1st Impressions of NA3 Gameplay!

Finally the Rock has come back... To the blog lol

Seriously though just hear to let all the hardcore players know whats going down and what to be ready for..

Guys this is NOT your mama's NA.

In fact it's not NA at all, more like some bastard lovechild that came out of NUNS and NA2 having a baby. Now some people don't like bastard children but I'm all for change.. though there is a bit to swallow this time around.

First and foremost..

*sigh*

There are no grabs.

That's right, I said there are no grabs and honestly I'm not too upset about it. Again, crazy I know right? But that's because they added the NUNS style guard system here.

After your guard takes a couple of hits it starts to change color, from blue to green to yellow to finally red and then CRASH they're open for business. The guard crash animation is more like alpha 3 then nuns though. They slide backwards (like when the match starts) but not so far away that you can't hit them with a free ougi or jutsu as they;re open.

Can they KNJ from the crash? Not sure as it's only me and mah training mode getting it in but Im supposed to be adhoc-ing it up with my boy ryuuka tomorrow so we'll do some more reasearch.

Also different is that characters now only have 3 ground chains and 2 air chains.

On the ground its:

Ox4
Ox3, Down+O
Ox3, Forward+O

and in the air:

Ox3 (or 4)
down+O

This is clearly so that you can use these chains in 4 player mode where as a Back+O chain would turn you around because of the way they made the game.

The new dashing system has a LOT of potential for funsies. Fowardx2 or Backx2 dashes you in that direction but you can also use these dashes to cancel moves. I've already messed around with Neji's new down+O aerial (the Ox3, back+O combo ender that pts neji has but in the air!). You can light jump and do it then forward dash cancel and hit another untechable one against the wall.

Chakra dash? Sexy. Full charged one puts you full across the stage and you can use it to cancel combos (as seen int he video). But much like nuns watch yourself. You start charging a chakra dash from far away, you have to commit to it! So if someone sees you coming be ready to eat whatever they feel like meeting you with if their timing is right!

There are a couple of other things I've found out but I need another person to really test the ebb and flow of the game.

Real talk though? It's going to take a WHOLE lot of getting used to. At the moment my biggest worry is people running away and turtling against characters who don't have an outright guard break chain. But foward, forward/back,back dash is NOT safe and you could definitely eat an ougi if your opponent anticipates you coming forward and chakra dash could easily catch a backdasher....

We'll see what's good.

I'm going back in!

-Rockman Out-

NEW EDITS!

Hold up HOLD UP HOLD UP!!!

I'm wondering why everyone's guard break (down+O,O) chain is so slow now..

At the moment with at least naruto and sakura you can definitely go down+O, and then just Ougi your opponent on block....

Wow.

LMAO.

Also Naruto lost Hold O fuuma and Sakura lost cartwheel (sadface for her)

-Rockman Out-

OH and there's also that "Blast Away" move we saw in the trailer that's really really similar to Ultimate Punch.

The guide says it's done by hitting R+O at the same time, but I can't get it to work either on block on straight up or anything.

I'm hoping its something that just busts open guard cuz an Alpha counter type move would definitely be too much power on the defensive side, even if you lose your transformation for it!