Heavy attack button-mashing is sloppy and quick attack button mashing is undisciplined. I want to see more technical gameplay. A smaller hit-point bank could change the behavior of this game. The attacks that are unblockable are used too many times in an engagement because the previous hits didn’t do enough damage to make that final unblockable necessary. In short, there seems to be a lot of superficial activity during engagements and that’s taking away from the gameplay.

Raider:
The raider is my favorite. They’re just my style of warrior. Their heavy attacks are devastating, but their quick attacks do almost nothing. It makes for a very prolonged engagement. The fighting style that occurs in response is a heavy attack focused style of play (button mashing). I think this player is too slow. It’s easy to devastate and undisciplined player with heavy attacks but those who legitimately anticipate this character’s capabilities have an easy time defending them because of how sluggish they are. My proactive criticism would be implementing a smaller damage window between the two attack styles – quick and heavy -- and making this character a little faster.

Berserker:
This character is going to be fun once I get the hang of them. They are a pain in the ***, in the right hands. I think that this player is fairly balanced. They’re quick but vulnerable and that makes sense for the fighting style. Also they deal great amounts of damage – as they should – and they confuse the hell out of the defender. They are every bit of a harasser.

Warden:
This is a great character! Why? They’re balanced and effective. I don’t understand the criticism of their “weakness”. They’re quick, damaging, all-around great at fighting. If there is any character that doesn’t need changing it’s this one. I found them easy to use and intimidating to defend. That’s not to say that they’re one-sided characters with ALL of the advantage. They’re vulnerable, but effective in the right hands.

Conqueror:
A pain in my ***. This character has the defense of a turtle shell and quick devastating offense. I think this is the player that makes the “noob”/unskilled player a “better” player. This character is the only OP criticism that I have. I understand the perk of having a shield but the quickness and damage caused by this character’s offense, again, take away from the technical gameplay.

Kensei:
Very strong, very effective character. This character, as any should be, is a double-edged sword (ha!). He is quick and strong but vulnerable – that makes all the difference.

Orochi:
The button-mashing phenom. This character is pissing everyone off. They are fast but to a fault. The samurai fighting style is quick and precise and devastating – in real life – I think that will be hard to implement in a video game, lest you find the OP criticism. What’s so one-sided about this character is there effectiveness in engaging before you can attack or block. They are vulnerable but only once the user stops hitting every button on the pad.

In conclusion, the game is AMAZING and I’m sad that the alpha is coming to an end. In addition, it’s hard to tell how gameplay will change when there’s six more characters to choose from.