make up it's mind if it wants you to perform a block while free stepping or walking backward holding 4 or 6 while an opponent is out of range throwing out wild attacks. One match you can back away while your opponent flails with no problem, the next match your character performs the blocking animation fucking up your attempt to back away. If you want to use spacing/turtling tactics to confound your opponent, not knowing whether or not your character will back away or just stand there blocking really makes it harder than it has to be, especially for people who are trying to get into taking the game more seriously.
5.) Inconsistent ducking: With past DOA games I had a problem with ducking as those games would have me free stepping toward to foreground or duck when holding 2 at random so I've gotten used to using H+2 to duck. However ducking has randomly failed me at times versus Jann Lee's 236 or running K, Pai's running K, and standing throws and offensive holds in general. I remember having the hardest time completing the tutorial because of duck failure against throws and offensive holds in missions that required me to do so. And many times I would see my character clearly performing a ducking animation and still get nailed with an unblockable high attack, standing throw, or standing offensive hold.
6.) Swapping sides on wakeup: When your character is downed and your opponent is aggressively moving toward your character's body, they will occassionally swap sides on wakeup. If you or your opponent are throwing out wild attacks over a downed body, upon wakeup the downed character will somehow suddenly switch from the left side to the right side and vice versa and the attacks will track regardless of whether they have tracking properties or not. An equally annoying quirk are wakeup kicks somehow gaining godlike 360 degree tracking properties when they are performed after these mysterious side swaps. One thing I noticed about this particular oki scenario is that block failure seems to happen here more than anywhere else, and this involves using both directional input and H holding blocking. When this happens to me and fucks me up I just throw the round because I don't care to play through game mandated bullshit while having to defend against a player who just got away with murder with assistance. I for the life of me can't understand why someone would make the boneheaded decision to add an unwarranted mechanic like this that doesn't serve to do anything other than enrage players.
I have heard it explained theoretically that it takes x number of frames to block, duck, or what have you, but it makes no sense to be able to block/duck on reaction one minute and not the next. I mean how mentally retarded do the main game designers have to be to fail to understand and address the importance of being able to block on reaction on a fighting game of all game types? It's definitely better than DOA4's random hold failures where a person performs the correct hold with the correct timing to crush an attack only for them to get hit by the attack and see their character instantaneously perform a second hold without them pushing anything, but there are still too many inconsistencies that seem to want to create a barrier for entry for newer players and they personally keep me from having the confidence to take the game more seriously.
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