This is such a phenomenal game

Bought the game back in october but i've only played the offline modes and with friends. I had a lot of fun running arcade quest with different characters, as well as customizing and doing really long sessions against my friends, so i never really felt the need for the online mode. I had to sub to PS+ recently to pass my save data from one ps5 to another, so i decided to try out the online matches and holy hell i got absolutely cooked.

I was maining Jun since october, and among my friend group i was by far the best player, constantly winning every match with her, i could beat the hardest AI opponents with her no issue either, but playing onlinw absolutely destroyed me. I was getting cooked by players in the same low ranks as me, moves that i thought were impossible to block were getting blocked and counterattacked, and worst of all, my opponents learnt every trick up my sleeve by round 2, and were prepared to counterattack fittingly.

It really was a wake up call, i might have been good against AI and in low pressure sessions with my friends, but i had a lot to learn. I ended up dropping Jun as i felt a lot of her moves made me exposed to damage, and i was having a hard time with her tools, i played with a bunch of characters and decided to main Lidia, as i really like her karate moves.

These past five days have been wild, i've labbed a lot of hours, tried out combos of my own as well as looked up combos online, i've seen Lidia guides and also general guides on the game, i've even started to practice with frame data in mind, something i never thought i'd do.

I am now a strategist, and i feel like in these five intensive days of training, i've made more progress with Lidia than i did in three months with Jun. Strategist may not be much, but i feel so great, the game truly feels like i'm learning and improving, every win is a testsment to my effort, and every loss a new way to improve, it's been so addicting, and i can't wait to keep watching guides and keep improving.