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Skye

[P4A] Akihiko Gameplay Discussion

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I was thinking, about how popular is Akihiko in Japan? I know Chie is popular over there, presumably because of her great rushdown and pressure game. I was also assuming that due to her lack of having to rely on her persona it would make her a better character?

Would Akihiko have the same deal, and is he used often in Japan?

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We can only go by what we see in videos. A surprising amount of JP play is not recorded at all.

In this case, he's not very popular. In fact he's probably the least played character.

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Thats really unfortunate tbh, because he's probably the coolest character in the cast.

Japan love dem pretty boys like Chie more I guess Q_Q

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Thats really unfortunate tbh, because he's probably the coolest character in the cast.

Japan love dem pretty tomboys like Chie more I guess Q_Q

Fixed.

Anyway, should we use the fact that Akihiko is probably the least used character to our advantage?

I was thinking, about how popular is Akihiko in Japan? I know Chie is popular over there, presumably because of her great rushdown and pressure game. I was also assuming that due to her lack of having to rely on her persona it would make her a better character?

Actually, Akihiko relies even less on his Persona than Chie, judging from the stats.

Akihiko's stats:

P4A_Graph_Akihiko.png

Chie's stats:

P4A_Graph_Chie.png

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Chie's stats are in desperate need of revision.

She is almost as persona dependent as Yu.

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Chie's stats are in desperate need of revision.

She is almost as persona dependent as Yu.

Want to see Yu's stats?

P4A_Graph_Yu.png

Chie is already as almost Persona-dependant as Yu.

But hey, the main uses (and only uses, if there's nothing more) for Akihiko's Persona is to pull in the opponent and to do overheads.

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Akihiko is pretty popular in Japan, I see quite a lot of match videos with him. He's also top tier.

I got the game already and I've been playing for a bit, and I'm losing quite a lot. From what I can tell he has a high learning curve and he is very footsie dependent, but once you learn how to play him and get in, he's a monster. His damage is insane and getting 4k+ off a fatal counter air Caesar is simply ridiculous.

He has a much higher learning curve than Yu or Labrys, but once you learn his shit your efforts will most definitely pay off.

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Akihiko is pretty popular in Japan, I see quite a lot of match videos with him. He's also top tier.

I got the game already and I've been playing for a bit, and I'm losing quite a lot. From what I can tell he has a high learning curve and he is very footsie dependent, but once you learn how to play him and get in, he's a monster. His damage is insane and getting 4k+ off a fatal counter air Caesar is simply ridiculous.

He has a much higher learning curve than Yu or Labrys, but once you learn his shit your efforts will most definitely pay off.

Time to start learning him since the day I will get the game, then.

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So I spent the last 3 days playing Akihiko, time for impressions/quick how-to. Some of this stuff is well known though, but I figure a quick primer consisting of scatter thoughts wouldn't hurt...see the movelist for what the moves are.

So let's start with those cancels/cyclone gauge.

These are initiated from 236a/b, 236 c/d, 214a/b (successful parry), 214 c/d, throw, and j.214a/b (and their ex versions)

You can cancel into 4a/b, 6a/b, 4c/d, 6c/d, b+d, and 2a+b (and their ex versions) from the starters. You can also cancel these into each other, but you need to do a different move.

You cancel into 236236a/b as an ender from any of the above two groups.

Performing a successful cancel increases the cyclone gauge by 1. The higher it is, the better damage/move properties you get. Non-damage examples:

level 3 6a/b wallbounces.

level 2/3 4a/b have more stun.

level 2/3 b+d has more untech time.

The extra damage makes comboing into 236236a/b worth it for huge damage!

The cyclone gauge decreases very quickly though.

In pressure, I found 4d was very useful surprisingly, it let me bait out dps, 2a and throw mashers, and get really good punishes.

To play Akihiko, I feel you need to understand when each character is open for you to approach. You have various options for approach, both in the mechanics (roll, aerial movement) and in the character, but all of them are punishable or vulnerable in some way. Once you get in, keep your momentum, and learn to confirm to maximize your damage no matter what situation, and pursue the opponent to do it again...hopefully they'll die then, Akihiko's actual mixups are limited. Gotta make it hurt while you can.

2b is a super good anti-air it seems! Amazing vertical hitbox. Learn to convert into potential sick damage (check the combo video Kiba posted, Skye that should be in the first right away!) Don't whiff it so much or you can be punished. If you're on the ground expect to be...

5c and j.c are ok moves. Good range, covers some vertical space too. Can't move until landing with j.c. And then there's a little lag after you land. Mid range moves, which Aki lacks normally.

D moves are matchup dependent in how useful. Be careful how you use these, keep it slim though.

b+d is a solid DP. You're no Mitsuru though, I wouldn't spam it, but it will keep others honest!

Because throws in this game are fairly easy to tech (unless you're bad like me...), a lot of throw setups didn't seem to work for me. My most successful ones involved some pressure, into 6c/6c+d then throwing almost immediately (sometimes they'll still be in blockstun). When you do this with the right timing, you'll keep cyclone gauge!

Overall Akihiko is really fun and has plenty of depth to him. You'll need to put in your fair share of work to win and have some rough matchups, but that huge damage and great pressure is so satisfying!

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Soba called him braindead.

hahahahahahaha

Good summary.

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Yeah agree with most of what DaiAndOh says, except for the part of his DP being solid. The range is quite bad so if the enemy is using Labrys or Mitsuru you won't be able to hit them with it them unless they decide to get in real close. Don't get me wrong, it's still a DP, just not as accessible as some of the others.

