And here it is. As I mentioned in my review, "Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax" was a game that could have been improved upon many times over in its console release. But, nevertheless, the core fighting was rather fun, and I loved the characters. Needless to say I've spent a lot of hours into developing/learning the ones that I really like (like I do in most fighting games), so I've played every character/against every character sufficiently enough to give my 2 cents about what I think.
Without further ado, let's dive into a proper look into the cast of "Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax". I may not be an expert with every character, but I do know enough for a general summary of how these guys fights. Let's go! ANIMEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shana
Shana is the equivalent of Zero from "MvC3" to "Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax". Alright....at least a little bit. Her attacks are generally very fast and since she's a rushdown character, she's always in your face most of your time. Her pressure game is pretty strong, with great mobility ranging from quick air dashes to multiple jumps. Her combos flow easily both on the ground and in the air, once she gets in on you, its hard to get out. Her combos are really not too difficult to learn, if anything, though it'll take awhile for you to actually rake in damage with her.
Shana is one of those characters that has a little bit of everything (despite excelling at rushdown). Her normals have nice range, she has a fireball type move and a mid screen overhead for her to get in on her opponents if she catches them. Despite all that, her base damage isn't the highest, and since her trump is the blue card, its very hard for newcomers to fully take advantage of her maximum potential. She's more of an intermediate character. Because of her mobility its easy for her to catch up to zoners, but if she falls behind its generally hard for her to come back. Her climax arts aren't too amazing, though they do just fine as follow ups in combos.
+ Great rushdown character
+ Combo potential is high, especially with use of trump
+ Great mobility
+ Has a little bit of everything
+ Overall has good pressure
- Hard to reach her maximum potential
- Generally easy to fall behind against zoners
Asuna
I generally don't enjoy Asuna as a character, but she's honestly really fun to fool around with. Her abilities are so straightforward and one dimensional, its sometimes fun to just chip and corner someone with her Flash Penetrator and Shooting Star. Honestly, she doesn't have a lot going for her other than some mid screen pressure. It seriously scares the living sh*t out of someone trying to come in on you, and if you connect with a proper assist, you can follow up for some pretty decent damage. Asuna isn't really a hard character to use per say when it comes to execution, but to properly play her against a good opponent, its more mind games than anything,
Asuna is mostly a close range melee character, but her rushdown is actually quite terrible when compared to many other characters that share similar play styles. Its hard for her to get in on someone without a godly assist, BUT, its oh so easy for her to PUNISH others for trying to come in on her instead. Hell, her pressure with Flash Penetrator is pretty damn high, and can punish other players for being too aggressive. She can't close gaps safely though, keep that in mind, Flash Penetrator is NOT safe, and wrong usage of that ability can get you punished, hard. Her trump is red, so it does do a lot of damage, but the range is pretty crappy, so you have to take note of that. Her climax arts are hard to connect normally, and she has no projectiles. You'll need to play smart with Asuna, but when you get the hang of things, she exerts some pretty good pressure as long as you learn to keep the distance.
+ Very strong at punishing aggressive players
+ Mid screen pressure is quite strong with the correct assists
+ Easy to confirm for some good damage
- No projectiles
- Gap closers aren't safe
- Smart players stay the f**k away and play very carefully against you, forcing you to take the offensive
Kirino Kosaka
Kirino is among the best characters in the game right now, ironically enough. She is...SO GOOD in so many departments, its not even fair. For a dopey, happy go lucky little sister, she sure has a hell lot of tools to fool around with. Opponents playing too safe? Don't worry, her rushdown potential and pressure game are all pretty solid, she can just go in ham on her opponents . Opponents playing too aggressively? Spam the crap out of panties and boxes to keep them the f**k away while you catch your breath. She has a whole lot of options to deal with all sorts of opponents, and because of that super well-rounded nature that she brings along, she just wins so many matchups. She is just THAT good, and because of that, she isn't exactly hard to use properly either, her standard BnBs already do a ton of damage.
Kirino has really high combo potential for someone who does so much damage. Not only that, but she has plenty of ways to hit confirm into combos. Her normals are SO GOOD, some even stretching across multiple frames and hit from a mile away. Her climax arts are also superb, both of which allowing for some really, REALLY simple follow up in combos. If all else fails, she has a cheap ass projectile spam ability that's very random and sometimes hard for the enemy to deal with if they're trying to get in on your face. And since so many of her moves are safe, she rarely needs support to cover up, thus she can freely use them offensively. Also, her freaking trump card attack is a command grab, which is insane since its red, and it does a hell lot of damage. She can even combo into this, crazy.
