Week 13: Learning AF- The Fall Off

    Welcome to another Learning AF (Anime Fighters) blog. We have now reached Week 13 of this ongoing series of me picking up and learning Anime fighting games. This week however is bit scarce because it was another busy week for yours truly and I have been playing other games as well (more on those later).

    We will be making a decision soon but before we get there let drop into a new week of Learning AF.

Monday

- I have completed all of Blazblue Central Fiction (BBCF) tutorial. Some good information and it was helpful but also nowhere near as deep as UNI's ones. UNI seems to have the best tutorial when it comes to game depth even tho I will say, sometimes it gets really deep for a beginner.

- After finishing the tutorial I decide to pick my main and I always had one in mind for this game, which is Hazama. Regular readers of this blog know I like Hazama and he was actually # 5 in my top 5 favorite video game characters LIST. Peep that here. LIST

- His combo trials are definitely unique, some hold over concepts from BBTAG (where I used him) but also some new stuff having to cancel his 214x attacks because 214x puts you in a stance.

- Similar to how BBTAG only gave me ideas how UNI combos work and not the whole concept, it did not prepare me for how in-depth BB combos are.

- After completing Hazama's normal combos, harder combos became unlocked. Interesting.

- It looks like I grossly underestimated how hard BBCF combos are. Spent hours working on one hard Hazama combo and it does not even look that hard on paper. Sheesh

Tuesday

- Played nothing but Tainted Grail Conquest today. I really wanted to get the true ending. I also wanted to get my RAVE out and normally I do not do my RANT or RAVE until I've completed the game to my satisfaction. Turns out my OCD-ness of completion extends to everything in gaming not just fighters.

Wednesday

- After what felt like a lifetime I finally pulled off Seth's 5-7 in UNI2. I kept putting it together like a puzzle and it finally clicked. Also the hard part with 214B,214A,214[A]7 only started working because I stopped putting pauses in it. You just need to do it back to back, no pauses.

- Does this mean I can do all the other combos that involve this ender? I hope so because this is the last hurdle I need to cl_r (lol) if I want to start using Seth seriously.

- [BBCF] so when this game says a combo is hard, it actually means it is hard. It took me a long time to finally get Hazama's hard # 1 combo.

- One thing I do not like about Hazama's combo involving aerial B, aerial C into more aerial C is the lack of 'hit stun' the moves do. I feel like I got to mash it out but at the same time I can not visually tell when to do the double jump. I feel like I am barely touching the opponent when I am hitting buttons like mad.

- These BBCF Hazama combos feel like they are beyond me right now.

- Completed Es' normal combo challenges. Let's see if her hard ones are like Hazama's.

- Okay Es' hard combo challenges are much easier and doable. I guess Hazama is another high execution monster ala Seth. Why do I always gravitate to the hard characters to learn.

- Completed 8-10 of Es' hard combos. I guess Hazama was not the best character to start with lol.

Thursday

- UNICLR time. Gordeau feels similar to his UNI2 version. Like other character his UNICLR combos have less emphasis on dashing attacks. Also slight charge is back but I feel it is not really a charge at all. I feel the point of the slight charge is to stop you from doing 2 hit 2C.

- 100% Gordy's trials. Feels good I still have some execution.

- Looks like all the dash combos was saved for Phonon cause they are back... in spades.

- All of Phonon's 5-x series require charged 236[B] and 2C, delay 3C which I am used to thanks to UNI2. She however has one that involves one hit of her Force Function (BC) cancelled into her 22A which I am not used too.

- Pulled off a Force Function (FF) 1 hit into 22A combo in 4-12. This one does not require exactly one hit of the FF but it does require good timing with the falling aerial 236A, this needs to be done with a slight delay after 22A.

- Okay the FF combos are easier to do now. The science comes down to delaying the 4B as long as possible.

- 4-2 was a weird one. Normal aerial 2[B] is the ender into the ground series but this one required you to aerial 2[B] into aerial B, aerial 236A. You really got to hit the aerial B early. No delay.

- 12 out of 15 so far for Phonon. Her 4-3 is alluding me. I guess it is true that combos that start off Assault have more severe hit stun scaling because the opponent kept dropping out of it at random places but especially near the end.

- I knew I was not crazy, UNI2 has no combos involving FF into 22A. I wonder if they are still viable or they have been pushed out for 236[B] combos instead.

Friday

- Phonon's 4-3 completed. Precision is need because as noted before hit stun is very short with this one.

- 13 out of 18 combos for his 4-x series and 3 out of 4 for his 5-x series with Hyde on my first night with him. The combos I am struggling with most involve 22x into 3B into delayed 236x

- Speaking 236x, you need to do it twice for the follow ups to come out, unlike UNI2 where you can simply do 236x,6x. Now like Seth you need to do it quickly.

Saturday

- 4-7 now done. It says delay and delay it meant. 3B DELAY 623B lol.

- 4-10 done as well.  For something that looks simple, you really need to time the last 3 hits.

- 5-3 done. I remembered a similar combo in UNI2 with the fireball cancel into a beam. UNICLR's motion is slightly harder tho requiring 646 instead of just 46. On that notes all of Hyde's 5-x series are done.

- 4-3 done. Another combo which look simple at first and just required more precise timing. I am also happy none of Hyde's combos require the dash B combo which frustrated me to no end in UNI2.

- The last 2 combos are variants of his wall bounce into 3B delay 236B,236A which I know I will eventually get.

- Phonon's 4-15 done. I was getting so close the previous day but today I locked in and everything just feel into place.

- For some reason Phonon's 4-14 combo just was not working for me. The 2A,C (2 hits), delay 4B, FF (1 hit), 22A was refusing to come out no matter how much I delayed the 4B.

- Remembering I can do FF (1 hit), 22A off 2C better, I decided to do 2A,C (1 hit),2C, delay 4B, FF (1 hit), 22A instead and the simple change of putting the extra 2C helped me do it. Phonon's combo trials in UNICLR are completed!

- Now we are pretty much done with Tainted Grail Conquest. Check out the RAVE review. RAVE. I decided to finally start Darkest Dungeon II as my new rest/ break night game.

Sunday

- Break Night

- I have been putting off starting Darkest Dungeon II for weeks now as regular readers of this blog know. I have no idea why. After I started it I was hooked again and now I am really enjoying myself.

WHATS NEXT

    So now the title should make sense to you. I have really fallen off with my Anime Fighters to the point where I might actually be ending this ongoing blog soon.  This blog used to take FOREVER to write because I had so much to discuss but now it just I did this combo, I did that combo. This blog originally started as me wanting to learn Anime Fighters and using my Leverless controller MidNite and now I mostly do combo trials and I do not use MidNite at all.

    I am really not 'Learning' it anymore and whilst I do want to still play it competitively I also feel I will not do as well in it as say a certain 3D fighter and well personally I do not want to do that.

    I think I will see how this week goes but if I continue to loose interest next weeks Learning AF might be our last one. Not to be a Debbie Downer tho, I will still play UNI2 at least for fun and I intended to play some Blazblue Central Fiction and do its story mode at least.

    This blog might soon go back to its original focus. Speaking of, I will probably drop a impression video for Darkest Dungeon II later this week. Till next time.

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