VF(5FS) characters playstyle as an elevator pitch

Hey guys,

I was wondering if you could help me make a compilation of each characters playstyle in a brief but precise description. Why I'm asking this is that I am very interested to understand from the people that have mastered their charactrs, what exactly makes their character tick. Descriptions like these might also make it easier for newcomers or people interested in switching characters to understand what each character is about and it it fits their playstyle.

For example (this might be totally wrong, as I am not an expert at my character)

Taka
Taka is a character that has very low execution in button inputs, but a Taka player needs to have a lot of experience to consistantly beat other opponents & styles because you will need to learn to adapt and be creative while using his very straightforward and limited attacks.

Taka's fighting style is 100% about understanding risk & reward. Not only as your own character, but of all the rest of the cast. This because when you execute a move as Taka, each move can give enourmous rewards, but also can be avoided and countered very hard. More so than most characters it is Taka who must adapt and because of his limited attacks and defensive possibilities.

Taka's enourmous risk comes from that all his moves have immense recovery and super limited defensive options. His large hitbox, weak dashes and slower crouch speed all add to that. Taka's limited moveset and only few safe moves don't allow him to cancel, mix-up strings and he doesn't have the same freedom of changing the rhythm of his moves like the other characters. Taka has no tricks up his sleeves, so overcoming your opponent is reading him and his characters options and making hard reads.

Playing taka, you must commit each time you press a button. When you stick out an arm or a foot you must have total confidence this move will bring you one step closer to victory. There is very little room for error. This excitement of knowing that your next move can either slap them so hard they will be scared to do something, or that you have become too predictable and they will avoid and punish you just as hard (or worse) is what makes Taka a super interesting character to play. His low execution might scare off some people who enjoy playing offensive or technical characters, but Taka's technical side is not in how fast you cance your next move, it's about not being scared to commit, and making the opponent so scared he won't know what to commit to.
--

Heh, that turned out kind of long. I'd be interested to see if any other people could do a write up of their character and maybe we can create an interesting list for all/most of the cast!

 

This character analysis is geared towards beginners. I will refrain from technical jargon such as frame data, "meaty" attacks, okizeme, etc. to keep this guide as simple as possible. I will only be covering a more general and broad overview of the character and their uniqueness.


Lion

Lion is a character that excels at hitting your opponent with low attacks. The freedom to attack at all three heights of high, mid, and low freely and easily is an invaluable trait to Lion. If multiple attack options is what you're looking for, Lion is a great character for you to pick up and play.

Lion also excels when your opponent is in a side-turn situation. Most characters have strong sideturn setups, but to Lion, it's almost a necessity to learn his sideturn options since this is where Lion's most damaging setups are. This helps in character matchups in which Lion cannot juggle the opponent as high due to weight or against human players that are more defensive in nature.

Although Lion has a plethora of attacks, most of his attacks do not hit for high damage. At intermediate and advanced levels of play, rarely will Lion ever win off of stray hits. As players skill level increase, Lion will have to rely on combos for most of his damage output.

Beginners should also be highly cautioned about the constant use of Lion's low attacks. All of Lion's low attacks leave him wide open for a counterattack if blocked by the opponent. Lion's low attacks should be used sparingly in conjunction with his mid attacks to pressure the opponent into making mistakes that Lion can capitalize on.

 

great reply! anyone else?

 

Jacky

Strengths: Jacky has many strengths to rely on. From a beginner level to even an advanced level, Jacky players can win by simply relying on his strings, mixed in with throws. Aside from the strings, Jacky has a very strong guessing game from advantage. Players can take advantage of his 15f counterhit launcher () or throw mixup for relatively large damage. He also has the ability to turn every combo into a relatively high damage combo by implementing his Flash sword kick (:)... thus turning him into the most damaging character in the game (BY FAR). He is one of the only few characters to have full circulars at all levels and has a moderately strong throw game... 60 damage backthrow, 40 damage neutral, and 50 damage forward.

Played well, Jacky can smother opponents with his oppressive strings, and can take easy wins from opponents who dont have character knowledge or even make life tough for opponents that do.

However, a one flaw of Jacky's is that he has a difficult time breaking through strong defenses, since he has no guard break.
(such strong defenses are very rare, and Jacky players find success in Japan, where opponents have the best defenses)

If you are new to the game, or looking for a character to switch to, or want to pick up a new character to have fun with (or if you are like me and finally picked up Jacky after having the game for 2 years) Jacky is definitely a character to try out.

 

Do you like to play the most annoying character in the game, play Eileen. Pitch in 15 secs.

 

I like that write up from 1up, especially that they are descibing the character itself too although it misses some depth in actual playing style. If I read this without playing VF I still wouldn't know who to pick, haha

On a sidenote, it's interesting in this age with all the talk about sexism around videogames now that, although written by a woman (Heidi?) there are quite some sexistic references in there. for example:

Sarah
"Despite having a major advantage over her brother Jacky (a pair of boobs), Sarah never really has been able to match up to him in terms of popularity."

Aoi
Noteworthy getup: Outfit B with the exposed midriff. Aoi, what happened? You used to be such a good girl....

 

and also incorrect in many cases

 

you're right mike (and Dhaval) let's straighten it out together then!

 

For referene, archived version of the above mentioned 1up article.