It's still early to form an opinion, but... The moves feel less safe then in previous versions. It could be because of the added frames of input delay (1-2 probably calm down), or they are going in the direction of Street Fighter and making more moves unsafe. It really hurts characters like Mai who rely on footsies and spacing to do their work.
Shun' Ei feels like a cross between Nameless(K'9999) and Rock Howard. He probably feels the best to screw with in the demo right now.
King of Dinosaurs in way slower then Tizoc and more cumbersome in his moves. They made an obvious Rekka type move into a throws all three hits out there and it's up to you to break it with lights. Personally I would have rather have had the Rekka motion for it. His command throws are way slower. They feel like Zangief's SPDs coming out. Still though he is a fun character, but I have a feeling he won't be anybody's favorite wrestler when everything is said and done.
Nelson I didn't like. Everything except a dash in and a command throw was a hold a direction and throw a punch. I like a bit of that, but not 90% of his moveset.
Kyo and Iori mainly played like the KOF XIII counterparts. I think Kyo has a bit more Rekkas to work with (saw computer do it on me) and Iori got an interesting super that works like Ash's trap fireballs.
Mai works the same, but as stated earlier she feels way more unsafe. It also feels like her CD attack is not as good and whiffs a lot more then you would expect. Her Real Bout super is probably the handiest at getting aggressive players off of you. I like the down to up + P evasion move has a forward and backward property. I don't think she had it before, but it does look possibly promising.
Again only played a bit so this is initial opinions.
Agreed about Kyo and Iori. Not enough changes to get me interested.
------
I'm also clueless about KoD. He is slow, but has no advantage to make up for it. The damage seems about the same as the others. He got Clark's auto-guard grab but with how slow he is, you will find a hard time closing in to the opponent. His other auto guard attacks don't always work, so I find it risky to rely on them. What I found useful so far:
Mid range play:
- far LK -> QCF LP for poking
- sweep into QCF HP is also nice for that range (and it connects)
- HP + HK -> QCF HP
- or simply using QCF HP
- You can catch the opponent off guard by swapping QCF P with QCF K, or simply cancelling it's different variations at any point using LP+LK and then go for QCF LK
- standing LP for stopping opponent jumps
Close range options:
- forward LP (overhead) into Max Mode combo
- crouch LK into LP LP LP LP (rush combo)
- and of course the HCB HP grab
------
My initial impression about Nelson was the same, but after spending time with his different options, he turned out a beast with mix ups.
A direct QCF K dash can also be cancelled into either supers
-------
Regarding Mai, I actually feel she is stronger since she can link her LK -> HK target combo with other moves now. And of course the new Real Bout super is a good defence now. Uh and check her EX fan throw
-------
PS: all characters can link their crouch LK with rush combos
