[Fignuts]

Ok, so somewhat in depth first impressions.

Lars- VERY prominent Adon feel here. To the point where one of his moves is almost exactly the same. Definitely feel like he's intended to be played in that same, "hit-and-run" style. He doesn't seem like he's got a lot in the mix up game though, so he may not be a tough match to read.

Alisa- Oh shit, where do I begin. Her style has similarities with Juri, which is why I suppose I took to her the fastest. Like Juri, she is an extremely versatile character. Not only does she have her multi-directional projectiles, but she's got a dash -> slide move that's as fast, if not faster than Guy's. Believe it will go under fireballs as well.

She's got several ways of getting in close, and once she does, she can bust out some pretty damaging combos, especially off boost combo to tag cancel.

And then there are the chainsaws. There are a number of ways to enter "Destroy mode", and if you do, that's when you want to get in close, as they are pretty difficult to defend against, andt they do pretty good damage.

Downside is, you can't attack while jumping, and you can't kick. You can build meter by pressing the kick buttons though.

Already discovered some really nasty combos with her, both solo and paired with Julia. In fact that may become my new main team.

Bryan- Moving along decently with Bryan, but I dunno. He was the character I looked forward to most, but he's kind of boring to play. Seems like his BnB combo starter would have to be that spinning backfist combo, as you can cancel into any of his specials from it.(and from there into the super if you use an ex special) Couldn't hit it on Blitz earlier though, as it's not yet in the muscle memory.

Jack- Haven't really messed around with him enough to comment.

Lei- Not really liking Lei at all, tbh. His DP move has a sketchy hitbox, and his other specials have horrible start up times. Think blitz poked me out of them about 10 times. Most of his stances don't really seem to have any practical use, and are there just for the sake of giving him stances. Maybe youcan combo into different stances? That would make them more viable. I dunno, I just suck with him, lol. I think you just need to concentrate really hard on reading and predicting your opponents actions, to play him effectively. Not to mention memorizing a shit ton of target combos.

Christie- Seems easier than Lei but still quite difficult. I will still give her a go however, because I love mix-up characters, and she is full of them. One thing that worries me is how wide open you are in handstand. Have to be very careful when using it outside of combos, and like when using lei, read your opponent carefully.

Her other specials range from low to overhead, and come out pretty fast, making her tough to deal with.

She reminds me of Julia in a small way, in that her specials all seem to be most effective from mid range, while her normals and target combos are most effective up close. Oh and she's got some pretty freakin' great target combos.

Dudley- Dudley, honestly seems even more dangerous here, than he was in AE. He's fast. And I know everybody's faster because the game is faster, but damn. I feel like they gave Dudley a little extra in the speed department. His recovery time also seems better. My opponents haven't been able to punish me on blocked specials, that would have got me bodied in AE. Might have to add him to the stable. Also, I love how the Fro on his swap costume completely blots out his partner on the versus screen.

Elena- Alex, Yun, and Makoto were the only characters I got in depth with in 3rd Strike, but I did play around with Elena a few times. More than a couple times, when Blitz was playing against me, she flew right over my head with a special and completely whiffed. Even all her normals outside of that fast crouching mid kick seem to have a slow startup. All this leads me to thing she's another mid range character.

The rest I didn't spend a whole lot of time with, but just seem like faster versions of their AE counterparts.

In addition to my new Alisa/Julia team, I might also start running Steve/Dudley. I've already expanded my character playlist to include Steve and Chun-li. In addition to some of the new characters, I'd also like to learn Ogre, Marduk, Kuma, Asuka, and Xiaoyu. Honestly, I'd just like to be able to hit random and be able to put up a good fight regardless of who I get.