(This is long and rambling and has absolutely no value of any sort. Its just me thinking out loud and ordering my thoughts. Anyone who's read this thread much will see me repeat myself here.. I am simply using this as a sounding board. Warning you ahead of time - if you find me obnoxious, this will push you over the edge and you should probably skip it entirely)
Just keep coming back to Dragunov. He does everything I want him to do, and feels fast and fluid. But..
What I want in a Tekken character:
Versatility. Want to be able to bang up close, or play back some and play defensively. Don't like to be forced to occupy any particular range to be be effective. Def want someone with some reach.
Safety. I don't like being forced to heavily commit when I can help it.
Good buttons in general. Strong pokes and good mids. Don't like a heavy reliance on long, string-y offense.
Low to medium execution and low to medium game plan. Don't mind to work at things, but I don't like super difficult characters in any game. I struggle badly with execution and it's just not worth it for me.
Decently mobile and smooth. I know this is a weird one.. but take, Jack for instance. He's a big ass, slow, clunky character..he meets most of my criteria, but I don't find him pleasant to play because of how he "feels"
That's mostly it.. points for having a strong throw game and at least one "power" low. Additional points for the character having moves that look something approaching either realistic, or at least cool. Take Dragunov's 312 string as an example of something that looks ridiculous. As well as Kazumi's.. 3,2? The knee into weird punch that splats you in her face. Points also for character being male and/or reasonable to look at..not a deal breaker, just a general preference. If Bob didn't look like...Bob, I'd probably main him and call it a day - though I find his combos kinda awkward honestly.
You may notice I dont mention punishment anywhere.. I am not good enough at this game to see the roll punishment plays in my own games yet. Obviously its hugely important, and a strong i10 punisher is incredibly nice to have, but since I dont know frame data and punish scenario's well across the board, I cant say how important it is to me personally. Having a strong punish game is excellent, but its not a deal breaker for me.. though good i10 is an excellent selling point.
So, characters who I feel meet my general criteria enough to be considered:
Paul
Dragunov
Steve - sort of.
Bob
Noctis? - not sure yet.
Feng
Kazumi
Shaheen
Katarina
DJin*
Leo
Miguel
Bryan
Note, there are some characters that check off my list well, but arent included here because I just dont care for them much for one reason or another. Claudio and Lars are good examples of this.
*Electrics arent easy, but I dont consider his base execution beyond me *if* I chose to learn him. Wavedashing and electrics are both reasonably within my abilities if I made the decision to push forward with him. Not saying he's easy at all, just that I *think* I could play him from an execution stand point if I decided to make the commitment.
OK.. So, Shaheen is out of the running. I just dont find him super fun. Dunno why. Just didnt click with him. I have more matches on him that anyone else actually. Didnt click with Leo (second most played character) either and I dont know why. Just didnt. Miguel same story. Feng I like a lot, but again, he felt a little off and awkward and I didnt immediately take to him. Partly I think because some of his moves look so damn stupid. Kazumi feels weird and awkward to me for some reason. Kat is kinda amazing and Ive played her about third most of anyone.. but she just looks awkward and weird in motion and I dont care for it much. More games and time with these characters may fix this, but it may not. Id like to try to find someone I mesh well with from the outset.
That leaves Paul, Drag, DJin, Bryan, Bob and Noctis.. and kinda Steve.
Dragunov I have some sets with now and really, I like almost everything about him. Why not just default to him and call it a day? Well, its stupid, but I feel like he wont make me a better player and I do kinda worry about longevity. Drag's primary gameplan is to abuse the shit out of a small handful of moves and from what Ive read, been told and seen for myself, the way Im playing him now is exactly how I'll play him in 6months. I'll just be more precise and have more MU knowledge.. That's not to say anyone can sit down and be BESTDRAGNA or something, but just that his gameplan is SO linear and straight forward there is little serious depth to it. Its so powerful though that that is fine. That's one of the big criticisms of facing the character is that every Drag plays like every other Drag. Im fine with that on the surface.. Im not going to revolutionize any character in any special way, but the idea of growing into a character and growing with that character over time is nice. The idea that I'll just be doing the exact same shit in a year that I am today, makes me think I'll burn out on Dragunov relatively quickly. However - as of now, he's my #1 choice and does everything I want a character to do.
Paul. I didnt give Paul a fair run.. I went into a set vs a much more experienced player, having no practiced or touched Paul in any real way, beyond maybe an hour of practice 6 weeks ago, and I got shit on obviously, but I didnt get to DO anything. So I made a hasty call to knock him off my list, and I shouldnt have done. I was salty and frustrated. Paul has a simple gameplan, but I feel like he has more going on that it seems on the surface. Need more matches.
Bryan is similar to Paul. Just havent given him a fair run. That said though, there are other characters I think I prefer a little more.. but thematically and aesthetically and in terms of how his moves LOOK, Bryan is one of my favs in the game.
DJin.. He's great, but comes with the added requirement of having to learn wavedashing and electrics. I need some sets on him.. because if I were to choose him, its a big commitment.
Bob. Need matches. If Bob didnt look like Bob looks, he'd probably be my #1 choice honestly. Though I find his combo routes kinda awkward and weird and he seems to have a lot of combos to keep track of, depending on the launcher. He also hits softly, which is another odd observation.. but like, some characters have these powerful sound effects and particle effects and all this with a lot of their moves, but Bob doesnt have that same impact built in. Dumb. Just an observation.
Steve. My fav character in the game pretty much. He's only here because I keep TRYING to play him, and am continually disappointed. He's super super strong, but I find him tedious. I just dont like having to flit between stances and shit to get things done. In theory hes everything I want. In practice I get super frustrated and annoyed playing him, lol.
Noctis. We dunno yet. The boy is kinda kewwwwl though. His range his what I like, and I find his combos smooth as butter and super satisfying.