+ Has a lot of tools at her disposal
+ Very strong at almost everything
+ Generally very offensive while staying safe
+ Some of the best normals available in the game
+ One of the best characters in the game
- Easy to bait as some characters
Shizuo Heiwajima
Unfortunately for the bros, Shizuo isn't a very good character. I might even go as far as to say that he's the...worst in the game? Might be an overstatement, but I think that Shizuo has too much issues when compared to the rest of the cast. His combo potential is really limited. His damage is straight out beast, sure, but you're going to need to try hard to actually land a meaningful hit on your opponents. Shizuo is a very faceroll character, unfortunately, he doesn't have a lot of tools to let him faceroll his opponents. Against a good opponent, you'll need to try really hard. His damage spike is pretty insane when he's closer to death, but once again, if you don't land the hit, it doesn't matter.
For Shizuo to start a combo and go crazy, his hit confirmation process can be a pain. I mean, he CAN hit his opponents, but whether or not that hit confirms into a respectable combo is a whole different story. As mentioned before, he is 99% melee and needs to be in your face, but his gap closing options are mediocre. He has a ranged projectile where he throws a mailbox, but that won't amount to much in most situations, and its not exactly safe as well. He has a command grab, but again, he won't be in range to do it. His dive kick semi works, but its not safe to just randomly throw around, so you're screwed. Unless your enemies come to you, Shizuo has trouble, and even then, he gets outmaneuvered since his normals are also not the best. You'll really need to rely on baits and your supports on this one. Rest assured though, when Shizuo gets a hit in, its going to hurt.
+ Does good damage with easy BnB combos
+ Command grab
+ Will bash your face in if you get close to him
- Has trouble closing in on opponents
- Lackluster mobility
- Hard to fight against an opponent that constantly exerts pressure
Misaka Mikoto
As much as I love Misaka, I'm not a fan of her play style in "Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax". Does that mean she's a bad character? Well, obviously not. Instead of a simple rushdown character or a spamming zoner type, Misaka is a character that controls the field from a distance. Its hard to close in on her, especially if she picks a defensive support to counteract her mostly defensive play style. She punishes overly aggressively opponents from far away, and can maintain distance easily with most of her abilities. Hell, some of her moves even help KNOCK opponents away or have her move rather long distances instantly. Her normals aren't the best up close, so its easier for her to pick her fights from afar. Her damage isn't on the high side, but at least its easier for her to get hits on her enemies than some other characters.
She has a lot of pokes that are fairly safe. Her range is quite obscene and makes it hard for some characters to come in on her, and, as mentioned earlier, if backed up by a defensive support character, she's SO hard to close the gap upon. On the other hand, its easy for her to close the gap on her opponents or further expand that gap, she's great at controlling the field like that. Her heavy holds serve as great poke material, especially crouching [C], for hit confirmations into Railgun for EASY damage. Speaking of Railgun, I think its one of the best climax arts in the game, being an instant, full screen powerful attack. Its easy to combo into from afar and can easily be used to punish other characters for throwing out random attacks. Electro shot is a mid ranged poke, while Magnetic Move allows her to zone accordingly. Her trump even knocks opponents far away, while still doing respectable damage (easily one of my favorite trumps in the game).
+ Very strong zone control
+ Good poke/far ranged hit confirmation
+ Railgun is a very, VERY powerful climax art
- Can be tough for her to deal with high pressure rush down characters
Kuroyukihime
Kuroyukihime is easily the hardest character in the game to use, tied to Miyuki. She is hard to use, and that's why you rarely see her online, but of course, good Kuroyukihimes are absolutely terrifying. She has different variations on her different attacks and they have different propeties. She's more of a trick character, and relies on mix-ups/teleports to do most of her works, like Wesker or Hazama. Her damage is a little bit on the low side, but that has never been her forte anyway. She excels with, of course, mix-ups, and while she can do fine by herself, she becomes VERY hard to deal with when she uses some offensive assists. Her mobility is sub par, so you'll need to play around with her teleport to abuse the hell out of her mix-ups. She's one of the strongest characters in the game to close the gap against zone type characters.
