Week 11: Learning AF- Transgressing Convict

    Welcome to Week 11 of Learning Anime Fighters (AF). This week we focus on mostly Uni-Night In Birth 2 as we prepare for our first offline tournament. Do we do well or do we reconsider everything and quit this journey? Stay tuned for the answers.

    Also again apologies for the last weeks blog with the random formatting. I figure out what cause the issue and even through it could not be fixed in post, we can make sure it does not happen again.

Monday

- Tournament Week! Time to buckle down and focus on UNI2!

- Knowing my OCD nature when it comes to completing trials, I will try my best to worry about Seth, Yuzu and Vatista's trials next week.

- My OCD-ness kicked in. That did not last long lol. I had to keep at it with Seth's UNICLR trials and it paid off. 5-1 is done.

- I am able to do slightly better with Seth on 2P side and got 4-14 with the VO (Veil Off) set up. This is the first combo I am able to pull off in his 4-x combo trials. UNICLR has 2 sets of veteran combos, one are labelled as 4-x and 5-x. The 5-x mainly focused on specialize enders. Merkava's 5-x series all focus on ending his combos with his 22C super/ set up for example.

- Going back to UNI2 but still using Seth. I noticed UNI2 actually does look better than UNICLR now I looking closer. I can do his advanced combos but his expert/ veteran combos are much harder.

- SPOILERS: Finished Seth's story mode. A trooper to the end and protected Linne. Speaking of, is that an older Linne in his ending? Hmm (P.S It is!).

- I also got the 6 endings achievement thanks to Seth's one.

Tuesday

- AAANNDD I'm back on UNICLR. I told you I have an OCD tendency when it comes to completing trials. However this was worth it because I finally got Seth's 4-1. It really came down to delaying the FreeFall Kick (FF Kick) (2+A+B,6A) after the 214[B] hits.

- Londreika being the new character in UNICLR actually has some of the easier combos. He also does not have any 5-x series.

- After struggling so much with Seth, I got all of Londreika's combos in one session. Wild.

- I've also noticed Lond's B in delay 2C into 214A combos are so much easier in UNICLR.

- Yep, definitely harder in UNI2. Lond's combos involve delay 214B, delay 2C and 214[A] for his combo enders. Thankfully his final combos involving Cast Veil Off (CVO) aren't that hard tho in either versions.

- UNICLR Seth's 4-7 is done. I am finally getting the hang of it. I just need to stop missing 623B into 623A.

- As soon as I completed 4-7 I knew I could do 4-9 as well. Since their are next to no-one discussing how to do it, here is my science to it.

- A) FF Kick (2AB,6A) needs to be timed. After the initial hit, wait a second and time it with the falling body of your opponent. This will give you the lowest launch for the kick, perfect for combos.

- B) Aerial 6C needs to be done clean after holding 8 after the kick hits. This is to buffered during the jump cancel window. After it hits smoothly do 236B slight pause 214A. The 214A is done a second after the orb leaves his hand.

- C) 623B, 623A also needs perfect timing. Wait for Seth to complete the 623B animation and faces towards the opponent before inputting the 623A.

- Final tips: Clean inputs and correct timing are so important. Doing it too fast will cause the follow up attacks to be eaten.

- 4-11 done. On a roll now. This one requires no delay on the FF Kick.

- I also noticed this combo is not possible in UNI2 or at least any combo trial has not shown it.

- 4-12 done too. Feeling accomplished tonight.

- Bit intimidated by his 632146 throw aka Transgressing Convict ( now shown as TC also the name of the blog heh). How does one get it come out so fast?

- 4-4 done. A unique a take on a UNI2 combo but instead of letting the orb hit, walk, 6C you instead do dash jump 6C instead. Seems a bit harder for no reason.

- 7/18 combos done. I started with just 1 or 2. The rest of these combos seem really hard tho. Going to take a break and actually play UNI2 and see if any of these skills translates over.

- Speaking of UNI2, I have hit 200 hrs playing time on Steam tonight. WILD.

- Since double orbs are no longer a thing in UNI2, you now need to learn aerial TK 623x series for the big damage. What a pain.

Wednesday

- UNICLR Seth's 4-6 done. Dash B into 214[B] was also a execution wall but I think I am getting it. The progress I am making is good but most of this is in UNICLR not UNI2.

- 4-5 done. Took a minute to get used to how FF Kick works with a wall in front of you. Also rare use of aerial 236A instead of 236B orb set up. The game also says dash B needs to be 1 hit but you can get 2 and the game won't freak out... unlike say... Merkava. Not bitter at all LOL.

- Started Akatsuki's combo trials. He has definitely kept his quirkiness. I guess being a guest character he kept the combo concepts from his game.

- I am very happy he does not have any combos that involve aerial 6[C]. Regular readers of this blog know how much I loathe that move.

- He still kept his re-jump aerial 2C combos tho which are still a pain to pull off.

- Almost done with Akat, the aforementioned aerial 2C combos and a wacky one that involved combo-ing from aerial 2C.

Thursday

- Noticed that with Enkidu's combos you can substitute 4C for 4[C] to make it much easier and it does more damage.

