So (I seem to start with this word too much) I've still been thinking of trying other characters to get a better perspective of the game and its cast. Though few characters really stand out to me, and even fewer still, am I good with. I've been getting better with Akira - I'm capable of doing True Dragon Lance Combo on most of his good combo starts like 46P, 4PP+K, and others. I don't think I'll ever be able to the knee on a pad, but I'm not sure how vital is truly is in the long run. I've never really seen it that dominant in Virtua Fighter.
Even still, I'm all thumbs when it comes to taking him online. I know the general strategy of Akira is to overwhelm opponents with aggressive force, but I'm not quite sure how you can go applying that in this game. I guess I just need to keep calm and remain confident to pull off is stuff, but its hard, when many players are... being what they are.
Other characters that interest me are Hayate and Hitomi. With Hitomi I've had some successes, and she's fairly easy to work with. I feel like I'm a little too repetitive with her, and I'm not using a lot of more common moves. I'm also confused as to whether I should focus on launcher setups or go for string mix ups. Most of her launchers are pretty slow, a lot of her strings seem to scream for hold. Granted, I've been fairly lucky in the few times I've played her, where no one has really held out of her strings that I use.
And with Hayate, its mostly gimmicks that I've used to win. Hayate-Gake mix-ups mostly and very simple launcher combos. There's a lot of moves, 236K, 214K, 214PPK, 4K6K, 33KK, 4P variants, that I'm not really sure how to apply yet. I'm not quite whether I should push string mix ups, and pressure, or look towards getting counter hits and launcher combos.
FSD forums have only provided very little information with which I've taken and used, but not enough to really gleam any sort of strategy or workable match ups. Most opponents I face - and I've said this before - tend to fall for very basic stuff. I wonder if I should continue being basic, or work towards other elements. The biggest issue right now, is really trying to punish overly aggressive player from players, without relying too heavily on one or two quick moves. I'd like to apply more stance mix-ups with Hayate, especially with his new follow-ups, and with Kokoro as well. A lot of players don't make it easy since they have a tendency to mash the moment I stop attacking for less than a second. I'm not quite sure how to make them fear the idea of attacking, or throwing out holds all the time.
Then again, I have video proof of me destroying players with nothing but counter hit 2H+KK into counter throws. I'm not quite sure they'll ever learn sometimes.