As stated, Kuroyukihime plays differently based on the various modes that she's in. Unlike many other characters, her trump allows her to switch modes, between Red, Green or Blue. Each of these modes grants her different benefits, mostly which come from her variety of moves. Playing around these modes give her a better offensive plan against her foes, though having to switch modes can be a pain at times and once you settle on a color, that's it, unless you feel like burning another trump (which isn't recommended). Other than that though, she has no projectiles, but she doesn't really suffer too much from that because she closes gaps rather easily and can catch others off guard. Her climax arts aren't the best though, since they can be rather hard to fit into a combo without proper use of an assist.
+ Strong mix-up game by herself, further amplified by supports
+ Different modes gives her different benefits on certain moves
+ Can close gaps easily, despite her bad mobility
- Very hard to use properly
- Mobility is bad outside of teleports (random teleports can be punished)
Tomoka Minato
Everybody's favorite basketball loli is here to f**k shit up. Tomoka is POWERFUL, for a little elementary school girl that's only weapon is a basketball, she sure packs a hell of a punch. I started to use Tomoka a fair bit, because of her simple rush down play style and her high damaging combos. The best thing about Tomoka, she's not exactly a very execution heavy character. Sure she's harder than the likes of Kirino, Asuna or Shizuo, but she's easy enough for you to press a couple of buttons and she'll start tossing people around like a rag doll. Her offensive potential on the ground is great, though her air game leaves a lot to be desired (no air dash). She's great on the ground, not so much in the air, consider that into your strategy, work around it and Tomoka is a solid character.
The thing about Tomoka is that once she catches you in a combo, you're in for a whole lot of hurt. Her individual attacks don't do a whole lot, but her combo strings are so easy to connect and can go on for...extended periods of time, even longer with assists. As mentioned, she isn't an execution heavy character, her moves leave you a lot of leeway and time to follow up properly. That's because her specials, which usually involve Tomoka summoning her team mates, are very powerful and each act as assists of their own, opening up for combo opportunities and much more. She has a lot of opportunities to get in on her opponents (she has some unblockables), and her combos connect well into her climax arts. Her trump is one of the best ones in the game, I feel.
+ Great ground work and powerful combos
+ Her teammates are practically mini assists
+ Very powerful trump
+ Lots of combo opportunities
- Not so good in the air
- Short range normals
Kirito
Kirito is easily the most played character online, at least from what I have seen. I knew "SAO" was popular, but come on, this is too much. Character wise though, Kirito looks really cool, that's probably why people want to learn him. Dual wield seems like an awesome mechanic, but here's the truth that hurts guys, that's all Kirito has going for him. Outside of dual wielding, he's just not a very good character. His normals are mediocre (even with dual wield, they aren't too fantastic), his combos are limited, and he doesn't do a lot of damage. He's simply outclassed as a rushdown character without dual wield. Make no mistake though, as long as he's dual wielding, he can, and he WILL kick ass. At least a good support can cover for his weaknesses OUTSIDE of dual wielding.
Kirito is a fairly simple character. He functions primarily as a rushdown character, so that means he wants to be in the enemy's face at all times. He has a mid range gap closer and an ability to block projectiles. Both can be followed up by new attacks when they connect, luckily, these are easy to slot into any combo. In dual wield mode (which is Kirito's trump), Kirito becomes a beast. His normals do more damage, his combos start looking ridiculous just by pressing buttons in the middle of specials, and his overall damage output increases by a ton. If you pull off a last minute dual wield when near death, the damage output can get rather insane. His climax arts are also pretty damn good, as they can easily be used as combo finishers. Let's be honest, starburst stream is a pretty sick super.
+ Extremely potent in dual wield mode
+ Huge comeback potential by kicking in dual wield when close to death
+ Good specials and powerful climax arts
- Pretty mediocre outside of dual wield mode
- Hard to close the gap sometimes
Taiga Aisaka
I really like Taiga, I really do. Unfortunately, the palm top tiger has seen better days. She's a rushdown character with plenty of unorthodox moves, but those don't necessarily help her too much when it comes down to it. Her damage is also on the low side, which I didn't expect. However, she does compensate with some pretty damn good normals (especially for a melee rushdown character) and safe specials. Taiga, while not exactly very good on the offensive (even though she's supposed to be), is a very safe character. Also, thanks to her long ranged normals, she can easily hit confirm and follow up into something that she likes. Her combos don't do a lot of damage, so she'll be looking for offensive supports to extend her combos, since she is already rather safe on her own.