- 2 combos left for Enkidu. He was already not a hard character to pick up but his combos are much easier compared to UNI2. Not one of his combos involve dash B nor the special delay needed to get extra height on 623x kicks.

- All done with Enkidu. Saw at Texas Showdown a Enkidu player did pretty well so I am happy they are some high level play with someone who folks call low tier.

- Slowly realizing how deliberate Byakayu is. You really need to time his multiple presses correctly. Noticed this in UNICLR and UNI2.

- Pushing folks to the corner then doing the combo really helps with my Bya timing. Now I am done with 4-2 and 4-15. 11 more to go.

- I've also realized the timing for his aerial 6C, delay C is SOOO long. Like you can literally make a sandwich and then hit the C.

- 4-7 done. You really need to mash the A as fast as possible during 236A,4A,A,A.

- 4-8 done. Interestingly if you use the corner you do need to get exactly 8 hits with the dash C therefore you can 9 hits and the wall bounce and you can still do it.

- Compared to UNI2 the dash C combo trial is so much easier.

- We on a roll again. 4-9 done.

- 4-11 is a variation with the dash B into his rekka series. I am happy cause doing the same ender was getting boring.

- 4-12 another variation using 3[C]. Again, happy they are throwing in more differences.

- A different combo that Bya does in UNICLR that he does not do in UNI2 is aerial 2[C] into aerial 214[B],B,B combos. I finally figure out the timing and the secret is timing the aerial 2[C] just as the web breaks. 4-4 done.

- I thought for a minute the 5-x series was going to be hard but all but 5-2 is done. Only 3 combos until I am done with Bya's trials, something I have not been able to do in UNI2.

Friday

- Pre Cincy Clash day. Promised myself to not play UNICLR today and focus on UNI2 since that's the game being played.

- Completed Seth's 5-3. I got the final sequence down now, I just need to learn the timing for FF Kick, 2, 623B and I understand now to time as the opponent's body is about to hit the ground. If anything the demo is a bit misleading and this one should have been the one with delay C. You can get good damage off 632146/ TC throw if you have chain shift it appears.

- I think I understand the mechanics behind FF Kick into TC. You just buffer the whole motion during the 6C animation. As a King main in Tekken, buffering is something I can do.

- I can't believe it. Literally less than a week ago I was going to give up on Seth but reading my words in my pre-blog and then the actual blog I instead decided to double down on my efforts. Today I completed 5-15, arguably one of his harder trials.

- Since 5-15 was doable, 5-14 was much easier too. I realized with 214[C] after CVO needs to wait a bit so the opponent is directly above Seth's head for the C ver. of TC.

- Now to master his TK 623x combos and I might actually use Seth in UNI2.

Saturday

- D-DAY!

- I entered my first UNI2 tournament and I lost spectacularly.

This is a marker to say I will do better.

- I knew I would not do well with this being my first tournament and all but I figured I had to just dive in and have a sink or swim mentality.

- I went 0-2 and the irony was my first match was against a Wagner main. I knew I would use Wagner too since I did not want to do too much in my first tournament and Wagner is my comfortable main. I still instead to eventually bust out Kaguya and one day, Seth tho.

- My second match was against an Enkidu main. This also went badly but I did take a round at least. I had some goals and I did fulfill them tho.

- First was to use shield properly and not get GRD broken. I only got GRD broken once which was good.

- Second was to break a couple throws and I did that.

- Third was to get a hit confirm into a bread and butter and that's where I failed. I went for C, into aerial [C] and the aerial [C] did not come out.

- Anyhow, it is a start and I am motivated to do better. I think I am now ready to play online and even attend some offline casuals.

- I also had a great time at the Spot aka Wing Champ after with some Tekken homies. All in all, a good tournament experience. Hopefully come next Cincy Clash (it is bi-monthly event) I might actually win a set.

Sunday

- It has been a long week so you know I was ready for break night.

WHAT'S NEXT

    On that note; we have reached the end of this week. I really enjoyed playing UNI2 offline but I do have some gripes in hindsight. First was I was not able to play any casuals. There was next to no casual stations and every time I went to set up my own set-up and hopefully get folks to play with me I had to watch some Tekken 8 matches. I wanted to support my homie and brotha from anotha mother Mr. J who got 3rd in the Tekken tournament and congrats to him but I felt I hurt my own chance to make UNI2 friends/ rivals. I think that is why I am determined to make it to a offline casual night at Arcade Legacy so I am focus purely on UNI2 and get some games in.

    Second is of course I was not able to fulfill promises I made to myself. Darkest Dungeon 2 remains un-played and I have not written a RAVE for Tainted Grail yet cause I have not beaten it. Yes, I am stuck in Tainted Grail and it is a combination of not being to play it and getting to the point where the game is too challenging.

    With no tournament hanging over head I think this week we will refocus and stay on UNI2 of course but UNICLR is still fun to muck around in. I will play some online games in UNI2 and get some achievements I needed anyway. However I will play my other games too and not let them fall to the wayside like I've been doing.

