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Persona 4 Arena Q&A Thread

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The balance is probably overall worse than the previous game, where it was already pretty bad. Some of the weak characters got better, but so did the strong ones, and arguably to a greater extent. Hell, two of the top Labrys players (Labrys being easily one of the weakest characters in either game), including the one who was apparently considered the best with her, simply stopped playing because they felt that she just can't reliably fight certain characters at a competitive level.

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The balance is probably overall worse than the previous game, where it was already pretty bad. Some of the weak characters got better, but so did the strong ones, and arguably to a greater extent. Hell, two of the top Labrys players (Labrys being easily one of the weakest characters in either game), including the one who was apparently considered the best with her, simply stopped playing because they felt that she just can't reliably fight certain characters at a competitive level.

You're the only person so far that I've heard with that opinion to be honest.

Even as a pretty average player at best, I personally feel much better about everyone in this game than the last. The devs at the very least aimed to fix as many issues with every character as possible.

On the topic of competitive play though, are there any recent sets or tourneys that I can watch? Or anyone who routinely uploads Ultimax gameplay?

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You're the only person so far that I've heard with that opinion to be honest.

That would be just because everyone else here is delusional about the balance in any given ASW game.

 

Even as a pretty average player at best, I personally feel much better about everyone in this game than the last. The devs at the very least aimed to fix as many issues with every character as possible.

They really didn't. Going back to Labrys for a bit as an example, she got some good changes and benefits from some of the new mechanics, but her frame data is worse and many of her issues were either addressed poorly or not given any attention at all. Take into account that the top characters got buffed, and you can see why the people who play her feel that she's actually worse off than before.

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How is the balance?  This is my first P4A game, but I had always heard there was a huge difference between competitive tier and everyone else (which may or may not have been a fair statement).  Is that the case in P4AU?

 

ummmmm, ok. Guess I have to answer this question myself after these last few posts.
 
As far as competitively viable characters go, it's pretty much the general consensus that ASW hasn't really made a character that isn't viable since BBCS1 Rachel and Tsubaki. Of course, P4U and P4U2 are no exceptions to this and all the characters in both games are competitively viable.  
 
That said, in both Persona games, there are 2-3 characters at the bottom end of the tiers that require more effort to consistently win than the rest of the characters. They have their own strengths, just like all the other characters but successfully executing the gameplan consistently will require a high level of skill on your part. 
 
One final thing. Misinformation from players who have a...well, lets say "incomplete" understanding of the game is unfortunatley a real thing you need to be looking out for here on Dustloop. If you have an important question about Persona and you're unsure about the quality of the answer, please don't be shy to ask one of the more trustworthy players through PM or twitter or something if you need to. 

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ummmmm, ok. Guess I have to answer this question myself after these last few posts.
 
As far as competitively viable characters go, it's pretty much the general consensus that ASW hasn't really made a character that isn't viable since BBCS1 Rachel and Tsubaki. Of course, P4U and P4U2 are no exceptions to this and all the characters in both games are competitively viable.  
 
That said, in both Persona games, there are 2-3 characters at the bottom end of the tiers that require more effort to consistently win than the rest of the characters. They have their own strengths, just like all the other characters but successfully executing the gameplan consistently will require a high level of skill on your part. 
 
One final thing. Misinformation from players who have a...well, lets say "incomplete" understanding of the game is unfortunatley a real thing you need to be looking out for here on Dustloop. If you have an important question about Persona and you're unsure about the quality of the answer, please don't be shy to ask one of the more trustworthy players through PM or twitter or something if you need to. 

 

 

I  take all balance suggestions with a grain of salt.  I play other fighters and was mostly curious as the consensus just to make sure it was not something like... "Well you picked Rise... sorry :( "

 

I don't mind putting in work and ultimately the aesthetic will always be the largest deciding factor for me.

 

Thanks for the responses.

 

After weighing my options I'm really liking Rise, Yukari, SLabrys, or Liz for now.  Think I'll pick up Rise first though.  Thanks again.

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I  take all balance suggestions with a grain of salt.  I play other fighters and was mostly curious as the consensus just to make sure it was not something like... "Well you picked Rise... sorry :( "

 

I don't mind putting in work and ultimately the aesthetic will always be the largest deciding factor for me.

