u/Sufficient-You-8637

New to NASB2, but platform fighters aren't new to me. I played the first game back in 2022, been playing Smash since I was a kid, and used to sink hours into Brawlhalla. I even tried Multiversus which is a trash ass game.

Anyway, I'm struggling in ranked. I'm at Gold 2, and these are the characters that give me a hard time. I play Jenny, and despite her being a zoner (according to Supercombo Wiki), zoning them out doesn't help much. So how do you beat them?

Azula: What tilts me the most is her down special because the range is insane! On some stages, it can fill the whole screen! Then there's her crazy pressure.

Patrick: Most people like to spam his command grab. Despite my best efforts to play keep away, he manages to get in and get me.

Squidward: This fucker has everything.

El Tigre: I can't tell who's worse. Azula, or this fucker. He's a glass cannon, but in the right hands, he's VERY HARD to pin down. The last El Tigre I fought made me want to tear my hair out with all the nonstop running, jumping, combos, and juggling. I almost beat him though because both of us were down to 1 stock.

Chain combos all the way. Especially if it's open-ended, zigzag chaining like Standing L>Standing M>Standing H>Crouching H and so on and so forth. Going from LMH into special move into super too.

I always hated links. Its the main reason why Street Fighter and KOF aren't my strong suit. Tekken and Soulcalibur are the only exceptions because combo difficulty is character-specific where some are easier or harder than others.

-In Tekken 8, I was able to complete combo trials for Lili, Clive, Jun, and Azucena. Struggled with a few like Lars, Claudio, and Nina.

-2B (SC6, not GBVSR) has combo routes for days.

As for auto combos... they're much easier than chains and links but they're always the subject of drama/controversy among players. FG vets and elitists cry about it 24/7 while casuals don't mind it. It's why I have mixed feelings about their inclusion in DBFZ, P4A, GBVSR and BBTAG. When you have stuff like autocombos or modern controls people like Low Tier God will throw a hissy fit about current FGs being "easy mode", "scrubby", and "remedial".

Because they're not that fun to watch. I want to see characters beat the shit out of each other with cool powers. But no, 99% of it is 600+ episodes of the hero and villain talking, talking, talking, demonstrating attacks, having flashbacks, and more talking instead of throwing hands from start to finish. It's very boring and it's a waste of time.

Granted, I did watch DBZ, and YuYu Hakusho back in the day but I was a little kid. The older I get the less tolerance I have for super long exposition dumps in games and anime because I have a job and I don't want my free time wasted on that.

It's why I never paid any attention to MHA, JJK, Black Clover, Demon Slayer, or any brand new shonen people glaze these days like Gachiakuta.

My favorite anime of all time is Akame Ga Kill, but that's not shonen. I prefer violent, gory action-packed shows like that, Afro Samurai, Claymore, and Berserk.

I put it in quotations because LowTierGod said it, not me.

Which one?

X Factor (UMVC3)

Pandora Mode (SFxT)

Reversal Edge (SC6)

FS Meter (SSBU)

Fatal Blow (MK11/MK1)

Wild Assault (GGST)

Drive Impact (SF6)

Heat (Tekken 8)

REV Blow (FFCOTW)

For me, Drive, FS Meter, and Reversal Edge are the worst offenders. RE doesn't cost you anything so people can spam it like no tomorrow. It's annoying AF to deal with but thankfully, it loses to sidesteps/grabs.

I don't hate the Drive system as a whole but DI spam makes me want to tear my hair out. It's harder to counter than RE because you need catlike reflexes to stop it with a grab or DI back.

FS Meter is complete robbery.

Don't get me wrong, Zero is one of my all-time favorite videogame characters but if you played enough Mega Man games you'll know where I'm coming from.

MMX1: He blew himself up trying to help X after he got bodied by Vile again.

MMX2: That sidequest where you have to find his parts before the X-Hunters do, or else you have to fight him as a boss near the endgame.

MMX3: Nothing happens to Zero per se, but if you die playing as him, he's gone for the rest of the game.

MMX5: Watch the ending.

MMZ4: Watch the ending.

When he joined Marvel vs Capcom 3, I joked about him getting killed off in his ending 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Zero: "I beat Galactus!"

X and Axl: "Yay!"

Zero: *Gets shot by a stray bullet*

Axl: "Oh my god! They killed Zero!"

X: "You bastard!"