Learning AF: Week 8- Eclipsed

    Welcome to Week 8 of Learning Anime Fighters (AF). This is an ongoing blog about me picking up anime fighters and also learning a leverless controller and brand new arcade stick. 

    This blog is done chronologically so follow along as we explore Anime Fighters and more.

Monday

- So it was teased last blog but this week we can discuss it in full. We got a brand new stick baby!! As you can clearly see it is a Qanba Drone 2. I mainly brought this because I need a 'cheaper' stick but I want PS5 compatibility (which most games are played on now) without breaking the bank. I see myself buying a PS5 eventually (because Xbox isn't making any moves) so it can be used on that too.

 - This new stick (tentatively called Eclipse) is already doing wonders. It is named Eclipse because it arrived on the day of the solar eclipse (4/8) and I actually saw it in person.

- During my first day practice with it, some of my Kaguya in UNI2 combos were not connecting at first but after some practice it felt good again. Felt I just need to adjust to it.

- Eclipse is already paying dividends. Sure I was making head room with my old Marvel vs Capcom 3 Hori Stick but I have been doing better with the Qanba. Byakayu's expert combos are now 8/13 and I think I finally understand how he works.

Tuesday

- Mostly a Tainted Grail Conquest night. Doing much better progression-wise until I screwed up during the second boss battle. Still enjoying it and I feel once I've beaten it at least once, I'll put up a full length RAVE for it.

- Londrekia is finally done. I had 2 combos which refused to work but after getting Eclipse, I was able to get both done after a couple tries. I started Londy's trials back in Week 3 when I was getting frustrated with his delay 2C, into 214[A] (The [] meaning hold the button in UNI2 terms) this combo refused to be completed until tonight.

- Smaller success as well, completed a trial for Orie and Carmine.

- Maybe it is not a placebo effect. I do recall my Hori stick which I was using being extra sensitive and causing my cursor to move much faster, down especially. I do not have that issue with Eclipse? More research needed perhaps?

Wednesday

- Making small progress again but completing 2 Eltnum trials which once felt impossible is a good feeling. Also I should know by now when the game says 'delay' it means DELAY it lol.

- On that note; Eltnum is now 12/14 expert trials. Soo close.

- Eltnum? More like Eltdone (I do not know if this joke has diminishing returns). She definitely has some complexity to her, especially with her Force Function aka FF aka B+C cancel and her 2B into 22B combos. Now I think about it, if the Hori's issue was down inputs, could that have interfered with it? I really like her character design but I do not see myself maining her as a starter character because she is pretty taxing on the mental stack.

- As promised in our previous blog, I started playing Story mode; first up; Melty Blood: Type Lumina. I have actually never did any story content for MB so Story week should start here.

- I settled on Noel as my first character, I like how easy she is to pick up and since my other main Kaguya is a warrior nun, it would be nice synergy.

- MBTL's story mode is cute, a lot of interactions, the ending being only one picture is on brand too. French Bread seems to favor those for endings (UNI2 has one picture endings as well).

Thursday

- Break night; I did even look at my Steam Deck I was so tired lol.

Friday

- Continuing Story mode week; I played BBTAG specifically UNI2's chapter. Turns it out its only part of a bigger story so I need to do all the other ones too. The games difficulty is not hard so I can probably do it when I get some time. Maybe chapter a day in the new week.

- BBTAG continues to surprise how easy it is to pick up. If you want to get into anime fighters it is a good entry point. However it will not prepare you for the complexities of some of the games. I heard BlazBlue is much more complex and UNI2 as I've found out is similar.

- Doing more research, I can confirmed my Hori Xbox360 stick does have a very sensitive down input. I can especially see it when I go to menus. Thankfully Eclipse does not have those issues and it'll be my main controller going forward.

- Bought Slay the Spire. I mentioned in my previous PIT STOP about the Triple I Initiative that I was considering buying it again. It is a good game to play when I am resting my wrist and I just LOVE the game. Nice to have it on a more portable console too.

- Speaking of wrist, its time to discuss my current issue.

Yes that's Kaguya as my wallpaper lol

- Thankfully the finger issues is not as bad. For awhile pressing down hard with my ring handed ring finger hurt a bit but that has gradually gone away. My wrist does hurt when I push down on it through, hence the brace. It helps and I wear it occasionally but not all the time. Most of the time I am fine but when I feel it, I am not ashamed to slap it on. I feel once I am not always doing combo trials and not constantly doing hard motions and pressing down hard to do the charge attacks my pain will lessen even more.

- Back on track, since I completed Eltnum's combo trials I decided I'll use her in Story mode. Boy was it hilarious. She is like the Deadpool of UNI with her constant 4th wall breaks. Beating the game with her also unlocked an achievement which was nice.

Saturday

- Hilda? More like Hildone (this is the last time I'll use this joke I promise). The infamous double plinking 5-12 is completed and I actually had to change how I held my stick to get it. It was some finger gymnastics for sure. For awhile Hilda's trials look insurmountable but we have conquer them. Now Carmine on the other hand.

- Finally got Mika's 5-9. I was delaying the 2B too long. I have to time it with the [C] hit. When I did it without it the the hit stun decay was too much. Thank goodness for the ability to slow the combo trials down to 30% speed to help me see where I was messing up.

