Still working on dodges to try and see if the problems are as bad as they seem or my own doing. Trying to apply proper scientific methoding to it. One problem that MAY be giving me trouble is that my PSP is actually starting to break - the analog stick is registering directions I'm not actually pushing (such as when I'm not touching it at all and the character is running sideways). Unfortunately this means I'll have to get it fixed before I can be sure about that.
Regarding navigation, let's use an example. Take a stage from the first game, be it Ultimecia's Castle or the Rift, as they were and remains the worse for this. In the original game, when an EX core would appear on these stages and you went for it, it was completely possible, indeed likely, that you could get stuck between a ledge/ underneath the platform you wanted to be on.
No amount of rail-grinding or wall-running would help in these situations - at best using those tactics you could run around the obstacles in question (in Ultimecia's Castle, anyway), but this meant your opponent would always get to the core before you. Thanks to the aerial mechanics though, you could dodge backwards until you were at a better angle, and retry the dash.
This simply isn't possible in Duodecim. Thanks to the alterations to aerial movement, if you find yourself caught under a platform in the Rift, there is no way to reach the top of the platform at all - you're forced to drop, accept the Brave trap, and let the opponent get the EX core. This can be mitigated by things like Omnidirectional Air Dash, and presumably abilities accessed in the full game that shorten the crippling lag between dodges, or anything else and dodges, but without those it leaves a character unable to successfully navigate a level in certain situations.
The prospect that a hop and a dash isn't worth worrying about is...simply wrong. I have already lost count of the number of times I've taken an attack combination because of the time it took to get airborne, or the excruciating lag between actions and dashing. This isn't a difficult fix, either: grounded targets cause a ground dash, while targets NOT on the ground, or hell, just on a plain above the character, cause an air dash. The idea that they couldn't code something so simple into the game is a bit difficult to swallow.
As to air superiority in the original Dissidia, while most combat did take place in the air I have seen little to no evidence in all the time I've spent playing the game that heavily air fighters had that much of an advantage. Please explain, exactly what approach or setup for Kuja could possibly make him intimidating just because he has better aerial mobility? He hits for so little damage, and takes damage so badly, that the only strategy I've ever seen that even approaches valid for him is to slowly chip away at an opponent whenever you manage to score a hit, largely due to luck. Zidane and Terra were high-end characters, but largely because of their attack options - Zidane comboed terrifyingly well, and Terra could readily assault anything from close to mid range with near impunity. I can think of at least one example where it was entirely possible to force an opponent to fight on the ground: Kefka's Hyperdrive was an excellent way to give the opponent little other choice in that regard.
Seriously, since part of the intent behind this thread is discussion, can you explain that? How Kuja, for example, can be made a legitimate mechanical threat to match the characters with better movesets, damage, and defense? (I already get part of how Terra can, as I make it a habit to abuse her Blizzara attack while airborne).