To her credit, Taiga has plenty of gap closing options. Her specials are mostly used in combos, and can also function as a gap closer (I'm referring to the snow sled attack). She has plenty of opportunities for easy OTGs, and that's always good: you always want to extend combos as Taiga to be able to see the damage. What also work for Taiga rather well are her trump and climax arts. Her trump works similarly to Misaka's, where it has nice range, does damage, and knocks the enemies far away (Taiga wants to control space with her long ranged normals). Her climax arts also do a ton of damage and can easily be chained in combos, especially "You're Pissing Me Off!".
+ Long ranged normals
+ Is a very safe character
+ Good trump and climax arts
+ Can gap close decently well
- Low damage on most moves
- Pretty much works only with offensive supports
- Struggles against opponents who can safely outrange her normals with no penalty
Miyuki Shiba
Miyuki is the hardest character to use in the game to me, tied with Kuroyukihime. Let me just say that I absolutely LOATH her play style, even though I love "Mahouka", Miyuki's boring zone control game play just isn't for me. Even though there aren't many Miyukis online, whenever I go against one, he/she is usually really good. And trust me, if a Miyuki player is good, they can be downright FRUSTRATING to go against (just like a good Kuroyukihime). She may be fragile, she may not be the fastest of characters, but a Miyuki that's standing behind a strong defensive wall support is a BITCH to play against. When it comes to zoning, Miyuki's probably the star character in this game, and if you go against her as a rushdown character without a plan, you're going to cry.
Her normals have nice range, though they don't a lot of damage. Because of this, her follow up combos can come rather easily if you were punished nearby with one of her many zoning moves. On the ground she has Floral Lock (the snow flake move), and in the air she has Gungnir (the ice pillar). Think of these as Dormammu esque zoning techniques, each with its own varying range, and if used with meter, will auto lock on you, which is ridiculously annoying if Miyuki uses it to punish you. If she's nearby, she can follow up with combos, since most of these zoning moves are multi-hitting. Good luck trying to get to Miyuki though, she has plenty of ways to get around, though she isn't too fast. Her trump, in my opinion, is the best trump in the game. The damn thing auto tracks, comes out instantly, does a ton of damage, is an overhead AND is unblockable in the air. Inferno is also a fantastic climax art.
+ Powerful zoning, especially behind a defensive support
+ Most zoning moves hit multiple times, allowing Miyuki for combos if she's close by
+ Can use meter for auto tracking abilities
+ Trump is incredibly broken
- Is fragile and loses out to most other characters close range
- Very hard to use properly
Yukina Himeragi
Ugh...here comes another annoying one. Himeragi is once again, a rushdown-centric character that focuses on melee combos to chip you out. However, there is a twist to her. See that long spear she's using? Yep, you guessed it. Himeragi's normals and specials have ridiculously long range for someone who fights up close, and she can very easily punish anyone who tries too all in her without giving things too much thought, since she can very easily outrange them, hit confirm, pull them in for a combo of her own. Playing another rushdown character against her can get rather disadvantageous, so you'll need to devise of a plan to actually go in on her. With all this in mind, Himeragi is an excellent rushdown character that's easy to use, has the range advantage over others, and is a slut. Perfect for beginners. Of course, she has her weaknesses.
For one, while Himeragi's damage isn't exactly on the low side, she DOES have problems dealing with enemies in the air. Her range is good, but her anti air game sucks, she does not much options against those approaching her from the air unless she takes to the air herself, or burns meter on Strike The Blood, which is wasteful if it doesn't punish the opponent. Rest assured, she's no slouch in the air, with Arrow Strike, she can close gaps if needed, and have a variety of possible follow ups at her disposal. Her trump also has good range, but has a rather long startup compared to other offensive trumps. End of story: she's a solid character that's really good at what she does, mid ranged combos that lead to a world of pain.
+ Long ranged normals
+ Outclasses a lot of short ranged rushdown characters
+ Has ways to gap close if needed
+ Easy to use
- Not a lot of good anti air options
Satomi Rentarou
Rentaro is a f**king boss, and also my main. Like many other characters in the cast, he's a mostly melee rushdown character that has a little bit of shoto elements in him. His damage is pretty damn ridiculous, which is probably there to compensate for his pathetic, short ranged normals. If you can get past those, you get a character that's easy to use (but hard to master), can do a ton of damage with standard BnB combos and gives a ton of different varieties to approach different situations. Rentaro is strong up close, and that's where he excels best. He can also chip away with his pistol, which is actually a nice poke projectile. His trump is also a cancel, the only one in the whole game. This sets him up for a ton of baits and potential combos.