- Revisited the advance tutorials tips and again there is too much 'wall of text' instead of giving you a chance to practice the concept or at least show a video of it. I feel if they add either of those options it would be a much better training tool.

- Speaking of tight timing, Orie's 623A needs to be done at the perfect timing so she can juggle after it. I finally got it done for one and now I just need to do her anti-air one.

- Orie's last trial that stumped me had a frame kill 2A, perfect height for her 236[B] and the perfect timing mentioned above. Once it all clicked, we got it and Orie is done.

- Most of Orie's combos were not that hard with the exception of the last 3. Those took me awhile before finally getting it. As a character, she is interesting but I do not see myself maining her.

- Completed 2 combos trials in one day? Feeling good.

- Eclipse is doing very well, my only issue is it is kind of light compared to my other sticks I've own. I did some trials in KOF XV and the stick was flying off my lap during some movements. Might look into adding a steel plate to the bottom to weigh it down a bit.

- Akatsuki's 5-6 or any of his combos that relies on a aerial 6[C] is so weird to me. When I step away from it I can do it during my first couple tries (and I did hence 5-6 being completed now) but if I mess it up and I keep trying it I will eventually get jumping C instead, no charged 6C.

I have beef with this move.

- Subsequently trying it again for the last of 2 combos I am stuck on and it will not come out. Jumping C only. So frustrating because I do not know what I am doing wrong.

Sunday

- Break night.

WHAT'S NEXT

    Eclipse, my next stick, really made this week enjoyable. Completing Eltnum, Hilda and Orie's trials this week was a definite highlight. I can also say this is the first week I did not feel as much strain on my finger or wrist which might be due to more breaks, my new brace or just me not dedicating as much hours to these combo trials.

    However not resting on my laurels, I have a couple goals for the new week. I aim to complete the all chapters in BBTAG story mode, start Granblue story mode and beat DNF Duel with a new character too (probably Monk). This week we are diving into the deep end with some of the hardest combo trials yet in UNI2 starting with Seth.

    We also have a UNI2 tournament coming up on May 5th at Arcade Legacy and since I have a PS5 stick I will actually sign up and play in it this time. It is almost time to leave the lab and see how much I've really learned.

AV

Learning AF: Week 7- Seeing the Matrix

     Welcome to Week 7 of Learning Anime Fighters (AF). This is an ongoing blog about me picking up anime fighters and also learning a leverless controller. This weeks blog is slightly delayed but we will be discussing that at the end.

This week was the first week I truly embraced the help of 'demo assist' in UNI2. For those not in the know, 'demo assist' helps you by doing the combo up until a certain point based on your preference and you take over and complete the combo if you can. This concept is amazing because lets say you just want to practice an ender or a specific part in the middle you keep dropping you can do that. It really helped me with consistency and getting the timing down for certain combos.

    This blog is done chronologically as well with a what's next section at the end. With that said lets kick off week 7.

Monday

- Chaos take you! (Elden Ring reference for those who don't know)... or not. These combos are hard LOL

- Switched to his buddy Gordoau instead and doing much better. I am beginning to under when to delay his aerial B (2 hit) move for his combos.

- Gordeau? More like Gordone. It really came down to understanding the timing for his rekka enders and the aerial B timing mentioned above. The partial charge which had me worried actually was not hard at all and even better we kicked off a week on a all complete. Good start.

Tuesday

-  Hoping back into Granblue Rising; I'll probably try to play it at least once a week.

- Tried Vane, the new DLC character and he really fits the powerhouse/ bruiser archetype. He even has an attack where he absorbs the incoming attacks and does damage according to how much damage he took. Pretty interesting. He can also put up shields to block incoming attacks or restrict movements of enemies.

- None of his combos felt particularly hard, just had to get used to his 6SM juggle window. Speaking of, one of his combos has a jump cancel which I felt was a bit strange for such a grounded character.

- I'm surprised none of his combos incorporated he is 'All for One' 2SU shield technique which has a hitbox and you can combo into it.

- One of the theme songs has lyrics? It kind of rocks. I need to find out what it is cause I had the music on 'Random' which I normally do.

- Since I used one DLC, I decided to use the other one and play Lucilius which I found out is pronounced as 'Lucifer'.

- Even with his uniquely pronounced name, I do find it funny both Arc System Works (Rising's producer) and French Bread both have a floating half naked pretty boy with floating swords as their first DLC. I wonder who came first?

- It seems Lucilius has a theme, he has a move named Isacriot (like Judas) and Iblis the leader of the devils in Islam.

- Combo trial wise, he has a unique combo linked to his U button, which puts him in a stance. He hardest combo was his last one but it was too bad.

- Because the combos in Rising are so short and not that hard (most of the time) I find myself doing them at least 3 times in a row for each combo. Building that muscle memory.

- Katalina has some of the easiest combo trials in a game with easy combo trials. Cleared her trials in record time.

- I do like her as a character through, if Djeeta did not exist, she would have been my secondary.

