Characters

We're not going to go horrifically in-depth with each of the characters; instead, we're going to focus on what makes each of them unique and tell you about that.

When we do show you moves for each of the characters, we'll use shorthand abbreviations of the moves that you'll be performing. Here's a chart of those:

Of course, there are combination moves and diagonal taps that we talk about as well. When you see something like (d/b, P+K), that would mean that you'd move down and back at the same time (forming a diagonal on your stick or d-pad), then hold down both the punch and kick buttons at the same time.

Kasumi

Kasumi is an interesting character for many reasons. While she doesn't rely on brute strength to get the job done, she has a dizzying array of quick strikes and more than a few teleportation moves to dazzle your opponents and pull them off guard, allowing you to sneak behind them and attack from the rear, or just confuse them mightily.

There's nothing quite like teleportation to frustrate your opponent.

Like Leifang and a few other characters, Kasumi can reverse high and middle attacks by pressing forward-up and forward-down while using the F button. Also like Leifang, these reversals do no damage to your opponents, but on the plus side, when you pull them off, you'll teleport behind your opponent's back, allowing you to quickly pound them from behind to often devastating effect. If you're going to play as Kasumi, you'll want to learn and know these reversals. Using them properly will give you a big advantage over opponents who aren't expecting them. Note that these reversals will usually warp you behind your opponent, but if they're up against a wall, you'll just disappear and reappear in the same location. Still, you can usually pop up a quick slam via a punch or kick, or perform a quick throw for the most damage.

Note also that Kasumi has a few moves that can only be performed while she's in her Hashinpo mode. Unfortunately, if you're trying to perform this maneuver during sparring, it can be difficult to find out precisely what it is. The movement requires you to hit P+K, then hold down the d-pad in the direction of your enemy. (Note that, with the default controls, the left trigger replicates P+K.) During this little dash, you can throw in a punch, kick, or throw maneuver to knock your enemy a good distance away.

Ryu Hayabusa

Ryu, as the world's most super ninja, is indeed a master of the devious arts in DOA4. While some of his moves are difficult, the bulk of them are actually fairly easy to pull off, and he's quite fast to boot, making him an excellent choice of character for new players. The one drawback to specializing in Ryu is that he's quite popular online, meaning that your opponents are going to get quite familiar with your movelist, forcing you to dig deep into his set of moves if you want to surprise them.

Practice the various Izuna drops; they can be used as a throw or as the result of a hold move, making them a versatile way to deal damage.

Perhaps the most well-known aspect of Ryu's moveset are his Ongyoin moves, all of which are performed while he stands in the Ongyoin stance. While standing still, you can enter an Ongyoin by pressing back and P+K; there are also a number of other offensive moves that can be ended with an Ongyoin by holding back on the stick after they're completed. You should be able to tell what kind of attack you're going to be letting loose by the button press; otherwise, all of these moves are in your sparring program.

There are numerous moves that can only be performed while you're in the Ongyoin stance; luckily, most of these are grouped together under the Unique Moves list in Ryu's command list. Some of these are straight teleports, while others will let you either throw your opponent or land a devastating attack. The two most popular are arguably the throw maneuver, Fudo-Zanshu (a normal P+K) and the rocket-head attack Fudo-Kaganui (f, P), especially among newer players. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to react to these unless you're good at countering. You can dodge the throw by ducking, but you can only block the Kaganui with a high guard. (You can counter it if you know that your opponent will perform it, but entering into a counter will leave you wide open for the throw if they mix up their attacks.)