Rentaro is short ranged, so he needs to get up close and personal to murder his foes. However, his gap closers are generally unsafe, so if you want to get in on your foes, be prepared to either sacrifice meter or Terminal Horizon to bait and punish them. EX Homura Kasen is a brilliant way to extend combos, though it tends to eat up meter. He has a ground bounce via his shoulder bash special, and has tons of ways to extend combos. His climax arts are also ridiculously powerful, PLUS, both work very well as combo finishers. Unlimited Burst is an excellent OTG, and Final Strike fits into almost any ground combo. As always, Terminal Horizon is your best friend, though most of the time, you're going to use it defensively to bait out opponents. If it wasn't obvious enough, offensive supports work best with Rentaro.
+ High damage combos
+ Easy to learn
+ Has plenty of ways to extend combos
+ Terminal Horizon is amazing
+ Very good Climax arts that can be used in most combos
- Short ranged
- Can't close gaps safely
- Pretty much needs an offensive support
Akira Yuki
Akira is a character that I didn't really like. But since he's Sega's poster boy for their star fighting game, "Virtual Fighter", I can see why he made it in (since Sega plays a huge part in the game and all). In a game full of weird characters from different animes, Akira actually sticks out like a sore thumb. His play style is similar to that of his own games, but transitioned into a 2D plane. Honestly, he feels really awkward at first, but once you get used to him, he's actually really simple to play effectively. His combos are easy to execute, they do a lot of damage, and he has quite a lot of tools to deal with the majority of the characters in the game. He's certainly a fun and unique addition to the characters in the cast.
Akira is a strong, strong melee man. If you fight him head to head, prepare to eat A LOT of damage if you don't block properly. His combos are easy, they can strike at close range, and they tend hurt like hell. His lack of a proper running hurts his mobility in the long run, BUT for close ranged encounters, his step dashing actually helps him kite some characters with short ranged normals. He combos really well into his specials and trump...and my god his trump...its SO annoying. It comes out so insanely fast, and it does so much damage. As long as Akira stays in the melee game, he kicks ass. He has weaknesses though, his anti air on the ground is pretty solid, but if you take him into the air, he's pretty bad. Also, without a projectile move or ways to close in on zoners, he needs a cover/offensive support to really set him up.
+ Beginner friendly
+ Very high damage and easy combos
+ Step dashes help against melee matchups
- Step dashes don't help against zone control type characters
- No projectiles
- Needs an offensive assist to cover him as he closes gaps
Selveria Bles
Selveria is sexy. She's not as out of place in the game as Akira is (technically, "Valkyria Chronicles" has an anime adaptation), and to be fair, her play style fits more in this game. Selveria is a big woman, compared to the other girls in this game, who range from elementary school girls, middle school girls, to high school girls, so it makes sense that she should stomp on all of them. Luckily for her, she's a very powerful character, and one that doesn't take a lot of skill as well (must be a trend with the boss characters). She's a mid ranged control based character, somewhat similar to Himeragi, but less offensive and more reactive instead. She has a lot of positive matchups in my opinion, and with tools to deal with plenty of situations, she can triumph the field in the right hands.
Selveria main source of damage comes from her mid ranged combos. I say mid ranged because her normals have some great range (look at that lance), and she can safely poke out most close ranged characters and hit confirm into her combos, which are fairly easy to take advantage of. She has a lot of tools to deal with other types of characters as well, and she excels especially well against the zone control characters. She has a simple projectile spam special, a teleport, and 2 universal techniques that can easily punish characters from afar (her trump is so unfair against zone control types that aren't Misaka). She's a character with a lot of pressure by just BEING there, and if you try anything against her incorrectly, she will punish you, hard. Because of her all rather offensive nature, she works having a defensive support to cover her just in case she needs it, or an offensive support to make it easier for her to go in.
+ Very strong damage output
+ Long reaching normals
+ Easy, full screen punish with trump that does an insane amount of damage
+ Lots of tools to deal with close ranged fighters and zoners
+ Rather beginner friendly
- Gap closers are generally not safe