- Because I love to hate myself, I decided to give Hilda another chance and this time I did much better. Her hitboxes have such weird animations but the more I use her the more I understand.

- Back to Rising; definitely want to focus on it this week.

- Beelzebub is a strange one, definitely more visceral than Lucilius and I had to get used to letting all his multi hit moves connect before some of his combos worked.

- Metera's practical close range combo actually requires her opponent to fall to their knees before you continue the combo because the falling to the knees cause a different hit stun animation. Cool.

- Metera's combos encourage her set-play (aka knocking opponent down and setting up bad oki situations for them) with her putting out butterflies which when triggered causes different properties. Pretty cool but I do not do well with zoners.

- Now grapplers are much more up my alley. I am still blown away you can do Ladiva's command throws with one button and get no drawback. She also have a very generous hit box on her anti-air grab (2SH) as well. Completed her combos without a hitch

 - I feel Rising's combo trials are way easier compared to the original Granblue. Vaseraga had some really hard combos in  the original that involved quick cancels of his 2SH,H

- Nice to see some of the complexity is kept either that or Vaseraga needs it to do certain combos. Either way he is done as well.

- Even with the complex ones I am doing all of Rising combo trials on MidNite which is a good feeling and make me feel I am getting something back on my investment.

Wednesday

- So I previously said in this blog series I would not care if I did not get Hilda's combos down? I lied.

- Hilda's combos require serious knowledge and negative edge or want they call 'plinking'. Either way it means to hold the button down and release it at the right time

- As a Swift Master user in DNF Duel, I should be used to this so I thought about it and it became much more easier to understand.

- 9 out of 15 expert combos is wild compared to where I was (5 out of 15) and I've completed her 2 combos with the super cancel. Speaking of, 5-15 (lol) is my favorite combo of hers. Purposely whiffing B+C into 236B+C into super is chef kiss.

- Now I just to figure out how to do her ultra low aerial 6C after 623B in the corner and how to do her instant aerial C after a whiffed aerial A

- So the science for both are understandable now; for the ultra low 623B you need to hit very low after the 6C, aerial charged C requires a double tap/ hold after the whiffed A. 13/15

- 5-12 seems impossible with a double negative edge after a long combo... SHEESH

- I also have no idea why I am investing so much time in a character I won't main LOL.

- Okay, in a moment that feels like I am seeing the Matrix like Neo, everything is just clicking today.

- Merkava's 66B into 66C previously completely eluded me and it is a key component of his combos. Today I worked it out and I was able to do it.

- I think the science behind it is delaying the 66C as much as humanly possible instead of tying to mash it out. A lot Merkava's combos come down to patience and timing.

- I must say I am happy with all the progress I've had in the UNI2 comb trials and I mostly done it all by myself. I use the slow down feature and 'demo assist' (which we discussed earlier).

- We hit 13/15 expert combos when we were previously 4/15. The improvement is immense.

- 100% completed. All Merkava's trials are done and I feel good. As stated before, previously we had almost nothing and now we have a all clear.

- Continuing my hot streak, I got back to Akatsuki and I am completing all his trials too. He went from 76% done to 90% with only 3 expert combos left.

- Thanks to this blog, I can confirm the last time I tried his combos was back in week 3 and now in week 7 we revisit him and kill it.

Thursday

- Turns out the name of the song I liked in Rising was 'Existence' and its Beezelbub's theme song (makes sense cause I was using him). I know what song I am training too now.

- Break night; muck around in all games but nothing serious.

Friday

- It is wacky but I noticed the CPU no longer blocks for long periods of time in training mode which I had a big gripe about in previous blogs. Maybe this was fix in Vane patch? Either way I appreciate it.

- Percvial out of all characters was giving me troubles but I finally got it down. His last combo required some specific timing. He also has a system similar to Namaya where a button+attack = dash and then you hit another button for the move. I am not a fan of this 'system'.

- Monk has it in DNF Duel as well and it took me awhile to get used to it in that game too.

- Ferry's combos were surprisingly easy compared to what was required in previous game. She is a set-play character to which requires setting up her familiar before attacking. I also like the fact she can combo after her Sky Art.

- Lowain is just weird lol. He can not even combo into his Super Skybound Art because its the big Goddess super. Instead he has variations of his Human Pyramid Sky Art comboing.

- I must also say I am not a fan of all his combos ending in 'Awesome Sauce'. I like a bit of variety in my combo enders.

- 9 more characters remain in Rising; I think I'll be done by next week and then I'll start doing some story mode content.

- Heck I think I'll do story content for all my anime games next week, including BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle's UNI storyline. It'll be interesting because BBTAG has full English voice acting for the UNI guys which has never happened before.

Saturday

- Since I am think of competing again, I've decided to add some new accessories. Stay tuned to this space. We aim to step our game up. Sneak peek below.

Sunday

- I decided to focus on Byakuya and I am doing much better with him too. LOL He is a bit creepy and that laugh is chilling but he is fun to use.

Chibi Byakuya justs wants to embrace you.

- I also realized I am better at doing 66 into 236 combos on right side, I get less 66 into 623 errors. A lot of Byakuya's combos end in dashing 66B into his 236 rekka series. 

