Jean and Akira

I feel like Jean was meant to be Akira's rival or friend, much like with Ken and Ryu, I'm sure this has been echoed countless times here. However having studied show for over a month, bare in mind that I'm an Akira player with +5 years experience. I can't help but feel that Jean is inferior to akira. I have to agree with the magazine rating that he is a C player infact whilst akira is on a level of his own, S rank to say.

The problem with Jean is the fact that his fighting style is filled with too many charged moves which makes it difficult to come up with enough surprises. This best illustrated when comparing him to Akira. And furthermore after +5 years of virtua fighter whilst I agree that the core mechanics are balanced, which is why we all love the game here, I can't help but feel that some characters are better than others on raw mechanics. Akira is in a league of his own whilst, others follow behind and luckily the redeeming quality is virtua fighter's core gameplay mechanism.

Jean needs more reversals plus more complex button input like Akira, he needs more guards.Currently the charges aren't well integrated. I don't want to insult anyone I hope this forum is fairly mature, but what are your feelings with Jean?

 

I get what you're saying about Jean. I do think that his charge attacks are a neat gimmick though. I haven't played enough of him to really gauge just how effective they are.

If I'm assuming things correctly (and bear in mind I'm really inexperienced), the idea is to play a mind game where the Jean player tries to keep the opponent guessing as to when he'll charge an attack or not, and if they do what the follow up will be, and then condition them from there. It feels like it should partly be high risk-high reward.

 

kind of a strange to single out jean for comparison to akira, but sure

jean has a solid enough offense that he can condition people to the point where the charge attacks become a threat. what makes them work is that his good charge moves have options beyond when to release the charge, and that in side-turned situations they become nasty given the frame advantage they get.

oh, and jean doesn't need anymore reversals since he has a really good parry already, 4p+k+g. that thing stops all high and mid single-handed punches and elbows. his low parry even stops low kicks on top of low punches. i think you can even link nastier stuff than the canned follow-up punch and combo off his 2p+k+g depending upon which attack you stop and how late it "activates" the parry.

 

Have you started counting frames, out of interest? Anyway, when playing final showdown approaching expert level, I find that the question is less about getting the other guessing, but making sure that with every strike you don't make a bum move. plus what is really important is having a range of attacks with the safe frames. Those attacks are the ones that I need to gradually break your opponent mentally and once that happens, thats when they've lost so they are psychologically crippled since they lose their ''game''. You start to see more panic moves and those are easily punished and lead to devastating comboz. Virtua Fighter is so cruel yet so fun

 

@Optimus_Cack I know I really want Jean to be Akira's Nemesis, he needs to be Akira's equal.

However it the options from those charges will only work against defensive players, who simply wait for the opponent to make mistakes so that they can punish them. They won't work so well with people who assertively control the fight, those who count frames and have a range of attacks that force a person to a defensive mindset.

You know I don't know whether my bias is coming from my Akira preference, since with him I know charged attacks merely serve to spice up things, they simply won't work as bread and butter for his style.

I've tried trying figure out a signature mindset for Jean but it seems like I just can't find a satisfactory one.

 

i don't think you quite understand. his nastiest tech may be the charges, but they aren't his only tool(s). if your opponent is being so aggressive, you don't have to use the charges. jean can get away with playing basic vf, solid damage for relatively simple stuff.

jean also doesn't have to charge them fully each and every time. if the opponent attacks all the time against charge attacks, jean can just hold the charge for the slightest possible time and score a major-counter, either giving him combos or the frame advantage to pressure again.

not to sound smarmy or anything, but maybe jean just doesn't suit your playstyle(s)