The part where knockback is ridculous at 0% and hitstun is so low you can hardly combo ANYTHING past 20%, the grab game is non existent, it has brawl airdodges, you can airdodge so soon out of hitstun it is impossible to combo like in Brawl, they got rid of every single movement option that is any good that isn't jumping and they removed crouch cancelling.
Among a LOT of other terrible things. Like ZSS timer scamming one of the best players in the game for almost a full minute. Oh and rolls/spot dodges seeming pretty free and hard to punish.
http://meleeiton.me/2014/06/10/invitational-impressions/
Read this and cry. Unless you aren't at all interested in competitive smash, in which case you probably don't care, but I do.
EDIT: The character reveals were also the completely predictable ones that everyone was expecting haha.
That sounds a bit dramatic. Did you watch the invitationals? Combos were present but you simply had less time to hit confirm; i.e. you needed better timing. There were times in the invitational where it was obvious that some things combo'd but were just dropped to to lack of experience. Additionally, while low percent knockback may have been increased, higher percent knockback was lower which means combos will be slightly more consistent across damage percentages.
It sounds like you didnt watch the invitational or maybe just missed some things. Histun was present just not melee length and since there were actually air combos it's kinda obvious that the hitstun can't be canceled as soon as it could be in Brawl. The grand finals had a ton of grabbing (it's something that was discussed in the smashboards) and dashes/rolls
were getting punished, so the grab game is definitely there. Grab combos were also there but required stricter timing (don't tell me people are about to complain that melee was easier after complaining that brawl was too easy...)
Additionally they nerfed airdodges -in a good way imo- so that they have more recovery and can be punished easier.
They also nerfed projectile game so that it wouldnt be overwhelming for certain matchups. More landing lag.
But concerning that link.....they're already listing tiers based off of limited day1 gameplay...really? While some of that I can see and understand, there are some questionable complaints in the comments section. I mean people were complaining that fox's up-tilt wasn't killing at lower percentages anymore, while ignoring the fact that everyone was dying at higher percentages, i.e. knock back in general was changed; they also fail to mention that his side b doesnt put him in freefall anymore. Too many people focusing on single characters or a single aspect like speed and not the game as a whole imo.
Also, there's this little bit from reddit:
Can't speak for the invitational players, but at every booth/TV display setup the Nintendo reps were asking what improvements we thought could be made. At first I thought it wouldn't really go anywhere/they wouldn't listen to specific suggestions, but in the VIP area a competitive player (blanking on his name) suggested less landing lag after ariels, and bigger dash dancing, and they took the time to write it down and make sure they got the terminology correct! They seemed genuinely interested!
(EDIT: prog posted this on twitter
"The game is a work in progress, but they are listening and asking for advice. For that and the opportunity, #ThankYouNintendo"
)
This and the fact that the game is patchable just makes me even less worried about the games competitive viability.
EDIT:
Heyo. If you think the game is going to change significantly between now and launch, you are likely wrong. I remember seeing a JP release date of September somewhere, if that's accurate then the game is DONE-done by early August at the very very very latest, most likely mid or early July. Most companies (in fact, zero) are like us and changing things up until the end.
Also, the removal of the stuff they removed is BAD, from a design perspective. It makes what is allowable/available in the game (in terms of mixups, mindgames, setups, and creativity) MUCH smaller.
I dunno about changing significantly but I dont think it needs to. Fine tuning plus + proper experience could give people a completely new view of the game. And one or two simple changes can make a new game. SG changed pretty significantly from just the stricter ips and frameskip.
And I personally dont have an issue with removing options if those options are essentially replaced or didnt add significantly to ihigh level gameplay. Take dacus for example. It's seeming been removed but dashes, but dashes and up smash start up have been significantly sped up to the point where having dacus is almost redundant. To me that was a good exchange. Now look at l-canceling. I've never seen it make a legit difference at high level play because by then it was a mindless reflex for the players; it was something they just did. L-canceling is gone and I legit dont care because it wont change the outcome at high level play.