WHAT'S NEXT

As far as progress goes, this was a good week. I was able to complete a lot of comb trials I previously thought were unobtainable. When I first reviewed Hilda and Merkava's trials I was like there is no way I can do these but over time I've done better. I've left some of the harder UNI2 characters for last; which include Vatista, Yuzuriha and Seth but now I think I can tackle them with renewed confidence.

I am also driven to complete all Granblue Rising's combo trials with all characters and start exploring more of its content as well. I have Granbruise Legends (there mini-game mode) and online matches to try out.

In all honesty, I'll be exploring content in all my anime games and aim to complete story mode for each one of them so that's UNI2, Granblue Rising, Melty Blood and BBTAG.

This was also the week I called it and said to myself I'll no longer say I am going to play Midnight Suns if I can get started again. I'll put it back on the backburner. I am still enjoying Tainted Grail Conquest (check my previous impression videos about that) and I am still aiming to play Remnant from the Ashes on and off too.

Also this is a sneak peek of our next blog but we will also be discussing Learning Anime with my new friend; my Drone 2!

So far so good but we will have more detailed thoughts soon.

AV

Learning AF: Week 6- Sonar Smackdown

    Welcome to Week 6 of Learning Anime Fighters (AF). This is an ongoing blog about me picking up anime fighters and also learning a leverless controller. This week, we are closer to our original format after a deep dive into Melty Blood: Type Lumina last week. We muck around a bit with it but we mainly focus on our main game Under Night In-Birth: Sys: Celes.

    This blog is done chronologically as well with a what's next section at the end. With that said lets kick off week 6. This week will also probably be shorter than previous ones for reasons that will become obviously during the blog.

Monday

- Jumping back into UNI2; the combos trials are so much harder then Melty Blood for sure. I also mostly have character specialist characters left too so some of these will be tough I predict.

- Starting with Phonon, she has a lot of dashing C's in her combos, holding down buttons (yay *sarcasm*) to get a unique hit-stun animation and using her 623B to create a wall during her combos.

- Just like I have done 'refresher' courses with Kaguya, I decided to do one with Wagner as well and surprisingly I did not have as much issues with her trials now I understand her more. I definitely feel comfortable enough with her to consider a secondary.

Tuesday

- Me and Mr. Monk in DNF Duel are getting along much better. His once notorious Combo # 8 is now much more doable and I get it most of the times. Finally understanding the cancel window for 6M,M,4M down which feels good and doing it all with MidNite (my leverless controller) too. 

- I have stated this before but Monk is hella fun to use and realize he has a Garp from One Piece color palatte and is primary a boxer like him. Funny that.

- Delaying attacks in UNI2 has always given me a tough time but I realized one of the best visual ques to use is the opponent's hit-stun status. Using that, I was able to complete more of Phonon's trials esp the one involving her aerial 236 and 22 attacks.

Wednesday

- I have an off day today so you know what that means... more UNI2 of course

- Gordeau is very rekka-centric, ironic similar to his homie Enkidu. He also brings a new mechanic to the game, partial charges. I already know he is going to be a headache cause partial charges are weird to time. 

- Hella cool character design tho and some great color palettes even without the color edit option.

- Hilda has joined Byakaya as the hardest character combo trials I've faced. She has negative edge, multiple hitting moves with one press which I don't like and just weird timing for everything. Its going to take a minute to be even decent with her and I am not going to worry too much if I can't get them.

- Wednesday night became a rest night mainly cause I went in during the day.

Thursday

- So funny story. To use MidNite properly I need to have my hands level with the TV so I always use a small box to raise my feet up (ironically its actually my initial steam deck box). I am actually surprise I did not mention this before.

- This box is literally within arms reach but this day I was feeling particularly lazy I could not bother doing it. I would have just practiced DNF Duel Monk combos anyhow but yeah it hilarious I made it seem like such a chore when it was not.

- Speaking of strain and properly making sure my hands were level with the TV, I am starting to notice my finger pain has been extending to my wrist now and I might need to have more rests nights to stop it getting worst. I realized when I push down a lot for the charge attack it strains both my finger and wrist.

- With the more complex characters coming up soon (going back to Hilda, Vatista and Chaos) I decided more short breaks might be needed so I do not physically burn out.

Friday

- Speaking of; Friday was a break night.

Saturday

Boy Wizard with his Lizard

- Man, you need some Galaxy brain to fully understand Chaos and his concepts. Like creating your own barrier with your puppet as well as reversing your controls when it switches position.

- He also has some hard to understand cancel windows for his 6C and his 22 series. Chaining the 22 attack into a standing or crouching attack is challenging.

- Now I am not normally a person that gravitates towards the 'puppet' archetype but Chaos may be the coolest one I've tried in anime fighters. Mind you my only comparisons are Enchantress in DNF Duel and Mario in Melty and both of them are lil' shits to me lol.

- He is makes more sense to me and more fun to use than Hilda tho and why Chaos requires galaxy brain, Hilda feels like I need a eternity brain for that one.