One of the other things I noticed with AK is he has ONE low. That's right, ONE. His sweep. His 2A hits mid which is pretty ridiculous and sad. His Oki game is also not as strong as Chie or Yu so you gotta play a solid yomi game to be effective with him.

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Soba called him braindead.

hahahahahahaha

Good summary.

:vbang:

Thanks though!

Yeah agree with most of what DaiAndOh says, except for the part of his DP being solid. The range is quite bad so if the enemy is using Labrys or Mitsuru you won't be able to hit them with it them unless they decide to get in real close. Don't get me wrong, it's still a DP, just not as accessible as some of the others.

One of the other things I noticed with AK is he has ONE low. That's right, ONE. His sweep. His 2A hits mid which is pretty ridiculous and sad. His Oki game is also not as strong as Chie or Yu so you gotta play a solid yomi game to be effective with him.

Eh, the DP is solid imo. It's not great. Not something to use often. But it covers a surprising amount of vertical space, and has the invincibility. It's usable enough to keep people in your face and right above you honest on wakeup. Death if you spam it.

Is it wrong though I kept forgetting about sweep? I know you can cancel into it from cyclone moves, but does it get better properties?

I'll be editing as more thoughts come into my head lol. Expanded 2b and added a part about throws just now.

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I don't think AK is braindead at all, winning is definitely difficult when you can be zoned by literally every single character in the game. You gotta work hard to earn those wins! My friends who started out playing Yu and Labrys are doing really well for themselves because those characters are really easy to play in comparison. But I know long term my character will probably have an edge.

DP can be nasty but let's not compare it to Yu's or Mitsuru's or Labrys'- it's inferior in every single way to theirs. I would say it's easily one of the lesser furious actions, down there with Elizabeth, Teddie and Yosuke. Don't get me wrong, none of those FAs are useless, they're just... not as good.

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I find DP to be effective when you're stuck in a corner or when you find a good gap in your opponent's blockstrings. Instant blocking helps a bunch obviously because of the reduced blockstun.

Some questions of my own: Any fellow Akihiko players have advice for matches against Kanji? I seem to do pretty badly against him, probably because Akihiko needs to be in close range in order to deal damage, which is right where Kanji wants him. Some advice for fighting Labrys would be nice as well.

Also, has anyone played around with tiger-knee'ing Assault Dive? I can't really think of any practical uses for it off the top of my head, since it doesn't seem fast enough to be an effective overhead.

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I agree about the DP being solid, albeit the range is limited. Like DaiAndOh said it's best to just remind people that you have it so they can't just walk over you on oki lol.

Also thanks for the summary, I'd have been too lazy to type one :v:

Also l.o.l. at Akihiko being braindead, wut a joke. He's pretty yomi-dependent, but his rewards can be really amazing sometimes. By the way, just something random to add, but doing 236D -> Quick Escape is a good way of getting past fireballs (ones that can be dodged at least by empty 236D if you don't read a fireball or 236D when the things already on-screen). Though as with everything, use in moderation lol.

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Don't forget, he has the only true safe on block DP.. DP > C Paralysis install is plus frames and paralysis on block.

He seems great to me so far. Tearing apart most of norcal. Seems like he may have some difficult matchups, but I'm not so certain yet.

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Omg I totally forgot he could cancel in Paralysis super, yaaaay. Also, I'm writing down some of the combos from the 12 minute Aki vid, but I'm only writing a few that are actually different from the ones that are already on the Technical & Gameplay discussion thread, just so there's noticeably different combos, rather than just the same combo with minute variations.

Dacid, what characters are most of the people in NorCal using? I'm just a bit curious to see what it'll be like when I come back lol.

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My own notes on several matchups:

Kanji:

Zone him, typical grappler matchup

Forfeit safe jump set ups, his DP negates safe jump. Recognize meaty normals is a read.

His grounded footsies suffers, consider kill rush at ranges it will easily convert mix up

operate pressure out of range of grabs

Elizabeth/Labrys/Shadow Labrys:

All of their DPs lose HARD to dash jump turn jB, jump pressure is then quite effective. Also consider EX Ducking to cross up and force similar whiff.

Narukami and Mitsuru:

Seems hard to contest their normals, will need to study

Aigis:

Aside from rolling her 2B to prevent cancel, seems very few ways to beat her orgia neutral

When she's in orgia, stay the fuck away if possible

When out of or low orgia, if red consider risks but pressure, if grey go all out

SLabrys:

Persona has no overhead, one low

Breaking or tapping her persona removes the function of her awakening if done after flash, both for the inputs and super

Yosuke:

Avoid playing footsies with his persona if you can help it

Consider jabbing persona out of confusion if stuck in that position

If he's in speed install, grounded footsies become very risky

If you bait his DP, the punish is LAAAAAAAAAAAATE

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Shelled, Norcal is actually QUITE diverse. We lack strong mitsuru and chie though.

Bout to be bodied by $NJ$ then. You coming out to Summer Jam? First persona major! =o

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@Dacid

That's pretty interesting, but I'm glad. Diversity is nice. Also (a bit unrelated but) I'm guessing there's some newer players too because of the P4A release?

Lol are there any Akihiko players that are worth mentioning?

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Damn, Akihiko is gonna be popular as fuck. But I can see why people would assume he's brain dead.

His mix up game is basically like Seth's. He would throw himself into a lot of RPS situations, where from the most part, the RPS is in his favor (being super rewarded for guessing right). However, he hits harder and has more health so lol @ that.

I want to use Akihiko because <3 boxing, but damn... I'm a Buppa fanboy, so I don't know.

Since I live in a city full of hipsters, maybe I should do the hipster thing and not pick Akihiko? Hell, I don't know.

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