Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate

[Ishimaru Jinrai]

Viola is weird because she's a character with 2D mechanics put in a 3D game.

She's a MvC3 / Tekken tag character all in one, she can juggle you around, mid/low mix-up stuns into launchers, and use meter to keep you in the air longer! Lol, I have some of the most epic matches against Viola players, after getting up from her devastating 50% damage combos and taking the round, it's rewarding!

 

[DrakeAldan]

How does this game play? Is it similar to Tekken (I hate that wave-dashing bullshit) or does it play like VF or SoulCal?

DOA is roughly based on VF (hence the VF guest characters). DOA tends to have worse frames on normal hit when it comes to frame advantage, however. There's a lot of fishing for counterhits.

DOA's holds are a way to stop your opponent from using the same move over and over again (well, you can still stop people from doing that in other games, but in DOA it's more "direct"). In my opinion it makes things a little more dynamic... but you'll still be repeating things, just not so blatantly.

The game revolves around the Triangle System; strikes beat throws, throws beat holds, holds beat strikes. i.e. "Rock Paper Scissors". Using the Triangle System properly usually grants you 150% damage. An interesting thing to note is that the startup frames of strikes are invincible to throws (period!- no matter how slow the attack). This last fact also makes advantage and disadvantage feel "fluid"- if you are blocking at disadvantage (a natural reflex) and your enemy goes to throw you, the only way to counter (since command throws are unbreakable in this game) is to attack at disadvantage, even if it's severe disadvantage.

DOA has "Critical Stun", which is its form of frame advantage (usually granted on counterhit). In Critical Stun you can't block, attack, or move, but throws won't be effective on you (at least until you leave stun). You can stagger escape (a la SCIV/VF/etc.) or Critical Hold (basically a hold with greater recovery and less damage) to get out of situations. Your opponent can "stun > launch" which is basically getting frame advantage and then launching you for a mini-combo, or they can take the risk of you holding them to go for more damage.

It's important to know the Triangle System since your throws are what's going to be keeping people's holds in check. If you focus on combos too much, especially keeping your opponent in stun too long, you'll eventually be interrupted by a hold.

Backdash cancel is in the game, but it's like SC backdash cancel (44-214214214...) You can wavedash, but you don't need to. Moving isn't a complete pain like Tekken. Freestep (sort of like 8-way-run) is fairly effective for moving around the arena depending on your character.

It's a weird little game but the rules are consistent so you can indeed skill up. The game forces you to get in the other guy's head, so playing it will probably make you naturally better at reading or analyzing opponents on the fly.



Really the only thing is if you like the characters or not. I'm not crazy about half the cast (lot of girls with bad attitudes...) but if you like someone you see, you should probably go for it.

There's a bigger community on Xbox, too.

 

[Ishimaru Jinrai]

There's a bigger community on Xbox, too.

That's good to hear, do you play on PSN also? I checked on gamefaqs and seemed like the PSN DOA5 Ultimate board was a lot more active then the Xbox side. There are about 5,000 ranked registered players on solo match on DOA5 Ultimate, and about 1,500 on Tag team.

 

[JAGTHEGEMINI]

The way you worded it made it sound otherwise, buy whatever.

OK, i give you that. But i already made clear that it wasn´t meant that way.

Actually, that's exactly what happens during tournaments, especially for DOA. You play only two matches so you have one match to adapt to your opponent or else you die. Adapt or die.
Basically goes for any fighting game.

So, in your eyes, anyone who uses Helena is not actually good but is only beating you because Helena has some good tools? Kthanks

Imo it is almost impossbile to adapt only during 2 fights. Players with very good yomi/mind skills can do that yes, but they are rare from my experience.

DOA was and is imo very extreme when it comes to mind and guessing games. Much more than SC or Tekken.

And no, this time i made myself very clear... I said "most people who use Helena..." not anyone.

 

[Windstar]

You're going about this the wrong way. You're getting frustrated because your opponents are not playing the way you want them to play. They have no reason to play your way if they're beating you with their "playstyle". And likewise, you're supposed to be using what works. If the opponent doesn't ADAPT, that's great for you and tough shit for them.

In a tournament, I have absolutely have no problem fighting people that don't adapt. It's a Free win for me! However, online, I don't really care to play people that don't put much thought into their actions because it's detrimental to my overall playstyle (not to mention that Ayane is a pain in the ass to use properly online). Take d3v & Rikuto's advice and fight better competition. If you can seek out an offline scene that you can realistically get to regularly, then do that! DOA is amazing offline. You never think about lag tactics and only think about your actions and your opponent's actions.

Stop fighting stupid scrubs and fight competent opponents. You will still lose, but it will be much more beneficial for developing your skills.

I'm not sure if I am ready to move on to better competition, if I'm having trouble with these players. The thing is, I know I can beat them. I know exactly what moves they're doing and when and I know exactly what the weaknesses are. And yet, I'm unable to beat them because I get in my head that I need to vary my attacks to keep them guessing and it never works on them. I have play a very specific way to beat them and I'm having trouble adapting to it.

I'll punish a player using Brad's 2H+KK then 66P for the CB into a combo. 66P will get held often so I end up switching to just repeating 2H+KK, they hold mid, so I repeat the process three or four times until the critical stun knocks them down. Then I punish them again with 2H+KK and go in for 66P, they hold and I get punished. And I think its my fault (and it is) that I thought they would stop doing that.

There's this Lisa player that always opens up with 1PP and always varies with 1PKKK. If the distance is too great, its 1PP. I block, I punish, they keep doing it. Fine, great, I'll keep punishing. But I don't want to sit there just punishing it. I want to move into the offensive but I can't find ways of getting into that when the opponent is so recklessly stupid (and 1PP is a hard move to deal with since it can be used as a defensive tool). I don't know Momiji or Brad well enough to deal with the move or simply anticipate it. I know Kokoro can't really do much against it at close range (33P or sidestep P are about the only things that can handle it), but since I'm trying to learn Momiji, I would like to be able to stop 1PP before it starts and I'm not exactly sure how I can do that yet.

Basically, I know what the players are going to do, I know how to punish it, but I don't really know how to anticipate it and stop it from happening before it starts. I want to beat their stupid stuff, more than just punishing it, but by not playing a specific way to do it, but the way I want to do it. I want to cut off the head before it starts breathing fire.

i just got 3rd place at Wednesday Night Fights and i just bs'd my way through most of the brackets using bread and butter combos with Momiji. not to mention that i haven't played or practiced the game in about 2-3 weeks. but either way i say my rusty Mila got me through 1/3 of the brackets. and Momiji the rest. i wish i would have practiced before the tourney but there aren't any games at work. :P

am i the only one that thought of shortening Momiji's name and have only come up with Mom? it just keeps coming to me.

Momiji's name is related to maple trees or red leaves. Its generally symbolic with autumn So if you wanted to give her a pet name or a nick name. You could always call her red, autumn, or maple (syrup).