- The gif above feels even more appropriate because I think I unlocked some galaxy brain stuff and I did it on my own. I think Azhi Dahaka (Azhi) controls are based on the way Chaos is facing not Azhi. If this is true then his controls makes much more sense.

Sunday

- Even through Sunday is normally a rest night, I felt the need to do some Phonon labbing.

- I even surprised myself by completing previously adv trials and now I only 2 more to go before 100% completion. Understanding when to do stuff after her fully charged 236B was important and again understanding the timing for her delays.

- As a character I do not mind Phonon. She is also the inspiration for the name of this blog with her being related to sound and what not. I do not seem myself main-ing her but she is fun to muck around with esp now I am understanding how she works.

- 100% Phonon's combo trials. Ironic since I started the week with her, I also ended the week with her. Conceptual wise, I like how she works, like creating your own wall by doing a delayed 623B after her dashing C. Funny enough I am not a fan of her default colors and the stockings HAVE to go but using the games built in color editor, I made some color palates I really like too.

WHAT'S NEXT:

Another week done and dusted. I just noticed as I typed this out I neglected Granblue Rising this week. I do recall playing some Melty Blood on and off as I continued to search for a character to main tho. This week was not as productive as previous weeks but I do feel I need to focus on my wrist so it does not get any worst. On that note I was actually playing other non-fighting games this week as well.

I am currently playing Tainted Grail: Conquest which is a deck building roguelite (which folks know is entirely up my alley) and I am having a great time with it. I feel a more detailed discussion will be showing up later this week about it.

I have also started a brand new Remnant from the Ashes run but this time on my PC/ Steam Deck not PS4. I must admit, it feels good going back through a game I really enjoyed when I first played it. Sort of reminds me when I replay a Souls game like Dark Souls 3 or Sekiro. This one I am playing on and off especially because I've already beaten it multiple times and this is a nostalgia run.

The final game I keep telling myself to play is Marvel's Midnight Suns and funny story is I complete the tutorial and character creator and I want to play it but I always get distracted by other games. I guess because playing it is a bit more of a under-taking but I think I'll try to hop back into it tonight.

Speaking of tonight. I might stop neglecting Granblue as well because a new character should be available so I want to check him out especially since I have the season pass. I am actually not that excited about them (hence no mentions before today lol) but I still want to see what he is capable of. (EDIT: Vane, the new character isn't available till tomorrow so Tuesday will be Rising day)

AV

Learning AF: Week 4- Decisions, Decisions

 Welcome to another Learning AF blog! First let us do some house cleaning. This blog is an ongoing account of me picking up and learning Anime Fighters (hence AF). Our main focus is on Under-Night In-Birth Sys:Celes, Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising and DNF Duel. However as of today, we are adding a final anime game, Melty Blood Type Lumina! I feel 4 games should be sufficient tho and I'll add my thoughts about learning Melty Blood in our next Learning AF blog. This blog is is also written in successional way so you can really see my learning process. With that out of the way, lets dive into Week 4 of Learning Anime Fighters

Monday

- Feeling I was neglecting Granblue Rising; I hoped back into it today.

- Since I got the deluxe edition with the season pass whilst it was on sale, I  already had 2B from Nier Automata already as well as the upcoming new characters, Vane and Beatrix respectively.

- 2B is actually has pretty complex (not surprisingly) set of moves and a quirk where her combos do not work inside a corner. Her combo routes are fun tho and I enjoy mucking around with her. I do question if I can her 720 super (where she self destructs) with MidNite/ my Leverless controller. The irony of the game with the simple inputs having a 720 super has no escaped me.

- Speaking of MidNite, I did not sit right with me that I had to switch back to my stick to do Grimnir's one trial so I was determined to complete all his trials with MidNite only. Eventually I pulled it off and it required a lot of trial and error. Also I noticed for the last section you can air dash forward not up forward and it'll still count, which actually helped a lot (even tho I can do it was the up forward motion too aka 9).

- Belial was last and his quirk was his moves can push enemies closer to him or further away. His combo trials were not hard but the irony is that I need a corner to keep folks close where I could not use the corner with 2B. Still none of the character screamed main material for me so I think I sticking with Zeta and Djeeta so far.

Tuesday

- Carmine was originally the hardest UNI2 character I tried (more on that later) and the fact he has specific timing and has UNI2's version of what they call 'negative edge' (a concept where you hold a button down and release it at specific times). Carmine also has a quirk which he leaves behind blood puddles which he can activate with other specials of his. Very cool. Once we understood that, his combos became much easier, he is not 100% done but I completed some of them.

- Merkava's trials are still complex to me through, despite trying them before. I was making some head room but my biggest issue is cancelling his 66B into 66C. I tried to look up videos and read forums to find help but I found nothing.

Wednesday

Leona custom colors FTW

- Made a Leona custom for Linne and attempted clean up some of her trials. I was able to complete her final trial which involves cancelling into her super and her 22A/B/C combos make more sense to me now. I do not see myself maining her but I do enjoy not being completed stumped by her like I was in Week 3.

- Nanase was another character that seem complex at first and her aerial mobility is very high, even more than Kaguya making certain combos harder. She seems to require a lot of tiger knees into aerial 236A to keep her combos going.