 

Thanks for the responses.

 

After weighing my options I'm really liking Rise, Yukari, SLabrys, or Liz for now.  Think I'll pick up Rise first though.  Thanks again.

 

Rise is just fine.  Damage is pretty low overall but she has a strong setplay game.

 

I think overall you're going to be feeling the "imbalances" a lot more if you play one of the really bad characters (Liz, Labrys, etc.) but if you play anyone else it feels a lot more even overall.  Even when I go up against Yu I don't get as much of the "welp he picked top tier, might as well just forfeit now" sense that I did back when I played something like Yukiko vs. Yu in P4A1.

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I just like her Dizzy-esque-ness.

 

My view in any case is that by not picking the "best", you often learn the ins-and-outs pretty solidly, quickly.

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Is the connection number worthless?  I don't see anything higher than a 1... ever.  And those are not necessarily better than the 0s I find.

 

All in all relative to my other gaming, this has been a horribly laggy experience.

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Is the connection number worthless?  I don't see anything higher than a 1... ever.  And those are not necessarily better than the 0s I find.

 

All in all relative to my other gaming, this has been a horribly laggy experience.

 

Remember to not skip any of the two intros (stage and characters), that leaves time forhe game to stabilize the conection. Basically, it reduces lag, but not completely.

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Remember to not skip any of the two intros (stage and characters), that leaves time forhe game to stabilize the conection. Basically, it reduces lag, but not completely.

This. This so much. It doesn't help a lot, but it helps a hell of a lot more than if you skipped the intros. Why there isn't a "Don't skip intros." quick message is beyond me.

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This. This so much. It doesn't help a lot, but it helps a hell of a lot more than if you skipped the intros. Why there isn't a "Don't skip intros." quick message is beyond me.

Probably because in Japan (where the developers are from) they're all 3 or 4 bar, where you can kinda get away with skipping intros. So it's not an issue worth addressing to them. I notice that when I do for some insane reason fight jp players, they never let the intros play despite the game chugging so hard. It's probably because they've never HAD to do it.

Kinda wish they'd put out a message specifically for the NA version though.

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Probably because in Japan (where the developers are from) they're all 3 or 4 bar, where you can kinda get away with skipping intros. So it's not an issue worth addressing to them. I notice that when I do for some insane reason fight jp players, they never let the intros play despite the game chugging so hard. It's probably because they've never HAD to do it.

Kinda wish they'd put out a message specifically for the NA version though.

 

If you go to a player's P-Card and press R2, it'll flag them as a bad player.  You can just flag everyone who skips the intro and just never play them again.  That's what I do.

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This. This so much. It doesn't help a lot, but it helps a hell of a lot more than if you skipped the intros. Why there isn't a "Don't skip intros." quick message is beyond me.

 

I don't know why you can't customize quick messages.

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I don't know why you can't customize quick messages.

I think it's because they're mostly there to let JP and non-JP players communicate at a basic level despite a language barrier, which is why they're simple things like "Bathroom!" or "Good game!" or "BRB". Doesn't really explain why there isn't a "Hey you big numpty quit skipping the intros." though.

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It'd be so much simpler if the intros were non-skippable for online play.  Even if someone's seen them a lot of times, all it takes is a little patience.  Plus, they're cool.

Instead I have to politely request it by typing it out each time I play online (lobby, hosted room, etc.) unless I'm playing in the DL Beginner room, where people know that's the rule.

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Recently got blown up by a Shadow Yu player playing Shabrys in a set and realized I'm not entirely to sure what the hell this character even is beyond Raging Lion/Slide.

 

Raging Lion is really hard to catch in blockstrings. I catch it with DP mostly, but I want to deter them from it with a better punish(If I can). Can I block then punish this doesn't really feel unsafe on block.

 

Narukami's strings in the corner are especially intense, It feels a bit overwhelming, should I block this a bit longer looking for a specific opening or...?

 

I haven't practice any Defensive OSes yet, I'd imagine they helped and plan too. I'm going to check out the Yu thread but any general advice on this from someone with better knowledge of both characters.