And outside of MMX, his Battle Network iteration is the final boss of Network Transmission. Another game where he dies lmfao

In 2013 I got dogpiled on Facebook by former friends when i mentioned skipping cutscenes in Kingdom Hearts II and Xenosaga III (I beat the former in 2006 and the latter in 2008.). I wasn't even trying to ragebait them. I genuinely skipped cutscenes because back then, I didn't care much for stories, except for whatever parts I found interesting. You could say I didn't know any better because I was 13 and 15 when I did that shit. I'm 33 now.

They scolded me, telling me skipping cutscenes in RPGs is bad like it's a sacred law that can't be broken or some shit. I know some people play these games for their stories but not everyone (including me) does.

I'm a gameplay over story kind of guy. But IF the story piques my interest I won't skip the cutscenes.

I never skipped cutscenes in FF7 Remake and Rebirth, Ys VIII, Nier Replicant and Automata and Expedition 33 because their stories were interesting and they had consice, short-to-the-point dialogue that didn't bore me.

With RPGs I expect my experience to be 50/50 of great gameplay and story If the story is bad, I can at least enjoy the gameplay for example: Trials of Mana (PS4) has a cliched, generic save the world plot but holy shit is it fun! Visions of Mana's attempt to tell a deep story didn't interest me at all but it was still one of my top 10 games of 2024 because everything from its combat to exploration was a huge step-up from Trials.

Back in May, I bought some games that were on sale. Among them was Sword & Fairy: Together Forever. Looking at the trailers, I thought I'd be in for a fun time. Another action RPG like Ys, KH, and Mana to sink my teeth into but NOPE! It's kinda mid.

While the combat is decent, the long cutscenes, uninteresting story, and filler dialogue soured my experience. Thankfully, they can be skipped. I'm tempted to just skip every single cutscene going forward so I can just kill shit, rid one game from my backlog and move on.

This is how I feel about Shining Resonance: Refrain too. It's a worse game with worse cutscenes/dialogue and no budget.

Why is there so many of them? Can you imagine if other anime IPs got the DBFZ treatment? (I'd kill for a YuYu Hakusho or a Saint Seiya game like that)

Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, JJBA, HxH, Fist of the North Star, and Fate are the only IPs that have "real" fighting games. The ones in a traditional/made for competitive audience sense.

Everything else is cash grab arena fighter slop garbage like Kill La Kill IF and Jump Force.

Like, I'm not a fan of Bleach but it would've been interesting if Rebirth of Souls played like it's own take on Soulcalibur with weapon-based combat, and 8-way run.

I'm not the sort of person who jumps the gun and says "x character" can beat "x character" like some fanboys do so I'll ask a question instead.

Do you think Thragg and Battle Beast will win against the characters listed here? Some may be close, others one-sided but they should be strong enough to give either of the two a challenge.

Akuma (Street Fighter)

Asura (Asura's Wrath)

Classic Kratos (Bcause I haven't played GOW 2018 or Ragnarok and I don't know what crazy feats he pulled off in those)

Adam Smasher

Wrath/King Bradley

Frieza

Cell

OG Broly

DBS Broly

Jiren

Doomsday (DC)

Darkseid

Yujiro Hanma

Esdeath

Dio Brando

Sephiroth

Clive Rosfield (If you played FFXVI, you know what he's capable of)

The Hulk

Juggernaut (Marvel)

Mongul (DC)

Sol Badguy

Azrael (If you know Blazblue lore)

Susano (If you know Blazblue lore)

Gilgamesh (Fate/Stay Night)

How do you beat these characters?

Kain

Dong Hwan

Jae Hoon (I didn't buy the DLC, so I can't lab his matchup. Same with Krauser and Mary)

Andy

Hokutomaru

Mr. Big

Blue Mary

Krauser

Edit: I'm not a one-trick pony. I mostly play B.Jenet, Mai, Terry, Hotaru, Ken, Billy, and Chun-Li.

I hadn't played COTW since December 2025 (wanted to take a break and focus on other games like Yooka Re-Playlee and Expedition 33), so one year later, I come back, shake off the rust, labbing my characters/matchups, and hopping online.

After the first three games and getting tilted (Mr. Big, Krauser, and Andy get me heated), it dawned on me that SNK Tekken 8-ified this game by cranking the offense to eleven. Almost everyone I fought was super aggressive, playing like a hyperactive kid on crack. One Terry I beat couldn't stop pressing buttons and jumping around, like the floor is lava.

Is this the new meta or something? I won 360 matches in Season 1, and I don't remember it being this crazy.

7:56 PM UPDATE: Hours after I posted this, I started day 2 of grinding this season. Getting matched with more sweats, but I'm fighting fire with fire. Been grinding Chun-Li (brand new main) and I just got her to Iron after a 4-win streak.