- I found the missing piece of why my combos kept failing with Nanase. I was doing aerial 236 hold A when I could have just done 236A in most cases. Her Combos became much more doable after realizing that. I also think I found the main culprit for my finger pain with Nanase having a lot of combos involving long presses.

- Finally completed all of Wagner's combos. As the person I had in mind as my main when I picked up UNI2 I actually happy I could at least finish her trials. I might still have as a back-up if Kaguya doesn't work out competitively.

- Merkava's 214 charged air fireballs which OTGs (Off The Ground) was another sticking point for me but I realize it can be buffered during his 66C attack, that made those combos much more doable instead of constantly trying to tigerknee them. 66B into 66C combo paths still elude me through. I might ask locally if anyone knows the trick to it.

Thursday

- Monk in DNF release day. I already posted some thoughts in my Monk blog but this one is more my thoughts when I first started using him.

- First, he hits like a TANK and he is built like one too. Damage gets nutty especially with his Gold Cube awakening (aka when his below 30% health) allowing more damage and sway/ duck cancels on hit and whiff and also after certain Magic moves. 6S, S after 6M for example.

- Kind of wish his movement options was not locked behind a motion and a button (aka 6S for Duck, 4S for Sway) mainly cause it requires some finger gymnastics to constantly do the high level stuff.

- Speaking of, holding 6 down helps a lot in harder combos, for example 6S, M, 6S, S. The 6S, S has a weird cancel window I had to get use to as well.

Friday

- Friday was a weird day, I was over-tired and did not sleep well. I still did some more Monk training (lol) and was finally able to complete his last combo trial which was surprisingly hard compared to his much easier 1-7 trials. All of them done with MidNite which I am trying to use exclusively for DNF Duel

- Almost done with Hyde and Linne's trials, the remaining ones are some of the hardest ones but I think overtime I should be able to complete them. Hyde's 66C into 236 moves still kill me and we will be re-visiting that problem very soon.

- Whilst I was grinding these trials out, in the background I was listening to Tsukihime lore to prepare myself for Melty Blood. The lore is WILD and I think I already have some characters I want to learn in mind.

Saturday

- Remember above when I said Carmine maybe the most complex character I've used. This was what I thought until I tried Byakuya. Not only is 66B into 236 rekka strings and double tapping after he does his web attacks. I can honestly say, he maybe the first character where I do not understand his quirk. Right now he is my biggest hurdle.

- Discouraged by failing to get Byakuya down, I switched to Mika, whom I heard is very easy to use. She has some quirks too like having to waiting after her mash A to do her charged C attack into her charged B+C attack. I also found out doing a charge C into a charge B+C manually wasn't working for me so I actually use a B+C macro to make it easier and it made a world of difference.

- Mika gives me heavy Gallon/ J. Talbain from Vampire/ Nightstalkers fame. The cancelling of her air attacks into another one into another one. As a former Gallon main (a long time ago), I found that very fun. She is also very funny as a character and I see why folks have latched onto her as UNI's unofficial mascot. Her character design really does not appeal to me which I have discussed in previous blogs. The young loud Lolita type really doesn't vibe with me.

Sunday

- Going forward Sunday is going to be a rest day for me, will probably won't do much on those days. Sunday is also dedicated to church, resting and spending time with my family. My Mondays are always busy too at work so I like getting a good nights rest before diving back into that.

WHAT'S NEXT:

So the crux of the matter and the reason for this week's title. I am purchasing Melty Blood Type Lumina and I intended on playing it, however this would mean I will playing at least 4 different games at once. Kind of crazy considering I used to play one, sometimes two fighting games at most during my whole fighting game career. So I think even tho I am playing all these games at once I need to make a decision which ones I should focus on competitively.

The no-duh is of course UNI2. Its the game I have been coming back to a lot, I have pretty much decided on a main and secondary and I intend on attending a tournament at the end of this month to play it. If you did not figure out I was going to go mainstream with this, I have clearly failed as a blog writer lol. I would love to go mainstream with DNF Duel too, especially with Monk being as fun as he is and of course Spectre is Spectre and I get to use MidNite but being realistic there is no real competitive market for DNF Duel.So of course I should then settle on Granblue Rising BUT whilst I enjoy playing it and I get to use MidNite, I have not latched onto it as much as my other AFs. I could start focusing more time on it and see if my attitude changes about it. However we might have a dark horse in the form of Melty Blood: Type Lumina. Seeing is I am a fan of how French Bread games play, Melty Blood (also by them) has similar style and shares some common traits (reverse beat originated in Melty Blood for example) so I might favor this game instead. Mind you this is just speculation because I have not actually played it but after this upcoming week, we might be ready to make said decision. However I'll need to divide up my time to fit all 4 games in PLUS get my break day and still play Marvel's Midnight Suns on the side which I started like I promise myself.

Also I did not follow up like I said with going online with my respective games but hopefully I can rectify it this week. A lot of the cool stuff I want in Granblue is locked behind the online component too and of course I want to get some player vs player exp before going to an actual tournament for UNI2.

On that note; this is week 4 of Learning AF.

AV