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Recently got blown up by a Shadow Yu player playing Shabrys in a set and realized I'm not entirely to sure what the hell this character even is beyond Raging Lion/Slide.

Raging Lion is really hard to catch in blockstrings. I catch it with DP mostly, but I want to deter them from it with a better punish(If I can). Can I block then punish this doesn't really feel unsafe on block.

Narukami's strings in the corner are especially intense, It feels a bit overwhelming, should I block this a bit longer looking for a specific opening or...?

I haven't practice any Defensive OSes yet, I'd imagine they helped and plan too. I'm going to check out the Yu thread but any general advice on this from someone with better knowledge of both characters.

Unless it is from the air version you cannot really punish raging lion. If you block it, their offense is over, but they are safe enough to block and try to reversal out. Maybe instant-block will grant you the punish idk for shabrys though

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Unless it is from the air version you cannot really punish raging lion. If you block it, their offense is over, but they are safe enough to block and try to reversal out. Maybe instant-block will grant you the punish idk for shabrys though

 

Grounded A version is -4 on block, so it is punishable if they don't reversal. B version resets both players to neutral.

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When I play a match, I get an option to record it.

 

Can I use that to upload files to youtube?  Or is it local?  If no, how does one get shit from PS3 to youtube?

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Recording saves local input data (I'd assume). The game plays out again during a replay, not as a video file but using the game's engine. (Does that make sense?)

 

To make a video file from it you need a capture card, such as an Elgato Game Capture HD, AVerMedia C875 Live Gamer Portable, Hauppauge HD PVR 2, et al.

 

Some games such as Soul Calibur V and Ultra Street Fighter IV have the ability to make video files natively from saved recordings on PS3 without a capture device, but as far as I know P4AU does not have this function.

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Recently got blown up by a Shadow Yu player playing Shabrys in a set and realized I'm not entirely to sure what the hell this character even is beyond Raging Lion/Slide.

 

Raging Lion is really hard to catch in blockstrings. I catch it with DP mostly, but I want to deter them from it with a better punish(If I can). Can I block then punish this doesn't really feel unsafe on block.

 

Narukami's strings in the corner are especially intense, It feels a bit overwhelming, should I block this a bit longer looking for a specific opening or...?

 

I haven't practice any Defensive OSes yet, I'd imagine they helped and plan too. I'm going to check out the Yu thread but any general advice on this from someone with better knowledge of both characters.

 

This should probably go in the Shabrys vs. Yu matchup thread but:

 

- A Lion (the lower, faster one) is -4 on block.  You can IB 5A for a punish, otherwise he can DP.  If he does start DPing after blocked A Lion you can just start blocking and punishing his DP for big damage.  Just make sure you run under him when he DPs so he can't super cancel it into Ziodyne to bait your punish.

 

- B Lion is neutral on block and his pokes are faster than yours so don't press anything.  You can try to roll or DP out but he can do Raging Lion feint (hold B during B Lion) to bait that.  Unfortunately there's no guaranteed way to escape the B Lion for this reason.  Yes, it's stupid.  Yu is a stupid character.

 

- Yu is a dumb character and it shows.  There's really no safe or easy way to escape his mixup.  Fuzzy jump OS does help a bit versus Heroic Bravery mixup (throw/frametrap/DP bait) but unfortunately it's still a really strong mixup and there isn't a clean way out of it, again because Yu is a stupid character.

 

Again, i want to reiterate that Yu is a fucking stupid character.

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No character should have an Overhead Special, Low Special and Command Throw Special.

 

Unless it's my character.

 

Also, is a burst of any kind punishable on block? I'd imagine a defensive burst is, but what about a Golden Burst or a One-More Burst?

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No character should have an Overhead Special, Low Special and Command Throw Special.

Unless it's my character.

Also, is a burst of any kind punishable on block? I'd imagine a defensive burst is, but what about a Golden Burst or a One-More Burst?

Gold burst is +2 and OMB is +10.

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Any confirmation on how to get each of the narrators yet? I believe it's an unspecified number of network matches for Liz, Nanako and Dojima in order, and Marie has something to do with the DLC characters?

 

Also heard Margaret was an option.

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