doa 4 is a joke for competetive gaming. doa3.1 was the peak of the series and doa2u was great.
I'm surpised nobody here knew that I ran doa tourneys for 5 years now?
well uh i never heard of you so yeah
Nah he's legit man... He's right though... DOA4 is garbage when you compare it to both 2U and 3.1. I've played the hell outta 2U, 3.0, and got a chance to check out 3.1, and I'll tell you that there's a huge difference in the system. 3.1 was dope for me because sidesteps actually worked. Not only that, unlike most fighters, DOA's frame data is strange imo-- I mean almost every move for any random character had negative recovery frames. In 3.1 (not sure about 3), they fixed it so that you could use some moves without fear of being punished for just about everything you do. I kinda see why moves had a ton of negative frames. The system is pretty much RPS with emphasis on yomi, so to my knowledge its not necessarily about pokes per sé, in a Tekken sense where you can spam safely with say a df+1, and 1 or 2 safe strings. It's just that you have to know how well to mix things up, because the system forces you to do that with the negative frames. I don't know how much that has changed in 4.0 or 4.1, but I do know some of that stuff got relieved in 3.1. I'm pretty sure there are many other reasons as to why 3.1 is superior to the other DOAs, but I only got a little time with it.
My issue with 4 was that it felt watered down in many ways. Sure, scrubs are gonna mash out counter all day, but in 2U and 3, you had to actually had to know how to counter someone's move, because there were 6 ways to counter, vice 4 in DOA4 (correct me if I'm wrong--its been awhile). Those characters with special parries like Gen Fu and Lei Fang actually had parries and deflecting moves that were very beneficial to them in 2U (I stuck with Jann and Brad in 3) and they gave them better options, but it required some time to truly master those moves. In 4, I don't recall any real benefit to using them, especially since there's now only a 4 point counter system.
I'm also not a fan of the force get up they have where you kick an opponent and it forces them to get up without you doing anything. For starters, its a free hit, and it puts you in a position you have no control over. In other 3d fighters, I can get hit, and still be able to roll and then get up. Even if I landed near a wall, or edge of a stage, I could still find a way to avoid it. Not so in DOA4.
I'm also not a fan of the moving danger zones. They provide some situational setups, but sometimes that's the same thing that can mess you up while you do a combo, mixup, or whatever. So then you have to stop because a cheetah is running at you, and it saves the opponent.
I will say though I am glad they brought back the bounce combos that were in what DOA1 and ++ I believe. That gave a new way to combo for a ton of characters, especially Zack. I also like how they beefed him up. He was a good character in the other series, but in 4 it's like Team Ninja decided to try some new things, and he was the perfect candidate. I do wish that they didn't nerf some character's combo capabilities like Jann Lee's. I can't stand how his kick launchers don't launch as high as they used to, and in order to get that high launch you have to put yourself in the hornet's nest and attempt to get another stun.
Oh yeah, speaking of Jann Lee, why can the computer do combos that we can't??? I mean there's no physical way of doing it, unless there's some gameshark for x360...
Any DOA vets please feel free to elaborate on whatever I said, and please don't let me spit some incorrect stuff...
Well, I hope that Team Ninja truly hears its fans out and make a 3.1 style of DOA and make it even better. Strangely enough, I felt that DOA 3 was less worried about TnA (sans the cutscenes), and was more worried about the actual gameplay and they beefed it up.