FIGHTAN GAEMS GENERAL

I'm on a kick with these lately after playing Melty Blood and SSF4.

Maining Red Arcuied in Melty Blood, since I've learned her basic combos and her play style is agreeable to me (flail wildly until you hit something, then turn it into a combo somehow). The Actress Again PC port is coming out fairly soon....

I'm redownloading Hisoutensoku (I still can't believe I accidentally deleted it...); with any luck I can get it to work with my controller so that I can actually perform Mary Sue attacks and combos.

I haven't played SSF4 enough but hopefully I'll be able to figure out how that psychic chick is supposed to work.

Super Smash Bros., I've been working with Zelda/Shiek and Marth to some success. I've also been trying to come up with a generally-agreeable list of "fair" items and stages (game is way cooler with Final Smashes and you know it).

We need to do these more in the future.

Tohno Shiki: The main character of Tsukihime. Considered to be a beginner-friendly character, with a pretty basic but effective moveset. No ranged attacks, so strictly rushdown.

Nanaya Shiki: Assassin version of Shiki projected by the Tatari. Similiar moveset to Tohno Shiki, but a bit harder to execute combos in exchange for higher damage potential.

Ryougi Shiki: The main character of Kara no Kyoukai. Rushdown character with weak approach options but extremely powerful combo capability. Her Arc Drive/Last Arc (finisher moves, basically) are possibly the strongest in the game. Low-ish health pool.

Tohno Akiha: Tohno Shiki's sister. Highest health pool in the game with a number of good zoning moves. Some of her attacks drain life from the enemy to replenish her own.

Vermillion Akiha: Crazy version of Akiha. Very similar moveset to her normal version, but this time has the LOWEST health pool in the game in exchange for becoming incredibly fast.

Seifuku Akiha: Different outfit for Akiha, basically. Not as much of a tank as her normal version, but similar in overall style in terms of her moveset. I have not played this character much, to be honest.

Sion Eltnam Atlasia: The main character of the original Melty Blood. Uses a gun and a whip for some decent zoning power. Her Arc Drive only hits at point blank range or above her, so it's hard to use effectively.

Sion Tatari: Vampire version of Sion. Loses access to her gun and whip in exchange for the ability to summon images of other characters to support her. Good at rushdown. Her Arc Drive is very weak and only hits at point blank range, but heals her a fair amount if it connects.

Arcueid Brunestud: The ur-vampire who is actually a bro towards humanity, sometimes. Excellent at rushdown with a lot of sweeping wind-based moves. Has some difficult combos, but not horribly unfriendly towards beginners. Fairly high health pool.

Red Arcueid: Evil version of Arcueid. Similar moves to Arcueid, except they use blood instead of wind (derp) and trade some rushdown power for zoning. A little easier to use than Arcueid.

Archetype Earth: Arcueid possessed by the Earth and/or Moon (I'm not entirely sure which). Once again, a similar basic moveset, but her specials are much flashier and much more oriented towards zoning than either of her other incarnations. Her Arc Drive/Last Arc are similar to Ryougi's in power.

Ciel: Catholic undead hunter. Lots of fast moves and some good ranged power with her throwing daggers. Was OP for a long time in the earlier versions of Melty Blood, but fixed now.

Powerd Ciel (I don't know why it's spelled that way): Ciel using a gigantic holy gun. Moveset is entirely different from her normal version's; it is a bit more aggressive overall, but slower.

Nrvnqsr Chaos (pronounced 'Nero'): A vampire made up of a bunch of animal familiars. The slayer of noobs, since pretty much all of his attacks have massive range and he has a lot of obnoxious projectiles. Once you get enough experience you realize that his attacks are actually pretty slow and have gaping blind spots, but before that he can be really frustrating to play against.

Michael Roa Vladamjong: The main villain from Tsukihime and a vampire. Uses lightning for a bunch of trap-oriented attacks. Full Moon uses a "charge" system for his lightning attacks that can be a little tricky to figure out at first.

Wallachia: The vampire who served as the main villain in the original Melty Blood. Can summon images like Sion Tatari and has a lot of wide-ranged attacks.

Riesbyfe Strydeberg (probably misspelled that): Sion's pal and a knight from the church. A bit slow, but her moves give her a very defensive feel.

Satsuki Yumizuka: A vampire whose "suffering" has been so taunted that she has become a joke character. Her attacks all look really awkward and unbalanced, but she has ridiculous amounts of power and super armor behind them ("super armor" just means they can be hit and not flinch, thus continuing with their own attack). A ground-based "grappler" with several throws.

Kishima Kouma: A relative of the Tohnos and some demon monk thing. Similar to Satsuki's play style despite completely contrasting appearances.

Arima Miyako: Shiki's sister from his adoptive family. Apparently knows all sorts of crazy martial arts. Similar to Satsuki and Kishima in that she's a ground-based bruiser, but uses more conventional moves instead of throws.

Len: A dream familiar that thinks she's a cat. Like real cats, doesn't speak. I've played her exactly once so I have no idea how she's supposed to play.

White Len: Len's counterpart, actually capable of speech. The main antagonist of the second Melty Blood. Has a light, evasive play style with some decent zoning options. Really likes snow for some reason.

Hisui: The Tohno's maid. Supposedly the weakest character in the entire franchise who received a massive buff from the Tatari just to screw with people. Her attacks basically involve her throwing household items everywhere, making her a good zoner.

Kohaku: The Tohno's other maid. Much less innocent than Hisui, hiding a sword in her broom while carrying around Molotov cocktails and toxic syringes. Long range thanks to her broom/sword and has some interesting specials, including mutated plants for support and timed explosives.

Hisui and Kohaku: This character lets you tag out between Hisui and Kohaku during the match and replaces some of their specials with support moves from the other. The tradeoff for this versatility is slightly lower health overall.

Mech-Hisui: A robot version of Hisui created by Kohaku for reasons. Considered one of hardest characters to play well due to timing, difficult combos, etc, but very strong with high execution. Lots of weird attacks with stuff like chainsaws, lightsabers, rocket launchers, etc....

Kohaku and Mech-Hisui: Similar to Hisui/Kohaku in that some of Kohaku's specials are replaced with support moves from Mech-Hisui; however, you can't tag out to Mech-Hisui. Like the other team characters, slightly lower health than solo Kohaku.

Neco-Arc: A tiny cat version of Arcueid. Stands less than half as tall as most other characters, which is actually really frustrating since a lot of combos just don't work on her. Considered a very weak character overall thanks to having almost zero range on her attacks. Other people generally look down on people who play this character.

Mech-Hisui and Neco-Arc: Similar to the Kohaku/Mech-Hisui team, except that Mech-Hisui leads while Neco-Arc provides support. Lower health than Mech-Hisui.

Neco-Arc Chaos: A tiny cat version of Nrvnqsr Chaos. Same problems as Neco Arc, except that some of his attacks have Nero's massive range attached, making him even more maligned than Neco-Arc. Second-lowest health pool in the game.



Moons/Grooves:

Crescent Moon: A balanced style.

Half Moon: Gives your character a moveset more oriented towards rushdown.

Full Moon: Gives your character a more defensive moveset, often with zoning or counter moves.